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This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s Message: Touched by Grace! (WATCH HERE)

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Luke 17:11–19 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Nine hurried home. One turned back.

All ten lepers had received the same miracle. All ten had watched diseased skin become whole again. All ten were given their lives back. Yet only one returned to Jesus, fell at His feet, and gave thanks.

What made the difference?

It wasn’t that one man received more grace than the others. They had all been cleansed. The difference was that one recognized not only the gift, but the Giver.

As our nation marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, there are many blessings worth celebrating. We thank God for freedoms that many throughout history have never known. We give thanks for opportunities to worship openly, raise families in peace, pursue meaningful work, and serve our communities. These are all gifts of God’s providence, and they deserve our gratitude.

Yet there is a danger that accompanies abundant blessings. We can begin to cherish the gifts more than the One who gives them.

That is exactly what Moses warned Israel before they entered the Promised Land. “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 8:11). Prosperity has a way of making us feel self-sufficient. We begin believing we earned what was really given. We admire the harvest while forgetting the Farmer.

The greatest blessing God has ever given you is not found in your citizenship, your paycheck, your health, or your home. It is found in the empty tomb.

Like the lepers, you and I suffered from a disease we could not cure. Sin separated us from God and left us spiritually dead. No amount of good works, morality, or religious effort could cleanse us. But Jesus came near. He took our uncleanness upon Himself at the cross and gave us His righteousness in return.

Martin Luther called this the “happy exchange.” Christ took what was ours and gave us what was His. That is grace.

Everything else we enjoy flows from that greater gift.

Reflect: What blessings do you most easily take for granted, and how do they point you back to Christ? How does remembering your salvation change the way you celebrate the blessings of this life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have given me far more than I deserve. Thank You for cleansing me from sin and making me Your own. As I enjoy the many blessings You have poured into my life and our nation, keep my eyes fixed on the greatest gift of all—Your saving grace. Fill my heart with true gratitude that begins at the foot of Your cross and overflows into every part of my life. Amen.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 4 of Confessing Christ in a Confused World (WATCH HERE)

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Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This week our nation celebrates a remarkable milestone. For 250 years, the United States has existed as a nation. Throughout those years, generations of Americans have sacrificed, worked, worshiped, raised families, defended freedom, and prayed that God would continue to bless this land. It is fitting for us to pause and thank God for the many blessings He has poured out on our country.

We thank Him for the freedom to gather for worship without fear. We thank Him for opportunities to share the Gospel openly. We thank Him for those who have faithfully served in government, the military, emergency services, schools, and countless other vocations that benefit our neighbors. Every good gift ultimately comes from the gracious hand of our heavenly Father.

As Christians, we should be grateful citizens.

But Scripture also reminds us that we are something even greater.

We are citizens of heaven.

That truth gives us a perspective the world cannot offer.

Throughout history, powerful nations have risen and fallen. Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, and countless others once seemed invincible. Yet every earthly kingdom eventually changes. Borders shift. Leaders come and go. Flags are lowered. History books continue to add new chapters.

The Church built on Jesus Christ, however, continues to endure.

For nearly two thousand years, the Holy Spirit has been quietly doing exactly what Jesus promised He would do. He has called sinners by the Gospel. He has gathered believers into the holy Christian Church. He has enlightened hearts with God’s truth. He has sanctified His people through Word and Sacrament.

Kings have ruled.

Empires have collapsed.

Wars have been fought.

Cultures have changed.

Yet on every continent and in every century, the Holy Spirit has continued gathering people around Jesus Christ.

That is one of the great evidences that the wind of the Spirit is still blowing.

As we celebrate our nation’s birthday, we do so with thankful hearts but also with eternal perspective. Our greatest hope has never rested in Washington, Austin, or any other seat of earthly government. It rests in the throne of the risen Christ.

That perspective also shapes how we live as citizens today.

Some Christians imagine they must choose between loving their country and loving Christ. Scripture never presents that choice. Instead, God’s Word calls us to honor both responsibilities rightly. Peter writes, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood of believers. Fear God. Honor the king.” We respect those God has placed in authority. We pray for our leaders. We seek the welfare of the communities where God has placed us. We serve our neighbors with humility and love.

At the same time, we remember that our ultimate allegiance belongs to Christ alone. When earthly values conflict with God’s truth, “we must obey God rather than men.” Our identity is not first found in our nationality but in our Baptism. Through water and the Word, the Holy Spirit has united us to Jesus Christ and made us members of His eternal kingdom.

One day, every national anthem will fall silent.

Every flag will be folded.

Every earthly government will give way to the everlasting reign of Christ.

On that day, believers from every tribe, language, people, and nation will stand together before the throne of the Lamb. There will be no political divisions, no cultural barriers, no national rivalries. There will only be one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, gathered in perfect joy around our Savior forever.

What a beautiful reminder as we celebrate this Independence Day.

We thank God for the blessings of our nation.

We pray for its future.

We serve our neighbors faithfully.

But above all, we rejoice that through the Holy Spirit we belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Our Savior reigns. Our names are written in heaven. And our true home is waiting for us.

