Lutheran Hour Ministries - Canada

06/03/2026

We know that feeling! 🎉

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06/03/2026

Saved by God’s Promise

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

TEXT: Romans 4:13-14, 16-17a, 19-25 - For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the Law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the Law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. … That is why it depends on faith, in order that [God’s] promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the Law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations …” [Abraham] did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

This is a really technical passage, and hard to understand if you don’t have the context. What is Paul talking about?

He’s trying to explain why human beings can’t save ourselves by keeping God’s Law and living a good life. And he’s doing it by talking about the great ancestor of the Jewish people—Abraham, the man God promised to make a “father of many nations,” even though he was childless. Abraham was no idiot; he knew a man 100 years old wasn’t likely to have a child, especially with a wife who was 90. But he also knew that God would keep His promise. And so he was happy. He trusted the promise—and God made it come true.

We, too, trust in God’s promise—not the one about having a baby, but rather the one about Jesus saving us. Because Jesus suffered, died, and rose from the dead for our sake, we know that everyone who trusts in Him has forgiveness, life, and salvation. God has told us so (see John 3:14-17; John 6:28-58; John 20:31; Acts 16:31). Just like Abraham, we trust God’s promise, and we are happy, because God will certainly give us all the good things He has promised us. God is doing all the work—not us. Which is good, because we would certainly make a mess of it, if He left it to us to do!

WE PRAY: Dear Father, thank You so much for saving me and giving me life through Jesus, Your Son. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

What promises do you depend on in your everyday life?

Does it make a difference to you who is doing the promising? Why or why not?

From what you know of Jesus, is He trustworthy or not? Can you trust Him to take care of you and bring you safely to God’s kingdom?

06/02/2026

🏌️‍♂️⛳ What a day on the greens! The 2026 Concordia Seminary Golf Tournament was yesterday, and what a success it was! ⛳🏌️‍♀️
The sun was shining, the weather was great, and golfers came out in full force to support Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, St. Catharines.
Lutheran Laymen's League of Canada was proud to sponsor one of the holes, and we had our own dream team representing us! Our Managing Director Lisa and her son Jake volunteered together, cheering on participants, organizing prizes and making memories along the way. 💙
A huge thank you to every golfer, volunteer, and supporter who made this event such a wonderful day for the Seminary. Your generosity and enthusiasm mean the world! 🙌

06/02/2026

Absolutely Certain

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

TEXT: Hosea 5:15-6:3 - [God says:] I will return again to My place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face, and in their distress earnestly seek Me. “Come, let us return to the Lord; for He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

You can hear the frustration in God’s voice. What is He to do with His stubborn people?

He has sent them prophets, and the prophets have not been gentle; God uses words like “hewn” and “slain” to describe how painful their message to God’s people has been. And the people themselves use that kind of language, when they say, “Come, let us return to the Lord; for He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.”

That sounds painful! And yet, God’s message has succeeded, right? Because look at what else the people are saying! They say, “He has torn us, that He may heal us.” That means God’s whole purpose in tearing them was to heal them in the end. They say, “He will bind us up,” and “He will revive us … He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.” I don’t hear any uncertainty in those words. They are convinced that this God, their own God, whom they deserted, still loves them so much that He will do a miracle and restore them to life and health.

And they are right. Even though they have deserted the Lord, even though they have gone after other gods and brought the Lord’s discipline upon them—even though they are driving Him nuts!—He still loves them, loves them dearly. He will do all the things that they say. He will heal them, He will raise them. And He will do the same for us.

Because we, too, sometimes fall into sin that we can’t get out of, and we worry what the Lord thinks of us—will He give up on us? Is this the last straw? Have we pushed Him too far?

And God makes it clear: He will take us back and restore us, no matter how far away we’ve been or what we’ve done. Even if we’ve fallen into the same sin a hundred million times, He will patiently and lovingly restore us and raise us from the dead, so that we may live before Him in peace and joy. This is why Jesus came—to bring us home to God, again and again and again, until that final day when He brings us home forever, and sin is nothing but an old, bad memory. He suffered, died, and rose again so that He could make you—you personally—His own forever. He’s not going to give up on you now.

