“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you,” (Luke 17:20b–21 ESV). Jesus spoke these words in response to the Pharisees asking when the...

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are,” (1 John 3:1 ESV). The apostle John wrote such tender words: “… that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” We often think...

Dear friends in Christ, Leadership questions never seem far off in the life of the church. Who is in charge? Whose vision will we follow? Which program, strategy, or personality will carry us forward? In anxious moments, we can begin looking for a human head or leader to stabilize things,...

Dear friends in Christ, The world uses numbers and influence to determine value, and it’s easy to measure the church by these same values. Discouragement can set in when those measurements seem small. We wonder if we matter, if the church still has a place, or if God has forgotten...

Dear Friends in Christ, If you walk through almost any older church building in our District, you will notice the signs of time. There will be cracks in the plaster or a steeple that needs repair. Tiles might be loose in spots, and a once mighty organ might need more...

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a...

Anyone who has spent much time serving Christ’s Church knows that ministry can be exhausting. Pastors preach, teach, visit, counsel, bury, baptize, administer the Sacrament, and carry burdens few people ever see. Teachers prepare lessons, shepherd children, answer difficult questions, deal with frustrations, and wonder whether anything they said actually...

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the church! One of the key tenets of Lutheran theology is that individual Christians are citizens of two kingdoms, the “right-hand kingdom” of the church and the “left-hand kingdom” of the state. God works...

When we speak about ministry in the Church, it is easy to begin with ourselves—our abilities, our responsibilities, our programs, our plans, and sometimes even our frustrations. But Paul begins somewhere entirely different. He begins with Christ: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,”...

When Rev. Dr. Alvin L. Barry, 10th president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, died in office March 23, 2001, Dean David Smith preached his funeral sermon under the title, “The God Who Is Able.” The text was Jude 24: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling...