From Pastor’s Desk

It has become vogue in recent decades to think of the gathering of the saints as unnecessary for Christians. When pressed, people will say things like “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.” Such a comment … Continued

As Christians we assert what is true on the basis of God’s Word. When God speaks, there is no reason to equivocate. Our father in the faith Job knew this. That is why, even in the midst of such deep … Continued

How quickly the mood changes. We move from the loud Hosannas to the cries of “Crucify Him!” Such is the fickleness of sinners – one minute praising God, the next minute cursing our neighbor under our breath. And such is … Continued

As Christians we are called to patience. We are not given to immediately see the full fruits of what we believe. That only comes after the Last Day. Until then we must wait. We must endure persecution. We must endure … Continued

How strange that in the middle of the season of Lent, a time of fasting, the account of the feeding of the 5000 is placed before us! And yet it is quite appropriate. The crowds who had followed Jesus had … Continued

In Luther’s rite of Holy Baptism, he actually retained the exorcism at the beginning. The pastor simply says “Depart, you unclean spirit, and make room for the Holy Spirit.” (LSB Agenda, 13) Baptism rescues sinners from the devil’s kingdom. It … Continued

This past Sunday we heard again the account of our Lord Jesus Christ spending forty days in the harsh wilderness waiting patiently for His Heavenly Father to provide His daily bread in due season. This week the Canaanite women patiently … Continued

It was the will of the Holy Spirit and so it was the will of the Father and the will of your Savior to be driven out in the wilderness to fast and to suffer the terrible temptations of the … Continued

When Jesus healed blind Bartemaeus, Bartemaeus’ response was to glorify God and follow Jesus to Jerusalem. That is the response of faith – to follow Jesus where He goes. Christ has healed you of your spiritual blindness, giving to you … Continued

Jesus cried out “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This is what we as Christians are called to do – fill the ears that God gave us with His Word. The Word of God bears fruit. It … Continued

What a joy to be called to labor in the Lord’s vineyard! Each of us, by virtue of our Baptism have been graciously called by the master of the vineyard away from the idle uselessness of unbelief to the richly-rewarding … Continued

I have always loved the last three words which God the Father spoke at the Transfiguration – “Listen to Him.” That is the command given to every Christian – listen to Jesus. Don’t make up a version of Him that … Continued

Behold the over-flowing abundance of God’s kingdom of mercy! When man’s righteousness falls short of the glory of God (and it ALWAYS does!) God’s mercy in Christ flows down in rivers of the finest wine. The master of the feast … Continued

If you had any doubts about the great treasure that your Baptism is, look to the Baptism of Our Lord. There, with the utmost clarity do you see what has been done for and to you in the washing of … Continued

When the appointed time had come the Creator of heaven and earth was brought to His temple by His faithful mother and father to present Him to the Lord in remembrance of Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt at the … Continued

John the Baptist matters not because of who he is but because of who he points to – Jesus. If we would receive John’s testimony then we will turn our eyes away from him and toward the Lord Jesus who … Continued

Even the strongest among us simply cannot endure the troubles and persecutions of this world without the constant preaching of God’s Word ringing in our ears. Though he was appointed to make the Messiah known to Israel through Baptism and … Continued

Children of God, your redemption is drawing near. Indeed, your redemption stands in your very midst as you gather with Christ’s Church to hear your Lord speak and to receive the food of His Flesh and the drink of His … Continued

Too often in Christian circles, our Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed to us as an absent Lord who comes to us only in our thoughts and the imaginations of our heart. Worse, we are expected to somehow ascend to Him … Continued

In these last days in which we live, it is easy to give up the watch waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to return. It is easy to become complacent and assume that He will be delayed and so we … Continued

God loves good works. He accomplishes much good for our neighbor through them. He takes note of them, not because they save a person but because they are done in love, without a thought of reward. And such works are … Continued

When you are training yourself in a skill, especially when that training is physically or mentally exhausting, it is important to keep the end goal in mind. We should know what it is that we are putting in all the … Continued

