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The Electronic Conventicle

"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for August 2026

7/27/2026

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From the "Gracevine" newsletter article for Grace Lutheran Church, Thornville, Ohio, August 2026

“Abundance” or “Abundant Life”?

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10 ESV (Monthly Watchword for August 2026)

“Every man dies; not every man really lives.” This was the promotional tagline for the 1995 historical drama film Braveheart, starring actor Mel Gibson as the medieval Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace. Despite the film’s many historical inaccuracies, it became successful and popular, viewed by many as an inspiring story of courage and conviction.

Braveheart is based on the true story of William Wallace, a Scottish commoner from the late 1200s who rallied his countrymen in resistance to English domination of his country. At one point in the film, Wallace is asked why he would be willing to risk his life for the cause of Scottish freedom. His response was, “Every man dies; not every man really lives.” Truly living involves living with purpose, not merely existing. Living with that purpose sometimes involves taking the difficult path rather than the one of least resistance.

The Watchword (theme verse) for this month comes from Jesus’ “Shepherd Discourse” in John chapter 10. In this chapter, we hear one of his seven declarations about himself and his work: “I am the good shepherd.” We see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise: “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 23).

The image of God/Jesus as a shepherd can be a comforting one. At the same time, it challenges us. As we hear of God’s promise to lead and guide us in His way, we are also presented with the reality of temptation to follow the wrong way. Right before this month’s Watchword, Jesus says the following: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus’ work as the Good Shepherd stands in contrast to the empty promises provided by the world.

“Every man dies; not every man really lives.” What does it mean to live with purpose? What does it mean to have life and have it abundantly? In this verse, Jesus reminds us that such abundant life comes from himself. He is God’s gift to the world and to us. Living by faith in him, we see God’s loving purpose for us, which provides for us a foundation on which to build our own lives and pursuits. We follow the Shepherd as disciples who listen to his voice. Knowing God’s love and God’s will, we truly have abundant life, which begins now and finds its completion in the life to come.
This Watchword has also been misunderstood and misused at times. Hearing the word “abundance” has led some to conclude that God promises abundance of possessions to those who trust in Him, what is sometimes called “Prosperity Gospel.” But this is most certainly not consistent with the spirit of Jesus’ words. In more than one place, the Bible acknowledges that earthly riches can carry with them a poverty of spirit (Mark 8:36; Luke 16:19-30). Abundance of wealth is no guarantee of the abundant life of which Jesus speaks.

For all who are a part of Grace Lutheran Church or who cross our path, I pray that they would all live their lives in the abundant life provided so graciously by Jesus our Good Shepherd, that they would hear his voice, live even in difficult times according to his will, and help lead others to the same, that they might truly live.
Wishing a blessed remainder to summer and beginning of the school year!

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for July 2027

7/2/2026

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Dehydration

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:24 ESV (Monthly Watchword for July 2026)

In the middle of the summer heat, this month’s Watchword (theme verse) provides refreshment through its mention of waters and an ever-flowing stream.

Back in the year 2007, I was hiking along Minnesota’s north shore of Lake Superior in July. While navigating the Superior Hiking Trail (similar to the Appalachian Trail), hikers must obtain and filter or treat water from various ponds, lakes, and creeks along the way. It was exceedingly hot that year, and many of the small streams along the trail had dried up. Water, access to which I took for granted, became a precious commodity. During one long stretch of trail, there was no water to be found, and dehydration became a real danger. My friend and I were forced to cut our hike short. When we reached the intersection of the trail and the highway, we turned and followed the pavement into the nearby town of Silver Bay, where we drank Gatorade from the local convenience store with thanksgiving!

Yet the prophet Amos from the Old Testament wasn’t concerned with a lack of water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. By all accounts, Amos (apparently a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah and Micah) lived in a time of abundance. In the first part of the eighth century B.C. (700s), the Northern Kingdom of Israel had experienced economic growth and accompanying prosperity, at least for some of the population. The comfort and security of the time, however, would be shattered in the latter half of the century, when the Assyrian Empire conquered Israel in 721 B.C. This tragedy stands as a reminder that prosperity and security in this life are often illusions that can disappear at any time.

