Kohl Wedding - August 30, 2025

 

The Rite of Holy Matrimony

CrossTalk: Christ Frees Us to Serve and Love

As we near the end of July, the month of freedom, we ought to consider freedom through the lens of the Bible. Otherwise, we will know neither what it is, nor how to keep it.

First, always remember that freedom is the freedom to do what is right. As Abraham Lincoln reminded us, people never have a right to do wrong. To be fully human is not to be enslaved to the sins and vices that feed your selfishness, but to be free from sin and ennobled to serve.

That’s why the Bible rarely talks about “rights.” Instead, it focuses our attention on our duties toward God and others. You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and body and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

The obligation to love God and others is so strong that no human commandment can remove it from you. So, when the rulers of Jerusalem tried to stop Peter and John from fulfilling their obligation to speak of Christ, they simply replied, “We must obey God, rather than man” (Acts 5:29).

This same principle applies when parents consider their obligation to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. It applies to your duty to speak the truth in love. It applies to your calling to be a Good Samaritan toward whoever needs your loving hand.

God has called you to this. Let no man interfere with your freedom to serve. That—and nothing less—is true freedom.

Satan seeks always to enslave. Sometimes he enslaves by tempting you to fulfill the desires of the flesh. But other times, he enslaves by tempting you to knuckle under to the power of the world.

Satan will pervert otherwise legitimate powers to stifle your obligation to speak the truth, to hold you back from loving your neighbor, or from guarding your children from false teaching.

He does this by threatening your livelihood, your social standing, or even your life. He does this by promising promotions and praise if only you will abandon your God-given duty. Christians recognize these threats and promises as “temptations of the world.”

They can be powerful—partly because the threat of losing money or friends is scary—partly because they make it easy to convince yourself that you are not being selfish, you are “only following orders.”

Against these temptations, St. Paul warns us, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

Don’t be deceived by lying philosophies that twist words to distract you from your duty. Don’t be bullied by human powers that claim a right to make you do wrong. Don’t even be deterred by the most elemental fears that you will lose your livelihood or your life if you do your duty.

Your Creator has your back.

Jesus is the creator of this world. So, nothing in all of creation can harm those who hearken to their Creator. “For in him,” the Bible teaches, “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:8).

In Jesus you are free to serve, free to do your duty, free to love both God and neighbor. You need not be confused by philosophy or empty deceit. And you need not fear the powers of this world—even the most basic or the most powerful.

Your Creator remains in control. And those who trust in Him cannot be moved. “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).

CrossTalk: May Jesus fill your time in 2025

 

Time is a precious commodity. It is always slipping away. And you never know how much more you will be given.

Incredible amounts of our energy go into planning for the future. But sudden death—accidents, strokes, heart attacks—bring all those plans to nothing. Now the passage of time means the inexorable march to death.

So, James teaches: "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that" (James 4:13-15).

The more we meditate on our short time, the wiser we become. The Psalmist prays, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90). So, let’s begin 2025 with a meditation on time.

Time was the very first creation of God. “In the beginning, God created...” Genesis 1:1). There was no beginning before THE beginning. And without a beginning, there is no ending. God is timeless, but His creation is not.

Time is a created thing. That means that time is not evil. Rather, God said, “It is very good!” Time is not our problem. Sin is our problem. Death is not the inevitable result of time. Death is the result of sin.

Before sin entered into the world, time was a march toward growth and maturity. Only now, has it become a march toward death and disintegration. And there is nothing--absolutely nothing that you can do to stop it.

But because of Jesus, time has been redeemed. It has been returned to a good and godly gift. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

On the first Christmas, God entered fully into time while remaining fully God. The Creator of time subjected Himself to time-wrought change while remaining unchangeable.

When Jesus enters into time, time itself becomes a vehicle of salvation. Time, rather than being drained out like an hour-glass, is filled like a wine-glass. Rather than being a bringer of death, time itself has become a bringer of life.

That’s the importance of the New Testament word, “NOW.” Now, everything is changed. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).

Jesus is the “Fullness of Time.” Jesus is the reason time was created. And Jesus is the content of heavenly time.

For you, that means that when Christ fills your time, time is FULLY-filled. Every moment in Christ is a blessing. Every moment in Christ is a moment in the salvation He is for you--salvation from sin, from death, from the devil.

