Contentment is not giving up on life. It is resting in Christ. It is receiving what the Father provides, using it wisely for family and neighbor, and trusting that Jesus—not money—is our life and our hope. In a world that feels like a casino, this is real freedom. #biblestr View article →

All that judgment that should have burned you to stubble falls on Him instead. The refiner’s fire consumes Him, not because He is impure, but because He has taken your impurity as His own. The wrath that should fall on you for your indifference, compromise, lust, and self-righteousness—that wrath is poured out on Him. He, the Bridegroom, lets Himself be treated like the harlot so that His Bride can wear the white robe. He, the righteous Son, is cut off so that you can be called sons. View article → #biblestr

Jacob Returns to Bethel—Genesis 35:1-15 https://youtube.com/live/SHBLlPxOqpQ #biblestr

Jacob Wrestles with God—Genesis 32:22-32 https://youtube.com/live/mfeYDrd8JUE

Esau Comes to Meet Jacob—Genesis 32:1-21 https://youtube.com/live/cLIvyv4NXx4 #biblestr

But the fall into sin did not remove that dominion; it corrupted the heart that wields it. So the problem is not the tools. The problem is the hands and hearts that hold them. The same mind that designs a medicine can design a weapon. The same organizational power that can coordinate relief can also coordinate slaughter. Evil is not less active in a technological age; it is more efficient, more organized, more far-reaching. One of the greatest inventions of coordination, currency like the dollar, is manipulated to devalue the value of your time, effort, and property. As time moves forward the battle does not calm down; it escalates. Wars become more brutal. Hatred becomes more destructive. Inflation runs hot. One catastrophe now can touch the whole world. View article →

Laban Pursues Jacob—Genesis 31:22-42 #biblestr https://youtube.com/live/OpbalZjGxRs

Advent is the season where God puts John in front of you and says, “Listen to him. Learn from him.” Not because John is the Savior, but because John knows he isn’t. He prepares the way by preaching repentance and by baptizing sinners. He shows the church how to live in the in-between time: hear preaching, receive baptism, repent. #biblestr View article →

Jacob Flees from Laban—Genesis 31:1-21 https://youtube.com/live/-KrzGroZCRM #biblestr

Laban Agrees to Divide the Livestock with Jacob—Gen. 30:25-43 https://youtube.com/live/uRR7RCH_dhI

St. Andrew, Apostle (obs)—John 1:35-42a #biblestr https://youtube.com/live/VGB7UVUdZSw

Christ does not come to stir your emotions or decorate your December. He comes to forgive your sins. He comes to cleanse your conscience. He comes to break your death and give you His life. He comes into your mouth, into your body, into your grave-bound flesh. #biblestr View article →

Bible Study: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 — November 30, 2025 #biblestr

Esau Does Not Receive the Blessing—Genesis 27:30-45 https://youtube.com/live/YbfgJ8wu1vM

1 Thessalonians Excursus: Advent — November 23, 2025

The only thing that saves anyone is the call at midnight: “Behold, the bridegroom!” The voice wakes them—not their readiness, not their vigilance, not their superior discipline. The Gospel call creates readiness. It wakes the dead. It puts the lamp in your hand and light in your darkness. But that fear kicks in for the foolish. “What if our lamps don’t last? What if we aren’t enough? What if He is angry? What if He won’t accept us?” This is the reflex of the Old Adam. It’s the voice that always says, “Run. Fix yourself. Get more oil. Get worthy. Get prepared.” And that is the one thing that condemns them. They leave the groom behind. They run from the very promise meant to save them. The wise don’t refuse oil out of selfishness—they simply refuse to take part in the foolishness of unbelief. “Go buy oil” is not a cruel command. It’s Jesus revealing the futility of trying to buy what only He can give. You can’t buy readiness. You can only receive it. View article →

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a day when we stop and admit something we usually avoid: the best things in life aren’t things we made for ourselves. They’re given. We didn’t invent love. We didn’t manufacture the people who care about us. We didn’t earn the food on our table as much as we like to pretend. Even our breath is borrowed. View article →

And if you can’t forgive—then the place to go is not deeper into your resentment but deeper into Christ. The lack of forgiveness is not a moral deficiency; it is a spiritual emergency. It is unbelief expressing itself in hatred. The fix is not to “try harder.” The fix is to repent—to receive again what Christ won for you on the cross, what He pours on you in Baptism, what He puts into your ears through Absolution, what He sets upon your tongue in the Holy Supper. His forgiveness is the only thing that makes your forgiveness possible. View article →

Rebekah—Gen. 24:29 (30-31) 32-38 (39-41) 42-49 (50-57) 58-67 https://youtube.com/live/IX7OJF6OFF4