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The Shepherd’s Voice – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Tomah, WI

The Shepherd’s Voice – Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Tomah, WI

著者： Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - Tomah WI
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Welcome to The Shepherd’s Voice, the podcast ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Tomah, Wisconsin. Each episode shares Christ-centered preaching, Bible teaching, and encouragement for your walk of faith. Rooted in the historic Lutheran confession, we proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins.

Whether you’re a lifelong Lutheran, exploring the Christian faith, or seeking hope in daily life, The Shepherd’s Voice offers clear Law and Gospel preaching, devotionals, and reflections grounded in God’s Word.

Join us as we lift high the cross of Christ and connect listeners to the Shepherd who knows His sheep by name.

Copyright 2025 All rights reserved. キリスト教 スピリチュアリティ 聖職・福音主義
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  • The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist | St. Mark 6:14-29 | You Bear a Most Vicious Image of Love

    The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist | St. Mark 6:14-29 | You Bear a Most Vicious Image of Love
    2026/08/30
    The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist August 30, 2026 Mark 6:14-29 I already know you may not appreciate the cover on today’s bulletin. It appears graphic: a head on a platter; it’s just sitting there, staring back at you. You heard the story in the Gospel with your ears, but seeing it, seeing the head of John the Baptist before you, that’s another story. Why would we use such an image on the bulletin cover? Children will see it! However, is this image as striking as you first believed? Is it as graphic as you think? Ponder this for a moment… I’ll give you time. Now, I asked these questions because I would argue that an even more graphic image is before you each and every day; in fact, every time you imagine this image in your mind, this figure appears, and the brutality is inescapable. How could you carry such a graphic image with you each day? How could you be so dark and troubled? Of course, you’re sitting here and saying, “Pastor, I have no idea what you are talking about, I would never carry such a horrid image of death with me each and every day.” Oh yeah, then what’s wrong with you? Why wouldn’t you? What’s wrong with me, what’s wrong with you? Nothing…well, that’s not completely true. I am a sinner, just like you. So why wouldn’t this disturbing image appear in your mind as it does in mine? I mean, you were brought into it just as I was; it was placed on both your forehead and your heart as a child, as an infant, like a tattoo so you’d never forget who you are. Well, that’s morbid; you’ve been walking around all these years with an image of violence in your heart and mind, but you haven’t noticed? Reflect on what I’m telling you now. I’m saying that since the time of your birth, you’ve been carrying an image within you that is worse than the cover of today’s bulletin. But why haven’t you noticed this? That’s a good question: why haven’t you noticed this? Probably because you’ve become complacent; maybe all the violent and horrendous imagery of the news on the television you watch or in the video games you play has made you numb, or maybe you’ve decided to bury those images in the depths of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the part of the brain that suppresses unwanted thoughts and visuals you’d prefer not to have. Maybe that’s it; maybe that’s why you can’t ponder or visualize the image that’s honestly worse than the cover of today’s bulletin. You’ve become complacent, numb, and buried the image of proof. However, the image, the cross, and Jesus’ mangled body still remain before you; you can’t escape it; it’s right here to my left. That vivid, horrible image of violence, the most horrendous violence known to mankind: crucifixion. Whips, lashes, and nails. A crown of thorns for the King and Kings, rough wood that digs deep into the open wounds of His back for a throne. Yes, Jesus cleans up real nice for our purposes today, for public display, but make no mistake, the day He died for sinners like you and me, it’s not an image we would have looked on with glee, joy, or celebration. No, His cross would have brought us shame. It would have been seared into our memories, the kind of image you can’t outrun or ever forget, the image of tragedy. Being there that first Good Friday would have stayed with you until the day you died. But that’s one of the reasons you might not want to think about it, to ponder it, or wrestle with it – it is graphic, vicious, and horrendous. But you are also the reason Jesus went to this cross. Your sin, the ways you have not lived rightly, according to your Father’s will, as we learn from the Ten Commandments and Holy Scripture. How you have not loved God with all your heart or your neighbor as yourself, the way you have not been faithful in confessing your faith in your Savior, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for you. And here is the difference between you and John the Baptist, the one whose head ended on a platter; he was faithful, even to the end. He confessed Jesus until his dying breath. He refused to compromise God’s law, even at the risk of his life. He would not dilute God’s commands regarding the adulterers in King Herod’s court, which ultimately led to his death, just as he wouldn’t soften his message for his apostles. Despite the potential for mental or physical harm, John the Baptist consistently proclaimed God’s Word in full. In this way, the rejection of the word John preached foretold the rejection of Jesus’ words. John’s violent death foreshadowed Jesus’ death. And you, the baptized, have been brought into this death, too. Hear those familiar words of the epistle again: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as ...
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    13 分
  • The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity | St. Mark 7:31-37 | Do Not Become Spiritually Deaf to God's Word

