“Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.  Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God, do not torment me!” (Mark 5:5-7)

Did the demons know who Jesus was?  They knew His power, and they knew that their time was short.  Why should we care for what they did or did not know?  Even with false testimony, as if they had a case, they admit Jesus can do something to them.  Even the demons must obey Jesus.  Who is this?  The Most High has come, and became as one of us: the First Son to lead many others who will be made to be like Him.

Some will read this and want the power.  That is one of the many sins of this age, boosted by pride, which seeks to have power.  All power belongs to God.  See instead a servant who demonstrates what submission to God looks like.  This world is filled with those who crawl on top of one another, but the faithful are taught to free the captives, bring hope, and love others as they love themselves.

Jesus, you are the Son of the Most High God.  You are the One who has come to lead the way for as many as believe.  Through You, the Word made flesh, all things have their being.  Help me to not seek after the things of this world but be transformed by Your grace to become whatever You will make of me.  Be the One who leads me, Lord Jesus, and kill the pride that seeks for anything other than the Father’s will being done.  Amen.

Matthew 3:1-12

Pastor: Good morning boys and girls! Let’s say good morning to our friend Sammy and see if she is there. Ready? One, two, three…Good morning, Sammy!

Sammy: Good morning everyone! It’s the second Sunday in Advent, Pastor.

Pastor: Yes it is, Sammy. Today we lit a candle for peace.

Sammy: There’s two candles lit, Pastor.

Pastor: Yes, and we have two more weeks to go in Advent.

Sammy: Christmas is coming soon, Pastor. I still have so much to do. I have to clean up the barn with my maaa-maaa. Then I have to get a gift for each of my friends. I have a lot of friends, so that’s a lot of gifts. After that, I am baking cookies with Farmer Matthew.

Pastor: Hold on a second, Sammy. You bake cookies?

Sammy: Of course! And baaa-nana bread.

Pastor: Sammy, you have a lot of things on your list here.

Sammy: I do. It’s overwhelming. I am a busy lamb.

Pastor: I think you are missing something, Sammy.

Sammy: Oh no! What am I missing?

Pastor: Boys and girls, what do you think Sammy is missing? What should Sammy be focused on as we get ready for Christmas?

[Allow time for responses]

Pastor: Sammy, we need to be focused on Jesus this Christmas. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus to come to earth and begin his ministry. Each Christmas, we are preparing our hearts for the return of the King, the return of Jesus.

Sammy: Wow! When you put it like that, Pastor, all the other stuff on my list doesn’t seem to matter.

Pastor: We have to stay focused, Sammy. I know that it’s easy in this season to get distracted by celebrations, parties, cleaning, shopping, and baking, but we have to remember the point of Christmas is to worship God.

Sammy: I am going to try to do better, Pastor. I think I will try to read some books about Jesus every day. That way I can remember how he came to earth as a baby.

Pastor: That sounds great, Sammy. Boys and girls, will you pray with me? Dear Jesus, Thank you for helping us prepare our hearts for your return. Thank you for being our King. Help us to focus on you. Amen.

Sammy: Bye, everyone!

Pastor: Bye, Sammy!

“And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him” (Mark 5:3b-4).

There are people in this world about which we might say, “They are crazy.”  But there are also those who are demon possessed.  Yes, it happens in our day too.  Do not try to figure it out but learn to be discerning and listen to the Holy Spirit.  By faith we are led all the days of our life and each of us has appointments according to what the Lord intends for our life.  Remember, He is the author of your faith.

Lord, I know there were those for whom You cast out demons.  We encounter demons every day, pestering us and others.  Rather than trying to figure all these things out, help me to look to You and take the instruction You would give me in every circumstance.  With You, all things are possible.  Help me to have that first in my mind and not seek anything other than learning how to be obedient to You.

Lord Jesus, in every moment You were obedient to the will of the Father.  In that example, help me to learn obedience.  Whether you keep me from the demonic or teach me to cast out demons, lead me to be faithful and not worry about things You will have me do.  Let Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, rest upon me that this day I may humbly walk as Your faithful servant.  Amen.

“They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.  When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs” (Mark 5:1-3a).

From one storm to another is often what we experience.  In faith we see that there are many storms around us because we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities and the forces of darkness, Do not be afraid, but meet each circumstance as an opportunity to live out the faith our Lord gives you, see the appointment He has made in every circumstance for your faith to be shared, and to grow in you the likeness of Christ.

Gracious Lord, I want calm to settle upon my life, but it often seems as though one thing after another keeps getting in my way.  Help me to look to You knowing that You have appointments for me every step of the way.  There is nothing that can happen apart from Your leading.  Guide me, dear Jesus, to see that You alone are the way, truth, and life; and that You will bring me to where I need to be.

