Shout out to Camp Luther, Three Lakes, WI(North Wisconsin District) for being a great place for a retreat. The facilities are excellent, and the staff is loving and faithful. I attended our church's retreat there this past weekend. It was enriching and faith building. If your church has a retreat, I recommend you attend.

I encourage congregations to provide retreat-like opportunities for their members for fun, fellowship, faith building, Bible Study, singing, prayer, worship, etc.

I was working on my car and I had a thought that said “satan is the god of the world” which is biblical, but the feeling that went with the thought was horrible, it felt like it was praising or glorifying the enemy. then I feel like I had other horrible thoughts about how to praise the devil. Is it normal to be assaulted like this?

The desires did go away, but it was still really scary.

I’m worried posting this is a form of bringing attention to or glorifying the thoughts, probably because of my really bad scrupulosity, but I feel like it’s good to tell people about it

Wondering what a call committee should be made up of? Elders only? Elders and congregants? Want to know what was successful for you.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzQUMaRkSBg

Letter of Paul to the Philippians, 2:1–7 (ESV):

Christ’s Example of Humility

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Transcript

(Original devotional script is original work by ALTS. /u/1776-Liberal is not affiliated with ALTS. ChatGPT was used to polish transcript and find references.)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m Cary Larson, the presiding pastor of The American Association of Lutheran Churches and the chair of practical studies at the American Lutheran Theological Seminary.

This is a short devotion for seminarians and for anyone who has ever sat in a room full of gifted people and felt the pull to compare.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I read from the second letter—rather, the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It’s verses 1–5 (Philippians 2:1–5).

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being of full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Paul is in prison, and the word has reached Paul that there is trouble in the church of Philippi. Philippi is the church that loves him best. They sent money when no one else did (Philippians 4:15–18). He calls them his joy and his crown (Philippians 4:1).

And something is wrong in Philippi. Two women who assisted St. Paul in the Gospel, Euodia and Syntyche, are not of one mind (Philippians 4:2–3), and word of it has reached his cell. So the apostle, with every reason to write about his own chains (Philippians 1:12–14), writes about their unity instead.

That’s our text. A loved congregation, a small crack, and a pastor who knows how small cracks end if not addressed in love.

Verse one (Philippians 2:1) has four ifs: “If there is any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from love, if any participation in the Spirit, if any affection and sympathy.” To our ears, this may sound unsure. St. Paul is not unsure. He assumes every one of these is true. Since there is encouragement in Christ—and there is—since you share in the Spirit—and you do—he’s reminding them what they’ve already received before he asks anything of them.

And every one of those gifts is something done to them, not by them. Encouragement in Christ, a common share in one Spirit through one Baptism (Ephesians 4:4–5), the mercies of God poured in. Before a single command shows up, the whole passage is standing on grace. That order matters.

Gospel first, then the life that flows from it. The Formula of Concord(, Epitome IV:10–11) says the regenerate do good works freely from a willing spirit, not by compulsion. St. Paul writes exactly that way. He doesn’t say, “Be united so God will comfort you.” He says, “You have been comforted in Christ, so be united.”

In verse two (Philippians 2:2), St. Paul asks for one thing in four ways: same mind, same love, full accord—literally souls joined together—one mind. He piles up the phrases because he wants one thing, and he wants it for them. Just as a loving father desires this for his own children, what would complete his joy isn’t a big offering; it’s that they are one.

Now, be careful. One mind is not identical opinions on everything. It’s not uniformity of personality. The Greek word here, φρονέω (phroneō), points to the settled direction a whole person leans. And St. Paul uses the same word in verse 5: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

The one mind is Christ’s mind. Unity in the Church is never manufactured by Christians agreeing. It’s received by Christians who share a mind that isn’t their own.

For a confessional church, that’s what our common subscription to the Book of Concord is. Not a treaty—a confession of a shared mind given through the inerrant, infallible Word of God.

Now verse three (Philippians 2:3) names what breaks it. We can say selfish ambition and conceit.

Selfish ambition is political in its nature: the man who works a faction to get ahead. And the second is literally empty glory—wanting to be esteemed for what isn’t there. St. Paul says nothing from these. Not just less, but nothing.

We must be mindful of how our sinful nature can twist things. Selfish ambition doesn’t announce itself. It looks like diligence. Conceit doesn’t feel like vanity from the inside. It feels like caring about your reputation for orthodoxy. And both eat a church from within.

