Advent is the beginning of the Christian church year. “Advent” is a Latin word that means “coming” or “arrival.” During the Advent season, Christians prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming at Christmas. God’s people are also directed to look beyond Christ’s first coming to his second coming on Judgment Day. 
 
Yawn… Snooze… Zzzz…
 
Oh, hey, is that mail carrier/UPS truck/FedEx truck/Amazon Prime Van (not this far North in northern WI) headed toward my house?!
 
Here are some “alternate facts” for you: Advent can be a really fun time to engage in secularizing and commercializing yet another Christian feast/festival/holiday.
 
Shall we?
 
Advent calendars contain small numbered doors or flaps, one of which is opened on each day of Advent. Behind each flap/door, you can find a Bible passage or prophecy (lame, old school) or a small chocolate treat (better, but still not real creative).
 
Today’s Advent calendars? Well, get ready to get out those charge cards! There are Advent calendars for dogs and cats and, of course, people. Today’s Advent calendars include everything from tiny jars of jam to tubes of lipstick to pairs of socks to cans/bottles of wine and beer.
 
May I share a few finds with you?

• Sam's Club 12-Day Fine Jewelry Advent Calendar  For the person on your “nice” list or for the person you need to “make nice” with. Only 12 days, but at a cost of $1,933 for Sam’s Club (Sam’s Club?!?) jewelry and pearls, you can save extra Advent/Christmas cash for other things.
• Swarovski Disney100 Advent Calendar 2023  To celebrate 100 years of Disney, Swarovski (you have some Swarovski products in your stash, don’t you?) created an ultra-luxe Advent calendar stacked with 22 Swarovski Disney-themed crystal baubles, ornaments and necklaces. $1,300.
• Bean Box 12 Mornings of Coffee Advent Calendar  Put some pep in your holiday step with 12 seasonal coffees hand-selected by Bean Box’s coffee curator. Twelve 1.8-ounce bags for $85; makes a trip to Minocqua’s new Starbucks feel like a trip to Dollar General.

 
We could go on, but since we ran out of money just glancing at the options above, let’s get back to the question of Advent as religious or secular, meaningful or meaningless. Advent is about one thing: Jesus.
 
Jesus. Only Jesus.
 
As is Christmas. And Easter. Etc. Please, do enjoy all the things you love about this and other seasons of the year. There are memories involved, families, precious moments of time to spend. But please, for your own sake and for the sake of your loved ones, do not lose sight of the One Thing, the Main Thing: Jesus.
 
Trinity offers many ways to focus on Jesus during the Advent season. There’s considerable fun and fellowship involved as well. Worship, of course, every Sunday & Monday. Also:

• December 3 (Sunday, 2 p.m.) – Advent By Candlelight
• December 12 (Tuesday, 1-3 p.m.) – Kickoff of “Monthly Senior Gatherings” (devotion, Christmas carol singing, planning for future gatherings)
• December 13 (Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.) – Mike Westendorf Christmas Concert @ Trinity
• December 16 (Saturday, 9 – 11:30 a.m.) – Christmas for Kids
• December 17 (Sunday, 9 a.m.) – Trinity Children’s Christmas Service

 
King David expresses the faith of every believer on either side of Christ’s first coming: “I wait for the LORD.  My soul waits, and in his word I have put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5 EHV) May your Advent celebration be filled with repentance, hope, joy, and peace. Even if you can’t (or would rather not) afford the outlandish price tags of some secular Advent calendars, your Advent observance will be rich in faith and mercy and love. It will be about Jesus.
 
Waiting with you,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

And for this I give thanks.  Why?  Because I finally bagged the once-in-a-lifetime 30-point buck, with a rack so massive that the Boone and Crockett scoring system needs to be recalibrated to accommodate my buck?  A white-tail monster of a “stag” whose legendary girth, length, height and weight will be shared in deer camps for decades?  And as the stories of the kill are shared around deer-campfires, the youngest in camp will ask, “And who shot this monster, Grandpa?”  In a hushed, almost reverential whisper, Grandpa will respond, “Why, that was the right-reverend Glenn L Schwanke!”
 
