Christ In All Things

“This boy kept coming over to my house, and my father told him not to come over any more. But then he went off to war…” So begins Part 2 of our interview with centenarian, Ruth Polcha, and so begins the beautiful love story between a faithful Slovak Lutheran named Edward Polcha and—you guessed it—a German Lutheran girl named Ruth Zehnder. Together they made a faithful Lutheran family that has bequ...

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation with centenarian Ruth Polcha. This interview is a window into a humble and faithful Christian family. Ruth is a relatively new member of St. Paul’s, but through her daughter’s family, she has a long connection to us. Her daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Al Mueller, are some of St. Paul’s more faithful and active members. After many years separated across...

We have a deep conviction that a consistent, Scripture-based order of service, or “liturgy”—especially sung liturgy—is better for the faith-formation of all ages. You see, the Divine Service—the Word and Sacrament worship of the Church—is a wedding feast. It is the “marriage supper of the Lamb,” (Rev 19.9) where Jesus Christ Himself is our host and the substance of the feast. So, it’s really helpf...

We have a deep conviction that a consistent, Scripture-based order of service, or “liturgy”—especially sung liturgy—is better for the faith-formation of all ages. You see, the Divine Service—the Word and Sacrament worship of the Church—is a wedding feast. It is the “marriage supper of the Lamb,” (Rev 19.9) where Jesus Christ Himself is our host and the substance of the feast. So, it’s really helpf...

In this episode, St. Paul’s congregational leaders Matt Dinnauer (elders) and Alec Heffern (finance) discuss “What Does ‘Stewardship’ Mean?,” the third and final part of our “Reflecting Christ” series with the Rev. Dr. Nathan Meador. As in the responses to Parts 1 and 2, you’ll hear genuine “Aha” moments, thankfulness, and a clear sense of the deep call of all Christians to participate in receivin...

“What stewardship is not is ‘what you do’ . What it is is who you are. ” As Dr. Nathan Meador reminds us in Part 3 of our “Reflecting Christ” series on Christian stewardship, we are created and redeemed by Jesus Christ as God’s stewards. It is something we observe, but it is activity that flows from our identity. It flows from receiving the mercies of Christ. In this episode we talk about both the...

Christians are “sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), for the Lord our God “is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Luke 20:38). “Those who deny that there is a resurrection” (Luke 20:27) neither know the Scriptures nor the power of God, but the baptized faithful know “that the dead are raised” (Luke 20:37). For the Lord, who was and is and is to come, knows Israel’s suffe...

“A great multitude … from all tribes and peoples and languages” cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Rev. 7:9–10). Uniquely loved, Faith-filled saints from every place and time with unified voices eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we, too, “shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Joined with the throng of angels and countless saints, we shall “ser...

Welcome to Part 2 of our interview with Tom and Bernita Krenzke, a fascinating and wonderful Christian couple. In this part of the interview we go more deeply into the key influences on their marriage, including how their cross-cultural training for missionary work also proved to be great training for marriage. This part of the interview, especially, is a lesson on humble and faithful Christian ma...

In honor of St. Paul’s annual marriage retreat that occurs in November, it is our pleasure to introduce you to Tom and Bernita Krenzke. They met as Lutheran elementary school teachers in Canada and we talk about the Godly vocation of Lutheran school teacher and how formative Lutheran churches and schools were for them. You’ll hear Bernita talk about growing up on one of the last homesteads in the...

Jesus Christ dwells eternally in His resurrected flesh, setting us free to live in hope and glorify God in our bodies. The true disciple of Jesus doesn’t just “dwell under the house” of His Word, as it were, it’s that the disciple “stands in complete trust” in His Word. And we—Christ’s disciples—have good reason for such a stand: The Son of God has set us free from sin and death by His death and r...

In Christ we are reconciled to God. His call to reconciliation is a call to wrestle with Him in prayer, to trust, and to follow. Jesus taught “The Parable of the Persistent Widow (Lk 18.2-8) so that we might learn “. . . always to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1, ESV) That’s a big deal because sometimes, like Jacob, we can do deceitful things. (see Gen 27) Even though we know that “all Script...

In this episode we hear congregational leaders reflect on Part 2 of our stewardship series with Rev. Dr. Nathan Meador, “Reflecting Christ: Of What Are We Stewards?” Our guests are Paul Junio and Dale Stratil. Paul is St. Paul’s 2nd Vice-President. Dale is teaching a series of classes on stewardship during this church and school year. From laughs at Dr. Meador’s “Princess Bride” references, to rec...

