Pastor Chris Brademeyer’s Podcast

Why does doctrine matter? Many well-meaning, perfectly sincere people, Christian and otherwise, claim that doctrine, that is teachings, are options, not truths. But this is not the historic Christian position. We have creeds, the Nicene, Apostles’, and Athanasian, that we written to lay out the boundaries of Christian discussions. That is, they divide true things about Christ and false things t...

The traditional name for this Sunday, the second in Lent, is Reminiscere. It means, “remember.” It comes from the Introit which says, “Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love.” In this season of Lent, the Church prays that God would remember His mercy, which He loves to do more than anything else. And today, through the Apostle Paul in our Epistle lesson, the Lord also calls us to...

There is something dangerous about looking inward. We live in a time fascinated by constant introspection. We are told to examine our feelings, to search our hearts, to discover our authentic selves. We are told that the truth is within us, and that salvation, if we may use that word, is found by understanding ourselves more deeply. In other words, the general advice is that to become righteous...

Dear friends in Christ, it is with mixed emotions that we bid farewell to our sister Nadine. I say mixed because there is, on the on hand, a great grief that comes from losing a grandmother, mother, friend, and neighbor. But there is also relief, because the suffering she endured in this fallen body has come to an end, and Christ has brought her safely through death.  I think it fair to say tha...

There is something about the Christian life that does not make sense to those outside of the Church. This life does not look like what a religious life is assumed to look like. Followers of God, it is assumed, should be successful, wealthy, and happy. But I think we all know from experience that this is not how the Christian life actually unfolds.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks these words in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the Sermon on the Mount: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them… When you give to the needy… when you pray… when you fast… do not be like the hypocrites.”

These words are appointed for Ash W...

Today’s readings give us a concept that our culture thinks it already understands: love. Our culture, western culture, speaks constantly about love. They say that love is affirmation. Love is acceptance. Love is desire. Love is romance. Love is emotional intensity. Love is being seen and validated. If it feels strong and sincere, it must be love.

This is al...

There is a question that Christians often hesitate to ask out loud, but many quietly carry in their hearts: If God loves everyone, why are some people not saved? Or perhaps you have asked it this way: If God loves everyone, why is there a hell at all?

Scripture is clear about certain things. God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge...

Today is a feast set aside to remember how Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Law of God in Exodus 13:2 commands that every firstborn male be consecrated to the Lord. Further, Leviticus 12:1-8 commands that a woman after childbirth go through a period of purification for forty days and then offer a sacrifice of either a lamb or two turtledoves is a lamb was...

Most of us learn very early in life a simple rule: you get what you earn. If you work harder, you deserve more. If you show up earlier, you should be paid more. If you sacrifice more, you ought to be rewarded accordingly. That principle governs almost everything in our lives. It governs our jobs, our schools, our farms and businesses, our reputations, and even, if we are honest, how we instinct...

We live in a world of denominations - every city in America has a lot of churches, many claiming to be the best church in town - the gold standard for Christianity. However, there are other churches that may be a bit more humble, admitting that they don't have it all together, but are striving to reach back to the church's Golden Age. All of this begs the question - is there such thing as a perfect church... a perfect Golden Age of...

The Transfiguration of our Lord confronts us with a basic and unavoidable question: Can God actually be known? Not speculated about, not felt toward, not vaguely sensed, but known.

Much of present-day spirituality answers that question with hesitation. God, we are told, is ultimately mysterious, perhaps even unknowable. Truth is said to be relative, especia...

Marriage is a gift from God. It is not an invention of human culture. It is not a contract devised merely for mutual convenience. It is a blessing woven into creation itself. Before sin, before death, before shame, God gave man and woman to one another. And ever since, marriage has remained one of the primary places where God chooses to bless His creatures with His presence, His provision, and ...

At first glance, Baptism can appear to be a very ordinary thing. A little water. A few words. A pastor’s hand. A crying infant or a wet adult. Nothing flashy. Nothing impressive. Nothing that looks particularly powerful. And yet, Scripture insists that something enormous is happening.

Today’s readings all press the same point from different angles: God ...

Today is a momentous occasion. Travis and Tiffany are vowing themselves to each other and thereby entering into God’s estate of holy matrimony. That is to say, they are getting married. And this is a good and God-pleasing thing. God delights in marriage.

The first social institution God created was marriage; it even predates the fall into sin, as our re...

Epiphany is a festival of revelation. It is the Church’s celebration that the child born in Bethlehem is not only the Savior of Israel, but the Savior of the nations, even the Light for the Gentiles. And this was not some unexpected revealing, no it is exactly what the prophet Isaiah proclaimed over five hundred years before: “Arise, shine, for your light ...

There is nothing more frightening for parents than having the life of your child, your newborn baby, in danger. While there is a difference in how we react to the threat, the fear is largely the same. Diseases and genetic conditions are mostly out of our care; violence from others can be either resisted or fled. But the danger is the same in either case. And if you are fortunate enough to not ha...