Nope.  I didn’t even see a deer.  Not a single one.  And for this I give thanks. My freezer is already filled by my carefully researched hunting raids of woo-hoo sales at Pick ’n Save.  I even have a few sticks of Venison sausage in the freezer from hunts in years past.  I don’t really need the meat.   But the experience of deer camp?  That I won’t soon forget.
 
And for this I give thanks.  For walking out to the blind in the pre-dawn darkness, and for the hushed quiet that engulfs me.  For my handy headlamp, so I can load my gun and get set up in the blind well before dawn. For watching the darkness slowly roll back, as if inch-by-inch.  For the first timid rays of the sun peaking through the maples, oaks, and pines, and the glistening of the forest-bed-frost like a sea of diamonds.  Here and there, a rare blue one.  For the sun’s rays then breaking through stronger, so the frost begins to melt.  And I hear the dew drops from the blind-roof splattering to the ground.
 
And for this I give thanks.  For the sun’s fiery blaze that lights up the forest on every side.  For the refreshing, peaceful, comforting quiet.  Did I just nod off for a few minutes?  What’s that?  A rifle-shot!  Then another off in the distance.  Then more quiet.  My only company is the chatterbox red squirrel that mocks me as he munches his acorn on a tree stump some 50 feet away.  And there’s the huge, black squirrel that romps down the path, pops up a tree, and peaks around at me.  Or was that a daring glare?  The cawing of crows finally wakes me from my reverie, and the words of the Psalmist come to mind. “How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.”   (Psalm 104:24)    
 
And for this I give thanks.  For gracious hosts, Lyle and Jean, who welcomed me into their castle-in-the-woods deer camp, filled the fridge with beverages, the table with food, and the rooms of their home with mattresses and bedding.  Their hospitality makes our Father smile, for he urges us all, “And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  (Hebrews 13:16)   
 
And for this I give thanks.  For the decades-long members of this camp—Mike, Tom, Paul, Steve, and Martin who welcomed me with a raised glass and a coveted invitation to the table for Sheepshead.  As the evening went on, the camaraderie grew as did the depth of the stories from our school days at Northwestern and Seminary. I couldn’t help but think, “Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the insight of his friend.”  (Proverbs 27:17)      
 
And for this I give thanks.  Our Lord willing, I will have the opportunity to join my brothers and sisters for Trinity’s Thanksgiving worship later today, November 22, 4 PM.  Together we will praise the Lord for the gift of his Son (1 John 4:14), and the bounty of His creation (Psalm 65:9-13).  And in a quiet moment of personal prayer, I will add, “Father, I went to deer camp. And for this I give thanks.”         
 
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1)
 
“In everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
 
“Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, who does not change or shift like a shadow.” (James 1:17)
 
Will those Scriptures get you started? The rest of this devotion is self-generated, meaning you have the opportunity to think through some of the many blessings the Lord gives. Complete this “Top 10 List” of reasons why you are thankful to the Lord.
 
1. I give thanks to the Lord because he created me with:
 
2. I give thanks to the Lord because he saved me to:
 
3. I give thanks to the Lord because he preserves my life by:
 
4. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he taught me:
 
5. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he encouraged me:
 
6. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he blessed me through:
 
7. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he brought me:
 
8. I give thanks to the Lord because, as he promised:
 
9. I give thanks to the Lord because my family:
 
10. I give thanks to the Lord because my church:
 
11. (Bonus #1!) I give thanks to the Lord because even though this difficulty is present in my life __________________ (description of the difficulty), through it he blesses me with:
 
12. (Bonus #2!) I give thanks to the Lord because:
 
I am thankful for you! I am grateful with you for the Lord’s countless blessings,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

October 7, 2023.  The terrorist group Hamas unleashed a deadly attack on the nation of Israel. Some 1400 Israelis, civilians and soldiers, were killed.
 
On another front, it is day 624 in the Russia-Ukraine War.  According to a report in the New York Times last week, close to 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian troops have been injured or killed since this war started in February, 2022.  Add to that carnage thousands of civilian casualties.
 
Back here in America, gang and drug-related warfare continue to rip apart our cities.   In this year alone--Chicago:  507 homicides.  Milwaukee:  159.    
 
