St Peter Lutheran Church Wisconsin Synod

06/01/2026

Holy Trinity Sunday
Text: 2 Corinthians 3:11-14
Theme: Trinity, by Necessity

11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All God’s people here send their greetings. 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

TRINITY, BY NECESSITY

From The Book of Concord: The Apology of the Augsburg Confession: Article I: This asserts our faith and teaching that there is one undivided divine essence, and that there are nevertheless, three distinct and coeternal persons of the same divine essence, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have always taught and defended this doctrine and we believe that the Holy Scriptures testify to it firmly, surely, and irrefutably. These are the words of our spiritual forefathers, and I pray they are all words you stand by. I certainly do. I wouldn’t—I couldn’t—be your pastor if I didn’t. When I was first ordained, I was asked if I believed that the Apology of the Augsburg Confession was “a true exposition of the Word of God” and “in agreement with this one scriptural faith.” I said yes. Lord willing, a few short months from now, some 40 new pastors entering the ministry field will say yes, too. You cannot be a Christian pastor if you consider what the Augsburg Confession says about the Holy Trinity to be negotiable. But how is it for Christians in general? The Apology of the Augsburg Confession continues: We steadfastly maintain that those who believe otherwise do not belong to the church of Christ but are idolaters and blasphemers. To reject the Trinity is to make one an idolater, one who worships a false god. To deny Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is to be a blasphemer, to treat God with the utmost contempt. If the words of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession weren’t enough for you, consider the words of the Athanasian Creed, a profession of faith we consider just as valid and true as the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds: Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else, hold to the true Christian faith. Whoever does not keep this faith pure in all points will certainly perish forever. Now this is the true Christian faith. The Creed then proceeds to speak of the Holy Trinity as well as the human and divine natures of Christ Jesus before concluding with: This is the true Christian faith. Whoever does not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be saved.

These are strong words. In fact, I daresay these are the strongest possible words that could be said on the subject! But why are they so strong? What gives these statements of faith such authority, that we should take what they say about the Trinity so seriously? We know not to reject what it says in the Bible, because those are the actual words of God, who divinely inspired mortal men to pen his message to the world. These, however, the Augsburg Confession, the Creeds, and the like, they’re not in the Bible. They can’t claim divine authority the way books like Ezekiel, Jonah, and Esther can, can they? But that’s the thing, they are only authoritative because they are accurate summaries of the teachings of the books of the Bible. So, as you page through the Scriptures, reading everything you can about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you will find that the Athanasian Creed, for example, properly reflects what can be found on that topic throughout the Bible’s 66 books. The doctrine of the Trinity is taught all throughout God’s Word, and with the Athanasian Creed, we have that doctrine faithfully reproduced with care and precision. Practically speaking, then, those who reject the Augsburg Confession and the Creeds reject the teachings of the Bible itself, including what it teaches about the Trinity. So, the grim proclamation that those who reject the Trinity are idolaters and blasphemers who cannot be saved is Biblically-backed. So now we ask another question: Why does the Bible itself take the Trinity so seriously?

On a basic level, the fact that the Trinity is established in Scripture at all should mark it as “important.” As we established last week at Pentecost, the Word of God is how the immortal God chooses to reveal himself to mortal men. Not through dreams. Not through visions. But through all the books Genesis through Revelation. Who are we, that God should let us know anything about him? And yet what a treasure trove we have of information on the Almighty! We know that God is righteous yet merciful, just yet compassionate. We know that he loathes sin and demands righteousness, but we also know that he made us righteous and rid us of our sin. We know that he created us, we know that he loves us, we know that he provides for us. We also know that he is Triune, and just like any other piece of knowledge we gain about God from Scripture, we treat this biblical fact as the treasure it is. To deny any portion of Scripture, Trinity or otherwise, is to deny God himself, to claim there are parts of him we don’t care to know, that the blessing of intimacy with our Creator is simply something we aren’t interested in. To deny Scripture is to distance oneself from God, and to distance oneself from God is to invite damnation!