Guide me, Good Shepherd, to walk the path You set before me.  Help me to learn the lessons You give and live, by grace through faith, according to Your leading.  No matter the circumstance, help me to keep my eyes upon You.  You know all that I need.  Intercede before the Father on my behalf that in faith I would learn to be faithful in every circumstance.  Guide me according to the Father’s will in all things.  Amen.

December 2025

Dear Friends –

My theological degrees (M. Div. and D. Min.) are from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California.  After I graduated from Fuller in 1972 I served my internship under Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota at the same church as where I had worked as youth director during my third year in seminary.  Halfway through my internship year I went back to Luther for an interview with the faculty.  I was not prepared.  Attending a non-Lutheran seminary, I had not studied Lutheran theology and church history as I should have so I was required to spend a year at Luther as a graduate student taking Lutheran courses before I would be certified and approved for ordination.  I felt totally put upon by the requirement.  But as it turned out before the end of that additional year the congregation where I would end up serving my entire forty years of ministry, who knew me from my days in youth ministry, and where I met my wife was ready to call an associate pastor.  They would not have been ready before my additional year at Luther.  I have no idea where I would have been called and how my life would have gone if I had not been required to attend seminary one more year.  “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”  (Romans 8: 28) 

I remember wondering, when I found out that I would be required to attend one more year of seminary, how am I going to be able to pay for that?  But then I received an unexpected blessing.  The congregation where I had worked as youth director and served my internship gathered donations that more than covered the expenses for my unanticipated, final year of study. 

Knowing what it means to receive financial assistance from God’s loving and caring people, I am especially thankful that Lutheran CORE has the resources to be able to provide financial support for seven students attending the North American Lutheran Seminary (NALS).  One of them, Luke Ratke, writes –

“Thank you so much for your generous gift of financial support. . . .I am in my last year of study at the seminary and I plan to graduate at the end of the spring 2026 semester.  After I graduate I plan to begin a year-long internship at a North American Lutheran Church congregation.  I look forward to learning as much as I can during that year about how to do pastoral ministry work well. . . .May God bless your ministry work and all that you do for the sake of the Gospel!”

I am in the process of teaching a Sunday morning adult class on the life of Moses at the ELCA congregation where my wife and I are members.  Exodus 16:13 tells us that as the Israelites were on their way to Mt. Sinai, the evening before God first provided manna, “quails came up and covered the camp.”  I have read that this area of the Sinai Peninsula is along the route of a major bird migratory path.  Often birds would stop to rest after flying north over the Gulf of Suez.  And where they stopped to rest is where the Israelites were camped.  Long before the Israelites passed that way, God provided a way by which they would have food.  God knew where the finances would come from long before I knew that I would be required to attend an additional year of seminary.  And long before these seven students responded to God’s call to ministry, God knew that your generosity would help provide the resources for them to attend seminary.  “My God will fully provide for every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 19)

During the upcoming year we will continue to monitor and keep you informed about what the ELCA is doing leading up to its 2028 Churchwide Assembly in terms of eliminating any place for traditional views as it reconsiders the 2009 human sexuality social statement as well as in terms of continuing to make DEIA, dismantling racism, and critical race theory the central value and operating system of the ELCA.  In addition, we will continue to provide resources such as worship aids, prayers, daily devotions, weekly lectionary-based Bible studies and children’s messages, video book reviews, and support and assistance for congregations in transition.

For example, the ELCA news release dated October 9, 2025 concerning the October 2-3 meeting of the ELCA Church Council stated that the Council received an update from its Executive Committee regarding “a timeline of the ‘immediate action on dismantling racism’ acted on during the spring 2025 meeting to develop mutual accountability measures and compliance incentives across all expressions of the ELCA.”  There are powerful people who want to remake the ELCA and make DEIA and dismantling racism mandatory throughout the ELCA, including for congregations.  They made significant progress at the 2025 Churchwide Assembly, but they did not fully succeed.  They will not stop.  They will try again in 2028.  If there are not enough constitutional changes ready to go by the end of 2027 they will call for a reconstituting assembly.  Notice the wording in the news release.  “Immediate action” – for these people nothing else is of such supreme importance.  “Dismantling racism” – not just not being racist, but dismantling systems that privilege some and allow those some to oppress others (Marxism).  “Mutual accountability measures and compliance incentives across all expressions of the ELCA.”  “All expressions” includes congregations.  All still within the ELCA should wonder how these “mutual accountability measures and compliance incentives” will play out in their synod. 

Thank you for your prayers and your faithful, generous financial support.  Please find below a link to a form which you can use to let us know how we can be praying for you.  You can also use that form to send a year-end gift that will enable us to continue to do our work.  We would also like to hear from you regarding a time when God provided for you maybe even long before you knew that you would have a need.   

Thanking God for His goodness,

Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

“And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.  And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”  They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:39-41)

The object of our faith is Jesus.  Yes, He can calm the wind and the sea, but even if He does not, He is still the Lord of lords.  We are afraid because we do not faithfully trust the Lord.  You and I are in His hands.  What is going to happen that He does not already know about?  He will lead us through all storms until that final storm when He brings us to be with Him where He is.

