Category: President’s Ponderings

December 28, 2021

The Christmas Exchange

  by Timothy Teuscher Friends, co-workers, classmates exchanging gifts at Christmas parties and at various get-togethers over the holidays. Family members gathered around a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve or early Christmas morning to exchange gifts. Stores crowded with people on Boxing Day exchanging those…

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November 1, 2021

A Strange Blessing for the Saints

  by Timothy Teuscher The appointed Gospel reading for All Saints’ Day, November 1, includes the opening words from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount called ‘The Beatitudes,’ in which He speaks of the blessedness, the spiritual well-being, of saints—of what it means to be saints,…

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August 20, 2021

It’s Been a Wash

  by David Haberstock This last year has been a wash. It’s been a wash of worry and anxiety. Worry over the virus, over finances, over kids falling behind socially and mentally as a result of online schooling and other disruptions. Worry about churches: whether…

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August 11, 2021

Hidden Value

  by Thomas Kruesel When I graduated from seminary and moved to my first congregation, my family had two pressing needs. First, a second vehicle. Second, money. As you can imagine, the second need influenced the decision-making process in meeting the first need. After much…

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June 16, 2021

COVID-19 and Masks

by Timothy Teuscher “The world is like a drunken peasant. If you lift him into the saddle on one side, he will fall off on the other side.” This rather blunt, earthly statement by Martin Luther is a fitting assessment of some of the comments…

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April 8, 2021

Comforted by Christ’s Descent Into Hell

  by Timothy Teuscher Week after week and year after year we confess in the Divine Service these words from the second article of the  Apostles’ Creed: “He descended into hell.” But what do those familiar words mean? What comfort do we find in this…

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