We are living in a world that is constantly changing and often not for the best. We are experiencing inflation with higher prices, increases in crime, world conflicts and wars, chaos at all turns and uncertainty about how it’s all going to end. The only thing not changing is God and His unlimited love and tolerance for us. It seems like when things are going well we think we can improve on it with our own thoughts and programs. The only problem is that each time we do this we scrap God’s word and create our own. The original (God’s Word) can never be equaled or improved on and we only create more problems for ourselves. This has happened time and time again as we saw with the Reformation. The church fell away to habit and tradition and Luther helped us return to Scripture, God’s Word.

When was the last time you reviewed your confirmation promises and what you learned about the basics of the Christian faith. All we need for life is included in these but we often don’t review what we believe and why we believe it. The devil has many ways to lure us away from Scripture and con us into thinking there’s a better way to live life.

On November 5 we will remember the faithful who lived their life for God and returned home to join Him for all eternity, through faith in Jesus Christ. We are encouraged to grieve with hope—hope being the certainty of eternal life and a reunion with our heavenly Father. All Saints’ Day is a day when we miss our loved ones who have gone before us but are joyful that they are with God and we’ll join them in the future.

When we come to Thanksgiving at the end of November, we have many things to be thankful for. These things include earthly blessings but more than that, they include our faith, trust, comfort and strength in God. Let us truly meditate on things other than this earth and look for the peace that passes all understanding.

May God bless you and watch over you as you cling to your faith in Jesus as your Lord and your Savior. Let us work even harder during these Holy Days and let us share our faith  with them and invite them to come and see who God is.

Peace and happiness be to all of you.

In Christ our Lord,

Pastor Weikart