Though everything seemed fine to the people on the surface, Amos tried to stir the people of Israel to an awareness of their dehydration. He observed among the people a certain self-centeredness as well as a shallow piety. People seemed content to acknowledge God with their lips without letting their faith impact their daily lives. They turned a blind eye to the needy in their midst. Amos reminds people that their bellies might be full, but their spirits can be empty. In one of the more famous passages from the Old Testament, Amos, speaking the word of God, lashes out against what he sees:

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:21-24).

The book of Amos is a reminder that times of complacency can lead to spiritual danger. With abundance, we can be tempted to ignore the need that we all have for God, and in the process, we can forget the call that God has on all our lives.

In the Bible, water is sometimes a symbol of chaos, but it is also a sign of cleansing and rebirth. That cleansing comes to the world most completely in the life of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls thirsty souls to himself: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37). God has baptized us into the life of His Son, which comes to us as a pure gift.

Yet we can’t forget what Jesus says next: Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Daily, God calls his people to be renewed in the promise of their baptism, to die to sin, to rise to new life in Christ. And living with that active faith, we look at our world, others, and ourselves in a different way.

This summer and always, may we all drink deeply from God’s grace in Jesus Christ and share that living water with those in our path.

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for June 2026

6/16/2026

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From the "Gracevine" newsletter article for Grace Lutheran Church in Thornville, Ohio, June 2026.

Ascension Day: “Real Presence”

He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

Ephesians 4:10 RSV

Are you ready for a full-out theological newsletter article? Well, ready or not, here it comes!

In the middle of the previous month (May 14, to be exact), a lesser-known holiday appeared on our calendar. This was what we call “Ascension Day,” the fortieth day of Easter, always on a Thursday.

Many people don’t pay attention to Ascension Day. I’d go so far as to say that most people don’t know it even exists. Because it falls in the middle of the week, it’s easy to ignore, and it is rarely discussed in churches outside of the recitation of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds: “On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of Father.”

Yet I have come to believe that Ascension Day is an unsung hero among Christian festivals. As important as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost are, Ascension Day is a critical piece of the puzzle of our faith. Therefore, I wanted to devote this month’s reflection to this observance of Ascension Day and discuss its importance.

The Ascension of Jesus is described directly at both the end of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 24:44-53) and at the beginning of the book of Acts (Acts 1:3-11). Curiously, though these books were written by the same person, the description of the event differs between the two accounts. Yet the point remains the same: after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus departed from his disciples and was “carried up,” with the promise that he would return someday. In Mark 16:19, it says that Jesus “was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” The same phrase is used by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:1: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

“The right hand of God.” This is one phrase that has caused difficulty for Christian theology. What does “the right hand of God” mean, and where is “the right hand of God”? If Jesus ascended and is at “the right hand of God,” where is Jesus now? Perhaps surprisingly, this question has impacted how Christians have thought about the meaning of Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper.

How do we think about the presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion? This has been one of the most hotly contested issues in Christian theology, and it is one of the major reasons that there are so many kinds of churches in the world today. Thinking about the ascension and “the right hand of God” helps us understand it.

Some of the earliest Christian literature we have available reveals that these early believers understood that through the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, they had a special connection to the body and blood of Jesus Christ. They based this on what they read in the books that would become the New Testament. For example, in 1 Corinthians 10:16, Paul writes: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” The word “participation” comes from the Greek word koinonia, which can also mean “fellowship” and has also been translated as “communion.”

How do we understand the koinonia (participation, fellowship, or communion) that we have in the body and blood of Christ with the Lord’s Supper? Through the centuries, Christians have developed different theories. In the Middle Ages in Europe, a tradition developed that spoke of the physical transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. As this view gained popularity, it became formalized at the Fourth Lateran Council in A.D. 1215 in a doctrine called “transubstantiation.” Based on Greek philosophy, they made a distinction between the “accidents” (outward appearance) of an object and the “substance” (the essence of something). This view of transubstantiation held that though the “accidents” of bread and wine remain, the “substance” becomes Christ’s body and blood. This view continues to be held by the modern Roman Catholic Church.