    The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity | St. Mark 7:31-37 | Do Not Become Spiritually Deaf to God's Word
    2026/08/23
    The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity August 23, 2026 Mark 7:31-37 Have you ever found yourself speaking to someone and they don’t hear you? You know their hearing works well, but strangely, they don’t seem to listen to you. They miss instructions, conversations, and what’s being taught. While some say a person has selective hearing, this is actually about the brain focusing on one person in a noisy environment, not about choosing to ignore another. However, might a person subconsciously become deaf in certain situations? Causing them not to hear you? Might this be why a child doesn’t clean their room when they’ve been instructed to do so? Well, Google says no; men cannot physically or medically become deaf purely through a subconscious choice or psychological will. So why don’t individuals hear you when you speak to them, in a setting where people can converse normally? Because they choose not to. That’s all; they just don’t want to hear you. They’ve become preoccupied with their own thoughts and dreams; their desires, choices, and wills have become more important than you or anyone else. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus encounters a man who is truly deaf and has a speech impediment. It’s probable that this man has had these ailments since his birth. The man’s friends brought him to Jesus and begged Him to heal their friend. Can you imagine? Living all the days of your life in silence…not being able to hear, not being able to speak, not being able to communicate. None of this is a choice for the man. But his friends bring him to the One they believe can help and heal him. They bring him to Jesus. It’s interesting: what follows is a liturgy of sorts, an order of service. First, the man in need of healing is brought to Jesus; then there are prayers for him, followed by an absolution, and finally a dismissal. Jesus instructs the man and his friends, “Don’t tell anyone what I’ve done,” but they do anyway. But walk with me through this sequence. The man’s friends bring him to Jesus for healing. We do the same. The first step is to bring our broken bodies to the Divine Service to confess our sins before Jesus. Then we pray to God for help and healing. This is followed by the absolution, the forgiveness of sin, and finally the dismissal, the sending out of God’s people in peace. Now, in this liturgy involving the deaf man, his friends bring him and beg Jesus to lay His hands upon him to heal him. The laying on of hands, as seen in the Old Testament, was part of the liturgy of healing. Often, anointing oils would be used, in addition to touching the person, to say, “This person, this man, this woman, is the one who is to be healed, cleansed, and forgiven.” There’s a specificity in the laying on of hands. But Jesus does something that we might find repulsive today. He puts His fingers into the man’s ears, spits, and touches his tongue. What in the world is this? Well, some scholars believe this would have been understood by the deaf man, but remember, it’s not uncommon for the Word of God to be accompanied by a visible sign. Where do we see this? Does not the water of Holy Baptism, joined with the Word of God, grant forgiveness and healing, declaring this one, this child, this man, to be God’s? Another aspect here is how Jesus looks up to His Father in heaven as He says, “‘Ephphatha,’ that is ‘be opened.’” Again, another connection to the Baptismal liturgy we use at Good Shepherd as we pray and ask for the ears of the one to be baptized to be open to God’s Word, His teaching, and His will. As we learned last week, growing in this way, the baptized life, by being open and submissive to God’s Word, His teaching, and His will, requires humility. Jesus pulls the man aside, places His fingers and spit upon and within the man, and then looks to His Father, demonstrating that all He does is in accordance with His Father’s will. Jesus is submissive to His Father. Honestly, this is where we often go wrong; we do not truly live in submission to Jesus or His Father. It’s not physical deafness we show but rather spiritual deafness. Spiritual deafness occurs when we do not listen to, hear, and take to heart the word of God. And here are a few ways we demonstrate this deafness in our own lives. The issue of closed communion has been a concern for the church lately, a time characterized by spiritual deafness. A faithful family that raises their children in the Church understands God’s teachings about the Lord’s Supper—that before participating, one must examine themselves to avoid judgment and condemnation. Receiving at this altar signifies confessing unity, fellowship, and adherence to this church’s teachings. However, when families see their children go off to college, move away, and join a church of another confession that does not align with Good ...
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    15 分
  • The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity | Luke 18:9-14 | The Prideful Always Look Down

