Friends of Immanuel,
Life is definitely starting to ratchet back up around Immanuel! The teachers reported back to work on Monday, I led our annual All-Staff retreat on Tuesday morning, there have been lots of meetings and exciting conversations around planning for the fall and where our God of the Unexpected is going to be leading us in the months ahead – I’m a little out of breath and it’s only August 7^th!

While “it’s only August 7^th,” I want to put some dates and times and ministry events on your radar right now in anticipation of what will be an amazing, wild, and crazy fall! You’ll be seeing more of this information in these email updates, in worship folders, in social media posts, and other communication.

September 7^th – One worship service at 9:00am with our annual Bible Study Fair in the atrium before and after worship. On this day, Miss Emma will be commissioned and installed as our Director of Christian Education, giving us the opportunity to give thanks and celebrate her and the fact that she is here with us!

September 14^th – We’re back to our regular schedule of worship with 8:00am Classic Grace and 10:30am Contemporary Joy. During the Education Hour on this morning (9:30am-10:20am), I am encouraging everyone to come together in the sanctuary for some Vision Casting. Miss Emma, Pastor Robin, and I will be sharing some of the many exciting opportunities that are coming this year.

• Miss Emma will speak to children, youth, and young adult ministries through the eyes of Radical Hospitality.
• Pastor Robin will speak to the educational, small group, discipleship, and connecting ministry opportunities under Transformational Learning.
• And I’ll be speaking to some of what lies ahead in a bigger picture sort of way for our ministry as a whole, using the third leg of our Mission and Vision, Fearless Living.

Starting in September, our fall worship theme will be The Way of Jesus – there will be more coming that I can share with you as I continue to work on and develop that theme with our Worship Planning Team.

Finally, be sure to have these two big events marked on your calendar: Family Fall Fest and Trunk or Treat on Wednesday, October 29, 5:00pm-7:00pm, and the Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, November 22, 9:00am-3:00pm.

There is more! But that’s enough for now. Stay tuned, continue to pray for our work together here at Immanuel, give thanks for the many blessings that we enjoy, both on a personal level and as a ministry together!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,
Today’s lead article is from Miss Emma, giving us the scoop on their recent experience with the LCMS Youth Gathering in New Orleans. Enjoy!

Friends of Immanuel,
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7

These verses from St. Paul’s letter to Colossians are part of this Sunday’s Epistle reading. They were also the main verses for Kathy’s and my wedding back on August 4, 1984! These verses have a lot of encouragement to offer all of us as followers of Jesus and I’d like to offer a few devotional thoughts today.

The first thing to note is that Paul is celebrating all of us who have received Jesus! This is a subtle yet very significant word choice – that we have “received” Jesus as Lord – not “accepted” Him. Briefly stated, this is what grace is all about and the emphasis Luther placed on grace during the time of the Reformation in the 1500s. Without Jesus, we are spiritually dead and can do nothing when it comes to our spiritual and eternal life. The Holy Spirit, working in baptism and through God’s Word, breathes life into us. It is the Holy Spirit who creates faith through these means, who opens our hearts, our minds, and our lives for us to receive this gift of God, which is life and salvation! (Check out Ephesians 2:8-10, too.)

The part we get to play in our lives of following Jesus are in response to that gift of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness. Paul urges us in Colossians 2, to “continue to live in him.” In many of his letters, Paul was inspired to put together lists of ways we are to live in Christ, to follow Him, to obey, to listen, to grow, as well as lists of what to avoid, lifestyles and choices and temptations to run from. Here in Colossians 2, he keeps it pretty simple – keep doing what you’re doing, living your life in Jesus!

The next three words/phrases, develop that a little further. Through faith in Jesus, we are rooted in Him. The idea is for those roots to go deep. Jesus told numerous stories encouraging us to do just that – by listening to Him, being in the Word, worshiping together, giving of ourselves and our time, talents, finances, and other resources. Just as in a tree or plant, the deeper the roots go, the stronger the foundation and the more difficult to uproot. And at the same time, as those roots go deep, we grow, or, as Paul puts it here, we are “built up” – and not just in general, but we are specifically built up in Jesus! He’s not done yet – because not only are we rooted in Jesus and built up in Him, but we are also “strengthened in the faith [we] were taught.” That’s our Lord’s desire for all of us – to be strong, especially with all the other voices in our culture that are clamoring for our attention, all of which serve to steer us away from Jesus and the foundational Truths He lays out for us in His Word.

What’s the outcome of all this root development, building, growing, and strengthening in our faith and in Jesus? We’re going to overflow with thankfulness. Gratitude is a hallmark of followers of Christ. Why? Because we know that Jesus has given us absolutely everything we need for this life and for the next! We may not be overflowing in finances and savings, but He provides for us, cares for us, and loves us. He’s given us real hope that can help see us through difficult times and even tragedies we may face. As Paul wrote in Romans 8, there is nothing in this created world that can “separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is real hope, real encouragement!