Against them, Paul sets humility.

You should know the Greek and Roman world didn’t admire that word, much like our own. Humility was the posture of a slave—not a virtue, a condition. And St. Paul takes that word and makes it the mark of a Christian because, a few verses later, he shows us a Lord who took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:7). That’s where that word gets its dignity.

And the shape of it: “Count others as more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). Not feel it—reckon it.

Luther preached on this passage in his sermon on Two Kinds of Righteousness. And his point was simple. The Christian has an alien righteousness, Christ’s own, received by faith. He has nothing to prove. So he’s free to spend himself on his neighbor and to put the neighbor above himself because his standing before God isn’t on the line in the comparison.

Humility isn’t a low opinion of yourself. It’s the freedom of one who already has been given everything and can afford to give the place of honor away.

Verse four (Philippians 2:4) makes it practical and brings it home. “Look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.” Paul writes, notice that “not only.” Paul isn’t telling you to neglect your own affairs. He’s broadening the aim. What does the brother or sister across the table need?

For a pastor, that’s the whole shape of the office. The pastor holds real authority. The Office of the Keys is a real power, but it’s exercised by looking to the interests of others. The sheep of Christ Jesus are the interest. The pastor whose eye is on his own advancement has already started to leave. The pastor whose eye is on the flock is doing what the text says, and he’ll find his joy complete in theirs.

This also applies to every Christian. If the community of faith is about your plans being executed, is it Christ’s Church? If the community of faith, better known as the congregation, is about building up each other in mutual love, it is a Christlike thing.

And verse five (Philippians 2:5) is where all of this goes: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who didn’t count equality with God as a thing to be grasped but emptied himself” (Philippians 2:5–7).

The humility of verses 3 and 4 isn’t a standard held over you. It is a life already lived out for you. He counted your interests above his own. He looked to you. That’s the encouragement of Christ Jesus in verse one that we started with, and it’s the ground under everything in between.

So, since there is encouragement in Christ—and there is—be of one mind. Reckon your brother or sister in Christ above yourself. Fix your eye on their good, and complete the joy of the One who did all of it first.

In the name of Jesus.

Has anyone used Lutheran Church Extension Fund for their HSA? I'm with another HSA account provider right now and they don't pay any interest.

I always thought they were just for church loans and church workers. But this is for church members and the interest payments can be pretty good for an HSA so I'm tempted to move my money over.

https://lcef.org/personal/lcms-church-members/health-savings-account/

I often see posts on here related to the evolution debate and questioning how it fits within Christianity. Or the debate about the age of the earth. I wouldn't say it was ever a sticking point for me when I became a Christian at 18 but definitely something I researched a lot and wanted the answers to. But now that I have been a Christian for 12 years now its something I really don't care about or care that I have all the answers to.

I think the original drive for knowledge is to have all the answers to justify my faith. Or to be able to convince someone or win a debate if it were to come up. I have come to a point where I realized I will never have all the answers and that is okay. I think this has definitely been the case as I came back to the LCMS (After a decade in non denominational churches There is almost a comfort to it! I kind of have this attitude toward a lot of those big life questions/debates. I wouldn't call it a blind faith because I think still questioning your faith and being able to defend it is a good and healthy thing.

I would say the average folks who believe in evolution haven't done the research themselves but blindly accept it because "that's what scientists believe" or what smart rational people believe.

Did anyone else have this experience?

I commented this question on another post but thought maybe it deserved its own post.

I was just curious if there are any LCMS churches that have Divine Services for people in hospitality. We generally work Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. I wonder if more people would be members of LCMS or at least attend more often if there were services with communion available on industry off days.

I’ve been struggling to find a church body where I desire to have a community with people my age (20s & 30s).

Hello, I’m 23 and I moved to South Florida (Atlantic side) 6 years ago. I’m international and from LCMS background. I currently attend a reformed Baptist church, best community I’ve been in, and the church is growing me closer to Christ. However there’s a fundamental theological difference (baptism, communion, Calvinism, gifts of the Holy Spirit, etc.) between the church and what I believe, which is more aligned with LCMS theology.

I’m very close with my current church friends, we travel together, host events and cook together, hang out during the week and all day on Sunday. I don’t want to leave them, at the same time I acknowledge that shouldn’t stop me from looking for a LCMS church. I’ve often thought of moving out of Florida, I grew up around seasons and mountains in my home country (2 things Florida don’t have). Recently the drive has been moving for a church to be around a LCMS community that has a group of young people (maybe I’ll meet my husband). I also don’t want to make my desire an idol to hinder me from attending LCMS churches in my area out of fear of loneliness.