WE PRAY: Dear Savior, strengthen my trust in You, especially when I’ve sinned and feel terrible. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

Do you ever worry what God thinks of you?

What does Jesus’ coming indicate about God’s attitude toward you?

What does God do when you’ve fallen into sin? See Luke 15:3-7.

06/01/2026

Better Than Gold

Monday, June 1, 2026

TEXT: Psalm 119:71-72 - It is good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn Your statutes. The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

When we struggle with any kind of affliction—issues with physical health, anxiety, workplace, or family trouble, spiritual concerns—it can be difficult, if not impossible, to see anything good about our circumstances. Inspired by the Spirit of God, the psalmist has clearer sight: “It is good for me that I was afflicted.” The psalmist sees beyond his immediate circumstances to the purpose of God. The affliction serves good purpose because through his suffering, the psalmist learns to rely on the teachings of God. The Word of the Lord is worth more than a fortune in silver and gold!

The psalmist is not the only biblical writer to see beyond affliction to the work of God. The apostle Paul suffered a “thorn” in his flesh, yet he saw divine purpose in that physical ailment. The thorn was a messenger of Satan, permitted by God to prevent the apostle from becoming conceited about the many revelations the Lord had given to him (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). The Lord did not remove the thorn, revealing to Paul that His grace was enough. The mighty power of Christ is made perfect in weakness and suffering, as it was at the cross. Paul also explains that in our afflictions we are comforted by our Heavenly Father “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4b). We find peace and hope in the promises of God’s Word and then, in turn, share that peace and hope with others who suffer. Through the trials we experience, God conforms us to the image of His Son.

The psalmist recognized the good in his afflictions because the suffering led him to learn the teachings of the Lord. In days of trouble, we also turn to the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is at work in the Word to bring us forgiveness, peace, and hope. Joining with saints from the psalmist to Paul, we glorify God even through suffering. In our trials we may see more clearly the afflictions endured by our Savior Jesus Christ for the sake of our salvation. We rejoice in the glory of His victorious resurrection and long for the day when we will experience perfect peace and healing in His eternal presence. It is never easy to endure the trouble we face. Yet in that suffering, in the midst of our afflictions, we recognize the truth of the psalmist’s words. The hope and peace to be found in the promises of God’s Word are better than gold and silver.

WE PRAY: Spirit of God, when I endure trials, lead me to turn to the comfort of Your holy Word. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.

Reflection Questions:

Why is it hard to see beyond our immediate circumstances and still give praise to God?

How did the apostle Paul deal with that thing that was bothering him? What monumental truth did he learn from his situation? See 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.

How do you think God shapes and forms us as His children through the things we face in this life?

05/31/2026

“Holy God, We Praise Thy Name”

Sunday, May 31, 2026

“Hark! The glad celestial hymn Angel choirs above are raising; Cherubim and seraphim, In unceasing chorus praising, Fill the heav’ns with sweet accord: Holy, holy, holy, Lord!

“Lo, the apostles’ holy train Join Thy sacred name to hallow; Prophets swell the glad refrain, And the white-robed martyrs follow, And from morn to set of sun Through the Church the song goes on.”

Choir concerts may last an hour or two or somewhere in between. Enjoying the experience, we wish the music could go on forever. Before the throne of God, the angelic concert does continue forever. That is one task of the holy angels, the cherubim and seraphim mentioned in our hymn. These heavenly messengers were created to serve God and to offer praise “in unceasing chorus” to their Creator. At times the angel choir was summoned for special performances, as when the heavenly host filled the night with light and praise at Jesus’ birth. The heavenly choir rejoiced in the victory of the risen and exalted Savior: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15b). Many earthly choir members cannot resist joining in that particular chorus!

The angels are not alone in their unceasing chorus. In heaven they are joined by “the apostles’ holy train,” that is, the noble procession of those who were eyewitnesses for the risen Christ. Also praising the Lord are the prophets, through whom God spoke to His people. Following along are the “white-robed martyrs,” witnesses for Christ who gave their lives for that witness. They “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” to whom they testified (Revelation 7:14b). All of these continually offer praise, but heaven is not the only place where the unceasing chorus is heard.