Holy Spirit, calm the storm in me and help me to see that You are the One who is leading me all the days of my life.  Whether I go through another storm or meet You after the final storm, help me to always remember the object of my faith is You.  You are the Triune God through whom, by whom, or for whom I exist.  Remind me that I am not my own person, but belong to You, the One who created me.

Lord Jesus, storms come along in my life and I am afraid.  You have come that I might live an abundant life.  Help me understand that the abundance is You and the faith You have given me and not the circumstances in which I find myself.  Lead me to see that in You I have assurance that You are with me all the days of my life.  In You I have my life, breath, and being.  Lead me into Your blessed assurance.  Amen.

“And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.  Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:37-38)

When our situation is in tumult and we are afraid, we cry out, “Lord don’t You care.”  The Lord, who knows the very number of hairs on Your head, knows every circumstance.  The peace which surpasses all understanding is not that we will not have things that frighten us in our lives, but that we have peace in the assurance that all things are in the hands of the Lord.  Live in His peace.

Lord, You know that I do become frightened.  I fear my circumstances and ask the age old question, “Don’t You care?’  Remind me that I am in Your hands and that if You care for the birds of the air such that none falls from the sky that You do not know about, how much more do You care for me?  I know that I am in Your hands.  Lead me to humbly trust You above all circumstances.

Lord Jesus, there are storms in my life and I become afraid.  I do not fully believe the simple truth that You are always with me.  I come to You in humility asking that You would constantly remind me that You are abiding in me as I am in You.  I am in Your hands.  Grant that I would have Your blessed assurance knowing that I, along with all things, are now and always in Your hands.  Amen.

“On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”  Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him” (Mark 4:35-36).

Jesus lived life as you and I have lived life.  There is a season for everything under heaven.  Be led, not by the winds of this world, but by the Creator of all worlds.  He will lead you no matter what lies ahead.  He will guide you and keep you so that you may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Do not be led by this world and its recurring themes of destruction, but by the One who has come to save all those who believe.

Lord, You know where I have stayed when I should have left.  You know where I have left when I should have stayed.  Even through these things, Your grace sustains me upon the path of faith.  The anxieties of this world often seem to overwhelm me, but that is exactly the reaction the wicked one would have me have.  Grant me peace so that in every circumstance I would trust that You are the One who is guiding me.

Lord Jesus, You have come so that all who believe would not perish but have everlasting life.  Lead me in the way You know I need to go.  Guide me along right paths for Your name’s sake.  Through all the winds that blow against me in this world, help me to live in the peace You give which surpasses all understanding.  You alone know all that lies ahead.  Help me to keep my eyes upon You.  Amen.

“With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples” (Mark 4:33-34).

Who can receive the word of the Lord.  Many hear the words, but they do not understand.  Jesus gives us parables as a beginning place.  If we are willing to think, reason, and seek understanding, He will teach us what these parables mean.  It is not a matter of intelligence, but of the Lord granting us wisdom through His word.  Understanding His grace and mercy, and knowing that by faith we follow Jesus, He grows in us His character and prepares us to be with Him forever.

Lord, this world is filled with goofy ideas about all kinds of things.  Guide me out of the sinful thinking of this world to understand that Your word, which is from eternity, leads to eternity.  You have given the words of eternal life.  Help me to receive Your word of truth and abide richly in the wisdom You grant to those who are willing to receive the seed of Your word and watch it grow throughout a faithful life.

Lord Jesus, You have come so that as many as believe, acting upon the word You have given, may see Your word sprout and grow.  Lead me today, Lord, with willingness to see Your word grow a little more in me.  Help me to see the many ways in which You have been abiding in me so that I may, with greater willingness, abide in You.  Help me each step of the way so that I do not receive just through parables, but through Your instruction.  Amen.

“And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?  It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade” (Mark 4:30-32).

The word has been planted, and the church has grown: a ragtag group of men and then another group following.  From these the world has been altered.  But this is only the beginning, for the Lord is building His church, His bride, to dwell with Him forever.  The good done in the world because of the church is still small compared to what He is doing for eternity.  But this also speaks of each of our lives, for from little comes much.

Lord, help me to see how You grow those who live by faith.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to see that in You there is hope and a future.  You have promised that Your word would not come back void.  Lead me to understand that You will grow in me what is right and good.  Guide me into a life of righteousness so that I grow in You and become a comfort to others as they are nurtured and shown the way.

Lord Jesus, You have raised up those who have faithfully lived their life.  Under the shadow of protection by the growth You gave them, You have raised me up to be a person of faith.  Lead me in salvation so that I also grow and become a place of respite for others that You are growing through the seed of Your word.  Guide me now and always to continue along the path You have established.  Amen.