In the time of the Reformation with Martin Luther in the 1500s, a number of issues in Christian life and theology came to be reevaluated. Luther rejected the concept of transubstantiation because he could not see biblical support for it. However, based on what he read in the Bible, he continued to believe Christians have a “participation” in the body and blood of Christ as they received the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper. Other Christians of the time, notably his contemporary Ulrich Zwingli from Switzerland, understood the bread and wine in Holy Communion in a symbolic manner. The disagreement between the two men came to a head at a meeting in Marburg (a town in southern Germany) in A.D. 1529.

A key part of their disagreement centered on how to understand the biblical phrase “the right hand of God.” Ulrich Zwingli understood “the right hand of God” to be an actual location. He drew a sharp line of distinction between God’s presence in heaven and human life on earth. He said that since Christ ascended to “the right hand of God,” he was confined to that location, and it was therefore not possible for Christ to be present in the Lord’s Supper in a real way. He rejected the idea that God would use physical things to give us a spiritual benefit. For him, that also meant that Christians should not use images of any kind in worship, as such images could lead to idolatry. Interestingly, he also believed Christians should not use music in worship for the same reason.

Martin Luther understood “the right hand of God” differently, not as an actual location, but as an expression of the power and authority of God. For him, God’s presence was everywhere, and Christ being “at the right hand of God” meant that his presence after his ascension is also everywhere, wherever God the Father is. This view is expressed in the verse from Ephesians above: He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

The presence of God the Father “fills all things,” and so the presence of our ascended Lord Jesus Christ also “fills all things.” Hence, with the Apostle Paul’s words, we trust that with the Supper of our Lord that Jesus gave his Church, we have an ongoing “participation” in the body and blood of our Lord. There is always an element of mystery in this, but as Jesus’ words declare, we trust that this presence is “for us” (Luke 22:19-20), which we are called to receive in faith. Rather than the medieval concept of transubstantiation, Lutherans have generally spoken of the “real presence” of Christ, who “fills all things.”

Through the Bible, God has fed his people in their time of need: manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16); bread and meat from ravens for Elijah (1 Kings 17). As we Christians know our need for forgiveness, life, and salvation, God also feeds us with the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ our Lord (John 6) through this holy sacrament. As we are fed, we remember Jesus’ words before his departure, his ascension to “the right hand of God”: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

As I say most every Sunday at the conclusion of our Lord’s Supper: “The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace!”

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for May 2026

5/6/2026

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From the "Gracevine" newsletter article for Grace Lutheran Church in Thornville, Ohio, May 2026.

Anchor

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

Hebrews 6:19 ESV

Even though I grew up about as far from the ocean as one can be in North America, anchors were not totally unfamiliar to me. After all, my home state of Minnesota is known as “The Land of 10,000 Lakes.” As a child, summer activities often included boating for recreation and fishing. Our boats used small anchors to remain stationary while waiting for sunfish, perch, and walleyes to bite our hooks.

The Bible uses many different images to describe God and our life of faith in the world. These different descriptions communicate truth to us in different ways. Of course, in many ways, God is beyond human comprehension. Yet to make God relatable to human experience, in the pages of the Scriptures, God is described as a rock, a fortress, a shepherd, a shield, a consuming fire, a husband, a king, living water, and eternal light, just to name a few.

To make our relationship with God more relatable, the Bible also uses descriptive images for that. As God is a shepherd, God’s people are described as a flock of sheep (Ezekiel 34). In other places, people are described as trees growing by streams of water (Psalm 1). As Jesus is described as the “light of the world” (John 8), his people are themselves called “the light of the world” as well as “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5).

