July 20, 2026

Today's Reading: Genesis 2:7-17

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 3:1-21; Acts 16:1-22

“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

There's this Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, where if you eat it, you die in the Garden of Eden. And that kinda feels messed up. Is it a good tree? God said yes. We're not sure. We tend to think that if it's not a trap, it’s at least a test. Which says plenty about what you actually think about the God who put it there. We still think He's, if not setting traps for us, at least testing us.

A loving God doesn't "test" us with death any more than I, who love you less than God, would test whether or not you remember how a fire drill works by lighting the building on fire. Also, an all-knowing God would know this whole thing plays out poorly. What if the Tree that God called Good was not a test or a trap? What if He called it good because it was given with a good purpose, to reveal who God is? To teach Adam and Eve that all of evil should be contained on a tree for man to behold and know the peace of not having to die because God bore the sin that would kill them for them? What if the tree was good because it was the very first church? Adam and Eve could worship here, celebrate the mystery of the God who hangs evil on the tree that they would not die. The thing is, mystery is only good if you trust the guy behind the curtain. But if the tree wasn’t a good thing, then it's pretty solid proof God who put it there wasn’t so good either. This is how the serpent tempted.

But God met them in the garden, not to destroy, but to promise a child born of woman to hang on a second tree to crush the head of the serpent forever. God saw the tree in the garden. God saw the tragedy that changed you forever. God saw everything that’s gone wrong since and hated it too. So He assumes it. Climbs down from heaven to walk up the hill of Golgotha and die on the cross. For you. For them. For those who have faced the tragedies that leave us speechless and bitter and broken. For the forgiveness of all your sins. Your quiet mistrust. Your open rebellion. Jesus died for that. Because God still insists on gathering up all the evil in the world and hanging it on the tree so that death would have no power over us and sin would not define us. Look at the tree of the cross and call it good, because this is who your God is.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What mercy God showed to our race, A plan of rescue by His grace: In sending One from woman's seed, The One to fill our greatest need— For on a tree uplifted high His only Son for sin would die, Would drink the cup of scorn and dread To crush the ancient serpent's head! (LSB 561:3)

Rev. Harrison Goodman, Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

July 19, 2026

Today's Reading: Mark 8:1-9

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 2:18-36; Acts 15:22-41

“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.” (Mark 8:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile Jesus' compassion in wanting to feed the 4,000 with the three days it took Him to actually do it. For every one of the voiceless 4k with hunger pains and every family gathered around a hospital bed praying for healing while machines beep and nurses give sad smiles, for everyone looking around trying to find the supposed compassion and coming up short, let me go ahead and speak the collective “why?” we’re all afraid to give voice to. Why do we have to wait? Why do we have to suffer? Why, if You can fix this, God, do we have to wait for you to get around to doing it?

It’s not a new question. I used to have the audacity to ask my mom why she didn’t start dinner 15 minutes earlier so we could be eating now. It was shortsighted then. It’s shortsighted now. It’s just hard to see past sin and the pain it brings. This is what sin does. It finds excuses not to look to God for every good thing. To not fear, love, and trust Him above all things. The veil it casts over us brings that other kind of fear, the one that really struggles with love and trust. The one who loses sleep and trembles when compassion feels far off.

The truth is that God does work in mystery, in His own ways and His own time, and yet always for good. It is always compassion that drives Him. Ultimately, it drove Him to the cross for the 4,000, and for all who hurt and suffer under sin. And again, they waited three days in fear and trembling, even after it was finished, before the angels proclaimed His resurrection. But Christ is still risen.

So to everyone waiting with fear and trembling, who feels the same despair of the grave, remember. It is already finished. Even during those three days, it was finished. All of the blindness of sin could not prevent the resurrection. All our whys won’t stop Him from working for your good in His own way and own time now. Take heart. Our Lord sees you and has compassion. He IS working, even now. To bring you out of darkness and sin and despair, and into the same resurrection. Take heart. Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks, He broke it, and He gives it to you.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, whose never-failing providence orders all things both in heaven and earth, we humbly implore You to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things that are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Rev. Harrison Goodman, Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

July 18, 2026

Today's Reading: Introit for Trinity 7 - Psalm 47:3, 6-8; antiphon: Psalm 47:1-2

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 1:21-2:17; Galatians 6:1-18

“God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” (Psalm 47:8)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What does it mean that God reigns over the nations? Does it mean He seeks power over all to control the people of the world? Or is it a declaration of His love for all of creation, and even as sin continues to wreck the world and Satan and his minions ravage and destroy, there is a God, and He hears the cries of those who suffer? It is true: the Lord reigns over all. He is the Almighty. His will is done whether we like it or not. Our God is all-powerful and deserving of worship, as the psalmist says. The Lord sits on His holy throne, and sinners cannot approach Him. Evil cannot stand against Him. This is our God.

We can take comfort in knowing the God of all has made Himself known to us. But the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present God uses His “God-ness” to do wonderful things. God reigns over the nations on His holy throne, not to bring power to Christians but to forgive sinners.

