Reflections

March 23, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 13:1-9Daily Lectionary: Genesis 27:30-45; 28:10-22; Mark 9:1-13[Jesus said,] “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Hurry up and wait. That’s often the situation in this world. You scramble to get a paper or project turned in for class by the due date, and then it takes your teacher long weeks to return it to you. Your parents ask you to get your chores done right away, but when you need something from them, it seems like the hands of the clock are turning in molasses. You hurry up, and then you wait. That seems to be the experience of these words from Jesus. First, He insists that your repentance is needed right away! Repent, Jesus says, before a tower falls on you or an evil dictator puts you to death for no good reason. Don’t delay, but repent of your sin!And then, Jesus turns around and tells a parable that seems to have a completely different point. Instead of “repent before you die,” Jesus talks about a patient vinedresser who tells the farm owner to be patient with the unproductive fruit tree before having the tree chopped down. “Let me work my magic,” the vinedresser pleads. “Don’t chop it down yet; I have hope that it will work out.” Right after the call to “hurry up and repent,” Jesus now talks about waiting.It’s REALLY important to look at this two-part teaching that Jesus gives in order. First, He provides the Law. “Repent before it’s too late!” These words are addressed to comfortable sinners. If you think that everything is okay and that you have life under control, look at your life and repent of your sin. On the other hand, the second part of this reading shows the Gospel. If you are crushed by your guilt and sin, hear that the Lord is merciful and patient, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He isn’t quick to judge or cut down trees but takes time to see the work of His Word in people, including you.  If you are afraid that you aren’t a good enough Christian or if you wonder if there’s a chance that God will judge you because of your sinfulness, remember the vinedresser who begs for more time and more effort before chopping down the fig tree. Your Savior Jesus is patient with you, delivering His Word to you so that you will not perish but have everlasting life.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent)-Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-23

04:31

March 22, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Lent 3 - Psalm 5:4-8; antiphon: Psalm 1:6Daily Lectionary: Genesis 27:1-29; Mark 8:22-38But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. (Psalm 5:7)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The world has forgotten to fear God. Christians, too. We’ve managed to turn God into a milquetoast deity who makes threats that no one really believes he’ll carry through. The god of postmodern imagination has a bark that far surpasses his bite. Instead of the righteous judge who holds the power to condemn or to save, we have an image of a god who nods approvingly at all of our faults and blunders (which we don’t think are that bad anyway) and accepts us for whatever we are.We’ve lost the fear of God.But we can’t regain the fear of God by making God angry again. This, too, is a god of our own imagination who swings his hammer of judgment without a hint of mercy. True, the God of Scripture often becomes angry, and sometimes that anger ends in an act of judgment or punishment, but this is alien to His nature of love.To learn the proper fear of God, turn to the Psalms. No other book of the Bible speaks of fear as much as the Psalms. But the Psalms do not try to soften God’s judgments, nor do they intensify His anger. The fear of the Lord first recognizes God’s righteous anger over sin and His threats of punishment: “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.” (Psalm 5:4). But it also recognizes that His anger is always tempered by His mercy and His steadfast love.“But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house.” There is no entrance into the house of God, into the presence of God, apart from an abundance of His steadfast love. He is not permissive; He is merciful. Psalm 5 also highlights another aspect of the fear of God. To fear God doesn’t mean to quake in His presence, nor does it mean to disregard the ongoing severity of our sin. It means to worship God. “I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.” The fear of God is the worship of God, and the worship of God is to receive His Gifts. That’s the way of the righteous.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Blessèd Jesus, at Your Word We are gathered all to hear You. Let our hearts and souls be stirred Now to seek and love and fear You, By Your teachings, sweet and holy, Drawn from earth to love You solely. (LSB 904:1)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-22