One image of the human relationship with God that is more unfamiliar for some is that of an anchor. Back in the year 2000, I was working as a summer counselor at a Lutheran church camp in southwestern Minnesota. One week, another counselor and I led a group of youth on weeklong service trip to Racine, Wisconsin, a community with strong Danish heritage. Since a quarter of my ancestry is Danish, I was excited. We stayed that week in the basement of one of the historic Danish American Lutheran churches in the city. The sanctuary had a magnificent stained-glass window with a cross shaped as an anchor. Since the Danes were historically a seafaring people, such an image was meaningful to them. No doubt they had in mind this month’s Watchword from Hebrews 6:19: We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

The “anchor” to which the author of Hebrews refers is hope in the promise of God, which began with Abraham long ago in the Old Testament and which finds its fulfillment in the completed work of Jesus in the New Testament.
The image of “anchor” becomes more meaningful when seen in light of other passages of Scripture. In another part of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul cautions his readers not to be “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). Then, just as now, the world was a strange and confusing place.

In this time of Easter, this season of fifty days, we remember that God the Father first raised up Jesus from death and then lifted him up for his ascension to His “right hand.” In so doing, God the Father confirms Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all his promises. Therefore, hope in him as our Lord and Savior is the only true anchor for our souls, keeping us fixed in the love and grace of God. This season and always, remain anchored in him through Scripture, prayer, worship, and service. In so doing, we find ourselves changed by seeing God’s perspective on our lives, which protects us from the confusion of “every wind of doctrine” and empowers us in our daily activity as God’s people.
 
In the Easter afterglow,

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for April 2026

4/7/2026

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From the "Gracevine" newsletter for Grace Lutheran Church in Thornville, Ohio, April 2026

Weeping and Joy

Jesus wept.

John 11:35 ESV

What is the shortest verse in the Bible? This isn’t the most critical question for Christian faith and life, but it is nonetheless a commonly heard piece of Bible trivia.

The answer to that question is complicated by the existence of many different translations of the Bible in English and other languages. They don’t all use the same wording in how they express the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek original. It is also important to remember that the Bible wasn’t divided into chapters and verses at all until fairly late in history, in stages culminating in the Geneva Bible in 1560 A.D. Chapters and verses in the Bible were added for the purpose of reference. In that, they are helpful. Unfortunately, verse numbers in the Bible often contribute to unhelpful, out-of-context citations and interpretations.

That said, it is generally accepted that the shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35, often rendered from Greek as Jesus wept. Some translations say “Jesus began to weep,” or “Jesus burst into tears.” The change from two words to four, of course, throws a potential wrench in the status of John 11:35 as the shortest verse in the Bible!

Jesus wept. This short verse has held interpretive significance for Christian theology disproportionate to its size. For example, as early Christians wrestled with the thorny issue of how Jesus’ humanity is related to his divinity (status as God), this verse was evidence of his human nature. If Jesus cried, then it meant he possessed human emotions and was therefore truly human, even while being truly God.

As important as that is, this short verse is a part of a larger narrative in the Gospel of John. Moving beyond Bible trivia, the more important question is why Jesus wept. In John chapter 11, Jesus comes to perform his seventh and final “sign” (or miracle) before his arrest and death. Jesus came to the town of Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Jesus knew and “loved” these three siblings, and later on Mary would express her gratitude for Jesus through the gift of expensive ointment on his feet (John 12:1-8).

When Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, he remained where he was until after Lazarus died. When he arrived, it was four days later, generally considered beyond the point of no return from death. Jesus observed Mary and the crowd with her weeping. And Jesus wept with them.

Jesus wept. This short verse has been a powerful source of hope for many. It is a reminder that while life in this world is filled with difficulty and sorrow, Jesus still walks among us and even shares in our sorrow.