From His holy throne, He descended, taking on human flesh to make Himself known to all nations. He came not as a mighty ruler but as a servant. God heard the cries of hurting people from the time of Adam and Eve’s first sin. To heal the open wound of a sinful, broken world, He sent forth His only Son. And this good news, this Gospel is not just for one people or nation, but for all people, that many more may come to faith in Christ.

Even while the Lord sits on His holy throne, those who are in Christ are not excluded from His presence. Having been made holy, we will see the Lord in all His glory on the Last Day, when all nations and peoples will bow and proclaim the name of the Lord. The Lord our God is mighty and reigns over the nations. He calls them to Himself, that they may remain in His house forever.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What God’s almighty pow’r has made, in mercy He is keeping. By morning glow or evening shade His eye is never sleeping. Within the kingdom of His might all things are just and good and right: to God all praise and glory!” (LSB 819:2)

Deac. Emma Heinz, registrar for Higher Things.

July 17, 2026

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 1:1-20; Galatians 5:1-26

“Then Eli answered, ‘Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.’” (1 Samuel 1:17)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Hannah’s prayer is for a child - and not even for a child she will keep and raise, but one she will give to the Lord for His service. She is burdened by her bareness and even tormented for it by her husband’s other wife. So she prays to the Lord, seeking comfort and peace. Prayer, in any circumstance, is chiefly about comfort. It is a gift of God given to those who would seek refuge in Him. Hannah knows the Lord will hear her and has the power to grant her petition. Eli’s benediction to Hannah is further comfort. Eli did not, in that moment, call upon God, of his own accord, to be the baby delivery guy, but to give comfort to a hurting soul—a soul burdened by sin and its effects. Eli, a priest, the shepherd of God’s people, gives her comfort and peace. In that moment, God’s Word was spoken to Hannah, and she would return to Eli with her son, Samuel, in due time. God’s will was accomplished.

It might be tempting to see this account as proof that if you pray hard enough or feel deep enough, God will hear your prayer and grant it. This turns God into more of a vending machine rather than the Almighty God, but what do you do when prayers go “unanswered?” Understand that “unanswered” is in quotes. God answers prayer, always, even when the answer isn’t what we’d prefer. Our prayers do not sway Him; His good and gracious will is always done among us. His good and gracious will was to grant Hannah a son, who would grow into the faithful prophet and priest, Samuel. We don’t know how many times Hannah, or her husband for that matter, prayed about her barrenness. But she knew that God heard every cry to Him and He would, in His time, answer her.

When you are burdened by suffering or hardship or sin, call out to your heavenly father. He hears you. And when you have groanings too deep for words, He still hears you and sees you. Hannah’s prayer was made in faith and made in something greater than a spiritual vending machine. The God of Israel is your God, who made heaven and earth, sent His Son to redeem creation, and gives the Holy Spirit that we might be first and foremost, reconciled to God, and also comforted in our affliction because God has given us His forgiveness and peace.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Though He giveth or He taketh, God His children ne’er forsaketh; His the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy. (LSB 725:4)

Deac. Emma Heinz, registrar for Higher Things.

July 16, 2026

Today's Reading: Catechism: The Sacrament of Holy Baptism - 1

Daily Lectionary: Judges 16:4-30; Judges 17:1-21:25; Galatians 4:12-31

“Baptism is not simply water, but it is the water included in God's command, and combined with God’s Word.” (Luther’s Small Catechism)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Water is necessary for life. Water helps plants grow, so all living creatures have something to eat. Staying hydrated is important, too, so drink more water, kids! Water cleans things by washing away dirt. Water also has a great capacity for destruction. Too much rain leads to flooding, mighty tides of water that pummel everything they crash into, leaving devastation in its wake. Rough water can drag a person down into the deep to drown and die. Tsunamis, hurricanes, and floods are all deadly. They are an example of how broken and sinful the world has become. Instead of bringing life, it ends it.

All of creation is no longer “good,” but tainted by sin and death. All things wither and die. Our sinful nature compels us to do harm to our neighbors and ourselves. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh hate God, wanting nothing to do with him. We turn good gifts into weapons against the life God would have us defend and uphold.

But God takes what is broken, sinful, and dying and makes new life. He creates abundant life in the midst of death, decay, and destruction. So, then, water, when combined with the Word of God, becomes a source of resurrection—a place where Christians are made. God names you in His Triune Name, marking you as one whom death has no claim over. Your sins are washed away, and a new, clean robe is given to you. The stain of sin, taken on by Christ, is no longer yours to bear. Jesus takes our sin and drowns it, burying it and leaving it behind. God restores life to where death and sin reigned. Water is necessary for life, and it is this creation of God, paired with His Word, that gives us life eternal. The Word of God, which spoke everything into existence, in Baptism, now calls the dead sinner to life, out of the waters and into light.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“Though around us death is seething, God, His two-edged sword unsheathing, by His Spirit life is breathing through the living active Word.” (LSB 597:4)

Deac. Emma Heinz, registrar for Higher Things.

