There is nothing quite like the Easter season. After walking with the Savior through the season of Lent and the events of Holy Week - His suffering and death - and then standing in the light of the empty tomb on Easter morning, my heart is just filled with joy. I’m guessing your heart is too....
When was the last time you shouted? Maybe your kids (or your grandkids) were about to run into the house with muddy shoes. And you shouted: "Stop! Take off those shoes!" Maybe you were having an argument and things got a little heated ...
Article from LCMS blog on several LCMS pastors' recent visits to Ferguson after the Mike Brown grand jury announcement....
I recently read this wonderful story: A girl saw the minister make the sign of the cross on the people. So she made the sign on her playmates and then on her toys. She made the sign of the cross on her mother and father and on the people who rode on buses. She made the sign over her bed and on her favorite storybooks. Sometimes she made the sign of the cross over her food, and the bread tasted better to her....
Time is marching on! As I write this, 2013 is rapidly coming to a close. As you read this 2014 has already begun. Whether we want it to or not, time is marching on. Time can be so elusive: Whoops! There goes a whole week! Where did the time go?! But then there are other periods of time that just seem so sluggish. And have you noticed how uncooperative time is? When you want time to go fast, it drags. When you want it to slow down, it flies by....
In the last Crossroads issue, Pastor Laesch shared Chapel’s stewardship goal: One Plus One. Now in this CrossRoads issue, we extend One Plus One to include an emphasis on reaching our neighbors. We call it Neighbor to Neighbor. Here is how it works:...
Chapel members Eric and Linda Funke have had an incredible first year of ministry in Tanzania! Check out this video they put together showing what they've been doing and what their goals are for the coming year. Thank you also for your prayers and financial support for the Funkes. ...
What is love? Take 30 seconds to write down as much as you can to describe love. Ready? Go! What did you write? How did your Christian faith shape your response to that question? Over the past several weeks, Chapel’s senior youth have been discussing what it means to love in today’s world. One piece of advice from the movie Moulin Rouge! stresses how vital love is to life: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.†Based on the numbers of movies and songs and stories that focus on love in our society, it would appear that most people believe this statement to be true. But love, the youth have found, can be difficult to describe. It is even more difficult to describe love apart from God. Notice too that the quote from Moulin Rouge! says love is important but it does not define what love actually is....
My dad was a pastor too. In many ways, that defined him--it was who he was. “Pastor Laesch.†But to me he was just “dad.†As we move toward Father’s Day my thoughts turn often to him....
The echo of the Christmas carols is growing dim. Hark the Herald Angels Sing…Joy to the World…Silent Night, Holy Night…those songs sung around the Christmas tree are fading from memory. And in their place are songs which focus on another tree -- the tree of the cross. Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain…Glory Be to Jesus…When I survey the Wondrous Cross. Christmas is past…Lent is here. But it is the same Christ. The Baby has become the Sacrifice....
Pastor Mark Koschmann talks about our new Sidewalk Sunday School ministry on KFUO AM radio. ...
All our lives you and I are slaves of time. Whether we like it or not--whether we want to admit it or not--we are all slaves of time. Most of us can look down to our left wrist and notice the shackle that is there. It’s a watch. And we are such slaves to time that we need to take it with us wherever we go! Some even sleep with it on!...
Welcome! We say that a lot at Chapel of the Cross. We say it because we mean it! You are welcome here. We learned that from Jesus, who was always welcoming. Wherever He went, whomever He met, the word of welcome was always shared....
In a few short days, we will be driving our oldest to Valparaiso, Indiana for his first year of college. It seems like so much will change for us and for him. For us, there's an empty bedrooma void in the family. Less noise. Less laundry. Less kids. And for our son? A bedroom with a stranger in it. More noise. More laundry. More kids. As you can imagine, a lot of thoughts...
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