Let these words from our Lord lift you up today and be an encouragement. Look for ways to show your thankfulness and gratitude to God as you go through the next few days. We are blessed in so many ways – thank You, Lord!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel, 

Yesterday we looked more closely at the account of Jesus visiting the home of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. We looked at the tensions with which we live when it comes to the choices we make. Jesus urges—even challenges!—us to make the best choice we can. In saying that, Jesus expresses His desire to be at the center of our lives, leading, guiding, forgiving, and blessing us. With Him at the center, we can then let who we are and what we do flow from Him, from His love, His grace, and all that He’s done for us on the cross and through the empty tomb. Then the choices we make are ideally under His guidance and direction. 

 We know, not only from the commendation Jesus gave Mary for choosing the better way (choosing to sit at His feet and listen to Him), but from other parables, stories, and teaching that we have from Jesus and other inspired writers of God’s Word, that listening to and truly hearing the Lord through His Word is of critical importance for our lives. As one historic prayer of the Church puts it, “Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” 

I write and preach regularly on the importance and the value of putting God’s Word to work in our hearts and lives, so that is nothing new to us here at Immanuel. We know that Jesus is the living Word of God and that all Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, point us to Jesus. To that point, I came across a fascinating social media post about Bible cross-references. Cross-references in the Bible are included in many study Bibles that refer the reader from one passage of Scripture to other passages that are related to one another. Cross-referencing is now easier than ever with online Bibles and the technology that allows us to search the Scriptures in so many different ways.  

Here is a quote from Chris Harrison who worked on a project of visualizing the cross-references in the Bible, which, for me, highlights how intricately connected God’s Word is from beginning to end. Here is a little of what Harrison wrote, followed by the visual he created: 

“This set of visualizations started as a collaboration between Pastor Christoph Römhild and myself in 2007. He had assembled a digital dataset of cross references found in the King James Bible. Cross-references are conceptual links between verses, connecting locations, people, phrases, etc. found in different parts of the Bible. Cross-references are included in the margins or footnotes of some Bibles. The pastor and I struggled to find an elegant solution to render the data – 63,779 cross references in total. We set our sights on something more beautiful than functional. At the same time, we wanted a visualization that honored and revealed the complexity of the Bible at every level – as one leans in, smaller details should become visible. This ultimately led us to the multi-colored arc diagram you see below. Jordan Peterson has included this graphic in his lecture series discussing how the Bible could be considered ‘the first hyperlinked book.’  

The bar chart that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible, starting with Genesis 1 on the left. Books alternate in color between light and dark gray, with the first book of the Old and New Testaments in white. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in that chapter (for instance, the longest bar is the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119). Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible are depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect.” (from https://www.chrisharrison.net/index.php/visualizations/BibleViz)  

 Isn’t that beautiful?! And amazing?! We truly do have an amazing God who desires to be in relationship with each of us, to speak into our lives, to direct and re-direct us back to Him day-after-day. We lean into His Truth as we listen to Him and look to Him in all matters. To that end, I commend this week’s What Now? to you as well:  

What Now? 

Be thoughtful and intentional about choosing the one thing that we need – to take time to listen to the Lord and allow Him to serve us through His Word. 

Serving together in Christ alone! 

Pastor Glen 

Friends of Immanuel,
I want to thank all who were able to be at last night’s Voting Assembly Congregational Meeting regarding the 2025-2026 budget for Immanuel. If you missed that meeting but would like to catch up with what was presented and discussed, here is the link to the live stream – https://www.youtube.com/live/6UVOvQ0vIwg?si=1IHK3rAoM3wKyTx3. I’ve included a copy of both the budget narrative and the summary sheet of the budget at the end of today’s email update. If you have specific questions about the budget or last night’s meeting, feel free to reach out to Dawn Bowers, Immanuel’s Director of Accounting and Finance (dbowers@ImmanuelLoveland.org or 970-667-4506), Shawn York, Immanuel’s Executive Council President (ECchair@ImmanuelLoveland.org), or to me.

I appreciated the numerous questions and comments that were expressed last night as what we are facing is not easy. The Executive Council and Finance Team have been working tirelessly for months on this budget. The challenge has been, on the one hand, wrestling with how to be the best stewards we can be of the resources that God provides through us, His people, both with regard to anticipating offerings, gifts, tuition, etc. At the same time, we’ve been looking at our expenses, including fixed costs of mortgage, utilities, insurance, etc., along with the salaries and benefits for our amazing church and school staff. There is a very real tension between cutting costs, including consideration of cutting staff, but realizing that if this is done, we are also losing valuable resources for moving forward with the ministry with which we’ve been entrusted. In the end, it was decided that we need all the staff we have, which we feel is bare bones, in order for us to keep growing – growing our ongoing ministries as well as being creative with new opportunities for outreach and growth.