When someone like the king invites you to his table to celebrate, you go. We can imagine this. If some famous or powerful person invited us today to eat at their house, we would move heaven and earth to get … Continued

Our lives know a great deal of suffering. And we would love for God to take the crosses away so that the earthly suffering could stop. The paralyzed man who was brought to Jesus certainly would have been looking for … Continued

Our goal in this life is not to be exalted either in the eyes of God or in the eyes of man. Any glory that is bestowed upon us is glory that is robbed from Christ to whom alone belongs … Continued

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears toward their cry.” (Palm 34:15) God does not pay attention to those who desperately seek to prove to Him how and good and healthy they are. They have … Continued

Death brings sadness. It doesn’t matter how much we want to pretend that it’s natural. It doesn’t matter that we don’t want people to be sad when we are gone. They will be. We will be sad when our loved … Continued

In this world of constant business and guilt and worry, where everyone expects everything of you and you take on countless numbers of obligations, there is nothing more relieving than to know that saving yourself is never going to be … Continued

It is quite a wonderful gift that we have technologies that allow those whose hearing is failing to recover at least some of what has been lost, or at least provide an alternative way to communicate. The person who can’t … Continued

In the Gospel appointed for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, our Lord teaches us something quite wonderful about the purpose of coming to God’s house and even calling upon God in general. It is precisely those who are unworthy, who … Continued

Emotions aren’t bad things. Our Lord experienced emotions including sadness and anger. God does not require of you that you be stoic and unfeeling. But, those emotions, like all things, ought to be in service to both God and your … Continued

What are stewards charged with? They are charged with the management and care of someone else’s things. That means that the steward is to use those things according to the will of the true owner. The steward is not free … Continued

Those who would teach in Christ’s Church have a solemn duty to know and teach only that which Christ has taught. They are to diligently study the Scriptures and carefully speak so as not to lead anyone away from the … Continued

Food is essential to our life. We may be able to go without it for a while but eventually our body needs nourishment or we die. This is a need that God made you to have and it is a … Continued

It is hard to imagine people who strove so mightily (outwardly) to be righteous as the Jews. They knew the Law of God and believed that they had to make themselves righteous by keeping the Law. But Jesus issues a … Continued

“Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” We can work and strain as much as we want but unless the Lord blesses our efforts, we are striving … Continued

To the one looking for God’s kingdom of mercy and righteousness, the coming of the Savior, even when He was still in the womb of His mother, Mary, is a joyous occasion beyond description. Where the Savior is, there is … Continued

The Lord always desires to receive us back. How long or how far you have wandered doesn’t matter. It brings God great joy when we recognize the foolishness of our sin and what we have thrown away – the goodness … Continued

St. Barnabas was a faithful servant of Christ who accompanied St. Paul on his first apostolic missionary journey. He saw the great work of God among the Gentiles as the Holy Spirit was given to those who believed the Gospel … Continued

Sometimes the hardest thing about the Christian faith is that we can’t simply explain everything in a world that insists on proof (even though so much of what our world believes is built on lies). But there is much of … Continued

The kingdom of God is a kingdom without borders. There is no language or nationality where God does not want the good news of salvation proclaimed because there is no sinner that God does not want to be saved. God … Continued

Everything Jesus says is to keep us from falling away from the truth. He speaks pure truth because it is the only thing that keeps us from falling into the error of unbelief. There is no word that falls from … Continued

Jesus desires your joy to be filled up to overflowing in the truest and deepest sense. He desires you to have the joy that runs so deep that no matter how turbulent the waters of life are, you have the … Continued

God wants you, even commands you, to expect the very best things from Him. He commands you to ask because He is the Giver and He is your Father who didn’t even spare His own Son from death to save … Continued

Sorrow is something that we are all familiar with. We have all, to varying degrees, had to endure times of our life where our hearts are weighed down with grief, with the dread that we will never know joy again … Continued

