NOTES from the Desk of Rev. Richard Mueller
LWML WY District Senior Pastoral Counselor

October 2026

What is going on in our world these days? The unrest in our country and many countries around the world. The war of terror and war on terror. The Supreme Courts decision on same sex marriage. States legalizing same sex marriages. Abortion. Euthanasia. Men and women living together without marriage. The attacks against God’s Church. Attacks against Christians. Drought. Severe weather. Flooding. Fires. Economy. Unemployment. Hunger. Suicide. Illnesses and diseases. The morals of people are turning away from what God has said they should be. Right is wrong and wrong is right for many people. Many say they are Christian, but you look at how they live and you wonder. Maybe they are in church on Sunday, but the rest of the week they live as if God and His Word has no meaning for them. Many say they are a disciple of Christ but you do not see them in His Word or at the Divine Service to receive the gifts that God gives through His Word and Sacraments. What is happening in our world? What is happening to God and His Word in people’s lives on this earth?

To many people, life in this world is about ME! Me, myself and I. The ME trinity. For many, God means nothing. God is a joke. God is someone made up to put a stop to their fun. You cannot do anything fun if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, they say.

For the believers in Jesus Christ, for us disciples of Jesus Christ, we may wonder what is going on. What is happening? Where is God in all of this? It is easy to let our sinful nature look at what is going on and wonder where God is. It is easy to let our sinful nature look at all the fun others are having and say, “I want that.” The Devil will try to lead us to despair with all that we see going on in this world and make us wonder where God is. Maybe even abandon our faith because it looks like God does not care or that God has left us. We may wonder; “Who is in control? Where is God?”

Questions we might have: “What is going on?” “Why is all this stuff happening in our world, happening to me?” “Does God care about me?” “Does He care about His creation?” We read in 1 Peter 5:6-11: 6

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There are many promises that God gives us in His Word. He keeps them all. We read in Romans 8:28: “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” We may not know the good at the moment, but God promises that it is for our good.

We also have the promise from God that He will help us stand up under the temptations, the troubles we have. “13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God is with us when we are facing hardships and temptations in our lives. He will never leave us. We read in Matthew 28:20: “...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” We have this promise from God, He is always with us.

God promises to take care us. He does! God promises to be with us. He is! God promises to save us from our sins. He did that through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came and died on the cross and rose from the dead, giving His life as a payment for our sins. God sent the Holy Spirit who gives us faith and keeps us in the faith. Through God’s grace we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. This is all God’s action, He did it all, for each one of us. Our sins are forgiven because of Jesus Christ and it is ours through faith in Jesus. What a great God we have.

It may look like God is not around. Our eyes fool us. The world does not want to have anything to do with God, with Jesus our Lord and Savior. People have turned away from God and His Word and call us followers of Jesus Christ, fools and mean and unloving and the list goes on and on. It would be easy to turn away ourselves and go along with the crowd of unbelievers, but that is not what God wants us to do.

We are to continue to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Share that we are sinners and God sent His Son Jesus to pay the price for all our sins. It seems hard to stand up for what we believe, especially when the majority are attacking Christ and His people. But God tells us, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). “The LORD is my helper; I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:6).

No matter what happens in our lives, we need to remember that we are not alone in this world. We have God our Father with us, Jesus Christ our Savior with us, and the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Things in this world may look like they are running amuck. But God is with us. All this is going on as a reminder that the end is coming some day. A reminder that we are to be ready for that day, because we do not know when it will come.

How is one ready for the Last Day, for Judgement Day? Faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are ready when we are rooted in Christ, by being in God’s Word, reading and studying His Word. By being in Divine Service, receiving God’s gifts given through Word and Sacrament. We are ready when we follow God’s Word and do not go along with the way of the world that ignores what God has to say about sin and salvation. We are ready when the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts and that faith clings to the gifts of God, forgiveness and life with Him for ever.

The things going on in our world may scare us and worry us and make us wonder if God is here. God is here!!! God is the one in control and caring for His creation! Our eyes see differently, but we go by what God tells us in His Word. God keeps His promises and we are saved, we are forgiven all our sins and are His children.