04:16

March 21, 2025Today's Reading: Genesis 25:1-26Daily Lectionary: Genesis 24:32-52, 61-67; Genesis 25:1-26:35; Mark 8:1-21Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. (Genesis 25:26)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Jacob is well-named. Ya-akob means “heel-grabber,” and he is called Jacob because he was born clutching his twin brother’s heel. Esau’s birth was straightforward, but his twin Jacob was born arm-first, which immediately put his life and his mother’s in danger. “In the very midst of life, we are in death,” sings an old song in the church. Yet God had promised Rebekah that she would be the mother of two nations, and that promise sustained her through a healthy delivery. But just as they struggled in the womb, these brothers continued to struggle with each other for years, thus fulfilling the Lord’s prophecy concerning these twins.Jacob continued to live up to his name, though. More broadly, Jacob means “supplanter.” The manner of Jacob’s birth suggests that he was struggling to be born first, to hold his brother back. Before he knew the rules of inheritance, he struggled for the birthright of the firstborn. Later, Jacob would accomplish what he started when he grabbed his brother’s heel, bartered for Esau’s birthright, and tricked his father into blessing the whole thing. “The older shall serve the younger,” said the Lord (Gen. 25:23).The heel business is an interestingly inverted sign. Jacob grabbed hold of the promise by striking at his brother’s heel and risking a crushed head at his birth. But it’s not the struggle of two brothers that fulfills God’s first promise. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). The devil struck the heel of Jesus and even wounded His sacred head on the cross. But in striving to overcome the one and only Son of God, the devil suffered a bruise and more. “You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck” (Habakkuk 3:13). Jacob grabbed the heel to get at the promise, but Jesus used His heel to keep the promise. So let us grab hold of Jesus’ heel, that is, His promise, and we will be born again.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Bruise for me the serpent’s head That, set free from doubt and dread, I may cling to You in faith, Safely kept through life and death. (LSB 352:5)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-21

04:18

March 20, 2025Today's Reading: Catechism: The Creed - The Second ArticleDaily Lectionary: Genesis 24:1-31; Mark 7:24-37Who has redeemed me…not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death… (Small Catechism: The Creed - The Second Article, Explanation)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. I once heard a corny religious joke about a rich man who wanted to be buried with a bag of gold so that he could bring it with him to heaven. When he got to the pearly gates, St. Peter asked him what he brought with him. The man opened his bag, and St. Peter remarked, “Why did you bring pavement with you?”The joke plays on Revelation 21:21, which describes the heavenly city: “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” In fact, gold and silver and precious stones are frequently associated with the things of God, not just in Revelation’s picture of heaven, but also in the tabernacle and later the temple, where God was present for His people. The Magi bring gold as one of their gifts for the baby Jesus. Your church may have Communion vessels plated with silver or gold. But gold can also be idolatrous. The calf Aaron fashioned for Israel to worship while Moses was on the mountain was a golden calf. Martin Luther observed in his explanation of the First Commandment in the Large Catechism that the most common false god in the world is Mammon. Possessions. Money. Silver and gold. Silver and gold are precious metals, but their worth is relative. That’s the irony in the joke. When gold is so plentiful you can pave streets with it, it’s not worth that much. In the kingdom of heaven, there is something of far greater worth.Heaven’s currency is neither silver nor gold; it’s the holy, precious blood of Jesus, more precious than gold or silver. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). Redemption requires a transaction, and Jesus offers the blood that He shed in His innocent suffering and death in exchange for our lives. His death was the down payment on the redemption that will be complete in our own resurrection.Silver and gold become gods when you put your faith in them, according to Luther. But Jesus shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins, which is what creates and sustains faith. And He gives this Gift for you, sometimes in a chalice of gold or silver, but always with the promise of forgiveness. “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord, I believe, were sinners more Than sands upon the ocean shore, Thou hast for all a ransom paid,For all a full atonement made. (LSB 563:4)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-20

