Call Day 2016 set for April 26
Watch via live stream, follow on social media at #CallDay2016
Christ’s Conquest: At the Cross or the Empty Tomb?
Is there an imbalance in our Good Friday and Easter (and the Sundays before and after) preaching?
Easter 4 • John 10:22–30 • April 17, 2016
By Joel C. Elowsky Our text follows on the popular Good Shepherd text, which speaks of the Son and the Father’s care for their sheep. No one can snatch them out of their hands. This care extends even to the point of laying down one’s life for the sake of the sheep (Jn 10:17–18). This comforting ..
Easter 3 • John 21:1–14 (15–19) • April 10, 2016
By Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. Becoming a Disciple Two striking contrasts appear in this Easter account of the third appearance or revelation of the risen Jesus to his disciples (vv. 1–14). Each contrast represents a transition in the story from lack to abundance, from not knowing Jesus to belief in him. At the center, Jesus ..
Character Matters
Letting virtue ethics out of the (academic) bag…with a free, five-part Bible study
Stabat Mater Dolorosa
In Nomine Iesu When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:26-27) In this third word from the cross two figures capture our attention. There are ..
Easter 2 • John 20:19–31 • April 3, 2016
By David Maxwell The Breath of God “[Jesus] breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (Jn 20:22–23). This is not the first time that God breathed on human beings. By breathing ..
Journey with Jesus: the Passion according to St. Luke
The threefold Gospel cycle of our lectionary gives us the opportunity to hear our Lord’s passion in a new voice each year. This year the voice is St. Luke’s. The passion of Luke is the longest of the synoptics and the voice of Jesus is heard more often as well. If one chants it in ..
A Letter to Dad
One of his beloved students reflects on the life of Professor Lou Brighton
The Resurrection of Our Lord • John 20:1–18 • March 27, 2016
By Timothy Dost Mary Magdalene as Determined Eyewitness Here we have John’s account of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, the report of Mary Magdalene, and the response of Peter’s and John’s and Mary’s subsequent conversations with the angels and the risen Jesus. General comments on the text: The text here is anchored in time and ..
Christian Law Enforcement Chaplaincy—Theology and Practice
Workshop focuses on ministry and law enforcement – May 23-27, 2016
How to be (counter-) culturally Christian?
A road trip to Wichita, Rod Dreher’s “Benedict option,” and a few words from Tertullian
Palm Sunday • Luke 22:1–23:56 • March 20, 2016
By Kent Burreson Passing from one divine feast to another, from palms and branches, let us now make haste, O faithful, to the solemn and saving celebration of Christ’s passion Let us behold him undergo voluntary suffering for our sake, And let us sing to him with thanksgiving a fitting hymn: “Fountain of tender mercy ..
Sanchez awarded Louisville Institute grant
Research will explore Spirit Christology, models of sanctification
Lent 5 • Luke 20:9–20 • March 13, 2016
Editor’s note: The following homiletical help is adapted from Concordia Journal, January 1980. By William J. Schmelder The preacher needs to resist mightily the temptation to use this text as the occasion for letting the congregation have it. It would be easy to become a stern preacher of the law, and to use this text ..
Listening to the Word of God
Exegetes with a markedly Lutheran understanding discuss methods of Scriptural interpretation in this volume. All contributions are witness to the common conviction that Holy Scripture is expounded as God’s Word