baptism

Joyfully Losing

By Paul Koch –

What we do here in this place seems, at times, to be disjointed from the world in which we live. I suppose it has always been so: the rhythm and focus of the church is not governed by the cares and fears of our world. It offers something more, something unmovable in the shifting sands of our age. So, there is something of an expected difference that comes from a church. But there are times, and I think this is one of them, where the casual observer of our fellowship might find what we are doing here a bit naive, and perhaps even a little offensive considering what is happening all around us.

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Baptized Bride

By Cindy Koch –

Look in the mirror, my daughter. What do you see? Can you see the beautiful girl that God created you to be? Do you see the white robe of righteousness that Christ put on you? Do you see a perfect and blameless life that lives inside of your heart? Probably not. You might see a familiar face that you remember looking back at you on both happy days and sad days. But she looks pretty normal. Maybe she doesn’t even look all that special. How could this girl in the mirror be the amazing bride that Christ loves?

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Marked by a Cross

By Paul Koch –

Being a pastor affords the privilege to be involved in people’s lives at very intimate moments. From sitting beside a dying grandmother to presiding over a wedding or welcoming a new member into the congregation I have cherished these events. As I’ve attempted to proclaim he Word of God into that moment, time and again, I have found that I’ve been changed and impacted by what is happening. From the look of pride and joy on a father’s face as his child confesses the faith of the family before the congregation. Or the final worlds of assurance from a saint that is longing to meet her Lord face to face. These moments leave their mark. They serve as vivid reminders to me of just what this life of faith is about.

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The Tangible Memory of God’s Work (i.e. my Hymnal)

By Paul Koch –

Back in 2006, our church body released a new hymnal for use in all congregations under the title Lutheran Service Book. As far as hymnbooks go, and within my limited experience, I think this is one a real gem. The resources bound into this one book are invaluable. As soon as it was in print, my congregation ordered enough to replace all our old hymnals. When the first box showed up, I eagerly opened it up and took one of the first copies for myself. The church’s hymnbook became my hymnbook.

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Fool-Proof Baptism

By Cindy Koch –

I’m ashamed for her. I mean, there she is, acting like a fool again. She had every chance to turn her life around. Since her new life, she now knows what God really wants for her. She was almost over the mountain of her painful past. She was on her way out of the suffering. But once again, she passed up the good decisions and chose the ones that would lead her down the harder path.

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Righteous for the Unrighteous

By Paul Koch –

Just what does the Christian life look like? Do you know it when you see it? Can you describe it if you had to? Are there certain things that make a Christian: certain behaviors, certain mannerism, certain styles of dress and the like? Sometimes, I think there is. You can sort of tell when a group of Christians get together. Would we be correct in saying that Christian walk is marked by their willingness to do good to others? Is it to show the same compassion to others that we have all received from our Lord? Is the Christian life one that strives to follow the golden rule; to do unto others as you would have them do unto you?

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Hands Off!

By Cindy Koch –

No one likes to talk about it. I guess we risk sounding a little crazy or paranoid. The whispers in the shadows, the taunting voices heard only in our heads; but by now, we have learned to ignore the queasy prickles when he is near. Hidden in the chaos of our ordinary life, this powerful enemy fights to remain invisible. His strength is confusion. His weapon is doubt. His gift is shame. But his steps are silent, and we are never quite sure where he will show up next.

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Awake, O Sleeper

By Paul Koch –

We have all heard the familiar proverb that says, “familiarity breeds contempt,” but quite often I find that it is not contempt that is bred, but familiarity breeds apathy. Familiarity breeds a lack of concern, a lack of being on guard, a lack of passion and engagement. People will often speak about their marriages in these terms. After years of getting to know one another, there is a routine and a comfortableness that sets in. There is a familiarity about their situation that can often feel lifeless and boring. And of course, the great fear of apathy is that it will breed complacency: settling for a new norm that you may not want, but it is the easy way forward. It’s not just our relationships that are in danger of the terrors of familiarity but our jobs, and our various vocations in life are all susceptible. Even our life as the children of God, as those who receive the gifts of our Lord so freely, even we can easily be enticed by the apathy of familiarity.

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Living Water

By Paul Koch –

Think back to earlier this morning, think back to when your alarm clock went off and you eased out of bed. You gently put your feet on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, not sure if you are excited to be up and moving or if it would just make more sense to roll back under the warm covers. It is a Sunday morning. The plan is to go to church – but for a moment you ask yourself, why? And I don’t mean some great philosophical inquiry into the meaning and purpose of religion, I mean why bother going this morning? Will it be that big of a deal if you just slept in? Would anyone miss you? Is it really all that important? After all, there is always next week or the week after that. It’s not like the church is going anywhere. Why do you go through the process? Getting up and showering, grabbing a cup of coffee and a quick bite to eat, getting the kids ready, rushing through one delay after another to gather in a house of worship… is it really all that important?

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Born Again

By Paul Koch –

People by nature are questioning creatures. They are inquisitive and almost always searching for answers. You don’t have to have children for too long to realize that we are all full of curiosity. While it can be annoying at times, it is beautiful to watch their little minds trying to process new data in their ever-expanding world; as they ask you why the sky is blue, or why the weeds grow in the cracks in the driveway, or why our toe nails continue to grow. And I don’t think we slow down our questioning as we get older. Rather, we only become ashamed of asking the questions. So, we question in private. We question in such a way that no one else knows that we might not have the answers, which is strange seeing as how we know that we don’t all have the answers. There is much of our world that is unknown and hidden, and there is much about ourselves that we have not fully understood. So, in our own way we still question.