There was concern raised about a second year of a salary freeze – expressing that this is not just a freeze for all our Immanuel staff but, in reality, it is a salary reduction because of inflation, cost of living increases, etc. The concern was also that because of this, we could lose good people from our staff because of this freeze. This, too, the EC wrestled with but in the end, with facing a $154,000 deficit budget already, didn’t feel that more could be added to that deficit. It was not an easy decision. I, along with the EC, appreciate the concern over this matter and your concern for our staff.

There were also so many positive take-aways from both last night’s meeting as well as the ongoing work with the EC. The three studies we are doing in conjunction with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) are all in progress. My understanding is that the school study is almost completed and we should have the LCEF report in about a month. In the meantime, some recommendations have already been made and are being implemented.

The Land Use study is also making progress. We have just received some very preliminary thoughts from LCEF on possible options. As was stressed at the meeting, there will be no action taken with regard to our land without much more consideration among our leadership and also much more conversation with the congregation as a whole for decisions of this magnitude. As I’ve mentioned over the last month or so, we need to be prayerful about how the Lord desires for us to use this blessing of our land for ministry and the building of His Kingdom. Much more to come and much more to continue to keep in prayer!

The Church study is also well underway. The main components of this include strategic planning, which is in the beginning stages. The desire is to reach out to many of our ministry teams and groups to talk about both what the Lord is doing right now and where He is leading us as we strive to discern His direction for us with regard to every aspect of His ministry here at Immanuel.

The other main aspect of the Church study will be a stewardship campaign this fall. This is a recommendation that has already come to us and plans are in progress. This will include a fall stewardship sermon series, educational opportunities for all of us to engage and grow in our understanding of and practice of good stewardship of our own finances, time, and abilities, and the opportunity to make a financial commitment near Thanksgiving. In addition to education and growth in our own personal stewardship, this stewardship campaign, as a component of the budget process, will also include covering some capital expenditures due to our 18-year-old building (new carpeting for rooms and hallways, sound system and lighting for the sanctuary, parking lot resurfacing and repair, as well as putting money away for anticipated roof repairs or replacement, and other major emergency facility needs), and helping cover any budget deficits over the next three years.

I realize this can all be a bit daunting and even overwhelming, but I share it with you because, personally, I’m looking forward to exploring what the Lord has in store for us. I’ve seen His hand at work over these past months in developing this budget and the accompanying longer-range plan for the next several years. You are an amazing congregation and community of faith who have responded with tremendous faith and trust in our Lord to the opportunities we’ve had over the course of many, many years! As we continue to keep our focus on Jesus and the mission He’s given us to share His Good News of His love, the life He’s given us, and the hope we have in Him, I know that He will continue to direct us in the ways He wants us to go as we further and build His Kingdom.

Let’s continue to be prayerful, faithful, grounded in God’s Word, worshiping together each week, and using the gifts, talents, abilities, and resources with which we’ve been blessed to be about His work! This is a great time to be part of His Church – and I thank you for being here at Immanuel and I look forward to our next steps in this journey of faith and life in our Savior!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

July 14, 2025

Friends of Immanuel,

As promised in my message yesterday, today will be a wrap-up of my sermon about An Unexpected Hero, Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, with a few practical applications to consider. First, I want to share with you the two long quotes I read from Dr. Arthur Just, a Lutheran Theologian, who authored the Concordia Commentary on Luke 9:51-24:53.

The first was in regard to Jesus’ reply to the expert in the law’s correct answer to Jesus’ question, asking the man where you find the answer to his question of how to inherit eternal life, and Jesus told him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” This quote from Dr. Just speaks to an easy mistake of thinking that inheriting eternal life was about what we do – loving God, loving others, and being a good person – rather than inheriting eternal life totally by God’s grace.

“The answer assumes that the way of Torah is the way of life. ‘Life’ is the result for one who, in the communion of God’s love, walks in his ways. But it is possible to move from the summary statements given by the [expert in the law] to a moralizing of the Torah, as did many of the Jews. One must read the Torah as the book of God’s gracious election and constitution of his people despite their sin, not as a ‘how to’ book about earning merit before God. If one loses sight of the primacy of God’s grace in the Torah, then the focus shifts from the inheritance God gives to the deeds people do.”

The other quote I used at the end of the sermon was regarding the shock of this story that can come straight at us. Jesus’ teaching and storytelling often has many layers and multiple significant meanings to draw from them. And that certainly is the case with the story of the Good Samaritan! This quote explains the idea that we are actually the person who was beaten and left for dead, and Jesus is the Good Samaritan. Dr. Just writes: “The expert in the law says, ‘I’ll act to love my neighbor as myself; just tell me who he is.’ But Jesus answers, ‘You cannot act, because you are dead. You need someone to love you, show mercy to you, heal you, pay for you, give you lodging, revive you. I am the one you despise because I associate with sinners, but in fact I am the one who fulfills the Law, who embodies the Torah, and who brings God’s mercy. I am your neighbor and will give you the gifts of mercy, healing, life. As I live in you, you will have life and will do mercy – not motivated by laws and definitions, but animated by my love.’”