All of creation is called to praise its Creator. The sun, moon and stars, great sea creatures, fire, hail, snow, and wind, beasts and birds are commanded to praise the Lord who created and sustains them (see Psalm 148). We who follow Jesus are by no means left out of the chorus. We are told to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” with thankfulness in our hearts (Colossians 3:16b). On Sunday mornings or at home, with brothers and sisters in Christ or alone, we join the unending hymn. In freedom to worship or suffering under persecution, in health or in illness, the body of Christ on earth joins the church in heaven to praise God. Singing aloud or in the silence of grateful hearts, we worship Jesus, the Lamb who was slain to save us. All eternity will never be enough to give thanks for what He has done for us, so we begin now as through the church the song goes on.

WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, accept my grateful praise, now and forever! Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” which is number 940 in the Lutheran Service Book.

Reflection Questions:

Does your church have a choir? Does it have a contemporary worship service? Is there a place in either for you to contribute your musical talents?

What do you think the heavenly chorus sounded like the day of Jesus’ birth?

How does music that honors God fit into your life even when you’re not a church?

05/30/2026

That Which Matters Most

Saturday, May 30, 2026

TEXT: John 6:27-29 - [Jesus said] “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal.” Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

What is the food that perishes? How much time do we spend chasing after it? Working for perishable items in this life is natural—and necessary—isn’t it? But what is Jesus saying to us here? Does He mean we’ll never feel hungry or thirsty? No. He is telling us there is something more than what we so easily invest ourselves in and which, at the end of the day, is completely temporary, utterly fleeting.

Jesus is inviting us to turn from ourselves and turn to His Words. He is telling us that our quest for happiness will only be satisfied when we look beyond this world to His Word. Remember the Old Testament connection: the feeding of the Israelites foreshadows Jesus, the true Bread come down from heaven. In a similar fulfillment of prophecy, listen to this beautiful passage from Isaiah 55. In these Words, can you hear Jesus inviting you and me to turn to Him?

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. … Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:1-3a, 6-7).

Because of Jesus, God forgives you and me for all the times we have turned to our own way. Jesus was hungry and thirsty upon the cross, but His situation wasn’t grounded in His feelings. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus came that you and I might have life, real life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Friends, this Spirit-given life is better than anything we could ever find on our own. Our lives are full of things we need to do to support ourselves and our families, but don’t mistake chasing those things for the whole of life itself. There is more. Jesus tells us so, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b).

Abundant living is found in Jesus—He is the Bread of life and the One on whom God has set His seal.

WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, fix our minds on that which matters most. Fix our minds on Jesus. In His Name we pray. Amen.

Based on “And the Pursuit of Happiness,” a sermon by Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour

Reflection Questions:

Is there some thing or habit in your life you wouldn’t miss if it was gone?

Isaiah is telling us to forsake our old, dead ways. What does doing that look like in real life?

Jesus offers us the bread and water that leads to eternal life with Him. How do we receive it?

05/29/2026

The Gospel across Canada and around the 🌎!

05/29/2026

A Friendly Recommendation

Friday, May 29, 2026

This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.

TEXT: The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

She wasn’t even trying to offer a recommendation. She was just describing it, witnessing to what the book had done for her: “I was so happy it ended the way it did,” she explained. “I just closed the book when I finished it, and cried.”

Usually, when I hear somebody raving about a new book, I’m skeptical. I don’t assume it would do the same for me. But in this case, when she described it, I knew right away I wanted to read it, not just because of her enthusiastic testimony, but because I knew the author. I hadn’t read this book, but I had read another book by the same author, so I knew what she had described would be true, not just for her, but true also for me.

The first verse of the Bible announces God as the Author who made everything out of nothing. The second verse describes the initial condition of God’s creation. And it uses an odd pair of words to do so: “formless and void,” or as other translations have it, “waste” and “empty.” Elsewhere in the Bible, these words describe a wasted land (see Deuteronomy 32:10), or an abandoned city (see Isaiah 24:10), or a kingdom in ruins (see Isaiah 34:11). It’s a strange way to describe the unformed earth, waiting for God’s next creative move.