What is the difference between the Good Shepherd and everyone else? Many things, but one of them is that the Good Shepherd gathers while the others care nothing when the sheep are scattered. Indeed, the hireling flees when the wolf … Continued

How wonderful beyond telling that the Lord Jesus Christ comes to his trembling and unbelieving disciples who are hiding behind locked doors and greets them with “Peace to you”! It didn’t matter how many times they had been told or … Continued

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! This is the day of days, when Christ burst forth from the grave, having trampled sin and death forever under His pierced feet. The light of this day is given to … Continued

What a great joy to begin the solemness of Holy Week with joyous acclamation of praise to our Savior who humbly entered Jerusalem to wage war against the devil, to crush him, to take away all his power over you … Continued

In this fifth week of Lent we see demons enter back into the conversation. On the Third Sunday of Lent we saw the Pharisees accusing Jesus of being in league with the demons. Today, Jesus turns the tables and shows … Continued

Jesus told the tempter “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” And that Word is Jesus Himself! He is the Word of the Father who reveals and wins … Continued

You would think it was easy to distinguish the works of God from the works of the devil. And if we weren’t full of self-righteousness and a desire to tell God how it is, the works of God would be … Continued

We don’t think of God as forgetting until we feel forgotten or ignored. When our flesh presses us to capitulate to temptation day after day. When our spouse’s body or our own are consumed with sickness. When those who hate … Continued

Adam needed nothing. God had given him total access to all of creation with the only exception being the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It doesn’t have that name because its fruit possessed mystical powers. Rather, in … Continued

Hearing is everything. If we do not hear the Law of God that we may know our sin we will imagine that we don’t need salvation. If we do not hear good news of our salvation than we will have … Continued

We all love getting something for nothing. But what we don’t much care for is someone else getting something for nothing. We feel cheated as though it should have been us rather than them. It is crucial, however, that we … Continued

In the midst of darkness and affliction we need encouragement. That is what our Lord granted to Peter, James, and John when He was transfigured before them and conversed with Moses and Elijah. They were about to see Jesus treated … Continued

What pleases the Lord? It isn’t the biggest, best good works you can think to do or getting your life cleaned up or being healthy. What pleases the Lord is that you believe that His Word is true – all … Continued

There are few celebrations as fun and joyous as a wedding reception. The great joy of seeing a man and woman united in holy marriage, starting a new household, finding great joy in one another and looking forward to all … Continued

Baptism is a treasure beyond anything we can have in this life. The act itself is deceptively humble – a little water administered to the body by God’s authority. But its benefits are immeasurable! You simply cannot appreciate enough the … Continued

You have enough. You may be biting your nails, anxiously pouring over bills, worrying about the school supply list, grumbling as you pump more expensive gas into your car, but you have enough. As a child of your heavenly Father … Continued

Our flesh loves to sin. Whether we have been baptized or not, the desires of the flesh remain. It is the great torment of the Christian – the struggle of knowing and wanting the good but also being drawn to … Continued

One of the gifts of Christ that He instituted and gave to His Church was the Office of the Holy Ministry.  Through that ministry the Church exercises Christ’s authority to forgive the sins of repentant sinners and withhold repentance from … Continued

Anger is the belief that you have been wronged and you believe that you must act to right the wrong and bring the evildoer to justice.  Anger assumes that you have the right and responsibility to sit in judgment on … Continued

One of the many criticisms of the Church is that it is full of hypocrites – people who claim to be holy but do unholy things.  But the truth is that those who level that charge are really the hypocrites.  … Continued

Our gods are evidenced by the way in which we conduct our lives.  The rich man believed nothing of God’s mercy towards him and therefore refused to show mercy to his poor neighbor.  He believed that his earthly blessings had … Continued

This Sunday is an especially joyous day for our congregation as four of our catechumens will make public confession of their faith before God and His Church and receive Holy Communion.  And how appropriate that they should be making this … Continued

