December 26th was the feast of St. Stephen, and yesterday was the feast of St. John. Both of these feast days seem fair to us. Stephen died proclaiming the Gospel. Stephen was a grown man that wasn't killed against his will, but rather kept preaching in the face of death. St. John, on the other...
Today is the feast day of St. John the Evangelist and Apostle. St. John was one of the first disciples of Jesus, one of the sons of Zebedee. He was the only Apostle to stay with Jesus at the cross, and was gifted by Jesus to take care of St. Mary after Jesus' death. After the Ascension...
Yesterday Christ was born in the world, so that today Stephen would be born in heaven. This is an ancient confession of the Incarnation and what it means for the eternal life of the saints. Today is the feast day of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church after Jesus Ascension into Heaven...
Today is the feast of Festivus, that lovely secular holiday made popular by the sitcom Seinfeld. George Costanza's dad is the main character that educates the world on the joys and celebrations of 'A festivus for the rest of us." From the festivus pole, because, you know, tensile can be a little...
1st John 4 says, "7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us...
Today is the feast day of St. Thomas, Apostles and martyr for The Faith. Thomas asked Jesus the question, "Lord, how will we know the way?" and Jesus replied, "I AM the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." More well known is the nickname of...
Friends, Just a quick little quote from Luther to get your work week started, not in the stress of your merit, but in the comfort of Jesus' grace and mercy. Concerning the 5th petition, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," Luther says, "Thus this petition is really an...
On December 6th, alot of the Christian world celebrates the feast of St. Nicholas. At our house, one of the ways we celebrate it is by filling the boys shoes with oranges, chocolates, and other candies. However, the real celebration isn't about candy or filling your shoe with other goodies, but...
Yesterday, I posted a quote from the Pastoral Prayer Companion on Facebook. It was about how pastoral care always flows from and leads back to the Divine Service. The Companion speaks of the Divine Service saying, "The liturgy itself is the primary place of ongoing pastoral care as week after...
Dear Saints, It is amazing how small Luther's Small Catechism is. There are six chief parts, along with the Table of Duties, prayers, and some questions in order to prepare yourself for the Lord's Supper. However greatly I desire to memorize this little book in order to...