04:26

March 19, 2025Today's Reading: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23Daily Lectionary: Genesis 22:1-19; Mark 7:1-23And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:14-15)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.St. Joseph has a small but very important role to play in the history of salvation. He is only featured in the infancy narratives of Jesus and in His genealogy. He is referred to again in the story of Jesus teaching in the temple as an adolescent, though not by name. Then, he disappears from the story. Presumably, St. Joseph died when Jesus was a teenager or a young man. The Bible doesn’t say for certain, but when Jesus entrusts His mother, Mary, to the care of His beloved disciple, John, it confirms that Joseph was no longer around to care for Mary.Despite his almost cameo appearance in the biblical narrative, Joseph’s role is very important. First, in a very simple way, Joseph was entrusted with taking care of the Christ child along with His mother. While he was not Jesus’ father by blood, he was a father in office. He was the legal guardian and adopted father of Jesus, and so Jesus was legally part of Joseph’s family tree. By willingly taking on this role when He was called by God through the voice of an angel, Joseph confirms the goodness and necessity of dads, and he provides an example of the kind of sacrificial love dads should have for their families. Any young men who read the story of Joseph who hope to be dads one day, or who have already become dads, should be encouraged by his example and selfless service to his wife and child.But Joseph also plays a spiritual role in the history of salvation. In carrying out his role as the guardian of Jesus, he takes Him to Bethlehem to be born and then into Egypt to hide from Herod’s wrath. He brings Him back out of Egypt after Herod’s death and settles in His hometown of Nazareth. His guardianship of Jesus fulfills prophecies that show Jesus to be the Son of God. “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’”In his adopted fatherhood, Joseph also reveals the Fatherhood of God and the divine Sonship of Jesus. Thanks be to God for the service of St. Joseph, and for all fathers.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Almighty God, from the house of Your servant David You raised up Joseph to be the guardian of Your incarnate Son and the husband of His mother, Mary. Grant us grace to follow the example of this faithful workman in heeding Your counsel and obeying Your commands; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Festival of St. Joseph)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-19

04:28

March 18, 2025Today's Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1Daily Lectionary: Genesis 21:1-21; Mark 6:35-56But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:20-21)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so the saying goes. While it is often attributed to Oscar Wilde, the concept of honoring admirable behavior by imitation has a long history. Imitation is fundamental to the master-disciple relationship, which is the paradigmatic relationship of the Bible. Just as Jesus called His disciples to imitate Him, for example, by washing their feet to demonstrate how they should love each other, St. Paul invites his disciples to imitate him. But Paul did not originate; he, too, imitates. The example he sets is also the one that was set before him by his Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.If you don’t imitate, then you’re an enemy. Paul doesn’t allow for much middle ground. Walk according to his example or walk as enemies of Christ. This walk idolizes the belly, celebrates shame, and always puts the mind in the gutter. It’s important to note the goals or the destinations of these two diametrically opposed courses of life. “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things,” St. Paul writes of those who walk as enemies of Christ and do not imitate him. It is a dead-end road. On the other hand, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” The goal of imitating the walk of St. Paul is heaven. Even as residents of Earth, we attain heavenly citizenship in imitation.But imitation alone can be simply superficial. Imitation without transformation is hypocrisy. The transformation comes by faith—first in a hidden way in this life and then revealed in the life to come, when we are glorified in our bodies as Christ is glorified in His body. While imitating behaviors and actions can have some benefit, St. Paul’s invitation is to imitate his faith. For faith trusts the power of God to make all things new.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O God, by the patient suffering of Your only-begotten Son, You have beaten down the pride of the old enemy. Now help us, we humbly pray, to imitate all that our Lord has of His goodness borne for our sake, that after His example, we may bear with patience all that is adverse to us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord (Treasury of Daily Prayer, Collect for 18 August)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-18