For the doctrine of the Trinity, however, there is another factor at play. The Trinity is one of the key doctrines of the entire Bible. All of God’s Word points to the work Jesus did for our salvation. That is the absolute core of Scripture, and the Trinity is inseparably tied to that core. Who is Jesus? He is the perfect Mediator between God and man, because he is both God and man. Jesus, the Son of God the Father, entered into humanity by being born of the virgin Mary. But, like Mary, we ask, “How can this be, since (she) is a virgin?” To this, the Angel Gabriel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) The Most High is God the Father, Mary’s child is God the Son, and this child was conceived not by mortal man, but by God the Holy Spirit. All three members of the Trinity are involved in Gabriel’s glorious proclamation to Mary, but what’s the end result of this? It’s what we said before: that Mary’s child, Jesus, is both God and man. Man, so that he could be a proper substitute for all mankind, and God, so that the precious blood he shed would be sufficient payment for every sin of every person for all time. Our salvation depends on Jesus being both God and man, but you cannot have the doctrine of Jesus’ two natures without also having the doctrine of the Trinity.

What’s more, as Jesus ascended into heaven, he commanded his disciples to make more disciples, not only by teaching them the Word of God (which would include the doctrine of the Trinity) but by baptizing them “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism and the Trinity go hand-in-hand as well. It was at Jesus’ very baptism that humanity would receive just a glimpse of all three members of the Trinity at the same time: God the Son, being baptized by John in the Jordan River, God the Father, voicing his approval from heaven, and God the Holy Spirit, descending like a dove. Now, in our baptisms, we follow Jesus’ command to apply water in the name of the Triune God. It is only when a baptism is carried out in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that it is considered valid. If a baptism were to take place outside the name of the Triune God, it wouldn’t be considered a baptism at all! The whole process would be null and void, because in a proper baptism, the Holy Spirit brings new life and saving faith into our hearts—faith not in the work of sinful man, but in the work of the God-man, Jesus. And in this new, Holy Spirit-given life, we are reconciled to God the Father. We are dead to sin, but alive in God! So once again, without the Trinity, there is no baptism, there is no saving faith, and there is no new life with God. What a joyful truth it is, then, that we are not without the Trinity!

Our God is a Triune God. With our finite human understanding, we cannot fully comprehend how this can be. Even so, we accept it as true, as the Holy Spirit enables us to do. But if we were to compromise on this doctrine, because it doesn’t make sense to us, because we insist on rationalizing it, because it seems too confusing to learn, we would not be worshipping the One True God. We’d be idolaters, worshipping a god whose mechanics we can perhaps understand just a little bit better, but not the God who reveals himself in Scripture. Yes, we do proclaim that churches and individuals who deny the Trinity are unchristian, and we proclaim this without flinching and without hesitation. Christ as our mediator, our faith, our salvation, our baptism, it’s clear that a church can’t be considered Christian without these. I pray that, now, this point is just as clear when it comes to the Trinity. This is the true Christian faith. Whoever does not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be saved. But you do believe and you are saved. And while you still may not fully understand all the ins and outs of the Holy Trinity, you’re in good company! No one fully “gets” it, but we can all surely cherish it. That is my prayer for you, that you continue to see and treat this divine mystery as the treasure it is. Praise the God from whom this, and all other blessings flow! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen!

05/31/2026

05/26/2026

We're gearing up for our next Family Bible Class, and we want *you* to be a part of it! Last August, we got to gather together for a night of fun, fellowship, free food, and of course, a Bible study on the story of Noah's Ark. This time around, we'll be adding a brief "closing ceremony" for our Sunday Schoolers, giving a look ahead at this summer's Vacation Bible School, and doing a deep dive (pun only slightly intended) on the Book of Jonah! The event is completely free, and it kicks off Friday, June 5th at 5:30pm. See you there!

Jun 5 Family Bible Class Friday, June 5, 2026 5:30 PM 7:30 PM Google Calendar ICS It’s back! Join us at St. Peter once again for our Family Bible Class! What’s it about? For starters, we wanted to put on this special event as a “Thank You!” to everyone who participated in our Sunday Scho...

05/25/2026

Pentecost Sunday
Text: Joel 2:28-29
Theme: The Spirit Outpoured

28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

THE SPIRIT OUTPOURED

Suppose I spent the next 15-20 minutes prattling on about dragons and sorcery, what would you think? If I were to stand here and go on and on about magic rings, and glowing swords, and chosen ones, you’d probably think I lost my mind, right? We can admit, the Bible has some fantastical elements to it. Magic is used. Miracles abound. The devil is even described in Revelation as a dragon. And yet, the Bible isn’t fantasy (regardless of what some unbelieving communities might suggest). Unless the portion of Scripture we’re reading is using poetic language, we take the fantastical, supernatural elements we read as historical fact. Yes, Mary did give birth as a virgin. Yes, Jesus did die and rise again. And yes, the incredible events of Pentecost also actually took place. We believe all these things are true, even though they defy our understanding of how things work. Unlike the skeptics and cynics of the world, we’re willing to acknowledge the supernatural. If anything, then, our vice is that we take things too far. Yes, a diatribe on magic and dragons would be out of place at the pulpit, but for some strange reason, those alarm bells don’t seem to go off quite as loudly when magic and the Bible mingle elsewhere.

