Our devotion for today is about the Epistle and comes from God’s Word for Today: James.

Moment of truth: I asked my teenage son to help me write this. He’s an almost-sixteen-year-old, who is willing to give me input about initiating the "sex talk." I kind-of-most-definitely want to hear what he has to say. I wanted to know what he feels we've succeeded in and inevitably, what he feels we've failed at over the years. I asked him because, truth be told, it's hard for me to pinpoint exactly how to initiate this conversation with kids.

Our devotional text on the Feast of St. Matthew focuses on the Gospel of the day.

The book of Numbers recounts the Israelites' wilderness wanderings on their way to the promised land. Read a brief overview of Numbers and download Bible study questions to help you read through this book.

Today we focus on the Gospel, Mark 9:14–29, which includes the account of a father’s confession of faith while asking Jesus to cast the demon out of his son. Our devotional reading comes from Words of Promise: Daily Devotions through the Year.

I tend toward using my phone to check out. I’m just going to say that out loud and let it be a thing.

We focus on the Old Testament Reading today with a devotion from Concordia Pulpit Resources.

I'll just come out and say it: I missed an opportunity to share my faith. We had a superhero birthday party for our oldest son, complete with capes, decorated cardboard-box buildings, a Spiderman hanging from the ceiling, and—at my son's request—a butterfly piñata. My wife had invited an acquaintance of hers with a child around our son's age. This woman came with her two kids and her husband, whom I had never met. But we got talking, and he asked me, "So, what do you do?" And I told him, "I'm a pastor." So he followed up, "You don't hear that very often. What got you into that?"

When something is long anticipated, you prepare for it.

Today we remember sixth-century pastor Gregory the Great by reading a devotion from Celebrating the Saints.