Faith Lutheran Church - Germantown, WI

06/25/2026

The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, having received more than 50% percent of the votes cast in the third ballot for the election of the president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), is the president-elect for the 2026–2029 triennium. It will be his sixth term in office.

May the Lord richly endue him with strength for continued service and make him a blessing to the Synod and to the church.

Read more: https://www.lcms.org/convention/national/elections

06/24/2026

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Remarried to Jesus"
June 24, 2026
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:1-6)

This is a weird illustration Paul is using. He talks about the case of a woman who marries again. Whether this is wrong or right depends entirely on whether death has ended the first marriage. If not, the woman is committing adultery; but if her first husband has died, nobody would dream of questioning the second marriage.

And then Paul turns around and applies it to us! Once upon a time we were the ones who were “married” to God’s law—and it wasn’t such a great marriage, was it? Never any peace, not for a single moment—because our own sinful desires and actions were constantly fighting with God’s law. It wasn’t the law’s fault—I mean, we can all see for ourselves that the commandments are good. But we are not good—not healthy, whole, and happy, the way God made us to be. We are broken people, unable to live by the law. And God knows this.

So He solved it with a death—Jesus’ death. Jesus took our sin, our brokenness, upon Himself, even though He Himself never did anything wrong. And then He took us, the people He loved, along with Him, all the way through His own death and resurrection—so that we could become God’s own beloved children, living in freedom and joy.

And not living alone! Because as Paul says, now that we have died and risen with Jesus, we are remarried—this time, not to the law which made us miserable, but to Jesus, our Savior. He is the One who gave Himself up for us, so that we could live in freedom, serving “in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” Today we do good, not because we “have to,” but because the Holy Spirit is living inside us, making our hearts more and more like our Savior’s. And we delight to make Him happy, because we love Him.

WE PRAY: Lord, I’m glad to belong to You. Teach me what it means to live in Your freedom and love. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

What kind of a husband do you expect Jesus to be?
What kind of a marriage do you expect this to be like?
Is it easier or harder to do good things when you know that your salvation doesn’t depend on your good works—and that Jesus has already handled that, for love of you?

06/23/2026

Save August 8th - LuWiSoMo Family Day 2026 & 64th Birthday!

Celebrate LuWiSoMo!
Connect with Your LuWiSoMo Family!
Make New Friends!
Support the Ministry!
Enjoy a Day at LuWiSoMo. All Welcome!

Join the fun at LuWiSoMo Family Day, including the family fun run/walk (9:00 am), beach open, boats available, free time to explore/relax, annual chicken dinner (noon until gone), bingo for all ages in the air-conditioned Dining Hall (1:00-3:00 pm), and fun outdoor family focused games and activities for all ages (1:00-4:00 pm). We'll end our day together with a camp style worship & thanksgiving to God, for all He's done and continues to do with His ministry here at LuWiSoMo (4:00-5:00 pm) as we celebrate our 63rd birthday!

For those staying overnight, the traditional sing-along campfire later happens Saturday evening at the Campground Worship Bowl.

Details at www.luwisomo.org/family-day

If you want to stay for the weekend, we have Campsites, Family Cabins, and Retreat Center Rooms available.

Help spread the word - share the invite with others and ask your congregation to add it to their bulletin or news outlets for all.
Printable flyers for sharing, posting, or bulletin inserts, along with the image file if you want to format as needed for your bulletin or newsletter, are available at www.luwisomo.org/family-day

06/22/2026

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"The Sum of Your Word"
June 22, 2026
I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep Your commands. Consider how I love Your precepts! Give me life, O Lord, according to Your steadfast love. The sum of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your righteous rules endures forever. (Psalm 119:158-160)

“I look at the faithless with disgust.” That is not a very nice thing to say, but the psalmist has a reason for his disgust: “They do not keep Your commands.” Shouldn’t we love others, even unbelievers who reject the Lord and His Word? Yet we have to admit that sometimes we look at the world around us with disgust. We hear faithless and false teaching from those who wrongly claim the Name of Christ. The immorality so often on display in our culture shocks and dismays us. Hatred and quarrels abound among strangers and within families. There are so many people who do not keep God’s commands. We sometimes feel that same disgust!

Other saints also looked with astonishment, and perhaps disgust, on the sinful behaviors that confronted them. Moses’ anger “burned hot” when he saw the idolatry of the Israelites (Exodus 32:19b). Righteous Lot was “greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked” (2 Peter 2:7b). The apostle Paul was astonished at the immorality and arrogance found among the Christians in Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 5:1-2). We are disgusted—and then we look in the mirror of God’s Law. There our own disgusting disobedience is clearly revealed. The psalmist knows about this mirror too, and writes, “There is none who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:3b). The apostle Paul takes up the same theme: “For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things” (Romans 2:1b).

