There are some good reasons I love serving at Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, Nevada…

1. First and Foremost: We are faithful to Jesus. We trust him to lead us as a church and as individuals.

See, others are puffed up; their desires are not upright— but the righteous will live by God’s faith— Habakkuk 2:4

We live by faith. Not by hate or anger or cruelty towards others.

2. We are regular people with everyday troubles (like everyone else). We don’t pretend to be better than anyone else.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Romans 12:3

We remain humble and point to Jesus for all things.

3. We know that bad things happen in life because we live in a broken world but we also know that God doesn’t cause bad things to happen to anyone.

God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:44

Simply, God cares for all.

And…

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:35-37

Jesus doesn’t cause bad things to happen, he died and rose again to forgive us from the bad things we have done to cause harm.

4. We live with joy at Community Lutheran Church. We don’t base our joy on external circumstances. We have internal joy because of Jesus and the support of each other.

Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10b

Joy is our secret weapon against hate!

5. Deep down we know Jesus and others within our church family care for us.

Cast all your anxiety on Jesus because he cares for you. 1Peter 5:7

And…

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:10

I love our church for these reasons. If you have never been to Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, NV… come see for yourself.

God bless you,

Pastor Ben

Last week we started a new sermon series on Prayers of the Bible. We are using the petitions of sections of the Lord’s Prayer guide us to look at different prayers that reflect the same themes from the Old Testament.

For example, in the opening line of the Lord’s Prayer, (“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name) King David prays a prayer that reflects the theme of God who is like a loving parent and the acknowledgment that God is holy and special.

We will continue doing this for the entire Lord’s Prayer in worship over the next month. I hope you will join us online or in person to expand your understanding of the Lord’s Prayer and be exposed to other prayers in the Old Testament.

Besides the Lord’s Prayer, are there other prayers found in the New Testament? YES!

One of my favorite prayers in the New Testament is a prayer of Saint Paul written for the church in Ephesus. Paul’s prayer expresses the desire for everyone to grow in their faith and knowledge of God.

Saint Paul prays,

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:16-18

There it is! Paul wants the church to grow in “wisdom and revelation”. Not only to apply God’s word to their life (wisdom) but see Jesus more clearly (revelation) in their daily lives. We all should want that!

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:18-19a

This is where the song “Open the Eyes of My Heart” comes from. Paul desires all Christians to be able to see life through the lens of faith and not just with our eyes. To be able to make sense of the world with our heart (with Jesus help). Why? So we can have hope in the present moment about what awaits us: heaven.

Knowing there is more to life than this life gives us hope to persevere and keep the faith until the end (which is really a beginning)!

That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:19b-21

Having faith and hope to move forward in life is powerful! It is the same explosive power that raised Jesus from the dead! That kind of power rules the universe! Therefore, do not diminish or downplay faith or hope. That is the power of God at work in you. Pray for those two gifts to increase in your life!

I am praying for that too… for you!

God bless,
Pr. Ben

Yes, a lot of hard things have happened to our immediate family in the past two months.

No, I will not list them here.

Trust me when I tell you, I do not want to relive or experience the trauma of the “summer of 2025” ever again.

Here is what I do know, all things in this life are temporary. As Paul wrote, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2Corinthians 4:18

I am not minimizing the struggle at all, but I also realize that time marches on and eventually you end up on the other side of the “valley of the shadow of death.” Psalm 23:4

I know and knew that Jesus kept walking with us through all of it. Did I feel overwhelmed? Yep. Was I nervous and uncertain at times? Yes. Did I give up? No. Because I knew my friend and Savior Jesus was there with me and my family through the uncertainty of everything. Not only that, but I have the love and support of my church family and church friends from around the country.

Am I living with “rose colored glasses” here? Nope. I am living in faith! I am also thankful that Jesus and fellow believers (like you) watched over me and my family.

I am hopeful the worst is over for now but even if it is not, I am not alone and neither are you. We have each other and we have Jesus who will be always be with us.

Remember what Jesus said to each and every one of us….

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33b

I believe that. Do you?

God bless you,
Pr. Ben

Most of you know I am a voting member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (our church body) churchwide assembly. We gathered in Phoenix, AZ for this important work.

The “national church” does its business every three years in an assembly format. In between those three years, the ELCA church council acts on behalf the entire church. I am honored to serve on our ELCA church council (until this Saturday).

This is an important assembly as we tackle the issues of the day and elect a new bishop.

The ELCA has 65 synods (regions, areas, districts). Each synod elects a bishop to oversee that area. Our synod, The Grand Canyon Synod is led by Bishop Deborah Hutterer.  However, there is also a national bishop, and they are known as the presiding bishop.

Like the synod bishops, the presiding bishop is elected for a six-year term. This year, our current presiding bishop, Bishop Elizabeth Eaton is retiring. Therefore, this churchwide assembly took up the work of electing a new presiding bishop.

On Wednesday, this voting body elected the synodical bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod. His name is Bishop Elect Yehiel Curry. I know him and our church is in good hands. I am excited for our future.

Also we passed an important memorial about the atrocities of Indian boarding schools. This resolution calls for (779-7 vote) the church to observe the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools annually, develop educational programs and materials surrounding the history and ELCA’s complicity with Indian boarding schools, and provide ongoing recognition and support for the continued work to locate all known records regarding the ELCA predecessor churches’ involvement with Indian boarding and day schools, among other actions.

We are working on lots of other things too. It is important to take stands on important issues of the day. Hopefully by Saturday I will have more to report.

And yes, we have been worshipping too. We are keeping Jesus at the center of this assembly.

I am tired, but I am renewed, blessed and excited to see that Jesus is still working on us, in us and through us (as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).

God bless you,
Pr. Ben