Yet there is also a danger in taking this short verse completely out of context. When we keep reading in the chapter, we see that Jesus not only commiserates. He goes beyond. He transforms the situation. In his final “sign,” he who described himself as “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25) called forth Lazarus from his tomb. Jesus brought life out of death. And weeping turned into joy. Jesus has fulfilled the words of Psalm 30:5: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

This Easter, I pray that we who continue to live in this world of tears would have our faith and hope renewed by the resurrection hope that is ours because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, and that this hope would shape us and the world as we live. Jesus wept, but the tears didn’t last forever, and through Jesus, we have access to a glorious future, “the joy of the morning.”

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for March 2026

3/2/2026

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From the "Gracevine" newsletter for Grace Lutheran Church in Thornville, Ohio, March 2026.

Vision and Expectations

Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

​Romans 12:2 RSV

When I was a seminary student and a candidate for ordination back in the early 2000s, my fellow students and I were expected to read and agree to a document titled Vision and Expectations (abbreviated as V and E). This brief booklet highlighted the “vision” and “expectations” that our church body had for those who served as its pastors. In our initial interview for our candidacy process for pastoral ordination, everyone was asked whether we were comfortable living in accordance with the vision and expectations described in the document. A negative answer then or at any point along the way meant that a person’s candidacy for ordination would come to an end.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the part of V and E that received the most attention was the section dealing with sexual conduct among pastors. As many if not most of us were then young and yet-unmarried, people at seminary often joked about whether others were living “in compliance” with V and E.

I always thought that preoccupation with that particular section of the booklet was unfortunate. As important as the issue of sexual conduct is, it comprised only one part of the larger vision. V and E touched on several issues:
  • That the call to pastoral service is understood as a call from God, a privilege and not a right
  • That pastors are expected to preach and teach faithfully, rooted broadly in the creedal Christian tradition and specifically in Lutheran doctrine
  • That pastors are called to be people of example in their conduct: to pray and study regularly; to be examples of generosity in the congregation and community; to serve their families faithfully; and to exhibit trustworthiness in their interactions with others
The document acknowledged that pastors, like everyone, are sinful people and that the purpose of V and E was not to set up unrealistic expectations. Nevertheless, it pointed out that having such expectations is important, since when offense is given by those in positions of trust, the overall witness of the Christian community is harmed. When I re-read this document, I realized that while neither I nor anyone has lived up perfectly to the vision and expectations, I have never been able to escape from the vision articulated by V and E.

Having such expectations for pastors is a good thing. But I have often felt that in the process we have neglected God’s vision and expectations for His people as a whole. After all, clergy and laity together form the “royal priesthood” and “declare the wonderful deeds of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). It stands to reason that all church members should have a vision and expectations to guide them, regardless of their vocational status.

Believe it or not, our church constitution (and that of most congregations) has a set of expectations of church members. Since church constitutions are usually only consulted when there is some procedural difficulty to resolve, it is worth looking at what ours says about expectations of members. It reads:
  • It shall be the privilege and duty of members of this congregation to:
  • Make regular use of the means of grace, both Word and sacraments;
  • Live a Christian life in accordance with the Word of God and the teachings of the Lutheran church; and
  • Support the work of this congregation, the NALC, and their ministries and structures through contributions of time, abilities, and financial support as biblical stewards.
It is easy to think about being a member as having our name on a list. Sadly, that is often the case in churches. But we see from these expectations and from the Bible itself that being a member of the body of Christ carries with it the call to worship, to receive the gift of Christ in Word and sacrament, to live in a way that gives honor and glory to Christ, and to serve God through our offering of time, talent, and treasure. When we understand that such membership involves discipleship, then we take seriously the words of the Apostle Paul: Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

That is a marvelous as well as challenging vision for everyone. This Lent, hear the call to return to the Lord, to have your mind renewed, and to walk faithfully as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ in prayer and action. This vision is not about whether we “have to” do something, but rather that we “get to” live our lives as a response to God’s grace.