Why put it in these terms?

It may have been for the benefit of the first hearers of Genesis, for people who were living in a wasteland. And some days their lives felt formless and void (see Numbers 20:3-5). Genesis was written to assure them that the God who is with them in the wilderness is the same God who once made an unformed beginning into a joy-filled end. They are dealing with the same Author.

If you are like me, some of your days feel formless and empty. I don’t feel that way all the time, but in the moments I do, I need a witness who knows our Author. Genesis is one such witness. The opening chapter recalls how, out of a formless void, God made everything “very good.”

Jesus, of course, is the Greater Witness, God’s most friendly recommendation. But He does more than rave about God’s book. He is the Word who writes the book, the Author become human to rescue us from our formless and empty storylines.

God can do this because He’s not like us. He doesn’t sit alone and wait for inspiration. God writes out of generous abundance. He creates from the already full joy of the eternal story of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (see John 17:24).

For God, the story has no beginning and no end. But He made a beginning so we could share in His joy, so that we could help write new chapters and episodes and spin-offs. That’s part of what it means to be made in God’s image. We’re made to create and relate, to collaborate as God’s co-authors, God’s witnesses—a friendly recommendation to a world that needs Him, so that their ending would be in Him, and His joy would be ours, and what has always been true for Him will also become true for us.

WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, out of sin and death and cross, You brought resurrection, forgiveness, and life. Thank You for writing me out of the formless void and into Your Father’s “very good.” Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.

Reflection Questions:

Have you ever cried (or had to choke back tears) at the end of a good book, story, or movie?

How is reading a long book an act of tentative faith in an author?

How is God revealing Himself to you as the only completely trustworthy Author?

05/28/2026

Ready or Not, Here You Go

Thursday, May 28, 2026

TEXT: Matthew 28:16-20 - Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It makes me laugh, that second sentence: “And when they saw [Jesus] they worshipped Him, but some doubted.” Apparently there were still disciples who couldn’t believe their eyes, even after forty days of spending time with the risen Jesus! That’s kind of a pity, don’t you think?

I’m sure Jesus knew about their doubts, but it didn’t stop Him from going on to the next thing. Which was sending His people out into the world to spread the story of what Jesus had done to save us all. These followers would go to their own people, the Jews; to their neighbors and sometime-enemies, the Samaritans; and then to “the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8b) to tell every last person in the world what God has done.

And what has He done? He has come Himself into our world as a human being, born among us as one of us, to be our Savior. He came and served and healed and preached and cared about people during the years of His public ministry; and when the time was right, He allowed Himself to be betrayed by a friend, arrested by His own people’s leadership, handed over to foreigners, flogged, mocked, and put to death on a cross. Jesus did all this in order to break the power of death, sin, and evil over us—not just for humanity in general, but for each one of us in particular. It was you He suffered and died for, you He rose from the dead for. He came to make you God’s own dear child, forgiven, blessed and wanted forever.

Jesus has done it all. And now He gives this free gift of salvation, love, and adoption into God’s family to everyone who trusts in Him. And He sends His people out—even you!—to share that message with others who haven’t heard it yet. He sends us out—even the ones who doubt! Even the ones who haven’t quite got their faith or life straightened out yet. And in some ways, that’s everybody, isn’t it?

Jesus knows our weaknesses, but He won’t have us sit around waiting till we get it right. He says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That’s good enough to compensate for all our weaknesses. Jesus Himself will use us, and work through us, and where we are weak, He is strong. We can ask Him for whatever we need. Understanding? He can give that. Courage and willingness? He can give that, too. The right words? Jesus will provide. We can ask Him to work through us, trusting Him to bring about the results. Because we can’t do it—but He can, and will.

WE PRAY: Lord, I’m not much, but I’m Yours. Use me so that others will believe in You. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

What specific worries do you have about sharing your faith?

Can you ask Jesus to help you with those specific things?

Will He help, do you think? Why do you think so?