When Noah and his family emerged from the Ark, God made a wonderful promise to them and to all who would follow them. He said:
“As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22)

How often aren’t we tempted to worry about paying bills or providing for the needs of our family in the future? Problems always seem to loom large.

But God’s beautiful promise about the fact that his creation would continue to function and that he would provide for us is the answer to our fears. God provides for his children (in fact, he graciously provides for unbelievers too!). “Give us this day our daily bread” is answered as God graciously provides for all our daily needs.

Rather than be afraid of what we don’t have (or don’t think we will have at the right time), be thankful for what we do have! God has a proven track record of doing what is best for his people. He won’t blow his perfect record in your life. So trust his ways and be thankful for his love.

And if the promise to you that was spoken to Noah isn’t enough, you need only look to Jesus, your Savior. His death and resurrection are the greatest acts of love in the history of the world. Paul writes in Romans, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (8:32). Jesus’ love is proof that God will care for you. As Paul rhetorically asks, How could he save us only to abandon us?

Pastor Aufdemberge

Pastor Kneser

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling

Reasons for grief are everywhere! Sad events occur every day in our world. You have experienced tragedy and sorrow in your life. Add in our own personal failures and the guilt they bring and we have many reasons to hang our heads.

Jesus said in John 16:20–22:
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

These words of Jesus were spoken as he was concluding his time with his disciples in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday. His cross was near at hand. The disciples would be filled with grief.

But that grief would be crushed by Jesus’ resurrection. They would see him again! The joy of the resurrection would overshadow any grief that they knew. Sin and death would be utterly defeated, and God’s people would know his eternal love.

View your world through Jesus’ resurrection. You have reason to be filled with joy too! By faith, you see your Savior as he comes to you in the Word and the Sacraments. Tragedy and reasons to be sad will not last; the glory of heaven will. Sorrow for sin is washed away in the promise of forgiveness through faith in Jesus.

Today is another day to know the joy of Jesus Christ and to live in the great hope that is yours through faith in him.

Pastor Aufdemberge

Pastor Kneser

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling

Christianity is a matter of the heart. In order to see the glory of God, the heart needs to change. Jesus spoke about this in Luke 11:33–36. He used the illustration of the eye: “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

If your eyes cannot see, you will grope around in darkness.

Are you filled with light or darkness? Through faith in Jesus, you are filled with light. You have been set free from the darkness of sin by Jesus Christ who took away your sins. No longer do you need to fear punishment for your sins. No longer do you need to be controlled by sin’s power. The light of Jesus purifies you as you see his crucifixion as what saves you!

Filled with the love of God, your view of the world is changed — it is different from what the world sees. You see glory in service; greatness in humility. You see God at work in a world that he created. You see a church and family that are gifts from God that you can love and serve.

Let the light that is in you be what comforts and guides you today.

Pastor Aufdemberge

Pastor Kneser

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling

God has blessed America and especially American Christians! The freedoms we enjoy as Americans are wonderful blessings. Chief among these blessings in that we can worship God freely.

That doesn’t mean that government is unimportant to us. The Bible instructs us to be obedient citizens.

Below are two important sections of the Bible that remind us of our duty as citizens. As we thank God for the blessings we enjoy in our nation, it is good to recall what God expects of us.

Romans 13:1–7 (NIV)
Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience. And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks. Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

1 Peter 2:13–17 (NIV)
Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. As God’s slaves, live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor.

Pastor Wempner

Pastor Zarling