And Christ has come to you in time--in this moment. When you take up the Word of God, Christ is coming to you in time. It’s not just that He came to the world 2025 years ago. But that He still comes in time and place to save you. Right now, the Word of God is happening to you. Christ is filling this time.

May Jesus fill your days in 2025. For when Christ fills your days by His Word, your days are fulfilled in Him.

CrossTalk: We Praise You, O God

 

This week (December 7) Christians will commemorate Ambrose of Milan—as they have done for 16 centuries. This pious and gifted teacher of the church is one of those people whom God put into the world at a pivotal moment in history to preserve His Word and teaching for us.

Ambrose’s life and work are well worth studying. I want to commemorate him here by reflecting on one of the most widely used and enduring hymns of Western Christianity, traditionally ascribed to him. We call it by its Latin title, Te Deum. Translated, it sings out: “We praise you, O God, we acknowledge You to be the Lord. All the earth now worships you, the Father everlasting.”

With the little word, “now,” Ambrose underscores an astounding new reality that modern Christians often fail to see. Suddenly, after the sufferings, death, resurrection and ascension of the Jewish man, Jesus, the entire world began worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Until Jesus, only one small nation on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea had ever heard of Him.

As Christians of the first several centuries observed that the Old Testament was being read in every city of the inhabited world, they noted the fulfillment of prophecies like, Psalm 22:27 “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.” This became one of the most convincing proofs that the Messiah had, indeed, come into the world.

For the Jews, this meant that the eternal song of the angels, “Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth” (Isaiah 6:3), was now made plain. With the coming of Christ, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was revealed by His Trinitarian Name: “The Father of an infinite majesty; Thine adorable, true, and only Son; also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.”

Ambrose next goes on briefly to outline the saving acts of Christ, “the King of glory,” who is “the everlasting Son of the Father.”

First, in the fullness of time, the eternal Son became a man—something that He never was before. “When You took upon Yourself to deliver man, You humbled Yourself to be born of a virgin.”

Next, as the God-man he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. On the third day, he rose again from the dead and appeared to the Apostles, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:22-23).

This Ambrose captured with the words, “When You had overcome the sharpness of death, You opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.”

Third, Jesus, with His risen and glorified body, ascended into heaven to rule the universe not only as the God He always was, but now also as the only Perfect Man. We sing, “You sit at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.”

Jesus’ fourth and final act for your salvation has not yet happened. But we sing it out in full confidence through Ambrose’s poetry, “We believe that you will come to be our judge.”

After such a striking summary of Jesus’ work for your salvation, there is still one thing needed—faith. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16).

So, Ambrose ends with a supplication: “We, therefore, pray You to help Your servants whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood. Make them to be numbered with Your saints in glory everlasting.”

This beloved hymn has been sung since the early fifth century A.D. It is said that Ambrose wrote it for the baptism of Augustine on Easter Sunday of 387. Whatever occasioned its writing, the Te Deum remains one of the most beloved hymns in Christendom.

Headwaters Circuit Forum - November 2, 2024

The Book of Revelation in the "Elector Bible"

Rev. Travis Berg, Bethel Lutheran Church, Lander, WY

Morning Presentation

Afternoon Presentation

Recorded at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Green River, WY

CrossTalk: Modern Meditations on a Reformation Hymn

In honor of Reformation Day (October 31), I want to introduce you to my favorite hymn. It was written by Martin Luther exactly 500 years ago. Although it rarely appears in modern hymnals, it describes a spiritual struggle that is strangely contemporary. 

The hymn begins as a plaintive prayer:

O Lord, look down from heaven, behold

And let Thy pity waken.

How few are we within Thy Fold,

Thy saints by men forsaken!

True faith seems quenched on every hand,

Men suffer not Thy Word to stand;

Dark times have us o'ertaken.

The faithful Church of God has never been large and overpowering. Enemies of God—both outside and inside its walls—are constantly undermining the pure and clear Word of God. They simply will not allow God’s Word to stand. And that brings great darkness.

The second stanza elaborates on the many ways that God’s Word is twisted.

With fraud which they themselves invent

Thy truth they have confounded [i.e. confused];

Their hearts are not with one consent

On Thy pure doctrine grounded.

While they parade with outward show,

They lead the people to and fro,

In error's maze astounded.

Today, too, we are hard-pressed by lies, errors and confusion. We seem helpless against them. But we can confidently turn to God. 

May God root out all heresy

And of false teachers rid us

Who proudly say: “Now, where is he

That shall our speech forbid us?

By right or might we shall prevail;

What we determine cannot fail;

We own no lord and master.”

The pride of God’s enemies is frightening. Often, it seems that it has no boundaries and that nothing can stop it. But God always responds to the prayers of His people. Stanza four speaks of God’s answer to prayer. 

Therefore saith God, “I must arise,

The poor My help are needing;

To Me ascend My people's cries,

And I have heard their pleading.

For them My saving Word shall fight

And fearlessly and sharply smite,

The poor with might defending.”

God will hear your prayers, today, just as surely as He did five centuries ago. As the Bible says, “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV). It’s power is not a threat, but a comfort to the poor in Spirit. 

Not only that, but the struggle itself is used by God for your good! We should always thank God even for the trials that He gives us. Because through cross and trials, He grants His blessing.

As silver tried by fire is pure

From all adulteration,

So through God's Word shall men endure

Each trial and temptation.

Its light beams brighter through the cross,

And, purified from human dross,

It shines through every nation.

That fifth stanza is my personal favorite. It reminds us that not only will God protect His faithful people in trials, they will also be better for having them.

As Charles Spurgeon purportedly said, “The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.” So, stanza six of this beautiful hymn turns the battle over to God, and rests in His mighty hand.

Thy truth defend, O God, and stay

This evil generation;

And from the error of their way

Keep Thine own congregation.

The wicked everywhere abound

And would Thy little flock confound;

But Thou art our Salvation.

Christ is our salvation. What more needs to be said? There is nothing and no one that can stop Him from saving you, as well. 

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:35, 37).

CrossTalk: Look at the birds of the air

All of us have childhood memories that reach back into the recesses of the mind. One of my earliest memories involves me and my brothers roughhousing with our father on the living room floor. Another involves sitting in a pile of leaves when I couldn’t have been older than three or four.

No matter how far back your memories go, your life goes back farther. Our first conscious thoughts were formed by brains that had already been developing for years. And during these unremembered years, you were fed and protected by others. You were clothed and comforted. You were sung to sleep and taught to walk.

The more you think about these years of emerging consciousness, the more conscious you become of your helplessness to survive them. Who fed you? Who kept you warm? Who gave you a place to sleep and protection from the myriad evils that can befall an infant child?

No matter whether they were parents or grandparents, they were people who loved you. And they were giving you the necessities of your life long before you even knew that life had necessities. 

In reflecting on these countless graces, you begin to understand your special attachment to those who gave you existence, nourishment and protection. And those special people, in turn, each have their own story. Generation upon generation were conceived, born and cared for until they themselves became caregivers for the next generation. 

What is true of your personal history is also true of every beast of the field, every bird of the air, and every plant in the ground. Life requires a life-giver. And all living things need nourishment and protection to survive. Consider the meaning of this for your life. “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26).

In some ways, birds don’t need nearly as much care as human beings do. From the day of their hatching to their first flight is measured in weeks, not years. But, in another sense, birds never to grow out of their need for special care. 

Unlike humans, birds cannot be taught to plant gardens, protect and water seedlings, or harvest their crops. God must do all of that for them. And he does. There is no single bird on the face of this planet that could have lived a moment without God planting, cultivating, and storing up food for creatures that cannot do these things for themselves.

But just because you differ from the birds in this way, does not mean that you differ from them in every way. Even when you do infinitely more things than birds could possibly do, you remain forever dependent upon someone else to do what you cannot.

You plant but depend on God to bring the necessary weather. You work but depend on God to crown our efforts with His blessing. You eat but count on God to cause our bodies to digest the food. You breathe but count on God to fill their air with oxygen and make your lungs continue to operate. 

Just like the birds of the air, you remain forever helpless. Don’t be fooled into thinking that your superiority to them means that you are any less dependent than they. You are only dependent in different things.

But your superiority to the birds does mean one thing. It means that, in God’s eyes, you are of more value than they. It means that His commitment to care for you, nourish you, protect you from harm, and preserve your life is infinitely greater than that same commitment which He shows daily for the birds. 

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)