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

I love Isaiah chapter 55. Yes the whole chapter. God, through Isaiah, talks about a variety of topics. If you have 10 minutes, I encourage you to open your Bible and read Isaiah 55. Read it slowly and absorb what God wants to share with you.

In this article, I want to share one part of this chapter with you…

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

I find this deeply meaningful on several levels.

First, God describes the “water cycle” long before anyone scientifically named it. Of course, God knows what the “water cycle” is because the Lord created everything. I love the fact that God pointed it out in the Bible!

God tells us that his words are like the water cycle, they nourish us like the rain nourishes crops. That is why we should want to read the Bible. God wants to promote and cultivate faith growth in our being! One of the ways that can be accomplished is through hearing what God wants to share with us.

Even Saint Paul reiterates this when he wrote to the church in Rome.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

Faith is received when it is conveyed through the word and more specifically words of Christ.

The Bible is God’s gift to us so that we might understand God’s will for ourselves and the world. It is the same words, spoken or read that create faith (trust) in us through the work of the Holy Spirit.

I know some people find the Bible “boring” but I certainly do not! I look forward to sharing with you what I discovered in the Bible every weekend I get to preach!

But wait there is more…

God says in Isaiah 55 (see above) that God’s word will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

The Word and words of God are not passive. They don’t just sit there hoping someone trips over them. God’s Word is sent to us through others, and even through circumstances that cause an individual to open the Bible, a devotional or even attend worship for the first time!

God not only has plans for us but for his Word!

I feel loved and cared for by Jesus when I realize how much he is doing to draw us close!

God bless,
Pr. Ben

If you go to CLC, you know my life has been a little stressful and heartbreaking the last two weeks. In 6 weeks, we will move my father from Wisconsin to Nevada to live with us. That also presents some challenges since our current home (a condo) won’t accommodate us comfortably or practically since it is smaller, and we live on the second floor.

I don’t write this for sympathy or pity. I am sharing this, so you have a little context for what I am about to write.

Although, I am emotionally tired, and I can’t change the situation at hand, and I know that Jesus has walked with our family and will continue to do so throughout the rest of my life. I hope you know that Jesus is walking with you too.

I also know that the events of the two weeks can’t be undone or changed, nor does it make life easier moving forward, but I do know that Jesus will always guide us. As always, I am going to focus on Jesus more than using needless energy on what I can’t change.

I am reminded about how little control we have in life. All I can I do is be faithful. I will trust that Jesus will see me and my family through.

When I was talking about this with my wife Rachel, she said, “I’m just trying to go along for the ride and be a good passenger…take care of others and let God do the rest.”

Jesus is our pilot, at most we are flight attendants taking care of others in this life. At no point should a flight attendant think they should fly the plane of life… let Jesus do that.

All in all, this is what I will continue to do…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

When life gets bumpy (and there is turbulence out there) I will just trust God and he will eventually find smooth air.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

If you grew up in the church you learned about the shepherd boy David taking on the Philistine giant Goliath in Sunday School. That is where I first heard the story.

There are some things we can learn from that story and apply to our lives today.

David was the only one brave enough to face Goliath in a winner takes all fight between the army of Israel and the army of the Philistines.

When David volunteered to fight Goliath, King Saul tried to outfit David with armor and weapons to give him a fighting chance.

 “I cannot go in these,” David said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1Samuel 17:39-40

David realized he couldn’t be someone else. He couldn’t become a soldier simply by putting on armor and strapping a sword to his belt. So he took them off and took his slingshot with him into battle.

Lesson 1: Be yourself.

You can’t be anyone else.  When you try to copy someone for any reason, that never works as well as being yourself. David knew that going into battle with weapons and armor he never used before would only be a disadvantage to him. David stayed true to himself and so should you.

Lesson 2: Be prepared.

Notice what David does after he gets rid of the armor. He goes and retrieves 5 stones from the stream to use in his slingshot. He didn’t take just one! He is prepared for what is to come. It is always better to over prepared than under prepared. When facing any situation, it is good to plan for contingencies.

David then enters the battle field and Goliath thinks this a big joke. The army of Israel sends the smallest guy to fight the Philistine’s biggest guy?

Goliath taunts David and tries intimidate him. What was David’s response?

All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:46–47

David doesn’t respond with threats and name calling!

Lesson 3: Be Faithful.

In any interaction, good or bad, respond in faith. David did. He told Goliath and both armies that are watching this unfold that this battle is not between two men. This battle belongs to God.

Do we trust God with our struggles?

Lesson 4: Be Connected. (We are never alone.)

David knew this even if everyone else (including the King of Israel) didn’t! Even in our hardest moments and struggles God is with us and our battles are also God’s battles.

If you know the story, David defeats Goliath. Let me ask you, do you know how David achieved victory?

The answer is clear: David was himself, David was prepared and David was faithful!

All of those things are available to us today!

God bless,
Pr. Ben

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:33-34

Most of you know the story of Jesus about the man who was beaten and left for dead until a foreign Samaritan man comes and rescues this poor beaten man from certain death.

Kindness is a fruit or a sign of the Holy Spirit working in your life (Galatians 5:22-23). The man who stopped expressed extreme kindness to a person he didn’t even know. He spent his own money to save this man unlike the two other people who passed by the man earlier in the day.

Jesus reminds us to be kind, even to strangers. Be kind to those who might not even deserve kindness.

It is interesting to me that there are so many Christians who secretly advocate for and approve of the cruelty in politics. Smiles and kindness on Sunday morning, quietly cheering on policies that hurt others the rest of the week.

I saw the cheers of church people when the government decided to cut jobs without regard to performance or need. My step-son lost his job helping farmers with the USDA in those cuts and he’s still looking for employment, along with tens of thousands of now unemployed public servants.

I see the willingness to cut Medicare and Medicaid in an upcoming bill without weighing who that might affect.

I see a lot of quiet agreement to things that hurt people.

In case you didn’t know, there are ways to trim governmental spending that minimizes cruelty. This does not have to be an “all or nothing” proposition. A way forward doesn’t have to be a black or white issue, solutions are often found in the gray areas.

Solomon wrote, The person who reveres God will avoid all extremes. Ecclesiastes 7:18

Kindness and taking care of one another are fruits of the Holy Spirit… and not just on Sundays.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

During the month of May, we are revisiting our congregation’s mission statement in our preaching.

A mission statement is nothing more than a summary of what we believe and our stated goals.

Most churches have a mission statement. Fewer churches know what their mission statement says.

That is not the case at Community Lutheran Church. We know that…

We can be REAL PEOPLE because we serve an INCLUSIVE GOD who give RADICAL GRACE so that we can be on a path of INSPIRED GROWTH.

God isn’t looking for perfection, Jesus craves our honesty. Being real means we can be honest about our struggles; we don’t have to hide our mistakes.

The reason we don’t have to conceal our weaknesses is that Jesus welcomes all who seek him. God is inclusive not exclusive. He doesn’t hold our troubles against us. That applies to everyone!

God is so good to us that we want to shower those who trust in Jesus with radical grace. Jesus wants you to know and feel his love, compassion and forgiveness so that you have strength for daily living!

But Jesus doesn’t want to leave you as you are. No, God wants to grow your faith! Jesus wants to put you on a path of inspired growth so that you will continue to move towards Jesus and away from the harmful things of this life.

You might be wondering how do I grow closer to Jesus? If it is true that God wants to put us on a path of inspired growth, what does that path look like? A few years ago our church family defined the things that will help you grow in faith!

The path of inspired growth at Community Lutheran Church looks like this…

• Welcoming others as you were once welcomed by Jesus
• Worshipping regularly and not just on Christmas and Easter
• Learning by reading the Bible, reading a devotional or being a part of a Bible Study or small group
• Serving others the way Jesus served us. By pouring ourselves out for others, we are filled!
• Be Generous in your giving, your serving and your time!

We want to help you live in the grace of Jesus and help you grow in faith at Community Lutheran Church!

God bless,
Pastor Ben

On Palm Sunday (the day Jesus came to Jerusalem for the week of Passover) I preached on the word Christ.

If you were with us, I said that we might have lost the plotline because this word remained untranslated in our English language Bibles. Why would translators translate every other word and not “Christ”?

The word translates to “anointed one.” But anointed for what? All four gospel writers (and portions of Old Testament prophecy) all agree that Jesus is anointed to be a king.

But not just a king but the King of kings. Jesus descended from the ancestry of King David but more than that, Jesus is God. He was eternally destined to be our King.

All of this comes into focus for us after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

If Jesus was only human, any thoughts of being a king would have ended when he died.

That was not the end of the story! Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning and showed the world that he is stronger than death and his Kingship and Kingdom are eternal!

At the very end of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus appears to his disciples and some couldn’t believe their eyes! They thought Jesus was dead and gone and yet they were looking right at him!

Matthew writes, When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Any reasonable person would wonder what they were truly seeing! A hallucination? A ghost? The risen King?

Yet Jesus didn’t shoo anyone away. Grace ruled the day and it is the primary rule in His Kingdom.

Instead, Jesus gathered them around and said this…

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

All authority… not some… not a little bit… but all authority has been given to Jesus. Only a King has ultimate authority and Jesus rightfully claims it.

Jesus instructs us to go teach others about him and his grace. Go and make other students (disciples). Go and be a teacher. Go and show others how God loves them.  And if they believe it, have them baptized into God’s family.

Are you under the authority of this great King?

Do you have students (disciples) that you teach about Jesus (even if informally)?

Are you showing others the love Jesus showed the disciples when “some doubted”?

This is the life Jesus set out for us.

If that sounds too hard, let me boil it down for you.

Are you loving others the way Jesus loves you? Are you loving others in such a way that they stop and notice you are not like everyone else?

If you are ever asked why you are so kind, grace filled and loving… your answer is this, “My King told me to love.”

God bless,
Pr. Ben