I said that there are three Unexpected Heroes in this story. Jesus is the first and the Samaritan is the second (who is actually Jesus, too!). Who is the third Unexpected Hero? You and me! When Jesus asked, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” and the expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” This story isn’t just theoretical. We, as God’s children, are called to act, to live out our faith, to obey our Lord and what He asks us to do as His people in order to share this Good News of Jesus.

The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, tells us that the only way we can show such compassion, mercy, and love, is from having received such compassion, mercy, and love from God. Because of Jesus, we can “Go and do likewise”! What does that look like and how do we do that? Honestly, that is going to look different for each one of us, given the unique opportunities the Lord presents to us in the course of any given day. Looking at the bigger picture of the flooding we have been hearing about and praying over, most of us don’t have the ability or opportunity to give hands-on-the-ground-help when it comes to the devastating floods in Texas or New Mexico or other natural disaster that we hear of across our country. But what can we do? We can give financially, pray, encourage with notes, etc. We can explore Christian relief organization websites to learn more about what can be done.

I briefly raised the challenge of how we all have to honestly say that we can relate to the two religious leaders who passed by the beaten and dying man, with our own thoughts of, “I don’t have time; I don’t want to get involved; I just want to mind my own business, live my own life, do my own thing. That’s not my problem.” And we pass by on the other side. This often comes up with people holding up signs on street corners asking for money. Are we supposed to give them money? What do we do? My encouragement has several different considerations. First, you can give to Immanuel’s Community Assistance Fund. We give monthly support to three different Christian agencies in Loveland who help and provide for those in need. Second, the idea of putting together a gallon baggie or small package filled with a water bottle, power/nutrition bars, a Gospel tract, and other simple yet helpful items, that you can hand to those who are asking. Third, there is nothing wrong with giving money to these individuals. Will they use it in good, healthy ways? Not necessarily, but that is the choice that they make, not yours. There is not an absolute or “right” answer with this.

One final thought about practical applications from this story of the Good Samaritan. The help we can offer those in need can be very simple, ideas that I regularly mention. These are things like mowing someone’s lawn, raking leaves, or shoveling snow. It can include calling for help if you see someone broken down on the side of the road (and you have no mechanical skills – like me!). It can mean just taking the time to listen to someone, particularly in times of stress or anxiety or tragedy in their life. Basically, we strive to have Jesus’ eyes to see people in need and to have His heart to express compassion, love, and mercy.

I’ll finish by offering this week’s What Now? and the encouragement to take this to heart:

What Now?

Embrace and take to heart the compassion, mercy, grace, and love our Unexpected Hero, Jesus, has brought to you. Then look for ways in the coming weeks that you can share His compassion, mercy, grace, and love as you “Go and do likewise!”

P.S. Lastly, we are in need of help serving and/or cleaning up from Wednesday morning’s memorial service for Hal Hogness. If you are able to lend a hand, even for part of the time, please reach out to churchoffice@immanuelloveland.org to let us know. Thanks!

Serving together in Christ alone!

Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,
As if the horrific flooding in Texas wasn’t enough, the small mountain town of Ruidoso, New Mexico, was hit with historic flash floods on Tuesday, a community that had suffered devastating wildfires last year. It’s reported that two children, 4 and 7, identified as the children of a soldier on leave from Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, as well as an adult male, were killed in the flood. Video footage of the flooding is hard to believe.

Meanwhile, in Texas, the death toll has risen to 120 with more than 173 people still declared missing. Vigils are being held, community pastors and counselors are available to offer a listening ear, prayer, and support, and the grisly job of continuing to search for any survivors or for those who have died, continues.

For most of us, it is a helpless feeling. We pray and we grieve at what we cannot imagine, as we watch the updates and headlines. For those who want to help financially, while there are many trustworthy organizations doing vital work in these areas, there are several ministries and organizations that I would recommend sending any financial gifts to assist in the relief efforts.

1. The Texas District LCMS Disaster Relief Fund https://txlcms.org/donate;
2. Orphan Grain Train https://orphangraintrain-bloom.kindful.com
3. LCMS Disaster Relief https://www.lcms.org/givenow/disaster

Continue to pray for those who have lost so much, for the strength of the pastors and churches in those regions to help and serve those who are hurting, bringing a word of hope in Jesus, for the search and rescue workers and volunteers who continue their necessary work, and for the Lord to use these tragedies in ways that only He can.

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen