Pastor's Monthly Message
Reflections on various topics that seek to inspire, inform and comfort the reader
May 2026
"The Greatest Story Ever Told – And Your Place In It."
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The month of May will bring us to the conclusion of the Season of Easter and bring us in the Church Season historically called, “The Sundays after Pentecost” or Ordinary Time.
This time of the Church Year, much like our lives, is about the incredible work of Almighty God through people like you and me. We may be surprised at the truth God reveals when we feel our life and our purpose is ordinary at best. The True God of the Universe, who has made himself known in History wants you to know the Greatest Story ever told and you have a place in it.
It is typically unhelpful to compare ourselves to others, but how often do we compare our lives today to that of the Christians of the early Church? What an incredible chapter of the Salvation Story for them to be a part of! The first Easter, Jesus’ Ascension to Heaven, the Day of Pentecost. Marvelous! I find it curious that when we struggle against coveting someone else’s place in the Salvation Story, we gloss over or outright ignore the low points they lived through: abandoning and betraying Jesus in the garden, the agonies of Good Friday, the divisions and dangers the early Church faced.
Instead of comparing and longing for our lives to be set in another chapter of the Salvation Story, I call on all of us to give thanks, rejoice, and marvel that God has brought us into his eternal family through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I pray that we would be filled with the Holy Spirit as we read God’s Holy Word to better grasp the treasure of this present day, this Ordinary Time we are afforded between the those early days of the Church and the Second Advent of Jesus and the Resurrection to come.
Our Men’s Prayer Breakfast (join us the third Saturday of each month!) recently inspired a thought to help me not be discouraged in my task as a preacher. We were discussing and sharing our thoughts on the greatest speeches in history and I realized I wanted my sermon every Sunday to be as historic as President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Come to think of it…I believe some of the men said they’d love for my sermons to be like that address, at least in length!
I learned that I need to stop trying make every opportunity I have to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ feel like a momentous occasion, and instead, recognize it IS a significant event because God’s Word is being spoke out loud, shared out loud. I am afforded minutes, hours, days, years…decades to share the Greatest News ever told, just like Saint Peter. “…all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” – Acts 2:36
The Gettysburg Address by President Lincoln continues to have an impact to this day. The Story we have been gifted with is the one that will have an impact to the very last day of this broken world’s existence. The Greatest Story ever told is so powerful it will leave every grave empty at the beginning of the end, the Second Advent of him whom God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, crucified…resurrected…ascended…and is coming again. Alleluia!
Every “ordinary” day of your life is a gift from God. You have been created by God and placed in this century, this year, this month, this day, this very hour for God’s intended purpose: To be a part of the Greatest Story ever told. You are called in this place to be still and know that He is your God (read Psalm 46!). You are called to go from this place to make known to the world around you what God has in store for them, freely, because of the price Jesus paid for them, for you, for us all upon the cross.
You know the Greatest Story ever told. Now go and make this story known to those God calls you to engage (Ephesians 2:17!) so that your life glorifies the risen Jesus – THAT is anything but ordinary!
What an incredible chapter of the Salvation Story your life is a part of! May you marvel at the incredible task God gifts to you as he calls you to know this Salvation Story he is unfolding throughout history is the Greatest Story ever told, because it is the Story of life eternal for you and for all through Christ Jesus alone. Welcome to the Greatest Story ever told – now go and make him known (Matthew 28:18-20 & John 20:30-31!), because your place in the story is to make Jesus Christ known to those who may yet believe…and strengthen us in our calling, who already believe. Alleluia and Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Dolby
April 2026
"The Light was the life of men. Truly, He is the Supernova."
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:4-5
In the waning days of Lent and the month of March, my “study and writing” playlist brought back some “classics” from my college days. One of several brought me back to those good ol’ days is entitled “Supernova” by a band called The Echoing Green.
The thrill of hearing a song that was instrumental in a time I was growing up in Faith fits beautifully in the Easter Season. May the Scripture passages I share alongside the lyrics inspire you to marvel at the Light of Life and joyfully share the Light of the World, Jesus, with this world ravaged by darkness.
“I take a step to what’s real or at least to what it is I’m chasing. Another step to reveal all the shadows that I keep embracing.
