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On the Road Again

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“I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot stumble. He who watches over you will not slumber. The Lord will watch to keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your going and your coming from now to eternity.”  – Psalm 121:1-3,7-8

On the Road Again

With great apologies to your family, go ahead and sign along with Willie Nelson….“On the road again, Goin’ places that I’ve never been, I’m seein’ things that I may never see again, And I can’t wait to get on the road again.” As I sit down to write this month’s newsletter I can’t help but notice how empty the church and the school currently seem. No more moments of excitement echoing from the classrooms, no more handbell practices ringing out in the church, and no more buzzing hive of copy machine copies next to my office. Our faculty and our families are on summer vacation, and many of you are currently somewhere out there, traveling on the road again.

Psalm 121 is for you.  It is a travelers’ psalm entitled a “psalm of ascents”.  It may have been sung upon the steps of the temple in worship, or perhaps while the people literally traveled on the road again up to Jerusalem for one the main festivals celebrated in the Old Testament. We still, as modern believers today, carry on our minds and in our hearts and on our lips, our favorite songs from God’s house as we exit worship and continue home. You may carry God’s praise with you even if your travels are taking you far away from Eastside, as we catch ourselves humming our favorite hymn tune or incorporating our favorite hymns of praise around the family campfire.

Why sing such songs of praise in church and abroad?  We can’t help but rejoice over the great works attributed to our God.  As travelers through the hills and valleys of life we know that there is danger in the mountains in what is seen and unseen. We know that not all of life will involve a light and carefree downhill stride. The environment’s conditions are not always pleasant, the devil is lurking, and our sinful flesh often objects to God’s guiding direction. And yet, in those trying moments of traveling through life, we can look up. There we find in the Bible a God who created the snowclad heights and is stronger than even the magnificent mountains.  We find security and safety in his eternal promises to help, defend, guide, and provide for us in a very personal way, all while we are on the road again in life’s walk of faith.

Here in Psalm 121, we find God’s guarantee that he remains on the alert and able to help with his 24/7 roadside assistance.  In Christ Jesus, we find God actively fixing the greatest issue we had: being born into and plagued daily by our sin, which leads us only away from God and off an eternal cliff to destruction.  In Jesus, full and free payment was made at his cross.  He walked through the jaws of death to life for us.  And now the ascended Lord continues to oversee and keep secure our salvation in him.  Following the Father’s plan, the Holy Spirit has helped us recognize the perils of our former pathway, turned us from the sin that so easily entangles and endangers, and directs us to walk alongside the footsteps of our Savior.  Better than a tight fitting pair of hiking boots, Jesus promises to secure our footing until home in heaven.

Knowing this we can “come and go”, or as the original Hebrew language phrases it, “go out and come in” with our God.  This picture involves the traveler finding a home with the Lord. There at the temple in Jerusalem, a believer would hear the living God of creation speak his saving truth and find peace and joy for their souls.  They would then travel back to their cities, to their families, and to their homeland with a renewed spirit.  They could then live in the joy of knowing that their salvation was secure in the promise of a Messiah.  And then, when it was time to travel once again, they would “come back in” and journey to God’s house.

Whether you are on the road again this summer or not, your spiritual home is here with your Lord.  Return regularly to his house as he graciously forgives and builds up your faith in word and sacrament.  Let the gospel promises Jesus gives to you be your joy and your delight.  And know with confidence that your life is kept secure with him, until Jesus calls you to “come in” from this fallen world to his eternal kingdom forevermore.  We just can’t wait to be on that road again! 

May Newsletter

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Pastor Nathaniel Walther

13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. 16 The trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. 17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers. (Psalm 104)

If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to feel upbeat during this time of the year.  Even all the rain and severe weather can’t dampen the welcome change from winter as the world turns green around us.

We can explain it, of course.   As the earth revolves around the sun, the earth’s axial tilt slowly causes the sun to rise higher in the northern hemisphere, which causes warm, moist air to move north from the Gulf of Mexico and displace cold, dry Canadian air.  This battleground of low pressures brings storms to our skies and water to our fields.  Combined with the rising temperatures and longer days, it also prompts the plants to do what they are designed to do. (And we could say so much more about the wonders of biology and photosynthesis!)

All of which is very true… but can we see something greater in it?  For all the wonders that science reveals to us, it cannot remove the miracle from the equation.  As our Psalm reminds us, it is truly amazing what God has done, putting this system into place and providing for us as only he can do!  