July 15, 2026

Today's Reading: Galatians 3:23-4:11

Daily Lectionary: Judges 15:1-16:3; Galatians 3:23-4:11

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:27–29)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Baptism makes all equal in the eyes of God. Baptism makes us one with Christ, as we are united with Him in a death like His and in a resurrection like His. We all stand before God as justified, redeemed, and sanctified. We are all descendants of Abraham as heirs of the promise. The Jews believed it was their earthly, blood relation to Abraham that made them God’s people. Their people had followed God's commands and observed all His statutes. This is why many of the Jewish Christians demanded that the Gentiles be circumcised - so they might be included in Abraham’s line. The emphasis was on works of the law. In the minds of the “circumcision party,” the Greeks had to become Jewish before they could really be saved.

St. Paul’s point is that once a person is baptized into Christ, nothing else matters before God. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters before God. Your ethnic background doesn’t have a say in your salvation, nor your sex, nor your status in this life. This is because when God looks at you, He sees an heir according to the promise the Lord made to Abraham, “in you will all nations be blessed.” This promised offspring was the Messiah, Jesus, Who would come through Abraham’s lineage. Abraham’s offspring would bless the nations by redeeming them - all people were redeemed through Jesus’ death on the cross. So when a person is baptized, they are united to Christ and indistinguishable from any other Christian. And this Baptism is a free Gift, not tied to any work performed by us. God calls you His child, an heir of eternal life through the promise made to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ Jesus, your Lord.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

In Baptism we now put on Christ - our shame is fully covered with all that HE once sacrificed and freely for us suffered. For here the flood of His own blood now makes us holy, right and good before our heav’nly Father. (LSB 596:4)

Deac. Emma Heinz, registrar for Higher Things.

July 14, 2026

Today's Reading: Romans 6:(1-2) 3-11

Daily Lectionary: Judges 14:1-20; Galatians 3:1-22

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1–2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

St. Paul is responding to a general vibe of “Well, if all sin is forgiven, then I can do whatever I want.” His “by no means” is a polite way of saying, “That’s not how this works. That’s not how ANY of this works!” What does it mean, then, when he says, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” He’s talking about Baptism, where the old sinful self is drowned, and the new Adam is raised to life. We have been united to Jesus in a death like His that we might have a resurrection like His. Paul’s point is that once a person comes to faith, everything is different. They do not act the same way or think the same way because the Holy Spirit is now working sanctification in them. What he means is this: Christians should act a certain way because Christians look a certain way - they follow a pattern. This pattern is coming from and returning to the gifts of Christ, freely given to sinners. Christians should not live in open sin - nor should they encourage others to do so. We are not competing to see who can be forgiven by God the most amount of times. That won’t end well, and it’s not a true representation of God’s people.

We do know that even while the Baptized are sanctified saints of God, we are still sinners, and we will be in need of Jesus’ forgiveness until we die. But don’t go out trying to be the chief of sinners. Live as one dead to sin and alive to Christ. Live the baptismal grace of God, that all your doings, being ordered by His governance, may be righteous in His sight. You have been made new. The sin and brokenness inherent in you have been paid for by the death and resurrection of Christ. Rejoice, dear Christian, for, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“Christ Jesus is the ground of faith, Who was made flesh and suffered death; all then who trust in Him alone are built on this chief cornerstone.” (LSB 571:2)

Deac. Emma Heinz, registrar for Higher Things.

July 13, 2026

Today's Reading: Exodus 20:1-17

Daily Lectionary: Judges 13:1-25; Ruth 1:1-4:22; Galatians 2:1-21

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The Lord tells His people Who He is and what He has done for them. He brought them out of Egypt, which included preserving them from the plagues, bringing them through the Red Sea on dry ground, saving them from Pharaoh’s pursuing army, and providing them with bread from heaven and water from a rock. All of this was done so that they might be freed from the house of slavery. And now that God has brought them to the wilderness, He sets before them His Commandments. The Commandments tell us what God wants for His people. He wants to be their God alone. He wants them to love their neighbors as themselves. He desires His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. The law of God is always good, even when we do not feel good about it. As you and I know, and as the Israelites constantly showed through their time in the wilderness, we break God’s law. We sin. We choose to do evil instead of good. St. Paul even says we can’t do good, even if we wanted to. We are, in Paul’s words, “slaves to sin.” The people in the wilderness, while no longer slaves to the Egyptians, were still slaves to sin. But God did not leave them in that house of slavery either, nor has He left us to die in the house of slavery.

The hope of the Israelites and the hope of us now is in the Messiah - the Savior Who breaks the power of sin, death, and the devil. In Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness. Our sinful flesh still wages war against us, but in Christ, we are strengthened to see the Law of God as a benefit, even when it accuses us. God’s will is that sinners would be forgiven. When the law presses heavily on your heart, go and receive Christ’s forgiveness from your pastor. Following God’s law will not save you, but Jesus already has. He is the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the house of slavery that you might live in Him, eternally.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

To Jesus we for refuge flee, Who from the curse has set us free, and humbly worship at His throne, saved by His grace through faith alone. (LSB 579:6)

Deac. Emma Heinz, registrar for Higher Things.