From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Pastor would like to share a special Christmas message and Kuschel family update with you. The document is included below. God’s blessing to you this Holiday season!
What’s on your mind?
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. – Colossians 3:1-2
His eyes were fixed on some spot out in the distance. It was clear that he was lost in thought and he had been stuck there for some time. His wife noticed his trance and tried to snap him out of gently, “What’s on your mind?” she said. The question was just what he needed, he looked up, smiled, and replied. “Just a lot to think about, right now, I guess.”
Recently, there has been plenty going on for us to think about. Whether it is politics or pandemic, family or finances, work or school, our minds can be weighed down with all sorts of things to wonder, or worry, or be anxious about. Daily we might find ourselves stuck in this flood of thought and information, and instead of taking a step back we seem to fall in deeper. We get wrapped up in this issue or that topic and before we know it, we are trapped under an avalanche of emotion. Some mix of fear and anger, angst and anxiety, frustration or despair quickly piles up around us. As we get lost in thought, it may happen that someone is kind enough to gently snap us out of our trance with this question. What’s on your mind?
The above bible passage serves as a welcome invitation to stop and think about something else. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Consider for a time today and tomorrow and for the rest of your life how Christ Jesus died for you and was raised again. Start your day by reading the Bible instead of the news. Spend some time in prayer and Bible study before you head to bed instead of scrolling through the latest headlines or numbing your mind with entertainment. Consider how God so loved this broken world that Jesus came to give us forgiveness and peace and joy. Start each day in His name and consider how He claimed you as his own through Baptism and how He poured out his blessings on you through his gift of faith. You have been buried with Christ and have been raised to new life. Through His perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection Jesus Christ has won for you a place in heaven, where believers will dwell with God in uninterrupted peace and joy. And that same Jesus who has promised to one day to deliver us to our home in heaven has promised that He will be with you always to the very end of the age.
So, what’s on your mind? May the Lord bless you through His gracious invitation to set your mind on things above. Amen.
I got to spend a little more time being a dad this week. In this strange time of uncertainty, the Lord blessed me with a greater appreciation for the simple things that life as a dad entails. Ordinary things – like sitting down for a meal with the whole family, reading a book with the kids, playing catch with my son, saying prayers and putting the children to bed – were not only distractions from the anxieties of the day, but they were welcomed with a new sense of privilege and thankfulness.
God’s mercies are new every morning, even when we have a hard time seeing the blessings that he places before us in our daily lives and callings. Maybe in these not-so-ordinary- times he will teach us to embrace the ordinary blessings of life.
This experience reminded me of something that I learned about Martin Luther and his response to uncertain times of turmoil during his lifetime. When Martin Luther was asked what he would do if he knew the end of the world was tomorrow Luther is often cited as saying, “I would go out and plant a tree.” His point was that he wanted to simply go about the life that God had given, each and every day of his life. It was clear to him that there is great blessing and a simple joy in doing the things that God has called us to do.
As the world finds itself in this strange season, may the Lord lead his people to cast their anxieties on the one who cares for them, and find new joy and thankfulness in the simple and ordinary things of life that God places before us.
For more on this, follow the link below and read the article by Chad Bird from 1517.org
https://www.1517.org/articles/marrying-a-nun-to-prepare-for-the-end-of-the-world
For those of you interested in further Bible study through podcasts I recommend:
40 minutes in the Old Testament
https://www.1517.org/podcasts/40-minutes-in-the-old-testament
30 minutes in the New Testament
https://www.1517.org/podcasts/30-minutes-in-the-new-testament
By his grace, As a gift!
We have now entered that stretch of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas where many people spend time searching for gifts for family and friends. Maybe you are more of a last-minute shopper or maybe you took part in that yearly event known as Black Friday. On this day, items of great value can be snatched up for a reduced price. the day known as Black Friday has also become the mark for many people that the Christmas season has officially begun. The decorations are brought out as Christmas music plays and our minds start to drift toward that familiar scene of baby Jesus placed in a manger.
Look with me for a moment today beyond that manger scene and consider the full magnitude of that gift that God picked out for you and for me. That baby placed in a manger is the Savior that we needed. Given to us as a gift, he lived his life for you and for me. He spent every waking moment living and breathing in our world to do what we could not. He was perfect in our place and then he died the death that our sins deserve.
