First Word

FIRST WORD "It's Time for Reformation!"

10/25/2025

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32 Reformation Sunday is a celebration in which we remember the actions of a German monk, Martin Luther, who long ago on All Hallows’ Eve, October 31, 1517, nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The theses presented his rationale for disagreeing with the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences, limitations of papal power, and the gift of salvation through faith alone.

FIRST WORD "Harvesttime"

10/9/2025

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Matthew 9:37 Next week I’m traveling to Minnesota for a few days to help my brother with harvest and visit family. He’s finishing up with the field corn right now – the kind you feed to livestock, make corn flakes, and ethanol. It is difficult to find laborers at harvest time, like Jesus says in this passage. My brother has a few neighbors he knows who he hires to drive truck or tractor for him. He can’t do it all by himself, he needs help. When I’m there, I often do the odd jobs that need to be done or simply speed up things by having more hands-on deck.

FIRST WORD "Faith"

10/4/2025

Jesus replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. Luke 17:6 Most of us are familiar with this saying about the mustard seed. It is no accident that Jesus picks the mustard seen as an example of faithfulness here in Luke 17. Mustard’s reputation for being proverbially small (though not actually), is a wonderful example of how a seed sized faith is capable of accomplishing miraculous feats.

FIRST WORD "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep"

9/26/2025

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 Did you grow up with the childhood prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep?" I was little surprised to learn that it is a shortened version of an Old English prayer, which goes like this: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, bless the bed that I lie on. Before I lay me down to sleep, I give my soul to Christ to keep.

FIRST WORD "Spiritual Bank"

9/19/2025

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Luke 16:13A church member came to his pastor’s study one day. The pastor could see that the man looked deeply troubled. The man said, “Pastor, I need to talk. I feel so empty, so dried up inside, I’m scared.” His voice began to quiver just a bit. He said “Pastor, I have just come from the doctor’s office, and he told me that I have only six months at best to live. After I left the office, I realized that I have no spiritual resources, no inner strength to cope with this. There is nothing to fall back on, to lean against. Many people would be surprised to hear me say that, for I have made lots of money, and people think I am a success not only at making money, but at being a strong, powerful person.”

FIRST WORD "Grace and Peace"

9/13/2025

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 1:3 This verse is a part of a greeting at the beginning of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, a greeting that he uses with some variation in his other letters. Paul’s use of the two words “grace” and “peace” isn’t random, they are intentional and serve an important purpose, they represent what Christianity is all about.As Christians, we are “saved by grace”, meaning we don’t deserve it, nor can we earn our salvation. In fact, we deserve the opposite. Our sin separates us from God, but the Good News (Gospel) is that God sent his son Jesus to pay the price for our sin and restore our relationship with God. Instead of eternal punishment, we receive eternal life through our faith and trust in him. This is not because of anything we’ve done, but it is purely by God’s grace.

FIRST WORD "He Leadeth Me"

9/6/2025

He leadeth me, he leadeth me;by his own hand he leadeth me:his faithful follower I would be,for by his hand he leadeth me. Refrain from the hymn “He Leadeth Me”Rev. Joseph Gilmore, the author of this popular American hymn, was preaching at a mid-week prayer service on the topic of Psalm 23. He wrote later, “I set out to give the people an exposition of the 23rd Psalm, but I got no further than the words ‘He leadeth me.’ Those words took hold of me as they had never done before. I saw in them a significance and beauty of which I had never dreamed… At the close of the meeting a few of us kept on talking about the thoughts which I had emphasized; and then and there, on a back page of my sermon notes, I penciled the hymn just as it stands today, handed it to my wife, and thought no more of it… She sent it without my knowledge to the Watchman and Reflector magazine, and there it first appeared in print December 4, 1862.”

FIRST WORD "The Jazzman"

8/30/2025

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 NLT I’d only been here a few months when a guy came up to me while I was changing the letters on the sign on Parker Avenue. He introduced himself to me as Frank Eddie, the Jazzman– and handed me a poster from the 1960's advertising a circus being held at First Lutheran Church. That first meeting led to us having Frank, and later with Maxine, come and play Gospel music for us on a few Sundays a year. Frank became a regular on Sunday mornings. He told me he’d lived next door all these years and never been invited to come and play at the church. He was happy to do it and we’ve learned to love having him and Maxine come and lift our souls!

FIRST WORD "Back to School"

8/14/2025

"Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers.” Proverbs 4:13-14 It’s back to school time! Do you remember those days? I can still remember waiting and watching for the bus to come pick us up. Or sitting in the desks, eating in the cafeteria, or dropping off my books in my locker. It seems like it was yesterday! What do you remember?

FIRST WORD "Better Together"

8/8/2025

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12Two of my best friends in high school were Vietnamese refugees who lived in foster families for a time until they could be reunited with their families. I can’t imagine what their lives were like, but they were wonderful friends. One works in industrial technology and the other was just appointed by the Pope to be a Roman Catholic Bishop in San Diego! This Sunday we’re going to hear from Rosa Torres a little bit about a powerful ministry she serves in called “Better Together” that helps families in our area (www.BetterTogetherUs.org).

FIRST WORD "Trip to Norway"

8/2/2025

"Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you". Deuteronomy 32:7 Our family took a trip last week to Norway to visit the home of our Norwegian ancestors. Karina and I had dreamed of this kind of trip for years. We were able to meet with some of Karina’s “Kaarhus” (Corhus) paternal relatives near Haugesund, and we were able to meet with some of my “Hovland” maternal relatives from the island of Bømlo. Our trip began with seeing the sights and sounds of the capital city of Oslo. We saw the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace and visited the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History where we saw the beautiful wooden Gol “stave” church, watched folk dances, and walked through old farm buildings and animals. Go Vikings!

FIRST WORD “Abundance”

7/11/2025

‍“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 1:14 I continue to be amazed at the opportunities and blessings that God is putting before us each month. Aren’t you? It feels like things are exploding all around us in wonderful ways. I’m almost waiting for someone to complain “Gee, Pastor, it’s getting way too busy here!” Here are a few examples...

FIRST WORD "True Freedom"

7/3/2025

Jesus told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2 There is a lot of talk around immigration nowadays, some of which leads to the question of laborers. Who will do the work without them? Where I grew up in Minnesota, we had migrants who came through to weed the fields or work in the factories during the busy summer season. These jobs were labor often intensive and not well paid. Many have since been replaced by chemicals and machines, but there is still a great need for this type of work. In our lesson this Sunday, Jesus sends out seventy-two of his followers out ahead of him to work in the fields, to prepare the way for Him to come into the communities He would visit, to share the Gospel, and help bring in the harvest of souls for eternity.

FIRST WORD "Come to Me"

6/28/2025

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30It was an amazing week at church this past week with our Vacation Bible School (VBS) program. We were more than a little nervous as we only had three registered a week prior, but the Lord answered our prayers and provided 18 kids total that attended. Praise God! It takes time to build up a program that is new, something that hasn’t been done for years. We definitely have room to grow, but this was a wonderful start.

FIRST WORD “In Your Element”

6/19/2025

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)‍ Athletes are in their element when they are finding joy in their abilities, working hard to sharpen their skills, and grow into the best athlete they can be. To be in your element, you must understand your purpose, practice your skills, find your position, and overcome pressure to reach your full potential.That’s the theme of our Vacation Bible School next week. It’s called “In Your Element”, with a mega sports theme. Kids will learn from the life of Jesus’ disciple Peter what it looks like to be in your element.