The Future of Lutheranism Belongs to Builders
By Russ Lackey | Mark Mattes
01/08/26
16mins

The Future of Lutheranism Belongs to Builders

The crisis is not merely that people are leaving. The crisis is that we have relinquished what is uniquely Lutheran and deeply needed.
A Psalm for the Desperate
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
01/07/26

A Psalm for the Desperate

The ethos of the church’s worship is found in poor, needy, and desperate sinners finding solace and relief in the God of their salvation.
Our Best Epiphany Articles
1517 Staff
1517 Staff
01/06/26

Our Best Epiphany Articles

This year, we wanted to ensure you have all the resources you need to learn about and reflect on the revelation of Christ.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/14/14

It Ain't the Whiskey That's Killing Me

This chorus digs below the surface to reveal that beneath our chosen self-medications, be they alcohol or drugs or overeating or smoking or bed-hopping, you’ll unearth the real killer. And “it ain’t the whiskey.”
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/01/14

The Blind, Demented Woman Who Introduced Me to Myself

As I peer back over the years between the me-then and the me-now, I see one striking similarity. I am always a man who forgets who he really is, because I’m always focused on becoming the man I want others to think I am.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
04/12/14

What Would You Want for Your Last Meal?

I am lord of all I eat. I lord it over meat, potatoes, pecan pie. I make those foods serve my body, transforming them into me. But it is not so with the meal of Jesus.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/25/14

God Has a Mom

It all started when out of the nothingness of Mary’s womb, the Word who makes all things, made for Himself a body, human through and through. From the virgin soil of Eden the first man came and from the virgin womb the last man came—came to re-genesis you.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/09/14

Chewing on the Bible

But unlike fish, there was actual pleasure in the prolonged chewing of this food. For the longer it remained in my mouth, the better it tasted, the more pronounced became its flavor, the more nourishment I received from each bite. This food is the bread on which Jesus survived during his forty days of temptation in the wilderness.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/24/13

The Angels Carry a Concealed Weapon: A Sermon on St. Michael and All Angels

Their tongue is our shield, for the weapon of angels is the word of their Lord. Revelation 12 says Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and his angels. And how did they overcome him? By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/05/13

The Truth About Cemeteries

For out of the mouths of these opposition forces, gathered on enemy turf, comes the defiant declaration of death’s undoing: “Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!” An audacious act it is, to march smack dab into the middle of a place that screams, “Dead!” and to sing, “Alive!”
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/24/13

The Divine Overachiever: What Happens When God Mans Up

Here is the truth: we have gained more in Jesus than we lost in Adam. We lost human perfection in the first man's fall. We gained perfect flesh-and-blood unity with God in his Son's incarnation.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/14/13

"Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate": The Fourth Commandment and the Creed

When the angel told Mary she had become a mother, she replied simply, ''Let it be to me according to your word.'' Therein is a grateful acknowledgment that the Creator had formed life in her womb.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/21/13

Out of the Depths

For since it was not enough that the Lord of heaven and earth hung on your every word, his Word was made flesh and prayed among us, a priest in the order of Melchizedek, “offering up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save Him from death,” (Heb 5:7).
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/13/13

If Cows Had Gods

The second truth, however, is that just because God has become a man does not mean he thinks, desires, or speaks as man generally does.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/30/13

This Is the Night: An Easter Vigil Sermon

This is the night when the earth is formless and void; and the darkness of blood is over the face of Thy Son. And the Spirit of God moves out of His body as He gives up the Ghost.
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