But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. (Genesis 50:19-20) This week we explore the story of ...

Abraham believed the Lord; and the Lord[ reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) Christians generally teach that we are saved, not by works, but by faith. We believe God when God says to us, “I love you,” and knowing that makes it true for us. Not believing it ...

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2:8)  We often forget why we are here. We are here because God has made us with the intent for us to be God’s partners. You and I exist, at ...

Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him. (Mark 12:17) This is my first blog post after returning from an eight-week sabbatical. As the congregation spent time looking at ...

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14 American religion is filled with voices trying to convince us that it is our decision that determines our eternal destiny. Often called “decision theology,” it makes accepting Jesus sound like a choice that you must make. Fail to do ...

And they (the crowd) were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commends even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” (Mark 1:27) Ministry (the act of serving) is at the heart of Jesus’ work and even central to ...

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:17-18) The word “immediately” in the verse above is a word we will see often in Mark’s gospel. Things happen fast – one right after the other. ...

He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed.  (Luke 1:63) Zechariah (and his wife Elizabeth) is one of the characters on our Jesse Tree, so you may encounter him a couple of times this Advent. They are the unlikely parents ...

[Cyrus of Persia said], “Any of those among you who are of his people—may their God be with them!—are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord…” Ezra 1:3 A basic tenet of the Lutheran understanding of Christianity as that God can use ...

Sunday is the second week of Advent as we anticipate and prepare for the coming of Jesus.  We also continue to hear words from the Old Testament prophets who bring a call to change and words of hope to God’s people who haven’t gotten things right, but who continue to ...

Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21 Life is full of choices – some of them easy and of little consequence like, “What should ...

Then God said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) There is some debate about how we encounter God and who it is that God comes to. Does God come to a few based on ...