The devotional reading for the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles, comes from Meditations on the Gospels: According to His Word, where we consider the implications of today's Gospel from John 15.

Today's devotional reading comes from the A Year in the New Testament and focuses on the Gospel reading from Luke 18:9–17.

The time of Advent and Christmas is a joyful season in the Church, but for church leaders and volunteers, it can also be an incredibly busy and stressful time. With so much to do and such a short timeline, sometimes you forget things or you just don’t know where to start. Here’s some planning advice to make sure every Advent candle, service-time announcement, and Christmas-program child gets where they need to be, when they need to be there.

1+1=2 and 2+1=3 and so on and so forth. . . simple math, right? Yes, of course it is. But what happens when 1+1=4 and 1+1=6? Mathematically, it’s an impossibility. In the world of families, however, one plus one does not always equal two. In the world of families, blended is not only common, but it may also be the new norm. Mom and Dad get married, and whether one or both of them come with children, life doesn’t just get complicated—it starts out complicated!

The devotional reading for the feast of St. Luke, Evangelist comes from Concordia Commentary: Luke 1:1–9:50.

Today’s devotional reading for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost comes from Luther’s Works, Volume 6.

Today's devotional reading comes from the The Christian Year of Grace and focuses on the Gospel reading appointed for today, Luke 17:11-19.

Marginalia is the ancient term for any words, markings, or drawings added to the blank spaces around the text on the pages of a book. Bible marginalia is nothing new---monks did it, Bach drew inspiration from it, and my grandmother did it. Many of you are already in the habit of adding notes in your margins!

If you ask 50 people in your congregation, “What one attribute matters most for a leader in the church?” you will likely get a wide variety of responses. The truth is, even though the responses may vary, they would likely fit into one overarching theme: a leader’s credibility. Credibility is the differentiating factor between good and great leaders—including leaders in ministry. A leader may have all the skills and knowledge in his or her area of expertise, but will continually struggle if credibility is lacking.