Until that glorious day, may the Holy Spirit continue to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify His people, so that more hearts may come to know the freedom that is found only in Jesus Christ!

Reflect: In what ways can you faithfully thank God for the blessings of our nation while remembering that your ultimate citizenship is in heaven? How can your life reflect both grateful citizenship on earth and joyful citizenship in Christ’s eternal kingdom?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the many blessings You have given our nation throughout its history. We praise You for the freedoms we enjoy and for those who faithfully serve our communities and country. Above all, we thank You for calling us into Your eternal kingdom through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Keep our hearts loyal to You above all else. Bless our nation with peace, wisdom, justice, and opportunities for the Gospel to be proclaimed freely. Continue to send Your Holy Spirit to call sinners, gather Your Church, enlighten hearts with Your truth, and sanctify Your people until the day we join the great communion of saints before Your throne forever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 4 of Confessing Christ in a Confused World (WATCH HERE)

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1 Corinthians 2:12 “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

Do you remember the “Magic Eye” pictures that were popular years ago? At first glance they looked like nothing more than a page filled with random colors and strange patterns. People would stare at them for several minutes while someone nearby insisted, “Keep looking! You’ll see it!” Then, almost without warning, a three dimensional image would suddenly appear. Once you saw it, you wondered how you had ever missed it. And after seeing it once, you could never look at the picture the same way again.

The picture had not changed.

Your eyes had.

That is a fitting picture of what the Holy Spirit does through God’s Word.

Before the Holy Spirit opens our hearts, the message of Christ often seems foolish or unnecessary. The apostle Paul writes, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them.” The problem is not that the Gospel lacks clarity. The problem is that our sinful nature cannot recognize its beauty or truth.

Then the Holy Spirit goes to work.

Through the Gospel, He opens blind eyes. He enlightens our hearts so that we begin to see what we could never see on our own. We begin to understand who God truly is, not simply as a distant Creator but as our gracious Father. We see ourselves honestly, recognizing both the depth of our sin and the greatness of God’s mercy. Most importantly, we see Jesus not merely as a wise teacher or moral example but as our crucified and risen Savior who has taken away our sins.

That is why Luther says the Holy Spirit has “enlightened me with His gifts.” The Spirit does not give us a new truth. He enables us to understand the truth God has already revealed in His Word.

The disciples experienced this firsthand. For three years they walked beside Jesus. They heard His teaching, watched His miracles, and even listened as He predicted His death and resurrection. Yet so much of it remained a mystery to them. It was only after Christ’s resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that everything began to make sense. Suddenly the Old Testament pointed to Jesus. Suddenly the cross was not a tragedy but God’s plan of salvation. Suddenly fearful fishermen became bold witnesses of the Gospel.

The Holy Spirit still does that today.

As you spend time in God’s Word, you will often discover that passages you’ve read many times before suddenly speak with new clarity. You begin to see connections you never noticed. God’s promises become more personal. His grace becomes more precious. His wisdom becomes more trustworthy than the wisdom of the world. That is not because you have become spiritually smarter than others. It is because the Spirit continues to enlighten you through His Word.

But the Spirit’s work does not stop with understanding. He also changes the direction of our lives.

Paul writes in Galatians, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” The same Holy Spirit who opened our eyes now leads our feet. He begins producing His fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. These qualities are not self improvement projects. They are the evidence that the Spirit is living and working within us.

The wind of the Spirit continues to blow. He opens blind eyes to see Christ clearly, and He leads wandering hearts to walk faithfully with their Savior.

Reflect: How has your understanding of God’s Word grown as the Holy Spirit has worked through Scripture over the years? Which fruit of the Spirit would you especially ask God to cultivate more fully in your life right now?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank You for opening my eyes to see Jesus as my Savior and for helping me understand the riches of God’s grace. Continue to enlighten me through Your Word so that I grow in wisdom and faith each day. Produce Your fruit in my life, leading me to love as Christ has loved me and to walk in the purpose You have prepared for me. Keep me in step with You until the day I see my Savior face to face. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 4 of Confessing Christ in a Confused World (WATCH HERE)

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Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

If you’ve ever sat around a campfire, you’ve probably noticed what happens when someone pulls a glowing coal away from the rest of the fire. At first it still glows brightly, but within a few minutes the red begins to fade. Soon it grows dark and cold. Place that same coal back into the fire, and before long it glows once again.

The illustration isn’t perfect, but it reminds us of an important spiritual truth. God never intended His children to live the Christian life in isolation. The Holy Spirit not only creates faith in individual hearts, He gathers believers into a family.

One of the most common statements heard today is, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.” There is a measure of truth in those words. Going to church does not make someone a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes someone a car. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Yet the question is not whether attending church saves us. The better question is this: Why would someone who has been called by the Holy Spirit want to stay away from the very family the Spirit has gathered?

Look carefully at what happened on Pentecost. Peter preached Christ crucified and risen. The Holy Spirit worked through that Gospel message, and about three thousand people believed. But the story does not end with three thousand individuals going home to practice their faith alone. Luke immediately tells us what the Spirit created.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Notice how naturally those believers gathered together. They wanted to hear God’s Word. They shared meals together. They prayed together. They cared for one another’s needs. They praised God together. The Holy Spirit created not only faith but also a community centered on Christ.