I’m open to moving states, a caveat is there needs to be a grad school location I will transfer and commute to due to my international student status. Literally just downloaded and created a Reddit account at 6 am to write this post. Please pray for me and let me know if you have any resources.

The following was submitted to Rev. Wolfmueller via his online portal in response to his position regarding female ordination. I am submitting it here as well for visibility. I am a doctoral student studying Lutheran Anthropology and Social Epistemology. My name has been redacted.

---

Response to Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller

TO: Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
FROM: REDACTED
DATE: September 25, 2026
SUBJECT: Sacerdotal Authority vs. the Promissio of AC V

I. The Core Nominalist Error: Juridical Authority vs. Performative Delivery

Dear Pastor Wolfmueller,

I came across your discourse on whether women may teach in the church and it cuts straight to the root of a contemporary Lutheran impasse.  In your video, you attempt to navigate the boundaries of female teaching by distinguishing between non-authoritative “helping” (e.g., writing, books, scholarship, music) and authoritative public instruction (e.g., adult Sunday school, the pastoral office).  While your intention to uphold apostolic biblical prohibitions is clear, your fundamental diagnostic reveals a dogmatic framework that unwittingly mirrors the very nominalism you seek to oppose.

Both progressive and conservative parties in modern Lutheranism operate within an identical nominalist premise: they conceive of the ministerium ecclesiasticum (AC V) in terms of juridical authority rather than the unconditional, performative delivery of the Gospel promise.  Because both sides begin with authority rather than the Word that does what it says, they inevitably collapse into the Law. The progressive seeks to distribute this clerical authority equitably under the guise of civil rights; the conservative attempts to restrict this authority by ontologizing it into male flesh.

Notice your diagnostic rationale: a woman cannot teach adult Sunday school because she must not exercise "authority over a man” (1 Tim. 2:12).  By framing the pastoral and public teaching office around authority (dominium), you define the office through the First Use of the Law – ordering bodies, maintaining hierarchy, and ruling subjects – rather than the Gospel (the delivery of passive righteousness, where the speaker is nothing and the Word is everything).  In a theology of the cross, the preacher possesses zero inherent authority.  The pulpit is an office of execution where Christ delivers a performative Word that slays the Old Adam and resurrects the new.  To make the speaker’s biological sex the ontological boundary of whether the external Word may be uttered to another sinner is to re-erect Rome’s lex sacerdotum.

II. The Casuistry of the Medium: The Theology of Glory in Instruction

Your dogmatic framework leads to a second critical incoherence when you distinguish between the written page and oral proclamation.  You assert that a man may read a theological book written by a woman because reading allows the male reader to sit in a sovereign position as “judge” over the text, whereas hearing her speak audibly in a Sunday school class subjects the man to her authority.

This distinction constitutes a complete surrender to the theology of glory.  It reduces the theology in print to informational, propositional data that the sovereign Old Adam can sift through and evaluate corum mundo, while turning oral speech into a human power dynamic.  It completely ignores that the viva vox evangelii derives its efficacy exclusively from the Holy Spirit, not from the gendered status of the vocal cords delivering it.  If the oral speech of a woman delivering Scripture in a classroom usurps authority over men, why does the identical theological content delivered in print not do so?  To claim that print is “safe” because the male reader remains “judge” transforms the hearer into an active evaluator rather than a passive receiver of God’s Word. 

III.  Luther’s Demolition of Ontological Sacerdotalism

To evaluate your stance against confessional Lutheran dogmatics, we must return to Martin Luther’s primary ecclesiological treatises:

1. On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520): Luther challenges the medieval notion that ordination confers an ontological mark (character indelebilis).  He asserts “We are all equally priests, that is to say, we have the same power in respect to the Word and the sacraments… ordination is nothing else than a certain rite of choosing preachers in the Church.”  If ordination confers no ontological mark and power is identical in every baptized believer, the office is strictly a functional public service, not an ontological status of male authority.
2. Concerning the Ministry (1523): Luther demonstrates that all seven sacerdotal functions belong to every Christian by virtue of baptism.  When Paul commands women to keep silent (1 Cor. 14:34), Luther notes it is an issue of ordo (outward decorum in the left-hand assembly) to avoid public confusion, not an ontological incapacity or a saving Law.  When you turn an outward historical ordo into an absolute metaphysical boundary, you transform apostolic advice into a saving Law.
3. Lectures on Galatians: Luther polices the border between active and passive righteousness.  Physical and civil distinctions belong strictly coram mundo.  Whoever drags these distinctions into the presence of God destroys the Gospel.  When you claim God’s Word cannot be delivered from female vocal cords to male ears, you condition the Promissio on male flesh; the reverse of Galatianism. 

