July 11, 2025

Today's Reading: Acts 15:6-21

Daily Lectionary: Judges 6:25-40; Acts 15:6-21

“We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

When I was a child I remember watching television with commercials! (Yes I am old). I seem to remember a number of commercials advertising different toys that all come in “assorted colors and styles.” It did not matter what the toys were, there was a variety of them. Similar yet different. Same name, different color. The description matched but it was a different size or shape. But all of them were toys! Toys to be played with, by ME perhaps. The commercials gave a sense of hope and optimism that those toys could be mine.

I was usually knocked back into reality when I did not get that toy. Not every toy could be mine, so I was jealous of my friends who had those cool toys. I wanted to be like them. Occasionally, I had the toy others wanted…and I liked that. No matter the circumstance, there was always some inequality. Something was unfair. It always seemed like life was out of balance.

But not with Jesus. No, Jesus is fair. Jesus loves everybody. Jesus always forgives. Everyone is the same to Jesus. This all sounds great…until…I meet someone who says that they love Jesus, but they are not like me. Don’t get me wrong; I know that believers in Jesus come in all shapes and sizes, young and old, from all over the world. I love that about the church. What I am talking about is when someone different comes into church. This person may look or talk differently, may have been born elsewhere, or think about the world and stuff differently than me. Jesus loves all of us, but didn’t they know how different they are (and how uncomfortable that actually makes me)?

When Jesus died and rose again, He did that for all people, to atone for the sins of everyone. In the waters of your Baptism, the Holy Spirit gives you faith and empowers you to live a life that you are humanly unable to do. So their faith is like my faith; their works are like my works. We are just in assorted colors and styles. God loves all of us equally because it is all His saving work and His sanctifying grace—no cooler toys. With Jesus, we are all the same. Praise God!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus! We praise you for your grace to us. Strengthen our faith that we might witness boldly to your great love for us. May others see your work in our lives and be emboldened in their love for you. Help us to love others as you have first loved us. Amen.

- Rev. Roger Stites, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Sequim, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.

July 10, 2025

Today's Reading: Catechism: The Sacrament of Holy Baptism - Second

Daily Lectionary: Judges 6:1-24; Acts 14:19-15:5

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

Second – What benefits does baptism give?

It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Praise God! It works. Baptism works. This is God's grace to us. It is not us doing the work; it is God Himself through the sacrament of holy baptism for you. God forgives you. God rescues you. God saves you eternally. It is all God, not us. That is how it works.

As you grow up, you will probably get a job. When you get a job, you have to do that job; you might have to “go to” that job…In other words, it might not be at your house. A job is work, your work. That is why you get compensated for it, usually with money and benefits. And you have to work for so many hours to get so much money. That is how you work. If you don't work, you don't get paid. That is also how you work. If you cannot be at your job for a day or a week, you have to take sick days or vacation days. You have to earn sick days or vacation days so that you can take time off. That is, again, how YOU work.

However, in Baptism, God does not work as the world works. Baptism is God's Gift to you. In the waters of your Baptism, God chose you. You did not decide for Jesus to come into your heart; God placed his mark on you. The world will try to tell you. That it is about the work of your hands. The stuff your hands do will break. Your work will fall short. In other words…it will not be good enough. The devil himself will torment you with this and make you question the efficacy of God’s work by making you focus on your own. Satan will make you think that you do not deserve God's love and that you cannot merit eternal salvation by the work of your hands. And you know what? He's right. So next time, tell the devil what made you right. God did.

Baptism does what you cannot. In baptism, God forgives you, rescues you, and saves you. This is God's grace to us. Baptism works. IT WORKS! Praise God!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ! Drop your ugly accusation, I am not so soon enticed. Now that to the font I’ve traveled, All your might has come unraveled, And, against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me! (LSB 594:3)

- Rev. Roger Stites, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Sequim, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.

July 9, 2025

Today's Reading: Acts 14:1-18

Daily Lectionary: Judges 4:1-24; Judges 5:1-31; Acts 14:1-18

“In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’” (Acts 14:8-11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God is awesome. God does incredible things every day. When you look around you see God working in creation over and over again. This is exactly what happened that day. God works through Paul to heal this man in Lystra. This man had never walked. Paul saw his faith and told him to do that which he never had. His faith made him well, so well, in fact, that he didn't just stand up; he jumped up. This wasn’t a better situation, this was the best possible scenario.

However, people are not so smart. (Not just these people, all people, even you and me). People are arrogant and prideful and like to pretend that they understand what is happening, even when they don't. People that day saw god heal that man, but said it was Zeus! People today will see God do amazing things in your life and bless you in incredible ways and (they won’t give Zeus credit, probably) they will say things like; it is luck, it is coincidence, it is fate, or (the worst one) that you were able to “manifest” good things by “thinking about them.” We poor sinners take credit away from God and His goodness any chance that we get.

Today, this week, and this month, God will bless you. I do not know how, and neither do you. Bad things will probably happen; I do not know what, and neither do you. But just because you do not know does not change that…God will be with you. In His great love for you, God is with you no matter what. God is not the blue genie from Aladdin waiting to grant your wishes, and He certainly is not waiting around for you to “manifest” it yourself. God will provide for you, bless you, love you, and forgive you. The world will not understand. But by faith…you will.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Heavenly Father, open our eyes today to see your great work in your world around us. Strengthen our faith that we might see you more clearly. Bless our words and deeds so that others might be strengthened in their faith in You, the only true God. Amen.

- Rev. Roger Stites, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Sequim, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.