Archive for category: Devote Yourself

Bach Cantatas as a Preaching Tool with the One-Year Lectionary

In the library of Concordia Seminary, St Louis, is a three-volume Bible once owned by J. S. Bach...

Teach Your Sheep

When WELS teachers have attended Lutheran elementary school, Lutheran high school, and Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota (the WELS College of Ministry)...

Bible Translations

What Bible translation does your church use? That’s the question we asked in our survey of all WELS congregations in 2025. Respondents were able to choose more than one.

Using the Foundation

WELS Ministerial Education trains men to stand on their own two feet as pastors. Every Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary graduate can read a biblical text in its original language, construct a sermon based on that text with clear...

Distinctively Lutheran Teaching

My years of experience at WELS preparatory schools have given me some insight on the gifts that pastors bring to the classroom. WELS preparatory schools have approximately the same number of...

Old Testament Narratives as Illustrations in the One-Year Lectionary

One of the features of the One-Year Lectionary that has taken me longer to appreciate is the Gospel selections of the Easter season.

One Year Lectionary

I have come to the One-Year Lectionary as one abnormally born. Before trying it last year, the extent of my experience was in worship during my year studying at the seminary of our sister synod in Germany, the ELFK.

Screens or No Screens?

The congregation stood. I was reading the Gospel. None of the people were looking at me. They were looking at a screen to my right where the words of the Gospel were being projected on a slide.

Troubleshooting Teaching Structures

It’s not usually complicated. There’s a class—you teach it. There’s an education system—you function in it. But sometimes you inherit a system, and it doesn’t seem to be working...

How Do I Know Where We Are?

I was invited to preach a sermon in German at the congregation of our fellowship in Leipzig. I had preached it the Sunday before in Schoenfeld, so I was a little less nervous this week.

Where do you stand when you preach?

Where do you stand when you preach? By “where do you stand,” I’m not asking what your stance is on a particular issue that you might talk about in a sermon.

Teaching Families

On registration day at the boarding high school Michigan Lutheran Seminary, I would always meet with the parents. The veterans usually looked relaxed. The first timers almost always looked scared.

Delivery

The sermon is written. But before I hit “print,” I reread it out loud several times, making adjustments as necessary, tweaking, and editing with the primary thought, “Would I be able to stay awake through this, or would I be bored?”

Christian Worship: Psalter

The committee that produced Christian Worship in 1993 (CW93) had no idea how their new format of psalm singing would be received.

Improving

Teachers know the secret to pastors improving their teaching. You might think that the secret is having the right courses in college.

Tell the Story

“Story” in preaching is like a Christmas box with manger straw, dusty sandals, thorns woven into a crown, and bloody nails...

Service Builder

“What used to take me half a day now takes me half an hour.” When that early review of Service Builder came in, the committee that worked...

Using Luther’s Small Catechism

One year early in my ministry I had seven students of confirmation age, and I realized that all of them came from families in which the mother...

Language

“How words are strung together” came up in our weekly pastors’ meeting recently. Perhaps you know this...

A Lutheran Pastor Looks at Classroom Management

Even though I have the heart of a parish pastor, I have served for many years as the principal of various Lutheran schools.

Worship Survey Results

What does worship in WELS look like these days? How would a person know?

Christian Worship: Service Builder – Time-Saving Customizations

As one who uses Christian Worship: Service Builder (CW:SB) in a parish setting, I still recall how bulletin production used to go without it.

Unconditional Gospel

There’s something special about Lutheran ministers of the gospel educating people.

Connecting the Text to People and People to the Text

Learning to write a sermon was fascinating and fun. I loved exegetical exploration and isagogical big-picture context.

Teaching With Apologetic Awareness

Not long ago, a recently confirmed member stopped me in the narthex after a service. “Pastor, I’m going to invite my friend

The Main Point

“Find the main point of the text,” came the instruction from the homiletics professor.

Manuals for Christian Worship

Four manuals delve into the theology and thinking that were behind the various forms of worship published in the Christian Worship suite.

The Christo-centricity of Liturgical Preaching

Forever emblazoned on my memory banks are the words over the seminary chapel doors...

Commentary on the Propers

While I own copies of all of the volumes in the Christian Worship suite, a subset of those volumes is located on the small shelf that is part of my office desk.

Ten Years In: Reflections on Teaching Grown-Ups (Part 2)

First, our mid-2020 church-planting workshops will always be special to me.

The Person of the Preacher—Does It Matter?

“The person of the preacher” is a phrase I was not acquainted with until a few years ago.

Accompaniment for Services—Service Builder Edition

It was a matter of timing, so it couldn’t be helped. I’m hoping you didn’t miss it, but I would understand if you did.

Ten Years In: Reflections on Teaching Grown-Ups (Part 1)

First, I carry a laminated SETPI diagram in my work bag to glance at when I’m outlining Bible studies months away.

A Successful Tempo for Setting Two

It turned 40 this year. Based on its release date in Christian Worship, however, it’s only four years old for the vast majority of WELS congregations.

Exegeting Your Listeners

Should a preacher change his preaching based on where he is and to whom he is preaching?

So Much to Learn: Notes From Another Young Pastor on Teaching Grown-Ups (Part 2)

Recently, my congregation spent a couple of months working through the first few chapters of Genesis.

Helping You Plan For All Saints’ Day 2025

All Saints’ Day can be observed on Sunday, November 2, this year. The appointed Hymn of the Day for All Saints’ Day...

Avoiding Law-Gospel Negligence and Obsession: Part 2

I can imagine how some preachers might react to the term: “Law-gospel obsession? Could there be such a thing?"

So Much to Learn: Notes From Another Young Pastor on Teaching Grown-Ups (Part 1)

While AI might be a bit controversial, it can nevertheless also be a helpful tool.

Sing More Lutheran Chorales!

I can always get a few likes on my social media accounts with this recommendation. But it’s easier posted than done.

Avoiding Law-Gospel Negligence and Obsession: Part 1

Lutheran preachers treasure God’s law and gospel. Could it happen, though, that we preach too little law and gospel? Or...

So Much to Learn: Notes From a Young Pastor on Teaching Grown-Ups

There’s something both humbling and hopeful about walking into a Bible study room filled with adults.

A Singer’s Book

As far as hymnals go, Christian Worship (2021) is not drastically different than its predecessor. It was meant, however, to be noticeably different in a few ways.

Three Reasons Why Sermon Form Matters

The way we arrange our thoughts in a sermon is probably not something we think about much (or ever).

Working With Adult Learners

Knowles advanced the idea that adults bring a unique set of characteristics to the classroom, and by designing a lesson...

Defining the Purpose of Preaching: Help from Luther

Defining the purpose of preaching can be tricky.

What the teachers in your congregation wish you’d do in Bible study

Feedback is invaluable. This holds true especially in Bible study settings...

Importing Music Graphics That Match

if you have learned to use Christian Worship: Service Builder (CW:SB) and... found yourself wanting to add something that you use locally in the same format...

The Tapestry of Preaching: Use it to Check Your Sermons

Do you ever look back at sermons you’ve preached? If you do, what do you look for?

Psalms as Hymns

Many hymns in the Psalter can be used at places in the service other than the place for the psalm.

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