We are not perfect. While these times around Christmas can bring out the best in people it can also bring out our worst. In the stress and the indulgence of the holiday season, our tempers might flare, our greed and selfishness may arise in subtle or terrible ways. We are not as nice as we ought to be. We are often downright naughty. Yet God’s Word tells us of how he was so incredibly generous with all of us. The Bible reveals that all people have sinned greatly, and yet it also shows us the incredible gift God gives for all of us in Jesus. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
The baby placed in a manager would live a perfect life in our place and that innocent one would go from the manger to the cross for us. And on that Good Friday where the sky turned black Jesus would give his blood and die as the gift that we so absolutely needed. A gift given in love, a gift freely given, that makes us right with God and sets us free from the debt, the guilt, and the punishment our sins deserve. God gives this gift not just to a certain few, but in his undeserved grace, he gives this gift to us all. What a gift of great value, given at this incredible price! What a gift, freely given in love for all!
Each morning they were to get up and carry out their duties. God’s Word tells us that the Levites were in charge of the daily duties of the tabernacle, they were in charge of putting the showbread out on the table, the were to take care of the flour for the grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. And then in 1 Chronicles 23:30 God’s Word tells us something else that they were to do each and every day. They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening. On this day of thanksgiving as we come before the LORD in his house we pray that the LORD may help us to take this to heart. May we too praise our God and give thanks to him as we carry out the duties that God has given to us. And while you might not work in the temple, or in the tabernacle, or at the church full time, but each and every day you serve your LORD as you carry out the duties and responsibilities that God has placed before you in your individual callings. Remember that the LORD has given us his Word which tells us, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17.
On this day of thanksgiving let us remember and daily give thanks for the enjoyment found in our daily Christian vocations. Let us give thanks for the faith that we have been given and the life that we have been handed in which we have opportunity to live out our faith even in the daily labors of life. Let us look around and give thanks that this the place that I am in. This is the role that I serve. These are the tasks that the LORD has given me to do. This is the calling that I have received from my God’s gracious hand.
And so with that understanding that comes from faith these words ring very true, A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? There is good reason to give thanks to God for our everyday tasks and labors for through these labors God provides for us, feeds us, and cares for us. God is the one who gives us the gifts and abilities to earn a living. The food that will be spread before us this holiday surely comes to us through such means and certainly not without the hand and blessing of God. We give thanks that God provides for our physical needs. But we also give thanks for the joy and satisfaction that comes from work for this too is from the hand of God. For not only has God opened his hand and blessed me with plenty of things, but he has given me plenty of things to do. For this we can be grateful. In these daily labors the LORD blesses us with opportunities to live our Christian faith and he gives us the satisfaction of carrying out our Christian vocations.
We give thanks that God gives us the good of work. And even if we are too young to have a job, or have long since retired, the LORD blesses us with the satisfaction of fulfilling the roles to which he has currently called us. And for this we ought to give thanks as well.
And so let’s think about that for a little while. What has God called you to do now? In this moment, at this stage of life, has he called you to be active in the workforce or has he called you to fill your time with the stuff of retirement? Has he called you to be a husband or wife? Has God called you to be parent or a son or a daughter? Has he called you to care for your child or are you at the stage or your life where you have been called to care for an ailing parent or spouse? Or maybe your role has changed and you aren’t quite sure what God has called you to do. Let us all consider how you can use the gifts and abilities that God has given you to serve your God and those around you. Consider how God can work through you as the masks of God. Yes, the masks of God, for God accomplishes his goals, he meets the needs of others, he demonstrates and shares his love through you as you carry out your daily work in Christ. Let us give thanks for our Christian vocations.
There are certainly challenges and frustrations in daily roles of life, especially when we have to juggle several vocations at once. But we are reminded that there is wisdom and joy in finding satisfaction in the work of the day, in this stage of life, in this context that we find ourselves in. And knowing and taking time to recognize that God has placed us in these roles will help us to find contentment. These are Christian vocations, there are opportunities for God to work through me, and for me to let the love of Christ shine through in the way I faithfully carry out these callings. With this understanding we can stand up each morning thanking God for the tasks and even the challenges of the day. There is wisdom and satisfaction to be found by going from day to day not thinking about what I could be doing, but being content in the tasks that God has placed before me. To be able to do this is a blessing from God that will free us from regret, free us from frustration and disappointment, and free us to serve our God.
