When a congregation has a vacancy in the pastoral office there is often a general sense of anxiety concerning the future.

We know God has a great sense of humor, and I appreciate the Bible stories that make us laugh about how God works. The disciples on the road to Emmaus, in Luke 24, is one of those stories. After the resurrection on Easter morning, Jesus sneaks up on two disciples on their way to Emmaus. "What are you guys talking about?" Jesus asks, nosing his way into their conversation. They don't recognize him and proceed to tell Jesus all about himself. Then Jesus calls them silly fools. Every time I read that story, I can't help but laugh at God's humor and how oblivious I, and all people, can be.

We focus on the Gospel of the day with an excerpt from Concordia Commentary: Luke 9:51–24:53.

Our devotion focuses on the Epistle, specifically 1 John 1:2, in which John discusses Jesus’ incarnation and the purpose for His coming. The devotion is from Reformation Heritage Bible Commentary: General Epistles.

I have a vocational issue.

Christ is risen! On this glorious day, we read an excerpt from one of Walther’s Easter Day sermons as printed in Gospel Sermons, Volume 1.

Today’s Old Testament Reading, the account of Daniel and the lions’ den, is our focus. We take our devotion from Portals of Prayer.

We return to our Isaiah theme for Good Friday and read a devotion from Gospel Handles: Old Testament Lessons.

For this day during Holy Week, we focus on the reading from Mark with an excerpt from Welcome to the Lord’s Table.

Our devotion for Wednesday in Holy Week continues our Isaiah theme and comes from God Grant It.