June 30, 2025

Today's Reading: 1 Kings 19:9b-21

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 5:1-6:5; Acts 10:1-17

“And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Elijah is at the end of his rope. He’s been a good and faithful servant. He outran his persecutors, cared for a widow and her son, and even performed miracles. The boxes on his prophet to-do list are nearly all checked off. You can imagine what he must have been thinking, after the lengths he had gone to approach God on Mt. Horeb, for God to say, “What are you doing here?”

Elijah makes his case for retirement. Telling God that He’s fought the good fight, run the race, and can’t go on any longer. Yet, in that silly question God asks Elijah, we see that God is not done with his prophet.

There’s more to do. Just as Elijah was jealous for the Lord, the Lord is jealous for His people. Elijah’s work is not finished. There are still words to proclaim, people to serve, and places to bring the Word of the Lord. Elijah is not alone. There is a faithful remnant—a remnant that he must go to so he may pass on his mantle to the next prophet who will serve them.

Life can be overwhelming, and we, too, can feel like Elijah did in this world. Take comfort and know that even Elijah was alone and desired nothing more than the end of his ministry to God’s people and, quite frankly, the end of his life. God heard him and answered him—not in mighty acts and wonders, not in the natural world around him, but God answered Elijah and comforted him with a word.

In the same way, God comes to you in your distress with His living and active word. God’s “What are you doing here?” is that extraction that God does all too well. It leads Elijah to confess his sins, worries, doubts, and anxieties. God hears them, acknowledges them, and proclaims to him the Absolution. The same is true for you. God sends you your pastor so that you might go to him as often as you are jealous for that Word of God as Elijah was, that you would confess your sins that burden you to him, and he would proclaim that Absolution that your sins are forgiven. He reminds you that you are a child of God whom your heavenly Father loves. You can rest in the arms of their crucified and risen Savior.

Elijah would go and find Elisha and continue the work God had for him. God is with you and is present in His Word, in your Baptism, and in His Supper. As often as you have need, if you ever doubt, remember your sins are forgiven and covered in the blood of Jesus. God sees you—yes, you who are standing before Him, and doesn’t say, “What are you doing here?” but instead says, “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Make them apostles, heralds of your cross; Forth let them go to tell the world of grace. Inspired by You, may they count all but loss And stand at last with joy before your face. (LSB 682:5)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.

June 29, 2025

Today's Reading: Matthew 16:13-19

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 4:1-24; Acts 9:23-43

“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:16)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What’s the point of Peter’s confession? He gets it right. Jesus is not just a reincarnated Moses or Elijah. He’s not just another religious figure with good ideas on how to be kind to one another. Jesus asks His disciples, “Who am I?” not to trap them but to reveal to them who He is.

Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the one all of Scripture points to as the one who will save and deliver God’s people. There’s more to it than that, though, more to Peter’s confession than even Peter realizes.

This confession is one that is seen with eyes of faith. It’s the confession that the church, the baptized community, makes every Sunday in the Creed. It is your and my confession when we remember our baptisms: that we are united to Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God who saved us from our sins.

Peter is not handed the keys to the “pope mobile” here to guide the church in confessing. No, friends, this is the beginning of Peter’s confession—or rather, his struggle against his own flesh to continue to confess boldly in season and out of season.

And then there’s Paul. Paul is the persecutor turned pastor to the Gentiles, whose ministry is defined by suffering as Jesus suffered, for the sake of the Gospel and being content in all things. Paul’s confession was all things to all people. Not sacrificing the substance or truth, but truly embodying that Christ Jesus, the Son of the Living God, came into the world to save sinners “of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Confession of who Jesus is matters. He’s not Moses or Elijah or John the Baptist. He is the Christ who took on our flesh and came into the world. The Son of the Living God to save you that this might be revealed to all who hear His Word and open their eyes of faith as Peter’s and Paul’s were. When you stand and confess the Creed, you see those witnesses around you but know that there’s a whole host of witnesses saying it who have gone before you.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Merciful and eternal God, Your holy apostles Peter and Paul received grace and strength to lay down their lives for the sake of your Son. Strengthen us by your Holy Spirit that we may confess Your truth and at all times be ready to lay down our lives for the one who laid down His life for us, even Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.