“Of What Are We Stewards” is Part 2 of our “Reflecting Christ” series on Christian stewardship with Rev. Dr. Nathan Meador. In this episode, Dr. Meador talks about the consequences of what he calls “the first stewardship crisis,” leading us to THE most important thing of which God has entrusted us: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The steward, Dr. Meador says, is a “conduit of the Gospel.” “The Gospel,...

“Remember Jesus Christ.” This is where we look, this is where we turn, when the suffering looks too daunting. Remember Jesus Christ. This is the remembering of faith, to recall the one in whom you put your trust and your hope. Where can we go to for the strength to do this? The person of Jesus Christ lodges Himself in holy food — bread and wine for believers to eat and drink. You lodge where Jesus...

We live by Faith, and run in the righteousness of Christ’s Forgiveness We are surrounded by “destruction and violence” (Hab. 1:3) because the Law “is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth” (Hab. 1:4). In fact, the Law cannot rescue us from ourBabylon; thepower of theenemy, the world, or our own sinful flesh. “Temptations to sin are sure to come” (Luke 17:1), but as often as we sin, the Lord rebu...

The Catechetical Life is an “audio brochure” of sorts. (It is based upon a brochure that Pastor O’Donnell wrote.) It is intended both to teach and to be a means of evaluating one’s family and congregational life. With a little bit of humor, we teach about life in the Church. We teach the difference between “Law” and “Gospel.” We make an important connection between a classical method of teaching—c...

We live in “a time of trouble” (Dan. 12:1), in the midst of great tribulation. Satan and his wicked angels have been thrown out of heaven and have come down to earth “in great wrath,” with woeful “temptations to sin” and with constant accusations (Rev. 12:8–12; Matt. 18:7). Even so, we are encouraged by the presence and protection of St. Michael and the holy angels, whom God sends to help us in th...

We asked St. Paul’s congregational leaders, John Nelson and Dale Stratil, to listen to Episode 77, “Reflecting Christ: Stewardship as Identity,” before its publication. John is currently serving as St. Paul’s 1st VP, and Dale is currently teaching a Bible class on stewardship. In this episode, we ask them to reflect on things that really stuck out to them from Dr. Meador’s teaching on stewardship....

So often when we think about “stewardship,” we think about our money, our time, our talent. We think about what we do. But stewardship is not, fundamentally, about our “activity.” It’s about Christ, what HE has done for us, and what HE is doing in and through us. Stewardship is about Christ, His Gospel, and our identity in Him. Recorded 17 July, A.D. 2025

St. Paul's member, Rev. Dr. Richard Thompson is our guest preacher this Holy Cross Sunday. The observance of Holy Cross Day occurs every year on September 14th. Holy Cross Day has stood as a monument and touchstone for nearly eighteen centuries encouraging believers to confess “Christ Crucified.” (1 Cor. 1:23) In our Old Testament lesson we see an excellent precursor of God’s redemption through th...

Christ gives a radical mercy to us, and calls from us—in His Name—the same. The call of Christ is absolute. He is God. He is worshipped as God by the magi (Mt 2.11). He is worshipped as God after His resurrection, by the disciples (Mt 28.17) Thus, the First Commandment applies in our worship toward him: “You shall have no other Gods.” Nowhere does this hit more powerfully than with family ties. If...

We believe that a consistent, Scripture-based order of service, or ‘liturgy’—particularly sung liturgy —is better for the faith-formation of all ages. We believe that Jacob and Delores: A Love Story presents powerful evidence for that conviction. In this episode you’ll hear Season Two’s Jacob’s Story re-told, and—in a clip we received permission to publish—you’ll also hear a much older woman names...

“Jacob’s Story” is about a lot of things. This account, his parents’ summary of his last days with us, is both heart-rending and faith-filling. It is a tragedy, but one that is imbued with Christian hope. “Jacob’s Story” is an episode to which we will refer many times in Season 3 and beyond, for what happened with Jacob Juneau changed more than the lives of his family. It changed the lives of many...

In Part 2 of our interview with Brett Helwig we talk about how life in the church is forming him, and how his talents in music and engineering combine in Christ. We have a delightful introduction to his very engineer-ish encounter, courtship, and marriage to a vivacious farm girl named Kerri. We also hear about the Helwig’s journey to membership at St. Paul’s and love of God's creation. To listen...