In the midst of all the uncertainty and anxiousness of this world, thanks be to God that He has poured out the Holy Spirit upon His Church!  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to write the preached Word … Continued

Prayer to our heavenly Father is one of the most precious gifts that Christ has bestowed upon Christians through His atoning death and resurrection.  When we pray we are told that ‘God Himself loves you.’  So our prayers should not … Continued

The Holy Spirit is a teacher who draws us to all that is true and necessary and good for our salvation.  Ultimately, that means that He teaches us the truth about Christ – that Christ is our salvation and our … Continued

We’ve all heard it said ‘This too shall pass,’ when we are in a difficult season of life.  And the good news, for those who know Christ and trust Him, this is most certainly true!  Your times of sorrow will … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I encourage all of you to follow the link below and either read or listen to President Harrison’s sermon delivered on the celebration of our synod’s 175th anniversary.  It’s always and only about Jesus! … Continued

“You are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone…”  And what a strong foundation it is!  Our faith is founded on the witness of those who spoke with God and who were … Continued

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word.”  These are the opening words of the Introit for this Sunday – Quasi modi geniti.  Newborns love to eat – a lot.  And God has so marvelously ordered … Continued

“In Adam all die.” For we are all participants in the sin of Adam, who rebelled against God in the garden and brought the curse of death into the world. But “in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. … Continued

“Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”  These are the cries of the throngs who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as His earthly ministry came to a close and he approached … Continued

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  But are we really satisfied with daily bread?  Are we actually satisfied with what the Lord provides, even though, quite often, it is far more than simply enough to get us through that day? … Continued

“’Reminiscere’ is translated simply as ‘remember’.  This week’s Introit implores God to remember His steadfast mercy and His love, something He most certainly will and has and does.  But do we?  Do we remember all the goodness and tender mercies … Continued

In our sinful hearts, we find temptation to be complicated largely because we don’t know God’s Word as we should and because our flesh doesn’t want to do what is right.  When Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, we see … Continued

In Isaiah 55 God promises that His word would accomplish everything for which He sends it.  This Sunday we hear our Lord Jesus Christ tell His disciples that everything written about THE WORD, the Son of Man, will be accomplished … Continued

We must be careful how we hear the Word of Christ.  We need to be active, attentive hearers, listening with faith.  The Scriptures are not magical.  They don’t bring salvation by simply striking your eardrum.  We are reminded in this … Continued

God gives away his kingdom.  Indeed, he has given it to you. Most certainly that seems to us to be utterly foolish.  We probably would have grumbled just like the first group of laborers.  Why would God simply give something … Continued

The apostle Peter, who was with our Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, writes ‘We have a more sure prophetic word.’  We do not need signs and miracles.  We have the Word of God Almighty that reveals in full everything … Continued

The storms of life are raging all around us.  Some are literally harsh weather events.  Others are ideological storms fought in the ballot box and in conversations.  Others are internal where dark clouds of death hang thick over our heads … Continued

We talk often about God’s Word but it is good for us to really stop and meditate on the power of God’s Word.  When the centurion desires Jesus’ help with his sick servant, he confesses confidence that Jesus’ Word is … Continued

God is lavish in His care.  It may not always feel like it but you can always be assured that your needs are known by your heavenly Father and whatever is good will be given to you.  It certainly does … Continued

We know relatively little about Jesus’ youth.  But this week we do have the opportunity to hear of our Savior at the age of twelve.  The entire life of our Lord is lived as a substitute – doing all that … Continued

“Out of Egypt I have called My Son.”  As the Baptized, we have been called out and away from the Egypt of sin and death.  We have been called out of unbelief and the works of the flesh.  We have … Continued

I doubt many people (if any) have a St. John the Baptist ornament for their Christmas tree.  But maybe we should.  If the point of Christmas is to devote our attention to the Christ who came to save us, could … Continued

The strongest faith in Christ isn’t the one that doesn’t need more Christ but constantly cries out for more Christ – more assurance, more promises, more forgiveness.  John the Baptist was a man of great faith.  That, at least in … Continued

