Please read this article on the fight in America for the return of religious liberty. Every Christian should remember these sayings of Jesus: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil." (John 7:7) "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." (John 15:18) "If I had not done among them the w...

In this articlethe CDC has walks back one of its dire warning about contracting coronavirus by touching surfaces. Please read the entire article but the take away is this: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now says the novel virus 'does not spread easily' from "touching surfaces or objects" but experts warn that doesn't mean it's no longer necessary t...

The "Introit" or "entrance" Psalm prayed in holy worship each Sunday helps to set the tone of the day. The Introit for Sunday next comes from the 119th Psalm about which one cannot say too much. Every referent in it is Christ himself. He is the light, salvation, justice, word, instruction, judgments, and precepts etc. to which the Psalm makes constant reference in its 176...

What you are about to read is not an exercise in positive thinking.Nor will it begin with religion though I am a pastor. But it will end that way because I am both a citizen and a pastor. To nominalize any person or their labor as "unessential" is the most stygian of sins! It is unbridled arrogance. The kind of pride that always precedes a great fall. Such a pronouncement...

In Christian parlance the word apology does not mean the expression of sorrow, but rather a defense. Throughout church history apologists have arisen when needed to defend the faith from prejudice or persecution; official and unofficial. In Acts chapter 5:29 FF we read of one, Gamaliel, a member of the Jewish Council who defended Peter and John's preaching of Christ again...

Take note of the Gradual for Easter 2. When properly understood and interpreted it fills humanity with hope. As St. Paul would say: Think on these things. The Gradual is as follows: Christ is risen from the dead. God the Father has crowned him with glory and honor, He has given him dominion over the works of his hands; he has put all things under his feet. First we s...

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. Genesis 2:2...

The letter that St. Paul wrote the churches in Galatia around 50 AD has lived on through the centuries. One particular segment of it contrasts the works that proceeds from sinful flesh, with the fruit that proceeds from the New Man, led by the Holy Spirit. We might call the format a catalogue of vice and virtue. One that must always guide the baptized, but especially now ...

For those who are concerned that missing worship for fear of illness is a sin, let me say that it is not a sin. The sin, according to our faith, is in "despising His Word and the preaching of it." (SC, 3rd Comm.) Such a charge cannot be brought against those who love the Word and Sacraments above all things. So be at peace, call for a pastoral visit if you need one, and...

Christ Lutheran ChurchCleveland OHMarch 20, 2020by: Rev. Dean Kavouras A Time To Come Clean During any large scale emergency or crisis our spiritual thinking becomes more clear. People have been asking me, as a pastor, what does this mean? Is this God's judgment on us for our sins. It's not only members who are asking, but also others. The same thing happened following ...