All this stands as proof our Savior saw the future with 20-20 divine insight.  He warned us, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because all these things must happen; but that is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”  (Matthew 24:6-7)
 
If you are like me, you grow weary of the noise.  The hate.  The seething anger.  Satan stirring the pot, seeking whom he may devour.  Where, oh where, can we find relief?  In our Father’s Word.  In His promises.  In His plan of grace carried out perfectly by his Son, our Savior and Lord. 
 
And... in His names.  The inspired writer tells us, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower. A righteous person runs inside and is protected.”  (Proverbs 18:10)   Here are a few towers for you to run into today. 
 
El Shaddai: “I am God Almighty.” (Genesis 17:1) This is how the Lord introduced himself when he promised that Abraham, age 100, and Sarah, age 90, were going to have a child.  The name proved true!  Isaac was born, and through his line came the Savior!  Is there anything our God Almighty cannot do?  (If you are skeptical and need further proof consider Creation.  The 10 plagues on Egypt.  The Virgin Birth.  Easter, and more.)
 
Yahweh: “I am who I am.”  Often translated as “LORD.”  (Exodus 3:14) This is the name the LORD announced to Moses at the burning bush.  It is the name Moses was to share with the Israelites as proof their God was with them and intended to deliver them from bondage in Egypt.  The LORD uses this name throughout Scripture to guarantee to us that he cannot change.  His grace is free, faithful, and certain. 
 
Abba: “Papa!” “Daddy!”  (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6.  This name is Aramaic.)  Through God’s Spirit, you and I have been called to faith.  As God’s children, we have been given the incredible privilege to cry out to him like little children!  With our arms outstretched and a smile on our face and in our hearts, because we know our “Papa,” our “Daddy” will never turn us away!
 
Immanuel: “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23) This is the precious name given to our Savior.  Drink in the comfort this name gives!  Our God is not “against us,” or “divided apart from us.”  Instead Jesus took on flesh to be one with us!  Our brother!  Our perfect Substitute in life and in death!  It is Immanuel who guaranteed, “And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Remember that the next time you feel alone, afraid, and wearied by a sin-crazed, noisy world.    

Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

Today is All Saints’ Day. This day commemorates no one individual saint, but all the saints of God, known and unknown throughout the world and the history of the Church.
 
This feast was first mentioned in the fourth century. Since around 800 AD, this festival has been set on November 1st, and is retained by the Lutheran church as the day which follows Reformation.
 
While all believers in Christ in heaven and on earth (including you and me by grace!) are God’s saints, on this day the Church remembers all of God’s saints who have died and now participate in the unending, unspeakable joys of heaven.
 
One day, you and I will be among them: the saints eternal, the Church triumphant, in the presence of our Warrior and Champion and Savior Jesus Christ! Until then, we are the Church militant, struggling and marching ever forward to the finish line of heaven.
 
I recently attended a three-day “Grow in Grace Conference” for pastors at Fox Valley Lutheran High School. It was an opportunity to take a seminary level course. The course I chose is a timely one for our times and for our setting at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Minocqua, WI. Its title: “Teach Them to Your Children: Helping Parents Fulfill Their Responsibility to Their Children.”
 
I’ll share more on the excellent material and insights gained from this class on other occasions. Now, I’d like to dwell on the image attached to this article.

“Forever Faithful” is FVL’s theme for the current school year. It’s based on Psalm 145:13b. You likely know Psalm 145:15-16 for these words: “The eyes of all look eagerly to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. He opens his hand, and he satisfies the desire of every living thing.”

Two verses prior to that is Psalm 145:13b: “The Lord is faithful to all his words and merciful toward all he has made.” Truly, the Lord is always faithful, indeed, forever faithful! Consider his track record in your life on just this day thus far. Then consider the week thus far, then the year, the decade. In your life, all life long, “The Lord is faithful to all his words and merciful toward all he has made.”
 
An appropriate thought as we remember the saints who’ve already gone home to heaven. Comfort for the saints who are making their way to heaven now by grace, i.e., you and me and other loved ones and acquaintances.

Where shall we find the strength to go on? Where can we find encouragement to go the distance or just to make it through the day or even the next hour? Don’t look inside yourself, to your own strength, wisdom and creativity. Don’t look to the world, which continues to deteriorate before our very eyes. Look to the Lord God! “The Lord is faithful to all his words and merciful toward all he has made.” (Psalm 145:13b)
​
God keep you in his gracious care,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand