Sunday School classes at LCM resume on September 8. On that day we will give thanks to God during a special rite for our teachers and ask God to bless them in their work. Sunday marks the 239th year of Sunday School classes, if we date our work to the modern Sunday...

God asks, as quoted by a distraught Ezekiel, “Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet?”  (Ezekiel 34:18) The Amazon...

The work of government is holy work, according to Martin Luther. In his explanation to the 4th Commandment, he writes we are to “neither despise nor anger …others in authority, but instead honor, serve, obey, love and respect them.” For 80 years, since 1939, ...

The federal government reinstated the death penalty in 1988. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 60 prisoners are currently on federal death row. Three individuals received the death penalty since its reintroduction in 1988. On July 25, 2019, the...

The debate over raising the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour is intense. Seattle rose its minimum wage to $15 in 2017.  Los Angeles City Council approved a $15 minimum wage beginning in 2020. The minimum wage in Illinois will be $15 an hour by 2025. The non-partisan...

Pastor Betty Rendon was a doctoral student at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and pastor of Emaus Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin. Ten years ago she fled her native Columbia after guerrilla soldiers threatened her life. As a school principal she...

“Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean;’ ‘I am pure from my sins,’” asks the author of Proverbs (20:9). No one, is the implied answer. Sin is pandemic to humanity. “My sin is ever before me,” the Psalmist insists (51:3). Sin is the universal moral flaw evident in...

The Supreme Court ruled on June 20 in The American Legion et al. v. the American Humanist Association et al.” that the “Bladensburg Cross” standing 40 feet tall outside of Bladensburg, Maryland can remain on public property without violating the First Amendment’s ban...

We have a new bishop. The Rev. Yehiel Curry was elected on June 8 to serve for six years as Bishop of the MetroChicago Synod beginning September 1. Bishops are important to both congregations and pastors. Every Sunday we pray for our bishop, praying he (or she) will...

Maureen and I have a martial conflict, not real serious, nevertheless….. Before we were married, she went to church every Sunday with her offering envelope in hand. An important part of worship for her included placing the envelope in the offering plate as the plate...

It was the spring of 1957 when Dad steered the ’56 Ford onto the newly opened stretch of Interstate Highway 70 from Salina to Abilene, Kansas. On that four-lane open road, Dad held the Ford V8 to a few mph over 70, yielding not to the temptation to drive 90 mph and...

Five members of LCM will represent our church as “Voting Members” to the annual Metro Chicago Synod Assembly June 7-8. Approximately 500 voting members to the Assembly are the legislative authority as defined in the Synod’s constitution. They will review the work of...

The curriculum for Confirmation students at Lutheran Church of the Master follows a three year cycle. During the first year, students study Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, Luther’s “road map” through the Bible. In his Small Catechism, Luther identifies five...

Oliver Brown took his daughter Linda to the nearby Sumner Public School in Topeka, Kansas in the fall of 1951 to enroll her in the school. She was denied enrollment because she was black and the school’s students were all white. With the help of the NAACP’s legal...

On September 26, 1983, 44 year old Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov of the Soviet Air Defense Forces was on duty at the secret command center outside Moscow monitoring early warning satellites over the United States. Alarms sounded warning of a launch of five...

The disciples of Jesus dragged in a net with one hundred and fifty-three large fish, John writes in Sunday’s gospel lesson (John 21:1-19). And to the amazement of all, the net held. It had been an unsuccessful night of fishing until the “stranger” on the beach...

Confirmation Sunday at LCM is May 19 when the students who have completed three years of instruction will affirm their faith in the “Affirmation of Baptism” rite. The congregation participates, making a promise: “People of God, do you promise to support these sisters...

Tears streamed down our cheeks as with horror we watched video recordings of the Notre Dame Cathedral being consumed by fire. We listened as crowds watching sang “Ave Maria.” The day before the fire, Palm Sunday worshipers recalled Jesus’ triumphant entry into...

Sunday marks the start of the most spiritually vital week for the Christian: Holy Week. Its observation dates to a third century directive by the Roman emperor Constantine (280-337). He rose to power in 312 and by 324 was the sole Roman emperor. His edict in 324...