04:36

March 17, 2025Today's Reading: Jeremiah 26:8-15Daily Lectionary: Genesis 18:1-15; Genesis 18:16-20:18; Mark 6:14-34Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. (Jeremiah 26:13)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. You’d better shape up! Perhaps one of your parents or a teacher or a coach has said something like this to you. Get your act together! Turn it around! Fix that attitude! Truthfully, we need to be told these things because we get bent out of shape, our acts fall apart, we walk in the wrong ways, and our attitudes are sour more often than they should be. Perhaps more often than we’d like to admit.Jeremiah has a similar message for the officials of Judah and all the people: “Mend your ways and your deeds!” he says. By this, he means, “Obey the voice of the Lord your God!” Shape up, get it together, turn it around, fix that attitude. Or else the Lord will bring disaster. But if you obey, God will relent.That’s the way the Law of God works. Threats and punishments. Obey…or else. We call this the first use of the Law, and it is somewhat successful in getting people to do the things that they should do. In this case, it worked. The officials and all the people decided not to put Jeremiah to death. But behaviors motivated by threats and punishments don’t last. They’re superficial. The Law of God also shows us what we should be doing and even offers rewards for those who do it. The converse of Jeremiah’s threat is that if the people mend their ways and obey God, they will be rewarded. We call this the third use of the Law. But such positive reinforcement also only goes so far. We do the Law for selfish gain. The Law of God can keep us from doing what we shouldn’t do and even get us to do what we should do, but it will never make us love doing it. And without love, you cannot fulfill the Law (Rom. 13:10).There is another function of the Law. St. Paul writes, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass” (Rom 5:20). Even though the people relented in putting Jeremiah to death, the pattern of persecuting the prophets continued to Jesus, whom the officials and the people put to death for speaking God’s Word. But in putting Him to death, God revealed the solution to the problem of the Law. “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20). By increasing the trespass, the Law also shows the severity of our sin and the abundance of God’s grace. Turn it around and turn to the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.To Jesus we for refuge flee, Who from the curse has set us free, And humbly worship at His throne, Saved by His grace through faith alone. (LSB 579:6)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-17

04:34

March 16, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 13:31-35Daily Lectionary: Genesis 16:1-9, 15-17:22; Mark 6:1-13O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! (Luke 13:34)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. People don’t like to hear God’s Word. It’s uncomfortable, demanding, condemning. His Word calls a thing what it is and calls people what they are. Sinners. Enemies of God. God’s Word doesn’t mince words. And that’s why Jerusalem kills prophets and stones apostles. People don’t like to hear God’s Word, so it must be silenced.Why did Jerusalem react so violently to the prophetic voices sent by God? The pattern of putting prophets to death shows that God’s Word isn’t just a few suggestions to improve already good people. It’s a violent encounter of the holy God with sinful man. The prophets are well aware of this: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips,” lamented Isaiah at the foundation-shaking voice speaking God’s Word (Is. 6:5). We are not that different from Jerusalem. Perhaps none of us have resorted to murder at the sound of God’s Word, but we would rather it be silenced nonetheless. His Word makes us uncomfortable. It’s demanding. Condemning. Even the preachers who are sent to proclaim it shy away from it. But even stopping your ears and despising God’s Word is a violent attack on God.Violence is not God’s nature, though. To curb sinful rebellion, God sometimes resorts to violent measures, but that’s foreign to His nature. Jesus, the Son of God, shows the heart of God when He speaks as a mother hen. “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” And as the prophets before Him, Jerusalem put Him to death for speaking a Word that people don’t want to hear.But then something ironic happens. When they kill this Prophet, He begins to gather His brood like a mother hen. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). On the cross, His tender heart shed the blood that cleanses us from all sin. On the cross, He put hostility to death. With the New Testament of Jesus’ Blood, there is no more violent encounter with God—only an invitation to His pierced side.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-16