The faithless do not keep God’s commands, and neither do we. The Holy Spirit works through God’s Law to reveal our sins and call us to honest reflection and repentance. The Spirit also works through the bright truth of the Gospel, the welcome news that God sent His Son to be our Savior. Jesus took all of our disgusting sins, the sins of the faithless and the sins of the faithful, into His sinless body on the cross. He suffered the death that we deserve. We feel disgust and grief over our own sins and turn to the Lord in repentant humility. Through faith in Jesus, we receive forgiveness for our sins and the gift of eternal life. Receiving forgiveness for Jesus’ sake, we in turn proclaim repentance and forgiveness to others in Jesus’ Name. The Holy Spirit works through the mirror of God’s Law and the glad news of the Gospel to shape a proclamation that, in the words of the psalmist, adds up just right: “The sum of Your Word is truth.”

WE PRAY: Lord God, lead me to repentance and forgive my sins for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.

Reflection Questions:

What is your usual reaction to someone who’s committed some detestable sin(s)? Are you ever able to get past that reaction and think in love toward that person?
How does God’s Law plainly show us our sin?
What has God done through Jesus to make you and me—contemptible sinners that we are—clean and righteous in His sight?

06/21/2026

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide"
June 21, 2026
“To hope grown dim, to hearts turned cold Speak tongues of fire and make us bold To shine Your Word of saving grace Into each dark and loveless place.

“Restrain, O Lord, the human pride That seeks to thrust Your truth aside Or with some man-made thoughts or things Would dim the words Your Spirit brings.”

In these hymn verses, we pray that God would make us courageous witnesses for Christ: “Make us bold to shine Your Word of grace.” We also ask that the Lord would restrain the forces that oppose His Word: “Restrain, O Lord, the human pride that seeks to thrust Your truth aside.” News reports and daily experience show us that the world can be a very dark place of sin and opposition to the truth of God’s Word. We are called to bring the light of God’s Word to that darkness.

The Word warns us about the thoughts and things that try to dim the light of truth. The apostle Paul warned the young pastor Timothy about man-made thoughts that would arise to oppose the truth. People would develop “itching ears” and find “teachers to suit their own passions.” No longer listening to the truth, many would instead embrace myths invented by those man-made thoughts (see 2 Timothy 4:3-4). We can see the evidence of such thoughts and beliefs at work in today’s culture as Satan attempts to extinguish the light of Jesus Christ and His Word.

Surrounded by the growing darkness of human pride and the man-made thoughts and things that oppose the truth, we proclaim the light and truth of Jesus Christ. We pray that our Lord would make us bold to share His Word of saving grace with those still lost in darkness. Jesus sent His disciples into the world to proclaim the truth of His Word, to announce repentance and forgiveness in His Name. Like those first disciples, we too are witnesses for Jesus Christ. A witness in a courtroom does not seek to convince a jury of the truth. A witness simply tells what he saw and what he knows. That is what we do as witnesses for Jesus. We tell others what we know to be true. We talk about our Savior’s atoning death and triumphant resurrection. We speak of Jesus’ constant presence in our lives and of the forgiveness, hope, and peace that we have through faith in His Name. The Holy Spirit is at work in our witness as He convicts people of the truth. In our homes, in our neighborhoods and in all nations, we are witnesses for our crucified and risen Lord. Into every dark and loveless place, we shine the Word of truth!

WE PRAY: Lord, restrain human pride that seeks to hide the truth of Your Word. Make me a bold witness for You. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “Lord Jesus Christ, With Us Abide,” which is number 585 in the Lutheran Service Book.

Reflection Questions:

Are there distractions in your life that keep you from drawing closer to God?
Can you think of examples of people with “itching ears” who are finding “teachers to suit their own passions” today?
How can you be an instrument of God’s light for others in an area where people are struggling?

06/21/2026

Announcements for the week of June 21

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

06/21/2026

From Pastor Peter Heckert and the entire congregation, welcome to F...

06/20/2026

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Conscience and Integrity"
June 20, 2026
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:10-12)

Ministers today may refer frequently to the evidences of God’s judgment in our world—there are so many of them—but there is little danger that they will preach too much about the wrath of God and His final judgment. Yet, as the apostle Paul tells us, “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”

Every human being is born with a conscience. We know distinctions between good and evil without being told. If the voice of conscience is ignored, however, it can become very weak or nearly still. In fact, with persistent wrongdoing and by stifling the inner monitor of what we know to be right and wrong, the conscience can be seared, burnt to the point of malfunction through misuse (see 1 Timothy 4:1-2).

As God’s Law convicts us of our sin, so do our consciences confirm the verdict. But that is not the end of the matter for us. More than an unsettling voice within, our conscience is a gift. With stunning clarity, it reveals our attempts to hide our sins and exposes us to God’s righteous judgment, and (thanks be to God!)—it reveals our need for the mercy He offers you and me in His Son Jesus Christ.

We are sinners through and through. King David, among countless others, knew this to be true: “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be justified in Your words and blameless in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:3-5).

