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The Shepherd’s Voice – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Tomah, WI

The Shepherd’s Voice – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Tomah, WI

By: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - Tomah WI
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Welcome to The Shepherd’s Voice, the podcast ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Tomah, Wisconsin. Each episode shares Christ-centered preaching, Bible teaching, and encouragement for your walk of faith. Rooted in the historic Lutheran confession, we proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins.

Whether you’re a lifelong Lutheran, exploring the Christian faith, or seeking hope in daily life, The Shepherd’s Voice offers clear Law and Gospel preaching, devotionals, and reflections grounded in God’s Word.

Join us as we lift high the cross of Christ and connect listeners to the Shepherd who knows His sheep by name.

Copyright 2025 All rights reserved. Christianity Spirituality
Episodes
  • The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity | Luke 14:1-11 | The Sabbath Day is a Gift for those in Need of God's Mercy

    The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity | Luke 14:1-11 | The Sabbath Day is a Gift for those in Need of God's Mercy
    Oct 12 2025
    The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity October 12, 2025 Luke 14:1-11 As we observe LWML Sunday, I am reminded to reflect on our Thursday morning Bible study on the Pastoral Epistles. In the letters to Timothy, the Apostle Paul reminds him of the faith he received from the faithful women of his mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, who taught him the Christian faith. We learn here how the faith is handed down to God’s children throughout the ages. What a precious gift these women were to Timothy. Who was instrumental in handing down the faith to you? Was it a mother or a grandmother? Or was there someone else who was instrumental in your life? My guess is that whomever it was, one of the main reasons you are here today is because this individual brought you to church each Sunday. Now, why is Sunday so important for the Christian faith? Wasn’t Saturday the seventh day of Creation, the day of rest? It was, but move ahead to Holy Week and you’ll see how Jesus completes His salvific work of redemption and new creation on the cross on Good Friday. As the women, along with some disciples, removed His body from the cross and placed it in the tomb, Jesus rested from all His work—the work of saving you, of securing forgiveness and eternal life for you that Holy Saturday. And so, after Jesus rested from His saving work on the cross, He rose again on the first day of the week, on Sunday. As an aside, the first person to see the risen Jesus was a woman, Mary Magdalene, as she exclaimed to the Apostles, “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18) However, because of the resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter Sunday, the church now gathers on the first day of the week for Sabbath rest. But what does the word Sabbath mean? Luther defines the word, Sabbath in the Large Catechism, “To rest.” In the Old Testament, the Third Commandment was given to the Jewish people to stop laborious work, allowing both man and beast to rest from their endless toil. But in the New Testament, this day shifts its focus toward resting the spirit and soul of man, finding peace and renewal in Christ. For this reason, Luther asks in the catechism, “What does it mean by keeping the [Sabbath] holy?” he says, “Nothing else than to be occupied with holy words, works, and life.” So, how are you to be occupied with holy words, works, and life? You come to the Divine Service to remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You come to hear the Word of the Savior, and worship Him, to receive His forgiveness and a foretaste of the life to come. This is a pattern of faith, the pattern of keeping the Sabbath that has been ingrained in many of us because it’s a faith handed down by a mother, grandmother, or family member. But if we’re honest, this pattern of life was given to some of us with a little more of a heavy hand, wasn’t it? Because of this heavy hand, attending church became more of a box to check for some, simply the fulfillment of a duty. And this use of the law isn’t always a bad thing; it can help us form the good habit of coming to church. However, if coming to Good Shepherd is seen as accomplishing something, as checking the box, then you have missed the whole point of remembering the Sabbath Day and keeping holy, or what the Sabbath of Christ is all about. This is evident in our Gospel today, where the lawyers and Pharisees fail to understand the true meaning of the Sabbath. For them, the Sabbath is a work, tradition, and law to be done by them. It was not about God’s Word and receiving His mercy. Jesus exposes this truth as He asks, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” What a sad situation, the lawyers and Pharisees just sat there, silent, hardening their hearts towards Jesus and His Word of mercy. Do you do this when one of the readings convicts you of a particular sin in your life? If you step back, you’ll see that one of the greatest gifts and reasons we come to this sanctuary and gather around this altar each Sunday is mercy. The gift of being rescued and pulled from the pit of death and despair. But if you don’t properly understand the purpose of the Sabbath Day, then you become like the lawyers and Pharisees. As a result, you end up not acting out of love or possessing a joyful willingness when coming to church, but rather begrudgingly. Furthermore, when the church becomes a task to be accomplished, pride begins to fill your heart, leading you to feel you have achieved something. You begin to take an unhealthy ownership of the Church and her practice; you begin to lord over the church. But today you are reminded that one does not receive eternal life just by showing up on a Sunday morning; instead, one must be willing to humble oneself and take the lowest seat in the sanctuary so that Christ can invite them to come forward and sit...
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    10 mins
  • Welcome to Good Shepherd | An Interview with the Lafferty's

    Welcome to Good Shepherd | An Interview with the Lafferty's
    Oct 9 2025

    In this episode of the Shepherd's Voice, we sit down with Dillin and Deb Lafftery and learn how they came to Good Shepherd and why this church is important to them and their family.

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    23 mins
  • The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity | Luke 7:11-17 | Our Funeral Processions Begin at the Font of Holy Baptism

    The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity | Luke 7:11-17 | Our Funeral Processions Begin at the Font of Holy Baptism
    Oct 5 2025
    The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity October 5, 2025 Luke 7:11-17 What an incredible sight this Gospel must have been, as the Lord of Life encountered a procession of death. A widow and mother follow the bier that now carries her son’s body in procession to the grave. It’s a sorrowful journey, filled with many tears and an uncertain future. The woman must have been asking, is this it? Is this all I’m left with, a slow walk to the grave? In ancient times and throughout early Christian history, the funeral procession started at the deceased’s home and ended at the grave, usually a tomb or cave. Due to purification laws and health concerns, the body was taken outside the city. Of course, this was before the rise of funeral homes and similar establishments. The cosmetics of dressing up a corpse or the removal of death from our lives reflect how we have commercialized the process today. Historically, families were responsible for caring for the body and preparing it for their loved one’s final resting place. This process, along with the journey to the grave, served as a way to mourn – it was part of the grieving process. One thing that might seem unusual to us is that it was also common to hire professional mourners, people who would lead the procession in wailing and crying. When the mourners reached the tomb, prayers, Scripture readings, and hymns would be offered. Another aspect of burial traditions in the early church was the celebration of the Eucharist, commonly referred to as the Lord’s Supper. In this way, it served as a family meal and a foretaste of heaven. The final step was to place the body in the grave with its feet pointing east, in hope and anticipation of Jesus’ return for the living and the dead. But that wasn’t the end; it was tradition for the family to return on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after the burial, where family and friends would again sing hymns, read scripture, and offer prayers as they rejoiced in thanksgiving for Christ’s victory over death. The third day represented Christ rising from the dead. The ninth symbolized fulfillment and judgment. The forty days served as a time of testing, trial, and completeness. This description reflects an intention and a ritual that were not only present but also designed to facilitate the grieving process and affirm the resurrection of Jesus at the time of death. And this is an important point for us to remember as we live in times when funerals have become less about ritual, less about grieving, and less about the Lord of Life. So, how should we prepare for the Christian funeral today? Well, Luther has a helpful insight regarding this matter. He says, A Christian is a person who begins to tread the way from this life to heaven the moment he is baptized, in the faith that Christ is henceforth the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And he holds to this way until his end. He is always found on this way and is led in the truth to obtain life, as one who already sees the shore where he is to land. He is prepared at all times, whether death comes today, tomorrow, or in one, two, or ten years; for in Christ he has already been transported to the other side. We cannot be safe from death for a minute; in Baptism all Christians begin to die, and they continue to die until they reach the grave. If you step back, the funeral dirge of life and the confession of what is received in death begin the moment you’re baptized – it’s at this moment we begin to prepare for our funeral. For this reason, baptism begins to influence not only your journey to the grave but also how you mourn. Think about that for a moment… The font of Holy Baptism becomes the ongoing battlefield of life and death. It involves confessing the sins that have consumed and isolated you in grief and sorrow. It includes confronting the fears of death that fill your mind as you endure ailments and aging. It also involves the struggle with Satan himself. In Baptism, you die to this life and rise to new life in Christ. This reflects the pattern of the Christian life: confessing and drowning your sins in Christ’s death, so that you may rise with Him to new life and forgiveness. With this understanding, you are not only exercising your faith every time you gather in this sanctuary, but you are also getting ready to die. I know you might not want to hear this, but you are preparing to die, and everyone around you is preparing to grieve. Even the prayers before a death in Christ confess these truths. The prayer for the Commendation of the Dying (commonly known as last rites) is as follows, Go in peace. May God the Father, who created you, may God the Son, who redeemed and saved you with His blood, may God the Holy Spirit, who sanctified you in the water of Holy Baptism, receive you into the company of saints and angels to await the resurrection and live in the light of His glory ...
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    13 mins
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