04:35

March 15, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Lent 2 - Psalm 74:1-3; antiphon: Psalm 69:9Daily Lectionary: Genesis 15:1-21; Mark 5:21-43For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. (Psalm 69:9)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Lord our God is a zealous God. He often reminds us of that in the sacred Scripture. Being zealous can be sinful when it is disoriented by selfish ambition and disregard for others, but it can also be pious and just. Such zeal is the desire to guard and protect what is yours from all danger and harm. God is zealous because He does not want to lose His creation to the devil’s corruption.Zeal can also consume God’s people. David wrote the 69th Psalm during a time of persecution and trouble. Open rebellion was upon the great king, but he did not want to lose that which God had won. “For zeal for your house has consumed me.” His lament and imprecatory prayer for God’s judgment was not from a selfish desire to get even with his enemies but that what God had won would not be lost to wicked people. His zeal was for the wood and metal and stone that housed the things of God, yes, but also for the household of God–the people of God. This same Psalm applies to Jesus. In fact, it is, first and foremost, a song of Jesus and only secondarily a song of David. One Passover Jesus went to Jerusalem and found money changers in the temple. In fact, it was probably something He found every time He went to the temple; trading in sacrifices could be a lucrative business. On this occasion, though, Jesus does something uncharacteristic. “And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables” (John 2:15). Perhaps the disciples were surprised by the normally demure Jesus’ outburst. But then they remembered the Psalm that gives us tomorrow’s antiphon. “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’” (John 2:17). Jesus’ zeal was for the wood and the metal and the stone, yes, but it was also for that which the wood, metal, and stone housed–the Gifts of God for the people of God. The traders had turned the Gift into a work.It was His zeal that ultimately got Jesus killed. Like David before Him, His own people rose up in rebellion and put Him to death. As in Psalm 74, when the wicked took hatchet and hammer and fire to the sanctuary of God (Ps. 74:6-7), the enemies of Jesus tore down the temple of His body. But there is a sign that God remembers His congregation, His people. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Holy this temple where our Lord is dwelling; This is none other than the gate of heaven. Ever Your children, year by year rejoicing, Chant in Your temple. (LSB 916:2)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-15

04:42

March 14, 2025 Today's Reading: Mark 5:1-20Daily Lectionary: Genesis 13:1-18; Genesis 14:1-24; Mark 5:1-20And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. (Mark 5:13)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Unclean spirits hate water. When Jesus explains what happens after an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, he says, “...it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.” (Matt. 12:43). Waterless places–the wilderness and the desert–are often associated with demonic forces in the Bible. Such a dry spirit can return. Jesus continues, “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first” (Matt. 12:45). What do you do when the spirits are many?Such a fate had befallen the madman from the Gerasenes. So wild and erratic and even violent was he that he lived among the tombs–a place filled with dry bones. No one could overcome his seemingly supernatural strength, and his cries and self-harm repelled most other helpers. But then the man met Jesus. He confessed Him to be the Son of God. When Jesus asked him his name, he responded, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” He took a plural pronoun because there was not just one unclean spirit inhabiting the man. His–or rather, their–wild and erratic and even violent behavior was because there was a war going on within him. A struggle for identity. He was a living example of the warning Jesus once gave about unclean spirits and waterless places.There is only one possible destination for this Legion to take care of them for good. “Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.’” Jesus grants the request but then drives the herd of swine into the sea to drown them. Unclean spirits hate water. And having been drowned, they will not return.“What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” Baptism makes you a watered place, a place unfit for unclean spirits. Daily contrition and repentance keep the baptismal spring flowing so that there is room for only one spirit. A new spirit. The Holy Spirit.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.This is the Spirit’s entry now: The water and the Word, The cross of Jesus on your brow, The seal both felt and heard. (LSB 591:1)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-14

04:37

March 13, 2025Today's Reading: Catechism: The Creed - The First ArticleDaily Lectionary: Genesis 11:27-12:20; Mark 4:21-41He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. (Small Catechism: The Creed - The First Article, Explanation)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill; they shall not overpower us.” Churches around the world sang these words this week after hearing how our Lord Jesus Christ overcame the devil and his temptations. These are words of sure confidence in the face of a powerful foe.Although, let us not become overconfident. The devil is powerful, but he is also cunning. Scripture depicts him as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), a prowling lion (1 Pet. 5:8), and a great liar and deceiver (Rev. 12:9). It would not be beyond that old serpent to throw a few battles and feign defeat in the hopes of winning the overall war for your soul.Overconfidence happens when we turn from God’s provision and protection to our own powers. Overconfidence happens when our faith shifts from our heavenly Father to the strength of our own faith. Overconfidence is when we decide that it is God who needs the defense and protection and that we are the ones who can provide it. God does not need our apologetics.The confidence that we have in the face of the old, evil foe, the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, is the Truth. Not just any truth, but Truth with a capital T. Jesus is the Truth who stands up against the devil’s lies, even when they sound oh so sweet. And this Truth is God’s Word. He is the Word made flesh, and He cannot but speak the Word of God.The Father sends us this Truth to defend us against all danger and guard and protect us from all evil. And it is this Truth upon which our faith rests and from which our confidence grows. Martin Luther’s famous hymn completes its third stanza with the ground of our confidence: “This world’s prince may stillScowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none. He’s judged; the deed is done; One little word can fell him.” Put your faith in God’s Word, in Jesus Christ and His Gospel, for the Father cannot deny His own Word. He will guard you and protect you against all danger and evil.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us, We tremble not, we fear no ill; They shall not overpow’r us. ( LSB 656:3)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-13

