Christ In All Things

Laughter is a great gift of God, and laughing at ourselves is a healthy part of a faithful, Christian life. Because St. Paul’s has a number of pastor’s kids in the congregation we thought it would be fun to give a few of them an opportunity to laugh and tell stories (That can be told in public 😊) about their pastor-dads and a pastor’s family life. So, we’ve called this series, “Holy Humor.” This is “Holy Humor: Pastor’s Kids, Part...

Welcome to Part 2 of our interview with Mimi Gebel, who was born in 1928. What a vibrant and generous and resolute Christian soul she is! Her interview is a fascinating window into German and German-American culture, including the almost “arranged” relationship with a boy named Wally, who became her beloved husband and with whom she operated a successful business that put her God-given skills to work in myriad ways. As you’ll hear,...

“Mimi” Gebel was born in the Year of Our Lord, 1928. Just the exploration of her five names was an adventure, and—as it often is—revealing. We laughed at the story of why she is “Mimi” and we loved the discovery of how her names reveal both a personal history and a gradually revelation of her character. Mimi’s family story is a fascinating immigration story, and a story of how “God works all things together for the good of those wh...

“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 bequeathed further generations of faith...

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 several states, Kathy rejoiced to ...

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 helpful—and pretty important—that those ...

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 helpful—and pretty important—that those ...

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 receiving and giving the love and hope of C...

“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 deep reality and the practical appli...

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 sufferings and has “come down to deliver...

“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 “serve him day and night in his temple”...

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 marriage.

Recorded 7 August, A.D. 2025

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 continental United States and how t...

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 resurrection. (See Jn 8.31-36) Yes, w...

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 Scriptures is breathed out by God and prof...

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 recognition of a fundamentally differe...

“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,” he says, “is not about you, it’s ...

“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 lodges; His Father is your God, Hi...

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 rebukes us, turns us to repentance and forgiv...