​To be clear, no one is saved by living up to a “vision” or “expectations.” But when we are called by God, when we have received the gift of His Son Jesus Christ, we also have the call to change and conform our lives to his. The great English hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674-1748) expressed this so beautifully in what is arguably his most famous hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”:

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a tribute far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for February 2026

2/4/2026

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From the "Gracevine" newsletter for Grace Lutheran Church, Thornville, Ohio, February 2026

In the Bleak Midwinter

And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house…

Deuteronomy 26:11 ESV (Monthly Watchword for February 2026)

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan; earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow. In the bleak midwinter long ago.

These words, which have become for many a beloved Christmas carol, were written by the English poet Christina Rossetti in 1872. The rest of the hymn/poem speaks of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in humility, with the message that such good news from God appeared in ordinary and seemingly hopeless circumstances. However unlikely it is that there was falling snow in Bethlehem when Jesus was born, set to music, the words give us a deeply moving reflection on the hope that God gives the world through His Son Jesus and our faith in what He has done for us.

Yet whenever I hear the title of this song, I don’t think of Christmas. The month of December is filled with lights, activity, and excitement. Though it is dark and cold in our part of the world at Christmastime, I don’t think of Christmas and the weeks leading up to it as “bleak.”

If there is a time of the year that is bleak, it would seem to be now. Today, like many in this time of year, the temperature has dropped, the wind is howling, the snow is blowing, and the excitement of Christmas is over. Unlike Bethlehem two millennia ago, one can truly say today that “earth stood hard as iron” in Thornville! After all the excitement and activity of Christmas, it’s natural for this time of year to seem like a letdown. There’s not a lot to look forward to.

How do Christians best think of this time of year? The monthly Watchword for February provides perspective. The book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament is presented as the words of Moses to the Israelite people as they prepared to move into their new life in the “Promised Land,” across the Jordan River. Moses himself would not be joining them. He died on the mountain in God’s presence.

As they prepared to move into their new life across the river, Moses spent a good amount of time instructing them about the pattern of their life as God’s people. God had given them so many gifts already: the gift of freedom from Egypt, the gift of sustenance in the wilderness (through manna and quail), and the gift of guidance for life (through God’s commandments). In this month’s verse from Deuteronomy, God instructed them not to forget His gifts to them as they settled into their new circumstances. In a way, he told them to take their gifts with them, use them, and live with joy in them: And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house…

The excitement of Christmas might be over, but many of us received gifts at Christmastime. Those gifts are meant for us to use into the coming months and years. Likewise, the gift of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem is meant to always accompany us, even in this bleak time of year. Jesus grew and revealed himself (Epiphany) to the world, bringing with him and for all people the joy, gladness, and wholeness that comes from God.

Take your gifts with you as you live in the bleakness of the world! Wherever we find ourselves in this world’s bleakness, we can be a reflection of the shining ray of hope that first appeared in Bethlehem. As much as we often feel we lack, God has indeed given us much. And God desires that his gifts to us would inspire us and shape us to live as disciples and servants of God’s greatest gift, namely His Son Jesus Christ.

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for January 2026

1/12/2026

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Resolutions

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV (Monthly Watchword for January 2026)

This month’s Watchword (theme verse) comes from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, the final book of the Torah (sometimes called the “Pentateuch” among Christians), which is the most sacred part of the Hebrew/Jewish Scriptures. What’s more, this part of chapter 6 has special significance for them as a people. Christians are accustomed to using statements of faith called “creeds,” as in the Apostles’ Creed. It has been said that this part of Deuteronomy 6 is the Jewish equivalent to such a creed. It is known by the Hebrew title shema, meaning “hear,” or “listen”:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The turn of the year is often a time for resolutions, positive changes in life we hope to carry forward into the coming months. Most often, these New Year resolutions pertain to our health, but they might also have to do with other habits and personal relationships. In this way, the words of the shema from Deuteronomy 6 can prod us to greater focus on God’s presence in our lives this year, on the importance of prayer and faith expression not only on Sundays, but also in the home.

Resolutions are good things. They are reminders to us of how we as people are always a work in progress. At the same time, we learn to approach resolutions with humility. If we are honest, we acknowledge the difficulty in keeping our resolutions. How easy it is to forget them when life gets busy!