The apostle Paul felt the pricks of his conscience as he wrestled with doing right and wrong. Like David before him, Paul understood his human condition before God. “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19).

Paul’s finely tuned conscience was a blessing; it informed his ministry and gave integrity to his message. “So I find it to be a law that when I do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the Law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the Law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Romans 7:21-25).

WE PRAY: Holy Spirit, use my conscience to guide my actions as I seek to serve Jesus with my whole being. In His Name I pray. Amen.

Based on “Living with One’s Conscience,” a sermon by Rev. Dr. Armin Oldsen, former Speaker of The Lutheran Hour

Reflection Questions:

Is your conscience a reliable “guide” in questionable situations?
Can you identify with Paul wanting to do good but still messing up anyway?
Is there a way to train your conscience to be more Christ-like in your decision-making?

06/20/2026

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Journey Through Depression"
June 19, 2026
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.

But [Elijah] went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake [of bread] baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.” (1 Kings 19:4-8)

Elijah felt stuck. Only days before, he had reached the pinnacle of professional success. But then, the harsh realities of life came crashing down around him, and for about six weeks or more, he was stuck in a depression. And he was certain he’d never get out of it. But God stuck with him.

The way God meets Elijah offers hope, whether you’re stuck in a depression, or trying to walk with someone who is. We can’t do everything God would do later, like sending gale-force winds, an earthquake, a fire before meeting Elijah on the mountain with a gentle whisper. But before all these acts of God, the Lord starts with something we could follow. He gives Elijah a snack. God knows we are physical beings who need physical sustenance. Depression can be related to the needs of the body, and God works through physical means to help, which may include a prescribed medication, a changed diet, some exercise, or rest. And sometimes just a snack is all it takes to change the mood.

We are more than our bodies, though. We are relational beings, created to relate with God and with others, and depression is often tied to relational needs. God doesn’t just sustain Elijah with a snack. He also offers him a safe relational space. Forty days later, when Elijah gets to the mountain, two times God will ask him the same concerned, curious question. It could be translated as, “What are you doing here?” or, “What is this place to you, Elijah?” Both times God asks it, Elijah gives the exact same answer, stuck on repeat. Even after six weeks, Elijah is still in a rut, but God sticks with him. God gives His servants space to be sad.

Even more than a snack and a spacious relationship, Elijah gets a place in God’s saga. What is this place to you, Elijah? The question recalls a saga. This mountain is where, hundreds of years before, God made the covenant with His people, where He married Himself to them, and through them, to all people. God promised to stick with us no matter what. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus, who came with a body like ours, so that He could share in our sadness and death, so that we could share in His resurrection, so that when you’re in a rut, or with someone who is, you would know that God is committed for the long haul, that He will sustain you for the saga that stretches into eternity, because the journey is too great for you alone, but not for you in Christ. And it’s His joy to be stuck with you.

WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, thank You for sticking with me. All the way and all the time, I need Your sustenance. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.

Reflection Questions:

Studies suggest that, over a lifetime, 1 in every 6 people struggle with depression. How does your experience fit in with that statistic?
How do you notice physical means (food, rest, diet, exercise) affecting your mood?
Read all of 1 Kings 19. How do the LORD’s dealings with Elijah speak to you?

06/18/2026

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Extremes"

June 18, 2026

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, … “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for My Name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. … If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:5a, 21-24, 25b-31)

It seems odd to me that Jesus sent the twelve disciples out to preach and heal with these scary words we’ve just heard. They sound much more suitable for the end of the world, don’t they? But this isn’t the end of the world yet—it’s only the first preaching tour for the twelve, and as far as we know, it was successful! So why is Jesus saying all this scary stuff to them now?

I wonder if maybe Jesus did this because He knew that at that moment they were nervous and afraid, and also that later on they would return, overjoyed at how well everything went. And He wanted them to understand that, in a lifetime of service to Jesus, there would be both extremes: great trouble and grief, even to the point of persecution; and also great joy and happiness, as they saw God working through them to bring people to faith and grow His kingdom.

And the answer to both extremes is the same: to keep our eyes on Jesus, trusting Him to see us through whatever comes to us—whether it’s joy and success, or whether it’s trouble, persecution, and what looks like failure. Because our job is to be faithful and to let God work through us. It is God who takes responsibility for the outcomes.

After all, we’re not that good at telling the difference between a good outcome and a poor one, are we? Who would have looked at Jesus’ suffering and death on that cross, and have seen that as His victory? And yet it was—and when He rose from the dead three days later, Jesus became the Source of our life, forgiveness, and joy.

WE PRAY: Lord, whether I’m happy or discouraged in the work You have set for me to do, keep my eyes and heart on You. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

How do you serve the Lord in your own life—what work has He given you to do?

How do you feel right now about the way that work is going?

How do you find hope and comfort in Jesus when you need it most?