Drive carefully. We can wait.

That's a billboard outside Minneapolis for the Wilbert Company. They make burial vaults. You may call it tasteless advertising, but they're right. Certain truths are irreducible and universal. Death is one of them. What other truths would you put in the category of "core?"  How about this: truth. Once again the saints of God have gathered in God's house to seek his truth, encourage one another and glorify him. Welcome to the party.

To receive 250-word devotions on 1 John 2:18-27 this week, Monday – Friday, go to st-andrew-online.org/devotions.

A Lenten devotion by Pastor Jon Bilitz from Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel.

When are you dogmatic? Never! That word almost always means something negative. To be dogmatic and uncompromising about your personal opinions and beliefs makes one hard to live with. You could be wrong. But John writes to the church of his day and our day that there is a time to be dogmatic, a time when there can be no compromise. The reason is not to make you hard to live with; but because you have eternal life.

To receive 250-word devotions on 1 John 2:18-27 this week, Monday – Friday, go to st-andrew-online.org/devotions.

A Lenten devotion by Pastor Randy Hunter.

How would you complete the phrase above? Would your answer change if the phrase was, "Stop loving . . ."? God turns our hearts toward himself as the apostle John, a grandpa who is concerned for his kids and grandkids, shares a powerful message of hope and life for those who are caught up in desires and loss which consume and destroy. God has a better life for us, and he uses John to help us see what it can be. 

To receive 250-word devotions on 1 John 2:15-17 this week, Monday – Friday, go to st-andrew-online.org/devotions.

When we baptize babies at St. Andrew, we often sing "Borning Cry." The hymn tracks God's view of and love for a child from baptism through youth, middle age, and into old age. It's not only an accurate reflection of God's grace, but it reminds us how the Christian life goes, too: in stages. We all hope for growth. In this weekend's section of 1 John, the author demonstrates how the Christian life isn't stagnant. We all hope for growth. And you’ve come to the right place for it: God’s Word among God’s people.

To receive 250-word devotions on 1 John 2:12-14 this week, Monday – Friday, go to st-andrew-online.org/devotions.