“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” What did Joel mean by writing this? What did God mean by promising it? Again, things like prophecies, dreams, and visions aren’t out of place when it comes to Scripture. In fact, these things were quite common among God’s servants for a time. In our Adult Bible Class, we’ve been discussing the great vision God brought to the prophet, Ezekiel, through which he ordered Ezekiel to preach to stubborn and idolatrous Israel. The Magi were warned in a dream not to report back to King Herod, and Joseph was commanded in similar fashion to take Mary and Jesus and wait things out in Egypt until King Herod’s threat had passed. And goodness, we could spend ages on all of the prophecies spoken and fulfilled all throughout the Scriptures! So again, we acknowledge the reality of these supernatural experiences. The Apostle Peter did, too. He explicitly points to the events of this Pentecost festival as the fulfillment of Joel’s words. The Holy Spirit was indeed poured out, and the sound of wind and the tongues of fire were identifiable markers, proof to the eyes and to the ears that this was actually happening. And what followed the wind and the fire? “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4) These were foreign tongues, mind you. Languages that these simple Galileans wouldn’t have simply “picked up” to speak so profoundly, so elegantly as they were. This was a divine miracle. This was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was not what God’s holy people could expect moving forward.

What was the point of prophecy? Why did God speak to his messengers through visions and dreams? It was all so that God might reveal his divine will to his people. Through mortal men, people would receive the very words of the immortal God. But it wasn’t just any mortal men. It was only a select few that God himself had chosen—not based off of personal qualifications, but by his grace. And the gift of prophecy was so unique, so rare, that even Moses commented on it. As we read in the book of Numbers: “A young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, ‘Moses, my lord, stop them!’ But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!’” (Numbers 11:27-29) As we see from the Pentecost account, Moses got his wish. The Lord put his Spirit on all his people and made them prophets….so when was the last time you prophesied? You’re probably making a few assumptions as you grapple with this question, aren’t you? I don’t recall predicting the future. Am I not a prophet? Am I not one of God’s holy people? Do I not have the Holy Spirit? Brothers, sisters, put your minds at ease. The Holy Spirit is yours. He has been since your baptism. And with the Holy Spirit comes the gift of prophecy. But to prophesy, remember, is to reveal the words and will of the immortal God to mortal men. Where do you receive these words? Where do you discover this will?

Consider the words of the writer to the Hebrews: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2a) As the world waited for its Savior to arrive, God chose to reveal himself through a selection of prophets. Once that Savior came, God the Father made himself known through him. Jesus himself explains, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:7) And we do know Jesus. We know him as our Savior, which is what the name “Jesus” means. We know him as God’s anointed, which is why we call him Christ. And we also know him as the Divine Logos, that is, the Living Word. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Through his Son, through his divine Word, we come to know God. All of this is to say that, no, God does not communicate to his people through visions or dreams anymore. Instead, God now speaks to us through his Word. But we are prophets, are we not? So how are we meant to prophesy? Sons, daughters, old men, young men, this was supposed to be something that was accessible to all of us now, but now we’re saying none of us prophesy at all? I didn’t say that. I said to prophesy is to reveal God’s Will. You do that when you speak the very words of God as recorded for you in the Bible.

Does that sound anticlimactic? Were you expecting something more grandiose? Were you expecting something a bit more…magical? I thought such things had no place in the ministry! You may reject those obvious farcical faith healings, raise a suspicious eyebrow at those who speak in tongues, and have a word or two to speak against the prosperity Gospel, but that desire to make the ministry more magical still lingers. Was God sending me a message when that loved one called at just the right time? Was God trying to tell me something when my favorite Christian song came on the radio at a low point? Was the Holy Spirit speaking to me when I entered a particular building for the first time and things just “felt right,” like I was meant to be there? These are nothing more than our attempt at recapturing the visions and dreams of the prophets of old. Oh, if we could see the sights Ezekiel saw! Oh, if we could hear God’s own voice thundering as Moses once did! Oh, if we could have those special, those magical moments that shake us to our core in the best way possible, and make us feel like we’re full of the Holy Spirit’s divine power! But this does a tremendous disservice to the gifts God already gives you in his Word.

