As we joyously celebrate today the Ascension of Our Lord, we read a devotion from Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis.

Our commemoration today is for Esther, and we take our devotional reading from God’s Word for Today: Esther.

This summer many of our congregations and schools will be welcoming new church workers such as teachers, pastors, DCEs, and others into their midst. This is a very exciting time. The new church worker and members of the congregation alike will optimistically hope and pray for a good and positive start---and the beginning of a longstanding, helpful, and God-pleasing ministry.

Our devotion for this Sunday focuses on the Gospel reading and comes from Luther’s Works, Volume 24 (Sermons on the Gospel of St. John Chapters 14–16).

They held up their dirty feet, clumsily resting them in my hands. My hand, draped in a white washcloth, gently moved from toe to heel and back again, removing a morning spent outside with no shoes. Giggles escaped from their mouths as I couldn’t resist the urge to tickle their toes. There I was, their mother, their teacher, washing their feet. And as I scrubbed their filthy little feet, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. I am grateful for the ways motherhood has changed me, for piles of dirty laundry and a crumb-covered kitchen floor. I am grateful that motherhood points me to Jesus, a Savior who came down to live in our daily, ordinary, filthy human world. I am grateful for a Savior who knelt down and washed the feet of those beneath Him, those He came to serve.

Our devotional reading for today focuses on the reading in Acts and comes from Deacons and Deaconesses Through the Centuries.

Today we commemorate two ninth-century missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, and our devotional reading comes from The Church from Age to Age.

Will walk through the Book of Galatians section by section with this brief overview and downloadable study questions compiled by Rev. Wayne Palmer.

May 28—It may not mean much on your calendar, but on mine it means romance—anticipation, a dress, maybe some heels, a bow tie for my husband, wine, a meal I don't have to cook, dishes I don't have to wash, and mostly, it means conversation, long and lingering.

Our devotional reading on the Fourth Sunday of Easter comes from the letter to parents in the Arch Book The Twenty-third Psalm.