04:17

March 12, 2025Today's Reading: Genesis 8:13-9:17Daily Lectionary: Genesis 8:13-9:17; Genesis 9:18-11:26; Mark 4:1-20“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. There’s something special about the blood. Prior to the flood, God had given man “every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit” as food (Gen. 1:29). But when Noah emerged from the ark, God provided a new menu. “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything” (Gen. 9:3). There’s one caveat, though. “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Gen. 9:4). There’s something special about the blood. “The life of the flesh is in the blood,” says the Lord through Moses (Lev. 17:11). The blood has a special use. Because of this, the blood of man is sacred. “And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image’” (Gen. 9:5-6).The ethical dimension of this declaration indicates that all human life has dignity because God made man in His own image. Shedding the blood of man is a direct assault upon God, and the penalty is severe. But an even more interesting spiritual dimension begins to emerge when you realize that Genesis 9 echoes Genesis 1. And when you compare God’s Word to Noah to His Word to Adam, you see what’s so special about the blood.To both Noah and Adam, God makes a declaration concerning his image in a poetic verse (Gen. 1:27; Gen. 9: 6). He follows this declaration with a command and a blessing, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28; Gen. 9:7). And He gives instructions concerning food. Adam receives all plants and Noah all meat. But God has a caveat for Adam, just as He has for Noah. Just as Noah was forbidden to eat the blood, Adam was forbidden to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.The Tree of Knowledge had God’s Word attached to it, Martin Luther remarks, and so was a place of worship. Likewise, God reserved the blood for His Word and for worship. “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” (Words of Institution). There’s something special about the blood. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lift we, then, our voices, Swell the mighty flood; Louder still and louder Praise the precious blood! (LSB 433:6)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-12

04:24

March 11, 2025 Today's Reading: Romans 10:8b-13Daily Lectionary: Genesis 7:11-8:12; Mark 3:20-35“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” (Romans 10:8b)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. St. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30:14 to remind us of our proximity to the Word of God. “It is not in heaven,” Moses writes. “Neither is it beyond the sea.” Though it is indeed a heavenly Word and a foreign Word, that does not make it inaccessible. “The word is very near you.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).How did this Word get so close? St. Paul gives a parenthetical remark: “‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim).” The Word comes near by proclamation. The heavenly, foreign Word of God comes to us on earth from preachers sent by God to every nation. The prophets of old brought the Word of God near to His people of old, and now His Word is brought to every nation by the apostolic ministry of the Church.But the center of it all is Jesus Christ. He is the Word made flesh (John 1), the one to whom the prophets pointed and the one who sends out His chosen apostles and their successors. In Christ, the Word has come very near to humanity by joining Himself with our humanity. No matter where He went or what He did, it was always accompanied by a Word. When someone speaks, his words usually land in the ear, but with this Word, it’s different. “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” writes St. Paul as Moses had written before him. This Word lands not only in the ear but also in the mouth because this is the Word made flesh. “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:55). Since you can’t eat a word (even a Word made flesh) like other bread, Jesus gives us bread along with this word: “Take, eat, this is my body.” In the Sacrament, He puts His Word in our mouths. And since this is no ordinary food, it does not travel to the stomach only to be expelled; it travels to our hearts and plants a new creation. From a new heart, then, comes new words from our own mouths. He puts His Word in our mouths to speak sanctified words of our very own. The Word is near you, very near indeed.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord, open now my heart to hear, And through Your Word to me draw near; Let me Your word e’er pure retain; Let me Your child and heir remain. (LSB 908:1)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-11