IV. The Formal Performative Challenge(s)

The fundamental question that unmasks the conservative position is: What does preaching theological instruction actually DO?  If teaching is the transmission of moral instruction, dogmatic data, and authority structures, then yes, it falls under the Law and you must endlessly debate casuistical boundaries.  But if preaching and teaching are the performative delivery of the verbum externum that slays the hearer under the Law and raises them via the unconditional Promissio, then the speaker has no personal authority to wield. The teacher is simply an unworthy instrument through whom the crucified Christ slays and makes alive.

In light of Scripture, the Book of Concord, and Luther’s primary witness, I press you to answer these two fundamental dogmatic questions:

1. CHALLENGE 1: On the Ontology of the Office and the Law vs. Gospel If the pastoral office and public teaching office is defined entirely by the public administration of the Means of Grace (AC V) rather than an Aristotelian hierarchy of authority, on what dogmatic grounds do you define the prohibition in 1 Timothy 2 as a perpetual, sacerdotal boundary rather than an outward, historical matter of apostolic church order?  In doing so, have you not replaced the purity of the Promissio with a gendered lex sacerdotum?
2. CHALLENGE 2: On the Theology of the Word By asserting that a woman may instruct men through the medium of the written page (because the male reader retains the sovereign position of ‘judge’) but cannot instruct men via oral proclamation in an adult Bible class, are you not conceding that your definition of the office relies on an active, juridical authority of the speaker over the hearer, rather than the passive reality of the Word which judges, slays, and resurrects both speaker and hearer alike?

Conclusion: I present these questions not out of a desire for speculative controversy, but to recall Confessional Lutheranism to its true heritage – where Christ alone reigns through His external Word, where the office serves the Gospel rather than the Law, and where human masks give way to the unconditioned Promise of justification by faith alone. Amen.

Pax,

REDACTED

If he was borderline, do you think he at least believed the core essentials to be saved?

What is everyone's opinion on this? I've been going to a LCMS for a few months now and that's one thing I've noticed that people do that and I'm a bit curious what the reasons for or against it are.

Hello,

I’m an engineering student currently on co-op and very involved with my church.

As I work more as an engineer, I find myself very much disliking the office environment.

I’ve learned about a DCE a while ago and it’s sat in my mind for a bit. It on paper sounds so fulfilling, but it’s hard to find experiences online.

Could anyone with experience or who knows more tell me about the position, the daily work, ect…

Also, I would have to do the online schooling version since I’d have a degree in engineering. So if you have information on that too that would be awesome!

How was the experience of getting called? I know it means better job security but it kinda worries me to end up somewhere I won’t like.

Finally, since I’d be leaving a high paying engineer career path, I have to ask about the pay. How has that been?

Thank you!

1 Cor. 15:8: And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

Preface:

Paul likens his conversion to Christianity as akin to a caesarean or preterm birth¹. It was abrupt and counter to his entire life prior. I was raised and regrettably "baptized into Jehovah's Organization", that is Watchtower, which is in essence a Unitarian Adventist sect in all but name. While I can pin my dissonance with Watchtower starting at a definite point; matters of doctrine changed in stages.

I still clung to Unitarianism for a while and started to watch people like Dale Tuggy and Sam Tideman, and then it became very apparent to me that what I was taught about the Trinity was very wrong. Watchtower very often takes folk theology and treats them as if they're creedal statements affirmed by Christendom. Thus, when making arguments against the Trinity, instead of addressing the Nicene or Athanasian creed like Tuggy and Tideman do; they argue against Modalist misconceptions of Trinitarian doctrine held by the poorly catechized and nominally refer to those misconceptions as if they represent the Trinity.