And we do it all in faith. In faith we know and believe that “God created me… and that he gave me my body and soul, my eyes, ears, and all my members, my mind and all my abilities.” In faith we recognize his role in blessing us in every way, and thus by using our gifts and abilities, our time and talents, our resources and treasures in God pleasing ways, we praise and thank our God. In faith we know and believe our gracious God watches over all things and that he has guided the affairs of this life so that I am where he has called me to be. Therefore, we praise and thank our God by carrying out the roles that he has given us. Finally, in faith we also know and believe in his love. We know and believe that Jesus lived out the role of Savior and Redeemer perfectly, and as the Christ he continues to live and rule and serve in love as my Prophet, Priest, and King. As my Savior he lived and died and rose again and has freed us from our sins; he takes away our guilt; he has even forgiven us for the times that we have failed to fulfill our roles as we should. Freed from guilt, freed from regret, confident of his love and care we can stand each morning and we praise and thank our God and Savior for the life that he has given us. Even though we know the day may be filled with challenges we give him thanks for the tasks of the day.
We give thanks for our Christian vocations. We give thanks for the roles that God has called us to carry out. And we give thanks for those among us who in faith fulfill their different roles.
We give thanks for the young teacher who spends her days, and good number of her nights, planning and preparing and carrying out the work that she has been called to as she faithfully serves her LORD and those entrusted to her care. We give thanks for the Christian mother who works to clean the house and do the laundry only to have her little ones make a mess of both the clothes and the house that were just cleaned. We give thanks that she fills that role, that calling, and gets up with God’s help to do it again the next day. We give thanks for the Christian husband who faithfully goes off to work each day but is also careful to make time for wife and children. We give thanks for the Christian children who bring joy and laughter to the home and who listen and obey their parents for this is what they have been called to do. We give thanks the Christian retiree who gives of his time to visit with friends who are hurting and tends to his ailing wife, still makes enough time to lend a hand at church whenever needed. We give thanks for the good Christian woman who used to be so active but now restricted by the challenges of age has found a new calling in saying daily prayers for her grandchildren and by making the occasional phone call to encourage old friends. And the list for which to be thankful goes on and on. Christian nurses and farmers, bank tellers and business owners, hair dressers and contractors, janitors and office workers, children and retirees, so on and so on. These are brothers and sisters in the faith who carry out their Christian vocations not just to earn a wage, or for selfish gain, but they do their work as if they were serving the LORD himself. Each may have their moments of frustration and consternation but daily renewed by the love of Christ they find satisfaction in the work that they have been called to do.
As we take a few days off from the regular tasks and routines let us pause to give thanks to God for giving us work to do, for using us to make his world turn. We give thanks that he uses us to accomplish tasks; he uses our time and talents to care for others; he uses our efforts, prayers, treasures and resources to operate this church for the spreading of the gospel. Finally we give thanks for daily using us to be his masks as we carry out our individual callings, our Christian vocations, filled with his love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 1 John 4:9-11.
I watched as my son walked down the long hallway. Wearing a hospital gown and cap, he walked toward the room where he would have surgery. It was minor surgery, but surgery, nonetheless. A part of me wanted to break through the doors, grab him, and take him home. I knew it was for his good; we knew he had to go; but still, it was tough.
What great love God has for us that he sends his only begotten Son into our world of sin and pain and death so that we might live through him! To be clear, this was not an easy thing that God would do. The Father loved the Son. O, how he lit up the night sky to announce his arrival on earth! And remember how the Father’s voice proudly boomed forth from the heavens, “This is my Son, whom I love.”
But in an unforgettable display of love, Jesus would walk the way of suffering for our good. God sent his Son as a gift of love for people who deserved no such thing. God had created mankind to love him, to take care of his creation, to love each other, and human beings quickly messed that all up. Yet God reacted in love that astounds us still today. He promised and sent his only Son to be our Savior. He came to take on our guilt, to take on our punishment of death, and in turn, he would give us his gift of eternal life.
During this Lenten season, as we once again walk with Jesus towards the cross and arrive at the empty tomb, consider anew what God has done for you. In his great love, God sent his one and only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for your sin and mine. Jesus willingly came so that you and I might be at one with God both now and forever in heaven.
God sent his one and only Son down that path for us. He loved us that much. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Amen.
Imagine a 16-year-old WELS member. What are the chances that individual is still WELS when he’s 30? We have studied this multiple times in our church body’s history. My commission, Congregational Counseling, has churches who work with us measure that—the percent of young members who drop out of church.
The answer is about 50%. Approximately half of young WELS members drift away. Some drift into other Christian churches. However, most drift into nothingness. They stop going to church altogether. A few come back when they get married and have kids of their own. It is a very small percentage. The bottom line is about 50% of young WELS members eventually leave.