Signs of the times.  Do we understand them?  Are we afraid of them?  Wars and rumors of wars.  Diseases ravaging mankind.  Famine.  Earthquakes.  Hurricanes.  False teachers on every corner and their false teaching spreading like wildfire.  Brothers and sisters in … Continued

In the Christ’s Church we often speak of the three “comings” of our Lord – His coming in humility, His coming in the Sacrament, and His future coming in glory.  These are not three disparate comings but all flow together.  … Continued

We have been forewarned – the Bridegroom is coming.  It is not a question of if but when.  That is the most joyous news we can hear!  The Bridegroom is coming.  What bride doesn’t eagerly await the arrival of her … Continued

What belongs to God and what belongs to Caesar?  Our sinful hearts certainly have trouble answering that question, even though it is really quite simple.  The problem is that we don’t want to give to God what belongs to God … Continued

We all want to be invited to the big celebration.  We don’t want to be left out or forgotten.  The good news is – you are invited!  It’s not to a birthday or a victory celebration but to the banquet … Continued

Supply chains on everything from flooring to lumber to cars are backed in ways many of us have never seen before. Consequently, the one thing that is not at all in short supply is anxiousness.  From the current economic situation … Continued

Through the Apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit teaches us that “the works of the flesh are evident.” Sin is pretty obvious, really.  God hasn’t left it a mystery.  The Ten Commandments are clear.  The problem is that we like sin … Continued

Martyrdom is not something we are accustomed to thinking of in our time.  But, ask John the Baptist. The world’s hatred of God’s Word is very real and he suffered imprisonment and death because of his faith in Christ and … Continued

“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”  These words of St. Elizabeth spoken to St. Mary, the mother of our Lord, are definitely words worth learning by … Continued

The Church of God has always suffered the plague of those who would change God’s Word in order to placate our sinful thoughts and desires.  Indeed, that desire lives deep within each and every one of our own hearts.  The … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, In light of the high tension and anxiety regarding tomorrow’s inauguration and the state of our nation, I commend to you the following prayer: “Dear Father in heaven, all power and authority in heaven … Continued

Dear saints of God, Happy New Year!  (Pastor’s lost his marbles.  He doesn’t even know what time of year it is.)  While the first statement may be true, I am certain it is a new year – a new Christian … Continued

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As a new Church Year approaches ( yes, Advent is just around the corner!), I wanted to begin a series of newsletters teaching about the Christian Church year, the liturgy, and the various ceremonies … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, This Sunday is a very special day in Faith’s history.  This Sunday we will officially be established as an independent congregation of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.  The Lord has richly blessed us these past … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Division is everywhere around us – black vs. white, old vs. young, rich vs. poor, Democrat vs. Republican, men vs. women.  It seems as though before long there will be nothing left but every … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, March 8th. That was the last Sunday we all were able to gather together as a congregation. Atthe time this letter was written it had been eleven weeks since the church doors were closedand … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The COVID 19 pandemic has certainly been holding all of our attention pretty securely. But before all this began we had been in the process of becoming an independent congregation. Although our pace slowed … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   We pray this letter finds you and your family well and safe.  These are indeed strange … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, These are very special times in the life of the congregation of Faith in Wylie. Have you ever had the opportunity to be part of a congregation that is just stepping out on its … Continued

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.” Dr. Luther selected these beautiful but simple words of praise and thanksgiving from 1 Chronicles 16 to begin returning … Continued

It’s October, the month when Lutherans look back to that day in 1517 when Dr. Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg. But that was only the beginning. Debates, diets, councils, conflicts and wars were quick … Continued

We are about half way through the “Everyone His Witness” evangelism workshop. I pray it has given you a lot of food for thought and perhaps clarified what true Christian witnessing is all about. If you haven’t been able to … Continued

What joy we have as children of the resurrection that we can declare this glorious truth each and every day, that we can bask in all of the blessings that Christ has poured out to us through our Baptism into … Continued