Letters On The Page

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Third Sunday in Lent  Exodus 17:1-7   Romans 5:1-8   John 4:5-26 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. We are now halfway through Lent. Palm Sunday is three Sundays away. As it is good to do in many situations, halfway through is a good time to look up, look around, look inside, and ask an evaluative question or two. Lent is often a time when the faithful will practice a spiritual discipline that they do not regularly do. Fasting from food, increased almsgiving, and donating additional time for service are three traditional disciplines.  So, how are you doing with your spiritual discipline? Are you keeping up with your commitment? Has it been a challenge to stay focused on your commitment? Have you discovered that you took on too much and need to scale back or explore another discipline? There are three more weeks of Lent proper and th...

Prayer office of Vespers at St. Luke, Rensselaer  Wednesday of the second Sunday in Lent - Psalm 25, Exodus 4:1-20 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. On a day like any other day, in the course of his new life in a new land, enjoying his responsibilities as a husband, father, and shepherd, while working for his father-in-law, Moses encounters the Living God in the burning bush. Last Wednesday, we heard God’s self-revelation as Yahweh, the God who established His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He remembers His covenant to them and their posterity as he hears their groans and cries for relief as an enslaved people. In God’s infinite wisdom, Moses is selected to be the leader who leads Israel out of bondage into the Promised Land.  Standing on the Holy Mountain, as God speaks and Moses tries to get himself excused from the mandate the LORD lays upon him, there is the question of how Moses ...

 I rarely win prizes so I was pleasantly surprised to receive news that I won the grand prize drawing because I joined the Winter Reading Challenge  at Jasper County Public Library in Rensselaer, IN. Here I am receiving my grand prize basket loaded with all manner of fun things. Thank you friends! 

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Second Sunday in Lent      Genesis 12:1-9   Romans 4:1-8, 13-17   John 3:1-17 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  The very first word that God says to Abraham is the word “Go.” It is clear from God’s Word that when God says “go” to Abraham, He means go far away. Reflecting on what comes after the word “go” led me to think about why and how I go. When I travel, I do for three general reasons: Vacation which often includes visiting with family and friends; education experiences; and for a call to serve God and the church in another location.  When I go, I have a plan that includes mode of transportation and a time frame of departure and arrival. Before departure I have accommodations for overnight stays lined up through reservations. I make sure that I have sufficient funds on hand. And, if we are staying with f...

 Lent Vespers Exodus 3:1-15                                  February 25, 2026  O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  This morning when I took the recycling out, I was so delighted with the beautiful day, that I started to hum How Great Thou Art. We have that hymn in our hymnal on page 801. I could not remember all the words, so I looked it up. These words are familiar to all of you. In the first two verses, the writer uses imagery from nature. “When I in awesome wonder, consider all the works thy hand hath made, I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed. When through the woods and forest glades I wander, I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.” The re...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   First Sunday in Lent   Genesis 3:1-21   Romans 5:12-19   Matthew 4:1-11 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. Today we continue the penitential focus of Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, as a sign of contrite hearts and a desire to repent of our sins, we receive ashes upon our foreheads. At each imposition, the same words are said by the Pastor: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Even though we are all unique individuals with our own distinctive personalities, opinions, likes, dislikes, and abilities, the same words apply to each of us. We have the same origin story. The sin of which we repent comes from the same source. It comes from the man who was first made of the dust. Adam was endowed with the privilege of life and the responsibility of stewarding the Garden of Eden. Like all the other creatures in the gard...