I never want to discourage anyone from making New Year resolutions. Even if we don’t or can’t keep them perfectly, there is value in working to improve ourselves. Our definition of “success” sometimes needs to be reworked. We might find that our initial goals were too ambitious. But even modest progress is still progress, and that can be an encouraging thought.

​Then we come to January’s Watchword, which is one part of the shema, and upon hearing these words, we might find ourselves discouraged: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. In the New Testament, Jesus lifts up this commandment as the greatest of all.

To be honest, working to lose weight or get more exercise is easy compared to this! This command to love God with everything in us reveals to us a harsh reality. A central truth of our Christian faith is that such a command is not possible for us to fulfill. Human sin is precisely the inability to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and might. If we could do so, then we would have no need for a Savior. We would have no need for what Jesus does for us.

This command from God speaks His law to us in a powerful way, and it reveals our poverty of spirit. We know that our own resolutions will not meet our deepest need. Rather, God resolves to provide for our deepest need. Whenever we hear God’s commands, we must always remember that they are preceded by God’s resolution about us. The Ten Commandments, for example, found in Exodus 20, actually begin not with a command but with a resolution about us declared by God: I am the Lord your God. When we understand God’s resolve to be our Lord, we also know the call that God places on our lives to know Him more deeply and walk in His ways.

Christian life always involves living in the tension between knowing God’s will and knowing our human weakness. This year, as we make our resolutions, we take joy in the resolution that God has made about us to be our Lord, to meet us in our weakness, to uplift us by His grace, which first came to dwell among us (John 1:14) through the coming of Jesus Christ among us.

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for December 2025

11/24/2025

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Healing and Salvation

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

Malachi 4:2 ESV (Monthly Watchword for December 2025)

As I am writing this, it is only mid-November, and I have already this year heard “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Santa Baby,” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” each at least three times on the radio. I’m sure there are others that could be added to that list, but these are just the ones that come immediately to mind. Without having any empirical data, I can say that it seems earlier every year that these songs find their way into our homes and vehicles over the airways.

I don’t plan on rehashing the tired old complaint about “keeping Christ in Christmas.” When it comes to the secularization of Christmas, that ship sailed a long time ago and isn’t coming back anytime soon.

But for us who are Christians in this society, the secular story of Christmas, led by Irving Berlin and his associates, presents a challenge and an opportunity. There are, honestly, people out there who don’t know the Bible’s version of Christmas. There is so much more to this time of year than sleigh bells, Christmas trees, and birthday parties at the home of Farmer Gray. Christians around the world as well as in our own congregation have the opportunity to share the treasure of the incarnation of the Son of God, the Word made flesh (John 1:14), His life among us, and His life given for us.

Part of being equipped to share this good news with others is becoming more familiar with the sacred treasures of this season. Christmas hymns and carols represent tremendous breadth (from people of many lands and ethnicities) and depth (from the third to the twenty-first century). It is sad that these expressions of faith seem to be fading into obscurity as our society becomes more secular. In response to that, I thought I would reflect a bit on a popular Christmas hymn in many churches: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

Many of us have heard and sung this hymn. If not in church, we have likely heard it at the end of Frank Capra’s classic film It’s a Wonderful Life. Ruined by a miser on Christmas Eve, the protagonist of the story, family man George Bailey, saw life anew with the help of his guardian angel named Clarence, who showed him what the world would be like without him. When the community came to his aid and expressed its gratitude for his presence and contributions, the joyful gathering belted out the first verse of Charles Wesley’s most famous Christmas hymn:

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” Joyful, all you nations, rise; Join the triumph of the skies; With angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Some might wonder why we would bother worrying about hymns in the church. Shouldn’t we focus on the Bible? The truth is that many hymns, including Christmas hymns, are packed full of biblical references, and meditating on hymns has a way of implanting the words of the Scriptures into our lives.

The first and most well-known verse of this hymn refers to the story of Christmas in Luke chapter 2. Skipping down to the third verse of Wesley’s hymn, we encounter a more obscure biblical reference, which is our monthly Watchword for December:

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the sun of righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, Ris’n with healing in his wings.

