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Alone by the Tree, Together at the Altar

by Kurt Lantz Late at night I sit in the living room with the lights from the Christmas tree providing a warm glow and sacred choral music softly streaming in the quiet hours. It is quieter than it used to be. The only voice softly singing or humming along is my own. The Christmas tree lights don’t glow quite like they used to (not dimmer, but perhaps they seem a little duller). It is warm, but not as warm as it once was; there is only my own body heat on the couch on these winter nights when the draft finds ...

Small Town Faith

by Christopher McLean God declares through Micah: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). Bethlehem was little, but from it came the Christ. Many of our hometown churches are little too, but in them we receive the same Christ “from ancient days.” Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but He grew up in another small town called Nazareth. Apparently, it wasn’t a very significant place, as it ...

Bound to Sin? Luther’s Bondage of the Will

by James Kellerman If people know of one writing by Martin Luther, it is his 95 Theses. Surprisingly, though, Luther never named it one of his best writings. Instead, that honour belongs to The Bondage of the Will, which is celebrating its 500th anniversary this December. It was written in response to the Diatribe of Desiderius Erasmus, a brilliant philologist and Renaissance humanist who sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church while staying within its fold. In the Diatribe, he faulted Luther for making bold assertions on difficult topics such as the freedom of the will. Erasmus argued that Christians should leave ...

The Road to Lutheranism

by Robin Dalloo One of the growing trends in North American church life today is the movement of young people away from Evangelical and Protestant churches for Roman Catholicism or Orthodoxy—or at least that’s a claim often made online. Believing that these two churches are the “original” versions of Christianity, such converts forget the historical reasons for the Reformation and the Gospel truth that the Reformers fought for the freedom to preach. Today, many people see the Reformation and its 500 years of history as mere innovation and as a deviation from the true church. The Reformed theologian Kevin Vanhoozer puts ...

Christ’s Death and Resurrection for Us

by Martin Luther If we desire to understand the benefits of the resurrection of Christ, we must keep in view two distinct pictures. The one is sombre, full of distress, misery, and woes; it is the scene of blood presented to us on Good Friday—Christ crucified between murderers and dying with excruciating pain. This scene we must reflect upon with much earnestness to realize that it all happened on account of our sins: yes, that Christ as the true High Priest sacrificed Himself for us and paid our debts with His death. We all ought to know that our sins thus ...

Headlines

Local food bank support

[December 26, 2025]

Cornwall congregation joins LCC

[December 19, 2025]

Synod office closed Dec. 18 due to weather

[December 18, 2025]

Christmastide Reformation

[December 17, 2025]

December 26, 2025

Local food bank support

FORT FRANCES, Ont. – The congregation of The Church of the Lutheran Hour in Fort Frances gave donations of food for the local food bank during the month of October. The congregation recognizes the need for food banks during these difficult times and thanks God…

December 22, 2025

Dual parish installation in the Toronto circuit

TORONTO – On August 17, 2025, East Regional Pastor Marvin Bublitz ordained and installed Rev. Vijay Samuel as the Associate Pastor of the dual parish of Immanuel Lutheran in Georgetown and Risen Christ in Mississauga. The Service of Ordination and Installation was well-attended, and the…

December 19, 2025

Cornwall congregation joins LCC

CORNWALL, Ont. – St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cornwall, Ontario and its pastor, Rev. Connor Longaphie, were officially welcomed into Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) on Sunday, October 26. The joyous event was the culmination of an ongoing process to seek membership in LCC and took…

December 18, 2025

Synod office closed Dec. 18 due to weather

Synod Office Closure: For the safety of staff, and due to inclement weather in southern Manitoba, Synod Office is closed today, December 18, 2025. —————

December 17, 2025

Christmastide Reformation

by David Haberstock In Luther’s day, the Western Church conducted the liturgy in Latin, even though few in Europe had spoken Latin for almost 900 years (the Roman Empire had fallen 1,100 years earlier, and Latin morphed into the Romance languages). As a result, the…