Newsletter

<p>They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32) April 18, 2023 Dear friends, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/04/18/easter-goes-on/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Easter goes on</span></a></span></p>

<p>April 10, 2023 Dear friends, First, a reminder! FAMILY NIGHT is Wednesday evening at 5:30pm. Pizza and the 8th commandment! I think this forecast means we’ll be doing our lesson outside. . .! Second, let me urge you this week to spend more time reading the Bible! Last week, the<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/04/10/the-festival-of-easter/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">The Festival of Easter</span></

<p>April 3, 2023 Dear friends, I’ve shared this message the last couple of years, and it bears repeating again. Holy Week is a gift to us as the days leading up to Easter are set apart for giving special attention to the Passion of Jesus. It is called his Passion<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/04/03/scripture-for-holy-week-3/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Scripture for Holy Week</span></a></span></p>

<p>March 28, 2023 Dear friends, While I was a vicar in a Chicago suburb about 10 years ago, I was assigned to preach on Thanksgiving Eve. A common text for Thanksgiving is the story of the ten lepers whom Jesus cleansed. They all went away well, but only one returned<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/03/28/how-much-now/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">How much, now?</span></a></span></p>

<p>March 21, 2023 Dear friends, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:2). Did you do your homework? What did you discover<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/03/22/first-things-first/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">First things first</span></a></span></p>

<p>March 14, 2023 Dear friends, “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/03/14/the-thing-about-10/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">The thing about 10%</span></a></span></p>

<p>March 7, 2023 Dear friends, “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love” (Micah 7:18). Steadfast love is what moves God to give. He gave the earth<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/03/07/the-deceitfulness-of-riches/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">The deceitfulnes

<p>February 28, 2023 Dear friends, “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). Part of me hears that in an awful way. Something like: “You’re going to give, and you’d better be happy about it!” That’s not how Paul meant it. Consider the whole passage. Paul is writing to the<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/02/28/a-cheerful-giver/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">A cheerful giver</span></a></span></p>

<p>February 21, 2023 Dear friends, “Is not this the fast that I choose:to loose the bonds of wickedness,to undo the straps of the yoke,to let the oppressed go free,and to break every yoke?Is it not to share your bread with the hungryand bring the homeless poor into your house; when<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/02/21/fat-tuesday/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Fat Tuesday</span></a></span></p>

<p>February 14, 2023 Friends, The Bible doesn’t imagine the possibility that you could have too much of God’s Word. There’s no such thing. In fact, the Bible imagines that God’s Word will seep into every corner of your life so that when you’re not reading or hearing the Bible, you’re<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/02/14/have-to-and-want-to/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Have to and want to</span></a><

<p>February 7, 2023 Friends, Family night is this week! Wednesday at 5:30pm, starting with pizza in the fellowship hall. We’ve been working through the commandments this year, and this month brings us to the 6th Commandment. You shall not commit adultery.What does this mean?We should fear and love God so<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/02/07/the-sixth-commandment/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">The Sixt

<p>January 31, 2023 Friends, “Buy truth, and do not sell it;buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding” (Prov. 23:23). When Pontius Pilate was perplexed by Jesus, wondering what kind of a man this was in front of him, Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/01/31/buy-truth/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Buy truth</span></a></span></p>

<p>January 24, 2023 Friends, More and more all the time I enjoy this exercise with the kids: I’ll put a piece of Biblical artwork up on the screen in the fellowship hall. It helps to know the story that’s portrayed before you the ask the question. But the question is<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/01/24/what-do-you-see/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">What do you see?</span></a></span></p>

<p>January 17, 2023 Friends, I’ve often written to you about the Church Year. It’s a helpful tool for governing our lives according to God’s time. It keeps us focused on his saving work among us. It teaches us to think of our days in view of Jesus’ life, death, and<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/01/17/the-church-year/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">The Church Year</span></a></span></p>

<p>January 10, 2023 Friends, “The word Epiphany means ‘to make known’. At Christmas we journeyed with the shepherds to see the Baby in the manger. Now, in Epiphany we journey with the wise men, and the full nature of the Christ Child is made known to us. Epiphany reminds us<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/01/10/epiphany-3/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Epiphany</span></a></span></p>

<p>January 3, 2023 Friends, Don’t forget, there’s an Epiphany Service at 6pm on Friday, January 6 at Redeemer in St. Cloud! The service will be followed by an Epiphany Party organized by Vicar Otten and his wife Ehryn – introducing some of the European customs – cake and crowns and<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2023/01/03/good-resolutions/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Good resolutions</span></a></span></

<p>December 27, 2022 Friends, First, mark your calendars for an Epiphany Service at 6pm on Friday, January 6 at Redeemer in St. Cloud. Epiphany marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas and brings us into the next season of the Church Year. We’ve all been invited by Pastor<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2022/12/27/the-first-martyr/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">The first martyr</span></a></span></p>

<p>December 20, 2022 Friends, The first major festival of the Church Year is the glorious celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior. At Christmas we focus on those words of the Creed, “born of the Virgin Mary”, and ponder the miracle that God and man are united in<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2022/12/20/the-first-festival/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">The first festival</span></a></span></p>

<p>December 13, 2022 Friends, Below is a poem written in the 1930s by the English poet W. H. Auden. It was a reflection on Advent within a larger work about Christmas. The middle two verses are especially difficult, but pay close attention to the 1st and 4th verses. The first<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2022/12/13/bible-history-2/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">A miracle</span></a></span></p>

<p>December 5, 2022 Friends, One of the things that can make reading the Bible seem tricky is the scope. That is, it covers a long time! It’s easy to get bogged down in the names and places and lose track of when it’s happening and what it has to do<span class="more-button"><a href="https://www.concordialcms.com/2022/12/06/bible-history/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="screen-reader-text">Bible History</span></a></span></p>