04:20

March 10, 2025Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11Daily Lectionary: Genesis 6:1-7:5; Mark 3:1-19And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you. (Deuteronomy 26:11)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.God is, by nature, a gift-giver. The wandering Aramean who went down into Egypt and sojourned there became a great, mighty, and populous nation because of the Gift of God. And after He brought them out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, great deeds of terror, and not a few miracles, He continued to give Gifts. In the wilderness, it was bread from heaven, quail for meat, water from a rock, and countless other blessings. He gave unexpected military conquests and ultimately the fulfillment of the promise He had made long ago to that wandering Aramean’s family.Now this great and mighty nation was on the doorstep of the land that the Lord God was giving them. It would not be long before they would plant and harvest more than milk and honey. In response to these many great Gifts, the Lord expected a response. A Gift received without a thank-you is theft. Robbery. The Lord God Himself defined the return Gift—an offering of firstfruits. But it wasn’t just the first of the fruit that God required. He also required a confession of faith. “And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me” (Deut. 26:8-10).God doesn’t just establish a principle for stewardship. The firstfruits offering was a liturgical offering connected to the great feasts of Israel. The liturgy, which Israel enacted year after year, was in anticipation of what God Himself would do—offer a Gift of His first and best.“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God did not hold back and give us His second-best. He gave His one and only Son, the firstborn of creation (Col. 1:15), begotten of His Father before all worlds. He gave Him up as an offering on the cross. But then, on the day following the Sabbath in the week of Unleavened Bread, as the priest waved an offering of firstfruits at the altar, Jesus rose from the dead. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). By giving your first and best to God, you are not just demonstrating sound finances and good Christian stewardship. You are confessing the resurrection. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.We give Thee but Thine own, Whate’er the gift may be; All that we have is Thine alone, A trust, O Lord, from Thee. (LSB 781:1)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!

03-10

04:39

March 9, 2025 Today's Reading: Luke 4:1-13Daily Lectionary: Genesis 4:1-26; Mark 2:18-28The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” (Luke 4:3-4)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Did you catch that? It’s subtle, but it says a world about how the thoughts of the devil and Jesus are fundamentally and diametrically opposed. The devil says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” He appeals to Jesus’ divinity and His almighty power to turn a stone into bread. Of course, Jesus could command the stone to be bread just as easily as God commanded light to shine in the darkness or fish to swarm the sea. But that’s not why He’s wandering in the wilderness. The truth is that the Son of God does not live on bread, let alone any other form of physical food. By summoning the power of His divine nature, Jesus could have continued to fast for 40 years as He wandered through the wilderness. But that is not His concern.“Though he was in the form of God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,” St. Paul writes (Phil. 2:6). In response to the devil’s taunt, Jesus does not identify with His divine nature nor muster His divine power. Instead, He identifies with His human nature. “And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”’” Even as a man, it’s not bread that He needs. “Man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord,” says the Law (Deut. 8:3).The devil’s first temptation of Jesus rhymes with his first temptation of man. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). “Be like God, and eat,” says the devil. But to this, God says, “Listen, and be like God.” For God’s Word restores His image and likeness by forgiving our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. To be good and holy and right is the image and likeness of God.Having made us like Him once again, God invites us to eat. Man does not live by bread alone, but the Lord has found it good to give us His Word with bread to eat and wine to drink. Thanks be to God for this bread and for the bread that sustains us every day. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O Lord God, You led Your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide the people of Your Church that following our Savior we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the First Sunday in Lent)-Rev. Jacob Ehrhard, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.Visit the timeless rhythms of the Christian life with award-winning author Harold L. Senkbeil. As he addresses the concerns and pressures of the world today, you'll discover that even while the world is dying, Christ's death brings about life. True life. One that He offers to you. Order Now!