Jesus teaches the people about ritually clean and unclean foods and how it is really what comes out of a person's heart that makes them unclean in God's eyes ..read more

Psalm 14 helps us to explore the corruption of all humans and how God's salvation makes us part of his people ..read more

Ephesians 5:6-216 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing ..read more

Psalm 85 Revive Us Again To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 85 Lord, you were favorable to your land;     you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;     you covered all their sin. Selah 3 You withdrew all your wrath;     you turned from your hot anger. 4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,     and put away your indignation toward us! 5 Will you be angry with us forever?     Will you prolong your anger to all generations? 6 Will you not revive us again,     that your people may ..read more

Mark 15:1-47 Jesus Delivered to Pilate 15 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified 6 Now at ..read more

Psalm 119:9-16 Beth 9 How can a young man keep his way pure?     By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you;     let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart,     that I might not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O Lord;     teach me your statutes! 13 With my lips I declare     all the rules of your mouth. 14 In the way of your testimonies I delight     as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts     and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 ..read more

Do you think there will be seasons in heaven? At our weekly staff meeting this Wednesday morning, we were discussing John 12:20-36. We were particularly struck by the words of Jesus in verses 24-25. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. In our world, it is impossible for life to exist without the death of another. Perhaps most obviously, we must kill animals before butchering them a ..read more

Ephesians 2:1-10 By Grace Through Faith 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by ..read more

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,     and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save ..read more

March 6th, 2024 Article for Bancroft Register There is a quiet beauty to the harvested fields of late Autumn and early Spring. I think it’s something about the earth being done with its work for the year and settling in for a deep sleep. In the early spring of 2020, I was a first year student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and we had been told to leave campus in the initial craziness of the pandemic. For the next couple of months, I would live on my grandparent’s farm in Northwest Iowa. I clearly remember driving from St. Louis to the farm and seeing how empty the roads were. It felt lik ..read more