Failure forgets to fascinate, this Light, inside will resonate. Shame dissipates with open eyes, refreshing fate, I can’t describe…”
The monthly memory work, John 1:4-5 (see above) heavily inspires these opening lyrics. God’s Divine Light breaks through the darkness. God’s Light works on the cosmic level (as we’ll see later) and just as important, on the personal level for you. God draws near to you to give YOU light…just as he said in the beginning, “Let there be light!” God declares a new beginning to your life and mine, through the Light of the World, Jesus, who rescues you and me from all our failures and all of our shame. See? He makes all things new. Alleluia!
“This time it feels like I’ve been touched by a Supernova. Inside – the Hand that touches hearts is touching mine
As I find my tears are all consumed by the Supernova. This time the hope that lights the world is in my eyes.”
The two epic, biblical metaphors to highlight in this section are, 1)“Hand that touches” and 2) “my tears are all consumed by the Supernova”.
These lyrics meditate on the glory of God doing MORE than merely announcing the Truth. He transforms our heart by drawing us close to his transcendent presence to heal and restore our relationship with him…forever. Alleluia!
These lyrics bring to mind the Truth of:
- Psalm 139:5, You hem me in, behind and before me, and lay your hand upon me.
- Psalm 56:8, You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?
What beautiful descriptions of God’s work! The Lord does more than simply announce the Truth to all of Creation (and even that would be more than we could hope for or deserve!). God transforms us in a relational way. He desires to draw us close to himself. He heals us, restores us, resurrects as he draws us close to his transcendent presence in relationship.
His Light consumes all of our tears. Our tears, sorrow, and pain are not forgotten by the Lord of Life…they are consumed in his marvelous Light, shown forth once for all upon the cross and when the Darkness of Death consumed by the Light of Easter Morn. The Grave and all our sorrow is swallowed up by the Light of the World as he gives us life where there was only death. Absolutely incredible Truth to be reassured of and share with others in this Season of the Resurrection!
“There’s a piece of my mind that tries to fathom the stars
or to contemplate the Divine, don’t need to look very far.
When You bring me the reasons just to believe,
You bring me answers I can’t conceive.
How can I bring You doubt when you bring me the sky?”
In these final lyrics from the second verse, the song’s cosmic imagery echoes Holy Scriptures use of creation as revelation. What a joy to wonder at the cosmos and be inspired as God uses his creation to stir wonder in our hearts that he would have us marvel at his Divine Greatness revealing his love for us despite our human smallness and mortality.
Psalm 19:1-4, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun.
Isaiah 40:26, Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.
The Almighty God of the Universe desires to show us his glory through Creation in general and special revelation of the Light, our Resurrection. Jesus, the Light of the World, indeed the Supernova, makes it possible for us to enjoy Creation as God intended for all mankind. We are gifted eternity to enjoy what God originally had in store for all of us in the Garden of Eden. Think on that Truth whenever you’re marveling at the splendor of creation all around us, especially the sky in the morning and the sky at night!
I pray this meditation for Easter inspires you as you witness to the Light of Life, Jesus Christ. The Supernova. Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
In Christ,
Pastor Dolby
March 2026
"This is the Day the LORD has made"
This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Ps. 118:23-24
When I was on vacation last month it was very natural to have a big smile on my face and recite Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” When I was blessed with time to exchange work duties with early morning hikes and crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean to enrich quiet afternoons enjoying a good book like Homer’s Odyssey and Steven J. Lawson’s Preaching the Psalms. Yes, it was easy to see that this was a picturesque day the LORD has made.
The Lenten midweek sermons and Sunday Bible studies on Job have focused on an important devotional topic: Why do we serve God?
When we enjoy a reprieve from our earthly toil the answer can certainly come to our heart and lips more joyfully: Why do we serve God? Well, look at what he’s provided me today in a reprieve, a break from all the stressors of the daily routine.
However, when we are in the middle of that daily routine, that regular toil, and perhaps earthly strife that piles on to our overloaded “to do” list and our overwhelmed soul – the question can be more challenging, perhaps disheartening. Why do we serve God? I don’ t know, pastor. That is a tough question to try and answer with everything going on.
The first verse of our monthly memory work has the psalmist inspired by the Holy Spirit to rejoice that the LORD is doing marvelous things, incredible things that we are able to see with our own eyes.