When we study a large sampling of WELS people and look at certain life factors, we can note things that seem to make the difference. For example, having a child attend a Lutheran elementary school and especially a Lutheran high-school can make a difference. If you have the opportunity to send your child to such as school, realize what a gift you have been given! However, understand that while Lutheran education does make a difference, it is a very small difference—just a couple percentage points. Most WELS congregations don’t have an elementary school. If that is true for you, do not despair! For there are other factors that matter much, much more than Lutheran education.
Do you know what is the bigger factor in whether or not young people stay in the church? This factor dwarfs everything else. The spiritual activity that takes place in the home.
When mom and dad talk about spiritual things at home, that impresses upon the children that life is about more than grades and sports. When family prayer is something done daily, it teaches the children that of all conversations they have in a day, none is more important than when they bring their cares and concerns to their true Father. When parents open up the Bible with their children, what blessings result! The Holy Spirit is given the opportunity to build your child up in their faith. More, the Spirit imparts the love and forgiveness Christ has shown to each family member, empowering them to show love and forgiveness to one another. Families need that! (Side note: It has been demonstrated that it is especially important that fathers be a part of this. The importance of dad providing spiritual leadership should not be surprising, as God wove that responsibility into the fiber of man’s being.)
However, in Congregational Services, we established a goal to give families the opportunity to restore the family altar. And do not let the fact that you might not be able to do a family devotion every day keep you from doing them at all. I’ve had parents tell me things like, “It would be impossible for us to do family devotions. We all are so busy in the evenings. Half the evenings, we don’t even eat together.” My response? “You just told me you can do family devotions on half of the evenings of the week.” However, I’d encourage you to make time for this. No worldly accomplishment of your child is going to matter in the end. Your child pitches a no-hitter in little league. No one will care a year later. Even if your child goes on to play in the major leagues, what does that matter when the trumpet sounds, the skies rip open, and the angels begin to set things on fire? At that moment, what matters is what the Spirit has wrought in your child’s heart. Family devotions are a fantastic way to give the Spirit regular opportunity to give your child what your child needs to live… to really live.
A family devotional booklet is available online. It is designed to go along with the online daily devotions. You can find it in the C18-Discipleship Resources HERE.
One of the things we hear in Congregational Counseling again and again is how hard it is to keep young people in church. Well, family devotions are something that seems to greatly increase the likelihood they stay. Ultimately, moving someone to see the importance of Christian community is the work of the Spirit. However, the Spirit typically works through us, through believers. So, let us give the Spirit more opportunities to do his good work by letting him have a place at our dinner table. When dinner is over, turn that table into a family altar.
Excerpts from blog post “The Importance of the Family Altar”
Rev. Jonathan Hein
Director, Commission on Congregational Counseling
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. – 2 Corinthians 4:6.
Finally, the day had come. The final touches were being put into place. And then it happened. The lights went out and the church was suddenly covered in darkness. The father of the bride checked the fuses, but the power was out throughout town. The bride was nervous about how things were going to turn out, but there was only so much they could do. And so they lit a few extra candles, invited the guests in, and had their service. And wouldn’t you know it, after the scriptures were spoken, the sermon preached, after the vows and rings had been exchanged and as the assembled group of family and friends joined to pray the Lord’s Prayer the lights popped back on. It didn’t go exactly as planned, but in the end God made all things work out for this couple in a memorable way. And now God goes with this Christian husband and wife to bring the wonderful gift of his light to their life; for here’s the thing about the light of Christ, it never fails.
There are plenty of times when things don’t go quite right in our lives, but in his holy Word God promises that he is always there to comfort and to encourage us through his holy Word. Maybe a few things this past year didn’t go as expected, or perhaps you didn’t get off to the kind of start you wanted for 2018, but God promises that even when the dark clouds fall the Son of God still shines upon us. No hardship, no pain, no broken plan, not even a broken heart can change the fact that our Savior came and lived and died for us. Jesus came to this world of darkness and sin and he brings his unfailing light. He is our refuge and strength. He forgives our sins. He binds up our broken hearts. He chases away our fears. He guides his people through the troubles of this life until we are at his side in the unending light of heaven. In his faithful care, the God who called all things into existence, encourages us to call on him and he will give us rest. Through the cross and the empty tomb, our Savior reminds us of his undying love and his gift of eternal life. Jesus is our light. He is our salvation. And his light never fails.
What does Advent mean to you?
Watch! Wait! Prepare the Way for the LORD!