You’re not going to spontaneously speak Cantonese, or Yiddish, or Esperanto, but you can say “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” can’t you? And how in the world is that not enough? To have access—easy access—to the very words of God himself, not by dreams and visions, but by reading letters printed on a page. Or is that medium too mundane? Does the fact that you can simply pick up a Bible and start reading deprive God’s Word of its power, because it lacks gravitas and showmanship? Are you not impressed by the fact that you, every last one of you, is capable of prophesying, because you can share a Bible passage you learned with a loved one? The Holy Spirit has been outpoured on you, and now you are able to believe and share the mysteries of the Almighty with those near and far. The signs and wonders in days of old were only ever going to be temporary. They weren’t the main attraction, but they served to highlight and validate the main attraction. God allowed the wind to be heard and the tongues of fire to be seen so there’d be no mistaking that, yes, this is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised before he ascended into heaven. And the Apostles performed miracles to mark themselves as genuine messengers of the Gospel at the time. But for us today, God’s Word is sufficient. God’s Word is enough. And realistically, how could we ask for anything more wondrous, more sublime, than the will of the divine being shown to us so directly, so personally? God has made himself accessible to you, and through you, he’s made himself accessible to everyone else! And this accessibility doesn’t need to come with something showy or fantastical—the simple fact that we have it is a marvel in itself!

I understand the comfort people take in the notion that the Holy Spirit is guiding them, specifically, through this choice or that, and the disappointment that can be felt by popping that fantasy’s bubble. But I urge you, brothers and sisters, fellow recipients of the Holy Spirit, not to undervalue the amazing gift that has been given to you. God does not come to you with hazy visuals or vague notions, but with the certainty of his word. You know what he declares, you know what he means by what he declares, and you know why he declares it. And you don’t even have to be a Levite, a monk, a hermit to share what God has declared with those around you. The Holy Spirit is yours, so go with him as you make disciples of all nations, prophesying in His name. Amen.

05/18/2026

Ascension Sunday
Text: Colossians 3:1-4
Theme: With You Always

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

WITH YOU ALWAYS
It often goes underappreciated and even unnoticed, but the Christian faith has this sort of running theme of not doing what’s already being done for you. Case in point: works righteousness. Throughout the entire Bible, the idea is hammered home that you cannot earn righteousness for yourself; you are completely, utterly unable to earn your salvation. So don’t even try. It would be a useless even redundant to do so—You can’t win something that’s already been won for you. You can’t do something that’s already been done for you, and it’s been done for you by Christ. Well, then we shift our attention away from this relationship we have with Christ and view ourselves in relation to those around us. Our natural inclination—our sinful inclination—is to take care of ourselves first. It’s what everyone else does, and they often do it at the expense of those around them. And we certainly don’t want to be cheated! We don’t want to be taken advantage of! So, we tend to our own needs, our own wants, our own goals and aspirations, because no one else is going to! Except someone else is, and once again, that someone else is Christ. Christ keeps our best interests in mind. He always has, and he always will. In fact, he prioritizes us to such an extent that he even laid down his life for our sake. Christ always has our back, and with him looking out for us, who are we supposed to look out for? The answer is obvious: it’s others. The knowledge that my God is serving me actually frees me from the burden of being self-serving, frees me up to serve others instead. So, I won’t worry about myself. I won’t do what’s already being done for me. Today, with Christ’s ascension, we see this running theme play out yet again.

Through Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Christ tells us to set our hearts and minds on things above, rather than on earthly things, and this is a sentiment Christ himself shared during his own earthly ministry. Jesus once said to his disciples, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” (Matt 6:25) We’re mindful about these things, sure. We don’t neglect to feed or clothe ourselves. We are also careful to be faithful stewards of the blessings our Heavenly Father gives us. Ultimately though, we remember that our Savior holds our best interests near and dear to his heart. Forty days after Christ’s resurrection, he ascended to his throne of power and glory in heaven, and from his heavenly throne, he uses all that power and glory to rule over all creation for the good of his church. His mind is set on earthly things, insofar as he’s guiding those earthly things for his own heavenly purpose. And because Christ has the earthly things handled, we cast our thoughts upward, heavenward. Granted, our thoughts aren’t heavenward in the same way that Christ’s thoughts are earthward. Christ looks down here to guide, to control, to protect, but we can’t exactly do the same for the heavenly realm. No, for us, turning our thoughts heavenward means prioritizing Christ’s kingdom and the eternal blessings Christ provides over the temporary things of this world. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33)