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Life and Good, Death and Evil

By Paul Koch –

The children of Israel gather together on the plains of Moab. They had been on quite a journey to get to this point. It was a long and difficult journey, a journey that tested their dependence upon the blessings of God. God was the one who delivered them out of the house of slavery in Egypt. God had caused them to walk through the Red Sea on dry land. God relented from His wrath when they worshiped the golden calf. It was God who consigned them to 40 years of wandering through the wilderness because they were afraid to take possession of the land that He had promised them. Through it all, God provided relief from thirst by water flowing from a rock. He provided heavenly mana and the meat of quail. There was discipline to be sure, like the poisonous serpents which invaded their camp, but there was an abundance of forgiveness and protection throughout this journey. Their journey has finally led them to this place, for now they are read to enter the Promised Land.

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Wall Building as a Christian Virtue

By Paul Koch –

Since the election of Donald Trump, we’ve found ourselves part of a national discussion about the legitimacy, legality, and virtue of building walls. Not only our politicians but also our nations comedians, talk show hosts, and even Super Bowl ads have taken up this discussion. Is the idea of a building a wall driven by fear, racism, patriotism, or some combination of all the above? Is it something that is inherent to the idea of what it means to be an American? Is it a shameful move toward Nazi-era hate speech? Will a wall make America great again, or will it redefine her as something of which we can no longer be proud?

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Something Worth Boasting About

By Ross Engel –

As it exists in my memory, the 1980s were a decade of excess. When I think back to the popular movies of the time, those excesses were paraded before my young eyes. The Griswolds and their National Lampoon’s various Vacations, The Back to the Future trilogy, Goonies, Scarface, Top Gun, the Indiana Jones movies, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Risky Business, and all those John Hughes’ movies (just to name a few) lauded lifestyles that enjoyed the latest and greatest that culture had to offer.

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Jesus Won, So What? What’s That got To Do With Me? Baptism

By Joel A. Hess –

I love the Michigan State Spartans. When they win a football game (which was not often this year), I feel great! The victory changes my whole day. Throughout the evening and into the next day, I relive the great moments of the game, and a smile comes over my face. Yet, at some point during my joy, a little voice in my head complains, “What does their win have to do with you? What happened on that football field two-hundred miles away doesn’t affect your life in any way. They don’t even know you exist!” It’s true, right? When our favorite team wins, it doesn’t benefit us in the slightest. It’s absolutely silly to get all excited (right, Bob Hiller?). We can parade around in our favorite team’s t-shirts and sweatshirts all we want, but it doesn’t get us anywhere.

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Drowning to Live

By Paul Koch –

I often wonder just how those outside of the church view those of us that continue to find sanctuary within these walls. How does a person without faith look at the person who gathers with other believers to confess their faith, hear the Word, receive the gifts, and sing the praises of God? Do they think we are foolish or misguided or simply relics from a different time? One thing is for sure, they know that we are not perfect. In fact, they may see us as hypocrites, failing to practice what we preach. Are we those who can live our lives however we want and then just come in here, receive forgiveness, and pretend like nothing happened? In fact, is this part and parcel to being a Christian? Or to put it even more succinctly as St Paul does, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue to sin that grace may abound?”

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Until

By Paul Koch –

The story of Christmas moves pretty fast. Since the beginning of November all the way up until Christmas morning you could find Christmas music on the radio, find the decorations and lights just about everywhere you shop, and people would greet you by saying “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”. Then, like the sudden closing of a good book, it all just stops. Everything quickly shifts back to normal. In fact, though there is a great amount of buildup in the churches around Christmas time, we also move quite quickly from that silent, holy night. For the story of our Lord’s birth must move on. He didn’t come to just make a big splash, to be announced by angels and be born of a virgin. No, He came for a purpose and the text of Scripture moves us quickly along to get to the heart of why He came.

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A Good Soldier

By Paul Koch –

What a great day to be here in our Lord house! What a great cause for celebration and rejoicing! For today we welcomed into our midst little Kayley Lynn as she was added to the household of the faithful. Now we’ve been on quite a roll here, three baptisms in the last 4 weeks is something to celebrate. It is this promise of life that makes it fun to come here. Because let’s be honest, there are plenty of times that we don’t really want to come here. It isn’t all that fun; we aren’t looking forward to it. It’s okay, you can admit it. Look I don’t always want to come here either.

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I Am Not Ashamed

By Paul Koch –

St. Paul writes to the young preacher Timothy with words of encouragement and guidance. His words have been a blessing to countless pastors throughout the years even as they have been a comfort to the whole church of God as we struggle to receive and rejoice in the blessings of our life together. For while the church can be a place of immense joy and love and support, at times it can also be a place of division and separation and unrelenting judgment.

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Shrewd Living

By Paul Koch –

I have to tell you, our Gospel lesson today is a tough text. I don’t know how many pastors attempt to preach this strange parable of the dishonest manager. Of those who do, I’m pretty sure most of us mess it up along the way. It’s tough, it’s weird, it’s not like any other parable. The parables leading up to this one are soft pitches that are easy to hit out of the park. You have the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. These parables have clear images of the rejoicing in heaven over the one sinner who repents, images of the boundless love of our eternal Father. But then, you have this text. This strange parable is about a dishonest manager being commended for his shrewdness. He is commended not because of some great act of penance or kindness or justice, but because he acted decisively and wisely.

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