And [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. —Luke 9:23 In the eyes of the world, the season of Lent is a downer. All of this talk about sin, repentance and even death are deemed offensive by many of...

Rev. Ronald Paul Hilmer was called home to Jesus on Sunday, March 3rd, 2019. He is survived by his wife Margaret “Maggie” Todd Hilmer, children Jonathan Hilmer, Lorri Hilmer Hackett, Jim Bone, Lisa Todd Van Buren, Andrea Todd Schneider and brother, Gary Hilmer. He was known as a loving grandfather,...

For the middle part of the Twentieth Century, people in our country streamed into our churches. New churches were planted as people from rural communities left the farm for sprawling cities and new suburbs and subdivisions that began to spring up everywhere. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod grew to 2.8 million...

Pray for Bourbon! Do I have your attention? I’m not talking about “spirits” you can bottle, but the Spirit at work among the saints in the small town of Bourbon, Missouri, population 1601. About an hour southwest of St. Louis, I-44 zooms past their quaint community where Concordia Lutheran Church...