What does it mean, though, to seek first Christ’s kingdom? We saw it earlier today, as little Olivia was baptized. Parents generally have a duty to look out for their children’s wellbeing. Again, we don’t want to neglect things like clothing and food—not for ourselves, and certainly not for the people God has charged us with taking care of! But our hearts are still set on things above. We seek first Christ’s kingdom, and that means we take it to heart when Christ tells us, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt 19:14) Our Savior has declared that his kingdom of righteousness is by no means off limits to little children. They have sins, too. They need forgiveness, too. And Christ is all too happy to bring that forgiveness to them. In fact, Christ directly commands us not to hinder the little children, but to make it a point to include them as we carry out Christ’s Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” So, we baptize our children. We teach our children. We make disciples out of our children.

This also means this is a lifelong process. Parents and other caretakers are by no means “off the hook” once the child in their care gets a bit of water poured onto their forehead. Baptism is not the end, but the beginning of a lifetime in Christ’s kingdom. As infants become children and as children become adolescents, we train them to set their hearts and minds on things above, just as we train and encourage one another. Lord willing, as those adolescents become adults and elders, they will continue on in what they have been taught and pass the blessings of Christ’s kingdom on to the next generation, and they to the next, and they to the next. And in this we see that, although Christ has ascended into heaven, he is still very much present—not only in our lives, but in the lives of our offspring and even in the lives the descendants who come long after we have gone. In every age, Christ is there.

But then, we must remember the running theme of God’s Word. We do not, cannot do what’s already being done for us. What does this mean though, in the context of baptizing and raising our children in God’s Word? It means that we are mindful of our place in the spiritual lives of the next generation. Luke and Rebecca brought their child forward, and I poured water over Olivia’s head, but none of us can claim to have won forgiveness for Olivia’s sins, and none of us are responsible for creating faith in Olivia’s heart. That was Christ’s doing, and it would be foolish of us to try to take his job away from him. We’d never do it as well as he could, anyway! So, instead of trying to do what Christ already does for us, we devote ourselves to the work he’s left us to do, that is, remain in the Word ourselves, and baptize and teach all nations. And as we do this work for the sake of Christ’s kingdom, Christ himself makes a very special promise to us: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Not only is Christ present in every passing age. He is also present in every individual stage of our own lives.

Before we take our first breath, Christ is watching over us. As those baptismal waters cover us, Christ enters our hearts. As our parents teach us, and as we go to Sunday School, Christ strengthens our faith. As the challenges of life become greater and greater, we turn to Christ for refuge. As we grow older and weaker, we remember that Christ is our Good Shepherd, by our side even as the lights fade. And as we take our final breath, Christ will still be there, waiting for us on the other side. And it’s because of this steadfastness, this dependability, that we “set (our) hearts on things above, where Christ is,” because no other earthly person or thing can be there for us the way Christ is. And Christ is more than just with us throughout our lives. Christ is our life. “All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4) As far as sin is concerned, we are dead and gone. As far as our Heavenly Father is concerned, we are alive and whole, as Christ himself is alive and whole. When God the Father looks at us, when he looks at little Olivia, he sees the complete and utter perfection of his beloved Son—that’s our how deep our unity with Christ goes, that our Heavenly Father accepts and loves us because he loves and accepts his only begotten Son. This level of devotion and nearness, by the way, is also how we can be so confident in saying that Christ’s thoughts are earthward. He really is watching over us every step of the way, and as his mind is on us, our minds are, naturally, on him!

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples foolishly asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) Their thoughts were earthward, and they thought too little of Christ and his kingdom. They thought it would be an earthly thing, a local thing, a thing made of stones and bricks and silver and gold, a thing glorious and prestigious, but a thing destined not to last forever. May our thinking never be so small! May we never worry ourselves over the things our Savior as promised to keep a loving eye on, and may we ever concern ourselves with the blessed work he has given us to do. And all the while, may our thoughts be heavenward, as we await that great day, when “Christ, who is (our) life, appears, (and we) also will appear with him in glory.” But even as we wait, we are at peace, because we know that the Christ we are waiting for is already with us, and he will continue to be with us to the very end of the age. Amen.