Devote Yourself newsletter
“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching, and to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13).
There you have it. When we think about the work of pastoral ministry, we think about leading public worship, preaching, and teaching. We want to devote ourselves to those tasks, those privileges, and we want to do the best we can in those areas, all because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
The following three articles are meant to be encouragements to devote yourself to these things as a good minister of Christ Jesus.
July 2026 newsletter
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.
Devote Yourself article archive
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.
Devote Yourself newsletter archive
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