Candles and decorations brought out of storage, Christmas shopping, Christmas parties, baking, sending out Christmas cards, caroling, all that and more, stuffed into 25 or so days before Christmas Eve. Maybe you mark the days with an Advent calendar or some additional tradition. All of this can easily become a bit much. Year after year, as more and more is added to the list, it becomes all the more necessary that God yearly reaches out to us through the call of the famous forerunner, “Prepare the Way for the LORD!”
It is a call that is thick with both Law and Gospel. Repent! Turn from these distractions, turn from our natural apathy toward God, and watch, and prepare! Advent is not just a time of busy preparation but like Lent it is a time for quiet repentance and renewal as we wait and prepare for a wonderous work of God.
The Lord calls us to keep watch! Prepare! And while we recognize that this is something that we so often fail to do {both inside and outside the busyness of the pre-Christmas season}, this is also a call that is loaded with the Gospel. A voice cries out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.'” The king of heaven comes to us. He comes for us. He comes righteous and having salvation. He came once in humility to suffer and die and rise again. He will come again in glory. Listen! Don’t miss this wonderful thing that God does for you! A Savior will come again on the clouds to bring you home! He comes to you through Word and Sacrament! He comes as a child, born for you!
What do we hear when we hear the directive… Meditate… Pray… Prepare the Way for the LORD? Our flesh may react in a way that treats this as another list to check off during a busy season. And so the guilt piles up as time is short. Have I read enough of my Bible! Have I spent adequate time in prayer? Have I truly considered how Jesus is the reason for the Season? And so perhaps it is through some law based motivation that we find ourselves cramming our way through some Advent devotional, or trudging through a reading of the Christmas story, or racing through some prayers at the end of a busy day because we know we should.
But better than some law and guilt driven work of man, let us find a few moments this busy season to be still, be silent, as our Savior comes to us through his Word. He comes to us to prepare us. He comes to us to give us rest, to give us peace. He comes with forgiveness, he comes with salvation, he comes to dwell among us as a child, he comes to live among us with his enduring word and Sacrament, he comes to comfort us and strengthen us with his gift and promise of heaven.
In the light of the Advent season, in light the goodness of God, we know that this is directive that is given for our good especially at this busy time. This is a directive that is loaded with gospel…. Meditate… Pray… Prepare the Way for the Lord. The Lord comes to you, to renew and restore. To forgive and strengthen. Meditate… Pray… Prepare the Way for the Lord. And know that the Lord is with you even as you go through trials and temptations before you enter the kingdom of God.
Let us pray:
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirt.
I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have graciously kept me this day. Forgive me all my sins, and graciously keep me this night. Into your hands I commend my body and soul and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me.
Rest is a good thing. It is something that soothes and recharges and heals. Maybe you were able to enjoy some rest and relaxation this past Labor Day weekend, or maybe it didn’t quite work out that way. By now Labor Day has come and gone, the work week is in full swing, school has started, and the busy routine has left the holiday in its dust.
We live in a busy world, and even when we aren’t busy with work, or school, or running around from place to place, our minds are busy with the issues that are making many in our world today restless. A piece of your heart goes out to those that have been affected by the hurricane in Texas, your heart pounds when you think about the increased signs of aggression between our country and a rogue nation, your thoughts churn when you read about all the other things threatening your world, your country, your friends, your family
And with all those things churning the background of our mind, there are the issues that are much more personal. Issues at work, problems at home, a health scare, a mistake that haunts, a loss that stings; it all occupies our minds, makes our hearts race, and it is difficult to find the kind or rest that we crave. Into that daily turmoil the LORD speaks to us through his word. And he says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). God knows that rest is a good thing, he knows that you need it, he tells you to find that rest in him.
When Hurricane Harvey was about to hit, Pastor Andy Schroer, who serves Redeemer Lutheran church in Edna Texas, was preparing to preach a sermon on Jesus walking on water and calming the storm. Pastor Schroer wrote in his blog, “God knew Harvey was coming.” Pastor Schroer, was reminded by God’s Word how Jesus was with his disciples during such terrifying storm and how through the storms of life our God assures us that he is control and we can trust in him.
What storms are you facing? Your Savior Jesus, who walked on water to calm his disciples, who died on the cross to take away your sins, who rose from the dead to give you victory over sin and death, and hell, says to you, “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27). Your God, who created the heavens and the earth calls out to you and gives you rest and peace that you need as he says to you, Be still, and know that the LORD is God.
