In the spring of 2018, a few people noticed a slight dip in the ceiling of the sanctuary of Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Charles. The past year had marked the congregation’s 150th anniversary, which coincided with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The spot on the ceiling was barely...
News of an impending blizzard seemed to hit everyone’s phones at once. While the storm had been predicted, it had gathered speed and was barreling down on Concordia, MO earlier than expected. Some of the mourners who had been attending a funeral at Saint Paul Lutheran Church chose to leave...
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” —John 1:29 Instant replay in sports enables officials, commentators and fans to see the plays from every conceivable angle. In some cases, God’s Word affords us similar concepts....
When you think of Sunday School programs, do you imagine classrooms filled with grandparents? At King of Kings Lutheran Church in Chesterfield, they host quarterly Sunday School classes designed for families to attend with all generations. Grandparents learn alongside teenagers, and parents learn alongside young children. The congregation designs these...
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...
Church worker care begins from a place of shared weakness. It begins as we are found vulnerable together in Christ. Paul expressed this shared need to the Corinthians: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts...
Whether it’s a big church or a small church, a rural or city church, it appears there is a genuine reluctance to address stewardship. This hesitancy can be found both in pastors and laity. It seems there is a pattern across many of our congregations. There is an aspect of...