Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

01/24/2026

We are canceling church service for tomorrow. Stay safe and warm.

08/27/2025

Lord God,

We come to You heartbroken and weary. Once again, violence has devastated a school. We cry out to You for the children, families, staff, and community of Annunciation Catholic School. Hold them close in this hour of fear and grief. Surround them with Your comfort and strength.

We pray that all who are impacted by this shooting will be supported, cared for, and surrounded in love—not just today, but in the difficult weeks and months to come. Raise up neighbors, friends, churches, and communities to be Your hands and feet of compassion.

We thank You, Lord, for first responders, law enforcement, and medical teams who are stepping into the chaos with courage and compassion. Be their strength in the long and traumatic days ahead. Protect their hearts and minds as they carry heavy burdens. Give them wisdom in every decision and endurance for every moment.

This tragedy moves hearts across the nation. Lord, draw us together in compassion and care, and let Your presence be known in the lives of all who are hurting. Strengthen us to act with love and mercy in the days ahead.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

03/08/2025

12/21/2024

When Christians die, heaven does not “get another angel.” We cannot become angels any more than we can become giraffes or ocean waves or stars. We are people and will remain so after this present life. God did not make a mistake when he made us human.

06/17/2024

Oh, Peter, you overconfident disciple. When Jesus said, “You will all fall away because of me this night,” you responded, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away” (Matt. 26:31-33). And when Jesus doubled down and said that not once or twice, but three times you would deny him, you too doubled down, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!”

The truth about your weakness is hard to swallow, isn’t it Peter, even if it comes from the mouth of the Truth himself?

But, hold on. Why are we picking on Peter? What does Matthew tell us right after Peter’s vehement defense? “And all the disciples said the same” (26:35).

All the disciples. Peter, Andrew, James, and so forth. The whole kit and caboodle of them. They looked Jesus in the eye and boldly said, “Look, Lord, we’ve got your back.”

And they did. Until they didn’t. Until they did exactly what Jesus said they would.

Describing Jesus, John the Evangelist said, “He himself knew what was in a man” (2:25).

And what is in a man? Weakness, fear, self-preservation, vacillation, untrustworthiness, betrayal.

Live about 30 seconds in this world and you will see a great man do terrible things, an honest man lie, a faithful man cheat, a man created in God’s image slouching toward the gutter. Sure, there will be seasons in life when he’s pretty much on the straight and narrow, but he will detour, if not in action then in speech and desire.

And on his worst days, he will betray even his Lord.

That is why our Lord came. For brassy boasters like Peter. For fickle followers like the other disciples. For all of us mortal, inconsistent, weak-willed, backstabbing, navel-gazers who are ridiculously bad at being good.

He died for Peter, for you, for me because he knew there was no other way to make us right with God. If he himself knew what was in a man, then in him we know what is in God: a heart steadfastly devoted to saving us and making us his own.