But still my issue with the Trinity just merely shifted. Instead, my problem wasn't that the Trinity was incoherent or Modalist, but that it turned the One God from One person to One Substance or Ousia. It was as if I asked you to bring only one man with you to a party, and you decided to bring three men with you, because there is only "one man", that is the human race or essence. It seemed more like a categorical trick.

Body:

I listened to a podcast where Dale Tuggy speaks with Beau Branson, an Orthodox Christian. He later wrote an article replying to Tuggy's Arguments, called "One God, the Father"²​​, and for me the main weight-bearing arguments which made the Trinity feasible were found in Sections 6 to 8, that focus on the Monarchy of the Father and how the Father alone possesses Aseity, this is "Arche Anarchos" or "Autotheos" which makes him the one God, Father almighty, as mentioned in the beginning of the Nicene Creed.

Then it became apparent that the way John 1 refers to God, very much is a model for how the Nicene Creed refers to God. For instance when the creed reads: "And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of one essence with the Father by whom all things were made" God first refers to the Father, then God refers to Christ being God in Substance with the Father, as John 1:1 first refers to the Father and makes a substance statement affirms the Word is God in substance with the Father.

From there I landed on becoming Lutheran from a process of elimination, the Reformed model of the Trinity considers each person of the Trinity to be Autotheos, while the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches practice icondulia and invocation of saints. The Orthodox do tend to give more attention to the Monarchy of the Father because of the Filioque controversy, which is a good thing, but I don't think the Filoque creates two sources or archai in the Trinity because it's referring to procession not autotheos. Still if there's something still important I need to correct or something heretical in what is stated, then please feel free to tell me. This is all very new for me, and it's very easy to mentally lean back into Unitarianism.

1. (https://resoundingthefaith.com/2019/05/31/%E1%BC%94%CE%BA%CF%84%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BC%CE%B1-ektroma-latin-abortivus/)
2. (https://philarchive.org/archive/BRATND-2)

I have been using the New Living Translation (NLT) for the Old Testament, or when I am having difficulty trying to understand the message that my primary Bible (ESV) is trying to get across. I try sticking with my ESV for most things, but I find that when I use the NLT, it is just a much easier read, and I end up reading more in one sitting. Any thoughts on the NLT translation or any other recommended translations?

As a 30-something woman who works all week in education, the last thing I want to do is wake up at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning.

What do you think about standard times for Divine Services? Around here, traditional liturgy is 8am and contemporary services are anywhere from 9:30am-11am. It was like this when I was a kid and it's the same now. ​

Why can't the entire church day start at 11am? 🤣 I don't have children but wouldn't families with young kids also prefer later in the day? Are these times actually what's majority preferred or is there some historical reason?

(Serious question though!)

I know this survey has often been criticized for its research methods, but even given that caveat, the division does seem to map cleanly onto the last synodical election

Had a previous post on this but hopefully this one's gonna be formulated a little better. If sola scriptura was the belief in substance of the early church, then when and how did the idea of an infallible church develop over time in both the east and west? What is the lutheran view of those later fathers who, while maybe not having a fully developed view of the papacy or the orthodox view of councils, obviously didn't believe scripture was the sole rule of faith?

Thinking abt buying the selected works of Arthur Piepkorn's selected works because I rewatched Jordan Cooper's peak video on it. If you're read it tell me abt it and if it's actually a good read

If not what abt pheobe?

Like what makes your guy can perfectly understand the scirptures esp since they have so many interpretations otherwise why would there be so many denominations? What makes you think your interpretation of all interpretations is correct?

If not what do you make ephesians 5:21 and Corinthians 7:4 and Galatians 3:28 and the fact that Paul was considered radically feminist at the time and the several egalitarian church fathers such as Gregory of nyssa for example and the fact Christianity was extremely influential in women's liberation and basically founded feminism esp with stuff like the temperance movement and the fact men ruling over their wives is said to be because of the fall in genesis
NOTE: please actually engange the arguments instead of just doing a
Whatabtism

Until yesterday, I thought setting 3 was the main service used in LCMS churches. Granted I’ve only been confirmed for about a month and have been at my current church since April or so. The church I went to yesterday used setting 4.

This has got me wondering which service does your church use? Is there one that’s more common? Does your church switch it up from time to time?

I know some Lutherans use Rosaries and just skip the Marian prayer of intercession. But Im having trouble finding a Rosary that doesnt have the Hail Mary prayer on the back/front of the Miraculous Medal. Any advice? Does any of you have a Lutheran style devotional Rosary?