Isn’t it encouraging to be reminded that God does not wait until we have everything under control and perfectly handled before he draws near to us? Isn’t it amazing that God does not wait for us to figure out how to solve all of the problems we are facing before he is our gift, Immanuel, literally “God with us”?
This very day, which the LORD has made, is a day full of toil, struggle, and a reality that overwhelms each of us. Yet this day is a day God has made to exist in joy because of the day we are approaching, when all the bad is taken up by Jesus onto that cross…a day he ultimately makes Good, for your sake and for mine.
God does not call on us to pretend there isn’t sorrow or to downplay the suffering each of us faces in our unique life’s journey. But God does pierce this present darkness by his very Word, “In him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4-5
I pray that the days of this Lenten journey would be filled with rejoicing for you. I pray you are reminded, especially in the middle of the day or the middle of the night, when rejoicing is the polar opposite of your present reality…that the Creator of the Universe created the eighth day of Creation for your sake, for you to be ultimately rescued from the toil, the suffering, and all that overwhelms you in the depths of your bones.
May the Savior, the One we are following in this Lenten pilgrimage, be your peace and your joy in the middle of your afflictions and suffering. One day those will be no more, because of what he accomplished (finished!) once upon the cross. Until that glorious day we can rejoice in this day that the LORD has made, God made it possible to live in hope of that resurrection future on a day of suffering that ultimately was called a Good Friday. This is the day…this is the day that the LORD has made – we will rejoice and be glad in it…because of Jesus Christ alone. Thanks be to God. Amen and Amen!
In Christ,
Pastor Dolby
February 2026
"A Psalm and two words for February"
- Opening reflection on Psalm 32:7
February Greetings, beloved people of God! It is my prayer that this devotional reflection and two biblical words bless the days leading up to Lent and the first week and a half of Lent this year.
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. – Psalm 32:7
The seventh verse of this psalm of David, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, sums up a truth about our life as God’s people. First, we learn that God promises to take care of us in our daily life. God is truly our hiding place, our protection from all the attacks from our Old Adam, attacks from Satan, and attacks of terror over our final enemy, Death. Here we have God’s own promise to hide us, dare I say, deliver us from his wrath our sin justly deserves. The mystery of him being our hiding place is best shown in his love, his forgiveness poured out upon the cross through his only begotten Son, our only Savior, Jesus.
Second, God preserves us in faith as he daily reminds us in his Holy Word of his very own name he’s sealed us with in Holy Baptism. He sustains us in the mystery of his body and blood given to us in, with, and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion. He preserves us by filling us with his Holy Word when we hear it, read it, and inwardly digest it. He preserves and protects us with this Word that is the most effective of weapons against our foes (Hebrews 4:12).
Third, the joyous anticipation of an eternity praising him without unburdened, unworried shouts of victory because of his deliverance. The promised resurrection to come provides us comfort and peace God commands us to live in and share during this present, earthly life.
- Two words for February
Psalm 32:7 brought to mind two godly words for February. I pray these are more than an academic blessing to you – I pray they are a spiritual blessing for you and those who see God working his grace and forgiveness in your life.
The first word is Shalom (pronounced “shah-lom” with a long “o” sound), which is Hebrew for peace. The LORD our God gives us peace by inviting us into his protection, as our hiding place. He offers us peace that the world cannot offer. His peace is wrapped up in the promise of forgiveness. We have nothing to prove to him and the more we read of Holy Scripture we understand that we have no hope to make anything up to him.
Psalm 32 is a penitential psalm of Confession and Absolution. This is one of many penitential psalms (6; 38; 51; 102; 130;143) that Luther viewed as instructive for wisdom and understanding within a spiritual and holy context over against a worldly context.
The beginning of the psalm teaches two things: 1) all of us are in sin (no one is righteous; Holy Spirit has Saint Paul echo this truth in Romans 3:10) and no one is blessed; 2) no one is capable of meriting the forgiveness of sins, but it is the Lord alone who forgives freely by not imputing guilt. In verse 7, God is bringing David out of seclusion that he is in, likely struggling to find any hope when he knows he has failed God. God draws near to David and restores him, forgives him, and makes a public acknowledgement through the words he gives David to write, sing, and proclaim: God wants all to see that those who believe in him, all who confess their sins to him will indeed be forgiven, set free, and given new life.
