November 5, 2025

Today's Reading: Jeremiah 7:1-29

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 7:1-29; Matthew 23:1-12

“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.” (Jeremiah 7:27)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

God called Jeremiah to speak some hard words to hardened hearts. God was persistent. He kept sending His messengers to His people, yet they did not listen. God called them to repentance, and they did not answer Him. Instead, they followed their own plans; they refused to listen. They followed their own stubborn hearts, and as God said, they “went backward not forward.”

It is an easy trap to fall into, turning a deaf ear to the voice of God. There are so many voices competing with His; we are confronted with choices to make and directions to take, and like Judah, we are inclined to listen and follow the ones that seem to fit our desires and feel good to us. Perhaps the bigger temptation is to “hear” God’s words and then pick and choose what we listen to; you know, selective hearing. In our minds, we think we are going forward, and yet in truth, we are going backward.

God is persistent. He is stubborn, too, more stubborn than we are. The Bible calls that particular characteristic of God “faithfulness.” God is faithful even when His people are not. Notice what God continues to do, even when His own people refuse to listen to Him; He sends a preacher. “Speak all these words to them…you shall call to them.” Yes, God knows the hardness of their hearts and the stubbornness of their ears, but He still speaks, and He still calls.

God put another word into Jeremiah’s mouth to speak to his wayward, hard-of-hearing people, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 33:14-16).

God wasn’t looking back but was looking forward to when He would send His Son to come and give hearing to deaf ears and cause hardened hearts to believe. By the word of Christ’s cross, sinners are made righteous, sins are forgiven, and a new creation has begun. This word is for you. God is faithful!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Dying to the sin of Adam, rising to a life of grace; we are counted with the righteous, over us the cross You trace. (LSB 404:4)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 4, 2025

Today's Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5 (6-10) 11-12

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 5:1-19; Matthew 22:23-46

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Paul was persistent. He was a man on a mission, literally, and his mission plan was simple: go into a city and find a synagogue, open up the Scriptures, and preach Christ from them. Some would believe, some would want to hear more, and others would aggressively oppose Paul’s message about Jesus. Paul would eventually be run out of town, which would propel him to the next city, and he would do it all over again – preach Christ crucified and risen. And you know what? The Word worked! People believed! A church began! The Gospel spread!

Paul visited Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, and it was ministry as usual. He entered the synagogue on three different Sabbaths, teaching from the Scriptures that Jesus, who was crucified and risen from the dead, is the Christ. Some believed, while others formed a mob and ran him out of town. The rioters justified their violent reaction by claiming, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” Indeed, the gospel was having its way.

Even in the face of the uproar and despite Paul being run out of town, a church was born. God, by His grace, caused ears to hear the Good News of Jesus, and He granted hearts to believe. Paul would later marvel about this work of the Holy Spirit among them, “For you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia…your faith has gone forth everywhere” (1 Thess. 1:6a-8a). Years later, Paul would continue to give thanks to God for their growing faith and for the fruit of that faith, their increasing love for one another.

That same gospel word is still at work among us, turning the world on its head. God is still rich in his saving grace towards us sinners. The Holy Spirit is still at work within us, causing faith to grow and increasing our love for others. It is true, in spite of the opposition within and outside of us. God is true to His word; He is faithful in His promises –for this “we ought to give thanks to God.” This is the testimony of His church. This is our story too!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Abide with me, O Savior, a firmer faith bestow; then I shall bid defiance to ev’ry evil foe. (LSB 587:2)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 3, 2025

Today's Reading: Isaiah 1:10-18

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 3:6-4:2; Matthew 22:1-22

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18).

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Have you ever put on clothes thinking they were clean only to find out they are not? What about getting dressed up in your nicest clothes for a special occasion, looking in the mirror, and then, to your complete horror, you see they have stains! I think the worst is being nicely dressed and then spilling something on your clothes, staining them, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

The big problem with stains is that some of them become permanent. You can’t get them out, no matter what soap you use and how hard you scrub. Sin is that way. It stains us. We are not aware how dirty and stained we are until we look into the mirror – the mirror of God’s Word. Our first reaction may be to try to clean up the mess ourselves, scrubbing away, trying to make ourselves clean again. Or, like King David, we may try to cover them up. Maybe no one will notice, especially God. And like David, we discover that trying to hide our sins only makes matters worse.

David finally turned to the only one who could deal with his sin permanently, once and for all. “I acknowledge my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).

God sent His prophet, Jeremiah, to His people whose hearts were filthy, stained with idolatry and all sorts of evil. “Come now,” God says, “let us reason together.” The Lord holds out an amazing promise; He will deal with their sins. He will not throw His people away or abandon them to the rag bin. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”

God has washed you clean; no more stains, nothing to hide, nothing to cover up. He has washed you white in the blood of His Lamb, Jesus (Revelation 7:14). The stain of our sin is not permanent. God invites us to confess our sins, and He promises to wash us in the never-ending forgiveness of our Lord’s precious blood. God did that in your Baptism, and those cleansing waters are still washing you clean. Now, there is real peace! There is real freedom, living under the cleansing flood of Christ!

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me Savior, or I die.(LSB 761:3)

Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Harrison Goodman is the Executive Director of Mission and Theology for Higher Things.

This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week’s readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.