That is especially true when you consider it doesn’t have to work out so well.  We see plenty of things fall apart in a fallen world.  Whether it’s an issue with your kids, your job or your health, or one of those dreaded home & auto issues, our lives can feel so broken at times.  Similarly, what’s to stop sin from causing the world’s hydrological cycle quickly to spin out of control? If that happened, life would quickly cease on this planet!  But God steps in, God stops sin, God keeps it all working.

All of this is anchored in the greatest miracle God ever performed.  We can similarly explain our salvation: there are fancy theological terms like propitiation or vicarious atonement, and we could calculate our sin & Christ’s sacrifice in almost mathematical terms.  But more than that, take a moment right now to think about the miracle that Jesus accomplished for us at the cross and empty tomb.  Then, as this Psalm bids us to do, simply marvel: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15)  Amen.

And Through the Starting Gate We Go!

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“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, who does not stand on the path with sinners, and who does not sit in a meeting with mockers.  But his delight is in the teaching of the Lord, and on his teaching he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and its leaves do not wither.  Everything he does prospers.” – Psalm 1:1-3

And Through the Starting Gate We Go!

“And through the starting gate they go” will be a phrase we will hear often in just a few days.  The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will soon be underway in the mountains of northern Italy.  Olympians who compete in downhill skiing, bobsled, speed skating, and luge will all begin from starting points and race at furious speeds to the finish line.  It is what they have spent years, if not lifetimes, training to do.  It is their dream to win a medal at the games. 

It would also be a strange thing to see your favorite American olympian suddenly slow in their intensity, stop in their race entirely, or even had the audacity to sit down and chit-chat with the spectators.  We might wonder, what is going on?  What about all their training?  What happened to their focus?  Where is their heart?   What a disappointing spectacle that would be!

Through the starting gate we go this year into the book of Psalms!  And Psalm 1 begins with warning and encouragement.  For the people of God, both then and now, a danger existed to slow down, stop, and even sit in judgement upon God and his word.  Especially for those trained to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, we are not immune to the temptation of slowing to a stop in our race of faith.  Such danger to our souls exists when we fill ourselves up with the values of the world.  If we drink from its vain reason and indulge in its destructive sins we may also find our pace towards heaven slowing down with deadly distractions.  We get bogged down with doubt, stand in defiance to our God, or even sit in criticism of God’s word.  Be on guard, dear believer, in your life of faith!  

As temptations abound, let’s continue to remain focused with the help of God the Holy Spirit to remain in his word!  Here there is a clear proclamation of forgiveness for the times we have been woefully negligent – even those times we have made a downright mockery out of what God has said.  Here there is payment for all of our sins in the ugly, yet necessary, cross of Jesus.  Here in the word we have the opportunity to cherish, meditate, and apply God’s will to our hearts.  Here we are rejuvenated by his grace in all areas of our life.  Here we are planted by God with a specific purpose in his kingdom.  Here our roots are deeply connected to Jesus and are nourished with his message of salvation.  And here we flourish with our Savior, bearing his name with fruit “that will endure”. 

As we begin this year, through the starting gate we go into the book of Psalms!  Even better than a medal, our end goal is to be home with the Lord in heaven.  God has made our end goal clear and accessible entirely through our Savior.  Knowing this, we can rejoice in the instruction, training, and hope given to our souls in his word.  Consider yourself blessed!  On into 2026 we go with Jesus!    

-Pastor David Horton

November Newsletter Article

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Blessed be the Lord, who has not let us be prey for their teeth.  Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.  – Psalm 124: 6 & 8

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Safety with our Savior

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For those of you parents or grandparents (or Godparents) of our school children, you know the scene well: somewhere around 7:45-8am on each school day as you approach the school doors pastor or one of the teachers are there to greet you every morning and give each child the Eastside welcome of a fist-bump. 

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Look Up!…Look to the Lord!

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A comedian once joked that when men reach middle age, they dive deeply into one of two things…either war history or smoking meats. 

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“With a Joyful Shout!”

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The tradition began on a Good Friday upon the Island of Bermuda. A Sunday school teacher was trying to teach his students about Christ’s ascension, the exaltation which would follow the humiliation of the cross.

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Wait Upon the Lord with Joy!

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Psalm 33 is a beautiful psalm that encourages us to find our joy in the LORD. It surveys God’s love in creation and his rule over history, and both begins and ends with joy.

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Wait Upon the Lord–in Hope

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It’s amazing how the same word can mean different things depending on the context. Take the word “fire” for example. It can refer to a flame that emits heat and can burn.

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Waiting In-tension-ally

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This summer, I had a bad experience with waiting. I was with my wife and three children in an airport.

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