The Crossings Blog

Co-missioners, Today is the Feast of our Lord’s Ascension. It’s also the Thursday before the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Easter 7 is the church’s date for a sermon we share with you today. It was preached in 2022 at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, Illinois, a second-ring suburb due west of downtown Chicago. Grace was established ...

Co-missioners, Today we send you the continuation of a discussion between Mike Hoy and Paul Jaster about Paul’s recent essay, “God Ten Promising Words.” As you may have seen last week, Mike sent a note about this to our editor, who passed it on to Paul. Paul responded to Mike. Came a second and lengthier note from ...

Co-missioners, Last month we sent you a two-part posting of an essay by Paul Jaster entitled “God’s Ten Promising Words.” It prompted an interchange that we share with you this week and next. Our editor, Jerry Burce, provides a brief introduction. Peace and Joy, The Crossings Community ________________________________________________________________ Ten “Promising” Words? An Interchange between Michael Hoy and Paul Jaster Introduction Lutherans started ...

Co-missioners, Today’s first-time contributor to Thursday Theology is the Rev. Bradley Haugen, pastor of Follower of Christ Lutheran Church in Plainfield, Illinois. (Plainfield is on the southwest edge of metropolitan Chicago.) Brad is a graduate of Valparaiso University and Luther Seminary. Some years ago he found his way to a Crossings conference and has been involved ...

Co-missioners, Last week Paul Jaster urged us to take a fresh look at what most of us have hitherto known only as God’s “commandments.” As he wraps up his argument today, Paul will give us abundant reason for repeating the Alleluias we’ve been saying at church these past two Easter Sundays. Peace and Joy, The Crossings Community ________________________________________________________________ God’s Ten ...

Co-missioners, On this first Thursday of Easter week when we bask in the promise of all things made new, we send you the first installment of a two-part post by Paul Jaster. Many of you will recognize the name, having encountered his first-rate contributions to our weekly series of text studies over the past many years.    Paul ...

Co-missioners, Some of you will spend this evening at a Maundy Thursday service. Others will not. In either case, you might be glad for another dose of the Gospel God gives us to hear and trust and marvel in as we slide into the three-day heart of the Church’s liturgical year. With this in mind, we send ...

Co-missioners, Last week we promised to send you an essay by Robert Bertram on the topic of faith. Here it is. Bob wrote this in 1994 for the fall edition of the LSTC Epistle, a publication of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago where he had taught from 1983 to 1991. As you read, you’ll notice ...

Co-missioners, From our editor: an observation this week on a huge little thing in the text of John. Peace and Joy, The Crossings Community ________________________________________________________________ “Believing Into…” by Jerome Burce A few days ago I finally spotted something in the Greek of St. John’s Gospel that I wish I had noticed years ago. That I did so now is due entirely to a ...

Co-missioners, Our editor has been poking around some more in Luther’s Works. We send you something he wants to share as a follow-up of sorts to last week’s post. Peace and Joy, The Crossings Community ________________________________________________________________ Luther on the Sound of the Wind (John 3) by Jerome Burce Earlier this week a pending pericope study sent me to the American edition of ...