A sermon for All Saints Day, 2021 It has become common today in difficult situations to use the word “trapped.” When people face physical disabilities and limitations they say things like,“I feel trapped in my body.” When people are in a job they don’t like they might say, “I feel trapped in my job or…
“I have just two days on my calendar: today and that day. As always, Luther’s approach to life lines up well with Scripture. In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” As the Catechism explains, “These words teach us not to be greedy or wasteful or to…
“When I look at myself I cannot see how I can be saved. When I look at Jesus I cannot see how I can be lost.” Those words come from Martin Luther, the father of the Reformation. When we honestly look at ourselves how can we possibly see that we could be saved? Sins pile…
Allina Hospital District One has received the go-ahead from the Faribault City Council to demolish Johnston Hall in Faribault, Minnesota. Many attempts had been made over the years to save the beautiful, historic building but in the end, no feasible arrangement could be worked out to keep the structure standing. The most recent attempt to…
There are sixteen prophets in the Old Testament who have books of the Bible named after them. This Bible study is not about any of them. This Bible study is about the dozens of other prophets who prophesied but who did not end up with books of the Bible named after them. I call them…
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever.” Ephesians 3:20-21) Some wonder if these verses might have been where the…
Psalm 136 is truly a remarkable psalm. At the end of each of its 26 verse there is the phrase, “for his steadfast love endures forever,” [1] Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. [2] Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures…
Mark 6:14–29 records one of the saddest stories in the Bible, the death of John the Baptist: King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” [15] But others said, “He…
In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 the Apostle Paul talks about boasting. 2 Corinthians 12:1–10 “I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2] I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third…
It has been a hot and dry year so far in Minnesota. It wasn’t that long ago farmers could hardly get into the fields to plant their crops because it was raining all the time and I was mowing my lawn as much as twice a week. This year things are definitely different. We always…
Mirror Neurons 