“From Heaven Above to Earth I Come” (Luke 2:1-20) For our Christmas Eve homily tonight, I thought I’d let Luther lead the way. This is the 500th anniversary year of the Reformation, after all, and Martin Luther wrote and preached … Continue reading
“Who Is This Man?” (Matthew 16:13-20) “Who is this man?” Who is this man Jesus? This is the most important question that has ever been asked. How will you answer it? The question comes up in the Holy Gospel for … Continue reading
This year, the 500th anniversary year of the Lutheran Reformation (1517), the commemoration of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (1530), June 25, falls on a Sunday. Here is a hymn I wrote that is appropriate for the occasion (or … Continue reading
Last year our congregation sent out and asked all the congregations in the Wyoming District of the LC-MS for any old copies of The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) they had lying around unused. I was killing too many trees by inserting … Continue reading
This hymn is offered here freely for you to use in holy worship. If you do choose to use it, please be kind enough to let Pastor Thoma know. He would appreciate it. … Continue reading
This hymn is offered here freely for you to use in holy worship. If you do choose to use it, please be kind enough to let Pastor Thoma know. He would appreciate it. … Continue reading
The following stanzas are based on the words from BWV 67 – “Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ“, J.S. Bach’s Cantata for Quasimodo Geniti Sunday. Drawing from the Gospel lesson (John 20:19-31) as well as the Epistle lesson (1 John 5:4-10), Bach … Continue reading
“Born for You a Savior” (Luke 2:1-20) “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” So the angel brought the good news of great joy to the shepherds. And … Continue reading
What a joy it is to follow in the footsteps, nay, serve alongside such faithful men whom the Lord has called into the Holy Office that each of us might receive the gifts of Word and Sacrament! I saw Rev. … Continue reading
“Christ Has Brought Us out of Darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30; Zephaniah 1:7-16) Well, here we are in the middle of November. It’s cold. It’s dark outside. The trees are growing bare. The days are growing shorter. The earth … Continue reading
The Carmen Christi (Song of Christ) is a song (or hymn) that St. Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote in the second chapter of his epistle to the Philippians. As a divinely inspired hymn, giving a good example … Continue reading
For K.H. I come, O God, back to this bath, With sorrow for my many sins, To claim the death that stilled Your wrath, And take the life Your word begins. I come, O Jesus, to this stream Which flowed … Continue reading
To go with this summer’s LCMS Convention theme, Baptized for This Moment: A Bible Study, is being made available for free through the synod’s website, where you can download a pdf file of the study. The study’s five lessons are: … Continue reading
Tune: FAR, VERDEN, FAR VEL (The Sun Has Gone Down, Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary 574) My Savior still lives, And I too will live in the peace that He gives; Within me no sin has the strength to remove The truth … Continue reading
Here is a hymn I wrote for my congregation. A Hymn on the Sacrament of the Altar composed for Faith Lutheran Church, Plano/Wylie, TX Tune: LSB 513 or TLH 605 The Word of Christ is spoken, And angels bend … Continue reading
“A Lonely Monk, Now Long Ago” (Psalm 119:46) A Lonely Monk, Now Long Ago A lonely monk, now long ago, Nailed truth upon a door; The echoes of that hammer blow Rang out to many more. And when he spoke … Continue reading
We live in a culture of death. Everybody hides it. They hide their destruction of life beneath the pleasures of sex. They hide the murder of their loved ones beneath the supposed mercy of ending pain. They hide the murder … Continue reading
My parents did not teach my siblings and me to be hymn-Nazis. Rather, they simply taught us good hymns and good theology, and they encouraged us to keep singing good hymns and to read good theology. So for my first … Continue reading
President Harrison’s “Emphasis for the Church” is summed up in three terms, “Witness, Mercy, Life Together” (Martyria, Diakonia, Koinonia are the related Greek terms). The President’s Office has set up a blog, wmlt.org, to carry forward the theme of “Witness, … Continue reading
OK, OK, so I’ll get back to synodical politics in a day or two. But today is Sunday, and it’s still Easter, so I can’t help but celebrate a little more. A few days ago my friend Tom Engler asked … Continue reading