Shalom is a beautiful gift from God in various other places in the Hebrew Scriptures. I will share just one for the sake of brevity (according to my own sense of “short” sermons, devotions, etc.).
In Genesis 15:15, God makes a covenant with Abraham and it includes a powerful promise of the gift of peace. “As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.”
Martin Luther helps us ponder this peace God gives to Abraham as a gracious gift: “Since Abraham had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, he realized that these words referred to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the future world.” – Luther’s Works 3:38 (American Edition)
The second word for February is zoe, pronounced “zoh-ee.” Zoe is Koine (common dialect) Greek for life…and more specific in the New Testament usage: eternal life.
We looked to the first book of the Hebrew Scriptures for one of many uses of the word “Shalom” which is God’s gift of everlasting peace (both now and for eternity). Now we look to the first book of the New Testament for one of the many uses of the word “Zoe” which is God’s gift of eternal life. Matthew 19:29, Jesus said, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or fathers or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”
Thank the Lord for our Lutheran Confessions’ devotional reflection on this understanding of “zoe” or eternal life. “Christ does not mean that leaving parents, wife, and siblings is a work that must be done because it merits forgiveness of sins and eternal life. … When Christ speaks about leaving wife and children, it becomes clear that he does not approve this kind of leaving. We know that God’s commandment forbids leaving wife and children. God’s command is to leave it different, that is, when power or tyranny pushes us to leave or to deny the Gospel.” – Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXVII 40-41
May the Lord our God bless your February as he reminds you that he is indeed your hiding place, seek him in that place in prayer! May he fill your days with the shalom and zoe only He can give; so the world all around us sees the light of forgiveness, peace, and new life through Christ Jesus alone is offered to every single one of them as well – that they too might receive his peace and life on earth because of the eternal peace and life to come through Him. Alleluia and Amen!
In Christ,
Pastor Dolby
January 2026
"Personal Hopes for 2026: Making Time for Discipline"
I have high expectations for myself in the new calendar year. Thankfully, the inspiration is not rooted in the cultural tropes of “New Year’s Resolutions” but in the Word that brings the dead to life.
Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Like a muddled spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. – Proverbs 25:25-28
When I look back on 2025 I believe God is providing me a refreshing draught of water to consume as well as throwing a cold splash of water in my face when I hear verse 28.
I want to be a bit vulnerable to offer you encouragement rather than asking you to feel sorry for me (but you can pray for me on this!). I realize that I need to mature in how I treasure the time I am afforded in my weekly routine. By the grace of God, I have been pretty responsible with checking off all my weekly “to do” items. But I have been struggling to build in precious time to lay down my weekly “to do” items and dig a bit deeper into God’s Holy Word.
The strength and wisdom of God’s Holy Spirit has carried me so often in the time I am able to set aside to read, pray, write, and prepare my sermons and Bible Studies…but boy, oh boy, would I LOVE to grow up a little bit and give more time (specifically 30 minutes more a day) in personal study for the benefit of my devotional discipline and my academic discipline.
I have some high hopes for my personal goals for 2025, because I often feel like a city broken and without adequate walls of protection. It is quite the challenge to not seek my own glory or chase what the Old Adam would have me chase: “Why don’t you slow down, relax, and put your feet up.” I am prayerful that I can adjust that to: “Why don’t you slow down, relax, and put aside a little more time for prayer and reading of His Holy Word?”
It is God-pleasing to enjoy some “honey” of relaxation and recreation, but I am thankful for God’s loving nudge disciplining me to a joyful inspiration to grow up by making more time for him, so that the rest of my time – whether serving or at rest – I am equipped with more of His Holy Word as a strong city on a hill instead of a city broken.
May these Words of Life given by the Holy Spirit instill a fire in you as you prayerfully plan your personal hopes for 2026: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23
I am eager to see how the LORD our God surprises all of us with his provision of priceless time. Consider how much God can do when we intentionally spend more time sitting at his feet every day. I have high expectations for the thirty extra minutes I am going to set aside for him daily this year, because it will be the Holy Spirit’s work rather than my own! May God bless you with wisdom to see time as a treasure to offer to our King, our Savior, our source of all joy and goodness. In Jesus’ Name. Amen!
In Christ,
Pastor Dolby