For Christians, the last book of our Old Testament is from the prophet Malachi, and the final chapter of that short book points us forward. When the Church Father Jerome (ca. 342-420 A.D.) arranged the books of the Old Testament in his Latin translation of the Bible, he saw that Malachi was a natural bridge or jumping-off point to the New Testament. This month’s Watchword is a part of that:

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

Early Christians came to see that the “Sun of Righteousness” described by Malachi could be an appropriate title for our Lord Jesus Christ. This “Sun of Righteousness” truly brings “healing in its wings.” This does not only mean physical healing, though Jesus did some of that while on earth. More deeply, Jesus brings God’s healing of salvation to humanity, restoring our broken relationship with God. Though we have separate words in English, the words “healing” and “salvation” in the Greek New Testament are actually the same.

This month, even though it is the darkest of the year in our part of the world, we are called to take joy in the “Sun of Righteousness” that first appeared in Bethlehem so long ago, as the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and for us.

Pr. Tom Jacobson
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"Gracevine" Newsletter Article for November 2025

11/15/2025

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Antibiotics

Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Revelation 2:10 ESV

If it is not already obvious, let me state clearly: I am not a medical doctor. Therefore, I am in no position to offer advice regarding physical health. I suppose I am, however, empowered to offer opinions on matters pertaining to our faith, our relationship with God. And in that sense, I thought about antibiotics.

I won’t pretend to know everything (or much of anything, for that matter) about pathogens and how best to treat them. But as someone who has been prescribed antibiotics at various times and as a parent of young children who have often been sick, I know what I’ve been told by physicians: unless otherwise directed, once beginning an antibiotic prescription, we should continue the round of antibiotics until it is finished. Even if we start to feel better after a time, failing to complete the prescription can allow some bacteria to survive, leading to a resurgence of the illness and possibly bigger problems later on. This can also result in the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

A good way of thinking about the Christian faith is to compare it to lifelong round of antibiotics. We all need treatment. All humanity finds itself in a broken relationship with God and needs God’s justifying grace. And God provides what we need by the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. God begins our round of antibiotics when we are baptized into the death and life of Jesus Christ. Living by faith in Jesus, we are also called to faithfulness in making use of the gift that God gives us:
  • To hear His Word throughout our lives in the services of His house
  • To pray to God, who is the source of our life and all our blessings
  • To be fed by Jesus, the Bread of Life, at his holy table with the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sin
  • To share God’s love with others in our path
  • To serve and work faithfully in the world in the ways in which we are called
Like we are tempted to stop taking our antibiotics once we start feeling better, it is easy in our lives to neglect our faith when things seem fine or when the seasons of our lives change. As much as we are grateful for peace and concord in our lives, the bigger picture helps us see the illusory hope provided by the world and points us to see our dependence on God in all things and at all times.

In good times and bad, God calls His people to persevere, to keep taking the medicine He so graciously offers, not grudgingly, but gratefully and with open hands. And then, with our lives, we “thank, praise, serve, and obey Him” (Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, explanation of the first article of the Apostles’ Creed).

A few years ago while attending the biennial Lutheran Historical Conference meeting, I had a chance to tour a historic German Lutheran church in Missouri. Above the altar in that church was inscribed a verse from the Bible, Revelation 2:10: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

To the people in the church of that time, Jesus called his people to persevere to the end, to keep taking their medicine by faith, and in the end to find themselves made whole in God’s kingdom, possessing the crown of life that only God can give.

​In this month of Thanksgiving, let us be reminded of God’s graciousness and how it shapes our lives. And as we often say at the conclusion of our worship, “Thanks be to God!”
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    Thomas E. Jacobson

    I am a Lutheran pastor, professor, church historian, husband, and father, not necessarily in order of importance. I completed my Ph.D. in the spring of 2018, focusing on American Lutheran history, especially the Norwegian-American Lutheran experience. 

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