June 28, 2025

Today's Reading: Introit for Pentecost 3 - Psalm 85:8-10, 13; antiphon: Psalm 85:7

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 3:1-17; Acts 9:1-22

“Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.” (Psalm 85:7)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

When God feels far away, how would you pray to Him? What do I do when God is angry with me?

The sons of Korah ask these questions of God in Psalm 85.

Israel has endured the exile, and no one wants to endure that again. The future looks unclear, and history shows that for Israel the days of David and Solomon were not coming back.

Life can be equally as anxious for us. Times have changed. Friendships come and go. Relationships end. Opportunities we hoped for never turn out, and life never seems to slow down. It can seem like we never quite have a handle on things.

The life of the Psalmist and for the people of Israel was not about getting the upper hand. It certainly was not about going back to how things used to be, no matter how grand they appeared. We often romanticize the past and hold on to nostalgia. Those days aren’t coming back, though.

The life of the Psalmist is knowing where our peace and salvation come from. It comes from God Himself. Israel was passed around like a nobody to the nations. It wasn’t that they didn’t deserve it; it was that they did, and God heard their cries, remembered His promises, and brought them back.

You may be mourning a loved one, unsure of where to go next in life, or suffering from illness in the mind and body. When you reach the edge where doubt is near, and God feels far away, remember what the sons of Korah demanded of God. “Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.”

You have a God who loves you and sent His Son to die for you. Whose word tells you the steadfast love God has for you through our Lord Jesus. In Jesus, your salvation is near—it is yours. It’s not a matter of what I have to do to earn it, but a matter of your sins being forgiven. Nothing will take you away from the love your Father has for you. Not political uncertainties, not momentary crises of life, not sickness, and not death.

God’s salvation is revealed to you in your crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus. You have your Baptism to remind you of that day you were made a child of God—united to your Savior so that as you endure these final things in these last days, you find comfort in the Word, knowing your identity is sealed in the water. You are strengthened in the eating and drinking of His Body and Blood under the bread and wine. Come, Lord Jesus.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

All glory to the One Who lavishes such love; The triune God in love Assures our life above. His means of grace for us Are gifts He loves to give; All thanks and praise for His Great love by which we live! (LSB 602:6)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.

June 27, 2025

Today's Reading: Acts 8:26-40

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 2:1-24; Acts 8:26-40

“And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.” (Acts 8:38)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The Ethiopian Eunuch was missing something. He had worship; He had the scroll of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 53), and yet it did not make sense to him.

Now, to be clear, Philip is not the pastor who can unlock the secrets of Scripture with his wicked interpretation skills. Philip is the pastor who gets to proclaim the key to all the scriptures—the key that opened up the scriptures to Philip and all the disciples. This key, of course, is that perfect Sunday School answer type of key. I’m talking about Jesus!

Philip, brought by the Spirit, had to be ecstatic when he saw he could talk to this guy about Jesus. The eunuch hears the Gospel. He hears of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was led to the slaughter and did not say a word. That Jesus who died for sinners by taking their sin and making them His own. The Lamb Jesus who silently takes our punishment that brought us peace, and by His wounds, we are healed.

This Gospel, the Good News that God justifies sinners by the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, is that Word of the Lord that does not return empty. The Holy Spirit, through Philip, the pastor, preaches the Gospel that creates faith in the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Then, water comes into the scene. Faith and Baptism go hand in hand. The Holy Spirit works faith by the hearing of the Word, and the Word that works faith is joined to the waters of Baptism. The eunuch understood and was brought to faith by the work of the Holy Sp,irit who called him by the Gospel. That faith in Christ saves, and he wanted to be united to the Word made flesh that went like a lamb to the slaughter to save Him. Philip, the pastor, baptizes him, and the rest is history.

Rejoice in the daily reality of your Baptism, where the Holy Spirit created faith in you, and in those words and promises of God in and with the water, you were united to Christ, your Savior. Surely as He died, you died. Surely as He has risen from the dead, so you also will rise again.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

It sets the Lamb before our eyes, Who made the atoning sacrifice, And calls the souls with guilt oppressed To come and find eternal rest. (LSB 580:2)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.

June 26, 2025

Today's Reading: Catechism: The Lord's Prayer - The Conclusion

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 1:1-18; Acts 8:1-25

This means that I should be certain that these petitions are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by Him; (The Lord’s Prayer - The Conclusion - What does this mean?)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Have you ever thought, “What if God doesn’t like what I pray for?” or “Does God really hear my prayers?”

Don’t worry—you're not alone. Doubting whether or not God hears our prayers or answers them is what Dr. Luther is getting at in his meaning for the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer. God commands us to pray. Not in a “do it or else” kind of command. God invites us to pray to Him just as you would ask your parents for things you want or need.

Your heavenly Father desires to give you all that you need in this life. That doesn’t mean that every petition will be “Yes.” God’s “no” is good. We might not be content with that wherever we are in life at that time. But know this: God’s “no” is not disappointment in you or your prayers. If something is bothering you, or if there is something you want more than anything, pray that God would give it to you if He wills. If you can’t think of what to pray for, pray the Lord’s Prayer; it is the prayer for the baptized Christian that teaches us how to pray.

Trust that the Father hears your prayers, and be comforted that you have the Son and the Holy Spirit interceding for you. God continues to give you daily bread and care for you in your daily life against sin, death, and the devil.

Remember your Amen. Amen is that final word where you confess that this is your prayer and that you know that your Father in heaven hears it and will answer it just as He has promised.

God truly hears your prayers, and your heavenly Father invites you, His child, to pray for Him about everything. We give thanks to God that we can come to Him in prayer and that He sees you as His dear children.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Amen, that is, so shall it be. Make strong our faith in You, that we May doubt not but with trust believe That what we ask we shall receive. Thus in Your name and at Your Word We say, "Amen, O hear us, Lord!" (LSB 766:9)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.

June 25, 2025

Today's Reading: Galatians 3:23-4:7

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 31:10-31; John 21:1-25

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Did Paul just say I don't need to listen to my parents anymore?

No-no. Paul said we don’t need to live captive under the Law anymore.

What does that mean? For us foolish Galatians, it means we must stop trying to make the Christian life a life under the Law. Jesus did that for you. Jesus was born under the Law and perfectly fulfilled it. There is nothing that you and I could do to make that better. In fact, to do so would be to reject what Jesus has done and accomplished for us.

This is what Paul is trying to make absolutely clear to the Galatians. You are free from the Law and its guardianship. You are freed by the one who fulfills the Law. Jesus’ obedience to the will of His Father, even to the point of death, is given to you as a Gift. We are purely passive in this.

How can you be sure of this? You are baptized. In your Baptism, when those words were proclaimed and the water was poured, you were no longer a slave of the law but a son of God. You are a son by faith and an heir of eternal life. There is no reason to return to the Law to establish yourself before God. God has put His Name upon you and claimed you as His beloved child, who He sent His Son Jesus to die for.

There is no partiality here, not to the Jew or the Greek. To the man or woman. For we are all one and are free to be in Christ Jesus.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

In Baptism we now put on Christ—Our shame is fully covered With all that He once sacrificed And freely for us suffered. For here the flood of His own blood Now makes us holy, right, and good Before our heav’nly Father. (LSB 596:4)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.

June 24, 2025

Today's Reading: Luke 1:57-80

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 30:1-9, 18-33; John 20:19-31

“And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.” (Luke 1:64)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Zechariah’s troubling visitation has been resolved. A birth of Abrahamic proportions has occurred. Elizabeth, who was once barren, has now given birth to John. Zechariah obeys the words preached to Him by the angel, and with his mouth opened, he praises God.

John isn’t your typical child. I mean, he was born like any other child and raised like the other children around him. John was different, though; Zechariah tells us as much. God has made Elizabeth’s barrenness bear the forerunner of Christ. God has visited His people. John’s birth and the opening of Luke’s Gospel are grand, but they are about to be overshadowed.

The song of Zechariah gives thanks for his son, John the Baptist, and tells us how God will use John. More to the point of John’s life, though, it tells us who John the Baptist is setting up.

John is the voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord, calling God’s people to repentance, and unmasking the vipers of the religious elite. Zechariah boldly proclaims that God has visited His people. The one who will follow His son, John, is the one who will redeem them. He is of the house of His servant David, who will bring salvation and show God’s mercy, which was promised to their fathers.

John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Most High, prepared the way for His Lord, calling sinners to repent and believe in the one who comes after Him: Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

John the Baptist wasn’t just a miracle child or just a wild man in the wilderness. He was God’s prophet, pointing God’s people to where their sins would be forgiven, where their salvation would be secure, and where God’s mercy would be revealed.

God is still doing this work for you through His preachers so that you might know that God has visited His people and redeemed them through the One John the Baptist points to and the One of whom Zechariah sings. Thanks be to God for John the Baptist, the forerunner, who prepared the way for our Lord to be the Lamb of God who brings salvation and righteousness to all who believe in Him.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, through John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, You once proclaimed salvation. Now grant that we may know this salvation and serve You in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.

June 23, 2025

Today's Reading: Isaiah 65:1-9

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 27:1-24; Proverbs 28:1-29:27; John 20:1-18

“I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there.” (Isaiah 65:9)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Israel’s children had no idea how good they had it, and they had it all. They thought it would last forever. After all, they have everything going for them that the world did not. They had Abraham as their father; they had the temple, and, oh yeah, God had already prevented Assyria from overtaking them (Isaiah 37).

They took the presence of God and the blessing of being the people who bear His Name for granted. It was a band-aid over the gash of their idolatry. God says no more. Assyria will come and take Israel away; the sins of the fathers and the children will be accounted for.

It's easy to belittle the children of Israel. To measure them against God’s law, as God Himself does. We see the specks of sin in everybody, yet we don’t see the log in our own eyes. Maybe life hasn’t been easy lately, and you're mad at God about that. Perhaps you think that you deserve more and that God would want you to be happy. We can be rebellious people and take God for granted, too. In fact, we can fall into the sins of our fathers and tell ourselves our own sins are fine because God will make it all okay anyway.

And yet God does not abandon His people, even when they are unfaithful or when they take Him for granted. Israel is hauled away by Assyria. Judah, to Babylon. Sin has consequences. The band-aid is ripped off so that the wound might be cared for properly.

God sends an offspring from Jacob’s son Judah—His own Son to be the one who bears the crushing weight of the Law and its punishment for our unfaithfulness. He does this so that we might repent from our idolatry and believe that God is faithful even when we are not. We cling to His Son Jesus. We endure the consequences of our actions, the effects of living in a fallen sinful world. Do not think that because of this, your God has forgotten you.

In Jesus, you have it all. Not in a worldly reflection of wealth and happiness but in a way that the suffering and sadness of this life cannot overcome. In the waters of Baptism, we are washed and given the garments of salvation—a new identity, united to Jesus’ death and resurrection, bringing us back to our Father, whole and content. We receive our daily bread from our Father’s hand, living in this world strengthened by the God who gives us everything without any merit or worthiness in me.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Chief of sinners though I be, Christ is all in all to me; All my wants to Him are known, All my sorrows are His own. He sustains the hidden life Safe with Him from earthly strife. (LSB 611:4)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

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.