That should not surprise us. Throughout Scripture, God describes His people using family language. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are members of one body. We are living stones being built into a spiritual house. Paul writes in Ephesians, “You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” The Christian faith has always been deeply personal, but it has never been private.

Luther recognized this in his explanation of the Third Article. After speaking about the Holy Spirit calling him personally by the Gospel, he immediately continues, “In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth.” The Spirit’s work is both individual and communal. He brings us to Christ, and He brings us to one another.

Perhaps you’ve experienced seasons when you drifted from regular worship. Life became busy. Disappointments mounted. Maybe someone in the church hurt you. Churches are made up of sinners, and sinners sometimes fail one another. Yet despite our imperfections, Christ has not abandoned His Church. He continues to gather His people around His Word and Sacraments because He knows how desperately we need them.

Every Sunday, Christ serves His people. He speaks His forgiving Word. He reminds us of our Baptism. He feeds us with His body and blood. He surrounds us with fellow believers who encourage us, pray for us, rejoice with us, and bear our burdens. These are not merely religious activities. They are gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The church is not simply a place we go. It is the family to which we belong. It is where the Holy Spirit continues His gracious work of strengthening faith until the day we join the great communion of saints gathered around the throne of the Lamb in heaven.

So this week, thank God not only for saving you but also for giving you a spiritual family. Cherish the gift of Christ’s Church. It is one of the clearest evidences that the wind of the Holy Spirit is still blowing.

Reflect: How have fellow Christians encouraged or strengthened your faith during difficult seasons of life? How can you intentionally encourage someone else within your church family this week?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank You for gathering me into Your holy Christian Church. Thank You for surrounding me with brothers and sisters in Christ who encourage me with Your Word and remind me of Your promises. Forgive me for the times I have taken this gift for granted or allowed other priorities to crowd it out. Continue to gather Your people around the Gospel, strengthen our faith through Your Word and Sacraments, and keep us united in Christ until we worship together before Your heavenly throne. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 4 of Confessing Christ in a Confused World (WATCH HERE)

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Romans 10:17 “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

Every once in a while, someone receives a phone call that changes everything.

It may be the call offering a dream job, the news that a child has been born, or the words every waiting family longs to hear: “Your adoption has been approved.” In a single conversation, life takes an entirely new direction. Yet the call itself is only powerful because of the one who is calling and the message being delivered.

The greatest call you have ever received did not come through a telephone. It came through the Gospel.

We often speak about “finding God” as though Christianity began with our search. The Scriptures tell a different story. God came searching for us. We were the lost sheep. We were the wandering prodigal. We were dead in our sins. Left to ourselves, we would never have sought Him. As Luther reminds us in his explanation to the Third Article, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him.”

What we could never accomplish, the Holy Spirit did for us.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter stood before a crowd in Jerusalem and preached the simple message of Jesus’ death and resurrection. There were no dramatic stage effects, no carefully crafted marketing campaign, and no emotional manipulation. Peter simply proclaimed Christ crucified and risen. Yet when he finished, about three thousand people believed and were baptized that very day.

What happened?

The Holy Spirit happened.

Peter later told the crowd, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38–39).

Notice who is doing the calling.

The Lord calls.

The Holy Spirit works.

Faith is created.

That same miracle continues every time the Gospel is proclaimed.

Sometimes Christians worry that they are not persuasive enough to share their faith. We fear we will not have the right words or answer every difficult question. While it is wise to grow in our understanding of God’s Word, our confidence has never rested in our ability to convince people. Faith is not produced by clever arguments or compelling personalities. Faith comes through the Word of Christ as the Holy Spirit works through that Word.

Think about Lydia in the city of Philippi. As Paul spoke, Luke records, “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (Acts 16:14). Paul preached. Lydia listened. But it was the Lord who opened her heart. That is always the pattern.

This truth is wonderfully comforting.

It means that your salvation does not depend upon the strength of your decision but upon the faithfulness of God’s promise. It means that when parents bring a child to Baptism, they are trusting God’s promise that the Holy Spirit works through water and the Word. It means that every Sunday, as God’s Word is read and preached, the Holy Spirit is actively calling people to repentance, strengthening weary believers, comforting troubled consciences, and creating faith where there was unbelief.

The Holy Spirit has not stopped calling.

He called you by name in your Baptism.

He continues to call you through His Word each time you hear the Gospel.

And one day He will call you home to be with Christ forever.

What a gracious God we have. He did not wait for us to find Him. He lovingly called us through the saving message of Jesus, and He continues to keep us in that same faith by His powerful Gospel.

Reflect: How does knowing that God sought and called you change the way you think about your own salvation? Who in your life needs to hear the Gospel, trusting that the Holy Spirit is the One who creates faith?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank You for calling me by the Gospel and bringing me to faith in Jesus Christ. Continue to strengthen my faith through Your Word and remind me daily that my salvation rests entirely in Your gracious work. Give me confidence to share the Gospel with others, trusting that You alone can open hearts and create faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.