Pastor Mueller

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March 2026

Please sing with me:
In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time.
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me;
Lo, it glows with peace and joy.
When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds more luster to the day.
Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure
By the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
Joys that through all time abide.
(Public domain)
 

How can something so bad be so good? Usually we ask, how can so many seemingly good things be so bad—things such as rich food and the like? But at this time of the year, the season of Lent, Holy Week and Easter, we can ask that question in a different way. The bad, I’m asking about, is the cross. How can a disgustingly horrible instrument of death besuch a symbol of good for us? So good, in fact, that the hymn writer has been inspired to write,
In the cross of Christ I glory, tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time.”
The answer is given in those very words. That terrible instrument of death is a symbol of thegreatest good because it “towersover the wrecks of time.” We are the “wrecks of time” untilGod comes to rescue us. He does so through Christ and His cross.Thereonthe cross, Christcleanses us as Scripture says, “The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).During Lent we remember the cross, but with our eyes and ears wide open. For Christians, thevictory of Christ’s cross does not lull us to sleep about the seriousness of our rebellious naturesnor about the easy temptations that can lure us away from Him.In Lent we remember, and want to remember, the cause of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Wewant to sharpen our consciousness of rebellion and faithlessness in our lives. In order that we, inrepentance, despair of any hope of salvation from within ourselves and claim Christ only as our Savior.

When we recognize the terrible cause of Christ’s death on the cross and trust the complete  victory He won for us, the cross is glorious. We can join the hymn writer in singing, “in thecross of Christ I glory.”As the season of Lent continues, I encourage all of you to come and worship, to reflect upon your sins and seek God’s forgiveness at the foot of the cross of Jesus. And as Easter approaches,
Easter Sunday is April 5 th , we will rejoice at the victory of Christ on the Cross. Jesus who died and rose from the dead is alive and because He is alive, we will also be alive with Him, for our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life with our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Holy Week is a time that we do focus on the gifts that God has given us. Holy Thursday, Jesus
instituted the Lord’s Supper for us. Christ is giving us His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Good Friday, the day that Jesus died on the cross, was forsaken by His Father for us and earned for us our forgiveness. Here on the cross we see the love that God our Father and His Son, Jesus, has for us sinners. Because of the cross our sins are forgiven. The cross that is seen
as bad is good for us. My prayer is that through listening to God’s Word, the power of sin within you will be exposed,
like St. Paul, you will be led to despair, and by the enlightening of the Holy Spirit you claim Christ alone as your salvation.  When Easter comes the victory that you hail with joyous song will be Christ’s victory and it results for you, eternal life.

Easter Message 4/20/2025

Jesus is Risen!
He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

What great and joyous news we hear and have to share with our families and friends and all
those around us. Jesus Christ is risen indeed!

Jesus is risen! What does that mean to you? to your family? What does it mean for our community, for our world? Easter is more than just a day that we have an early sunrise service, Easter breakfast and family dinner. Easter is what it is all about. Easter is all about you and your sin. Easter is about Jesus dying on the cross and RISING from the dead to pay the price God demanded for your sin. Because Jesus died and ROSE from the dead, we know that our sins are forgiven, that they have been washed away, and that because of Jesus’s death and resurrection we have a place prepared for us in heaven and that we too will rise from the dead on the last day. What joyous news.

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"Photo courtesy of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod."

What joyous and lifesaving news we have to share with one another. The problem I see is how do we share this message of Jesus’ work of salvation for us. How many of us actually share this joyous news?

That is the mission and ministry God has given to His church on earth. What is it that we are to
do with this resurrection news about Jesus rising from the dead?

We all have been called to be witnesses of Jesus Christ and to go and share the Good News that Jesus came to die on the cross and rise from the dead for our forgiveness, for our salvation. What a joyous and important message we have to share. But many people in our society do not want to hear this message we have to share. Many think that this message of sin is old stuff, we already know it all, so we better do something different. Some feel that we need to go along with what the other people are saying in our country and not follow what God’s Word says. God has called us to preach Christ crucified and risen, that is what is all about! That is what Easter is all about. That is what our mission and our ministry is all about! To share the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just with the members of our own congregation, but with our families and with our community, with all we come into contact.

What a mission field that surrounds us. A mission field that is hurting and lost without Christ. Without the assurance of forgiveness and life because of Jesus Christ. What a mission opportunity that is before us. Yes, we proclaim Jesus is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia, on Easter Sunday, but this message is one that we are to shout every day that we live on this earth. For it is a message of hope and peace and comfort for us living in this sinful, broken world. A message that gives us peace, a peace that only Jesus can give us, as we look around and see all that is going on in this world. It may seem that Jesus is being pushed out of our world, but He is still here, risen and alive. We have the privilege to proclaim Jesus Christ and His forgiveness and salvation. We are called by God to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our neighbors and to all corners of the world.

Please continue to pray for the mission and ministry of Lutheran Woman in Mission. Remember that you are part of the God’s mission wherever you are. That what Jesus came to do on the cross is for you and that because He rose from the dead, you too, will rise from the dead and live eternally with our Savior in heaven forever. Jesus is risen and alive! What great news to share.

Jesus is risen! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Richard Mueller
Junior Pastoral Counselor, LWML Wyoming District

For a downloadable copy of Rev Mueller's Easter message - CLICK HERE

(Click HERE to Read Rev Mueller's fall message - October, 2024)