You can find our weekly homilies (sermons, messages, etc) here.
November 2, 2025
October 26, 2025
This sermon unpacks Jesus' hard words in Luke 14:26 about “hating” family and even one's own life. It clarifies that in Hebrew idiom, “hate” means “to love less,” so Jesus is calling His followers to detachment—to love Him above all else. Too often, we cling to created things—family, success, wealth, or even our own lives—as if they could bear the weight of being God. When we do, they crack under the pressure, and both they and we suffer. Jesus asks us to “give it up”—to open our hands and hearts by setting down the false gods we cling to, so we are free to receive His love, mercy, and strength. Taking up our cross is not about needless suffering but about learning to rely on Him above all things. When we surrender, He returns our relationships and possessions as true gifts—loved and appreciated, but no longer idols. With simple prayers—“Jesus, give me your eyes to see, your heart to love, your hands to serve”—we learn to place everything in its proper place under Him. Detachment becomes freedom, and the cross becomes life. In Christ, we gain immeasurably more than we ever give up.
This sermon reflects on how modern wealth, convenience, and independence have shaped us to expect comfort and repayment, leaving little room for humility or mercy. Jesus' teaching in Luke 14 exposes our “Pharisee problem”: we grasp for the best seats and avoid the poor, crippled, lame, and blind because they cannot repay us—and because they remind us of our own dependence. Pride blinds us to God's generosity, but the truth is that we are the broken ones who cannot repay. The good news is that Jesus Himself took the lowest seat on the cross—mocked, beaten, and cast out—so that we might be raised up and seated at His eternal banquet. At His table, honor is given not to the proud but to the humble and dependent. Because we have been welcomed by sheer grace, we are freed to welcome others with the same mercy, especially the overlooked and outcast. Our acts of hospitality become a living picture of God's hospitality to us in Christ. In the end, the joy is not in repayment but in hearing the Host's words: “Friend, move up higher.”August 31, 2025
August 10, 2025
1. The Trinity Is Relational, Not Just Doctrinal The Most Holy Trinity is not a puzzle to solve but a God to know. True Christian faith involves not just understanding the doctrine but entering into relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2. We Know the Persons of the Trinity Through Each Other To know the Father, we look to the Son. To know the Son, we receive the Holy Spirit. The persons of the Trinity reveal and glorify one another in perfect unity and love. 3. Knowing God Happens in Everyday Grace God draws near through simple, tangible means: reading Scripture, prayer, the Church, Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord's Supper. Through these, we are known, loved, and drawn deeper into communion with the Triune God.
3 Minute Summer Prayer:1 Minutes for our leaders: Pastors, teachers, staff, Council, School Board1 Minute for our people: your brothers and sisters in our church and school1 Minute for those who will come: in the days and years ahead
May 4, 2025
Only the Spirit of God that has filled someone with his fire can speak that way. Whoosh.
April 20, 2025
April 9, 2025
April 6, 2025
April 2, 2025
March 30, 2025
March 26, 2025
Pastor Mielke explores the concept of repentance and wholehearted living through Jesus' teachings and parables. He emphasizes that God's patience and mercy provide opportunities for spiritual growth, urging listeners to turn towards God and bear the fruits of love rather than exhausting themselves and others.March 23, 2025
March 19, 2025
Pr. Mielke explores how we can become wholehearted when we have resisted Jesus, using the metaphor of a hen gathering her chicks under her wings. He identifies five reasons why people resist Jesus' protection and love, and ultimately calls for believers to stop resisting and relent to Jesus' open arms. The sermon emphasizes that true wholeheartedness comes from allowing ourselves to be loved by Christ.March 16, 2025
March 12, 2025
This sermon on the first Sunday of Lent reflects on Jesus' temptation in the wilderness and its significance for our spiritual journey. In the desert we are not alone- Jesus is with us, calling us to something greater.
March 5, 2025
March 2, 2025
Pastor Mielke explores the concept of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, emphasizing that "second is best" in Christianity. He explains how our earthly bodies will be transformed into glorious, incorruptible heavenly bodies, drawing parallels between the first Adam (earthly) and the second Adam, Jesus (heavenly). The sermon concludes with a powerful reminder that the hope of resurrection triumphs over our earthly destiny of returning to dust.February 23, 2025
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