    The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity | Luke 18:9-14 | The Prideful Always Look Down
    2026/08/16
    The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity August 16, 2026 Luke 18:9-14 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, C.S. Lewis once wrote in his book Mere Christianity, “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” This quote brilliantly captures what pride does to the heart of man, how pride leads man to believe he is superior to others, even idolizing himself and making himself into a god. Which of course, distracts one from having faith in the one true God. Well, the Gospel today is about pride and humility. Jesus teaches a simple lesson through contrasting figures, and if you want to know the meaning of the Gospel, just go to the last verse, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” But to begin to understand the entire text, let’s start at the beginning of the Gospel reading as we heard, Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: The Gospel began with Jesus telling a parable. A parable is a short, simple story that typically teaches a moral, spiritual, or religious lesson. It uses everyday situations and human characters to explain a deeper, harder-to-understand truth by placing a familiar idea side by side with a new concept. When Jesus tells a parable, He does so to teach truths about the kingdom of heaven. This parable teaches that the holier-than-thou attitudes of the Pharisees won’t lead them to heaven. Instead, their trust in themselves, belief that they are more righteous than anyone else, and despising others will prevent the Pharisee from being brought into heaven. For the Pharisee, this high view of themselves is how they see the world around them. It’s a worldview that sees others as worse off and, in many ways, is built into who they are, prompting them to look down on others with disregard. Alright, so who is being compared to the Pharisee in today’s Gospel? Jesus went on to say, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (Luke 18:10) In this verse, Jesus now presents the identities of both men; besides the Pharisee, we have a tax collector. Remember, tax collectors were not seen as good men. They were Jewish men who worked for the Roman Empire and were therefore viewed as traitors. It was often believed they skimmed money from the top for themselves. But here we are with two men coming to the temple of God. The temple is an important location throughout Scripture. At the beginning of Luke’s gospel, Jesus was brought to the pinnacle of the temple, where Satan tempted Him to throw Himself down. But the temple is also mentioned near the end, when Jesus is crucified. The temple is where God’s presence resides. When Jesus came to the temple in last week’s gospel and cleansed it by throwing out those who treated the place as a den of thieves, He was foreshadowing what was to happen through His crucifixion and resurrection. Not only would the temple now become obsolete, but the kingdom of heaven, of peace, forgiveness, and eternal life, would reside in Him, the true temple of God. So now the question might be, how does one approach and enter the presence of the temple of God? In verses 11-12, the Gospel said, The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ Luke 18:11-12) Alright, both men have come into the presence of God in the temple, and now we hear the Pharisee’s prayer, which isn’t odd because prayers were often spoken aloud. Speaking prayers aloud can be a good thing, too. This exercise can provide additional focus to your prayers and ensure your mind doesn’t wander during prayers. We don’t pray like this because, for one, we’re afraid others will hear our prayers. We also don’t want people to think we’re weird for praying aloud or in public, so we allow our faith to be completely silenced and just don’t pray at all. Which is wrong. But back to the Pharisee, he’s praying aloud for all to hear what a good guy he is; maybe he’s trying to impress those around him. The image you see is a man who believes he’s better than others and is an elitist. With all the “I’s” he says, he’s sure happy to not be like the others, and he sure gives thanks to God for himself. What a guy! The Pharisee is very thankful to not be like the extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. He does his good works by fasting twice a week and giving tithes of all he receives. What a guy! It’s almost as if the Pharisee is justifying himself. If this were a court case or trial, he’d be presenting the evidence to the ...
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    13 分
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