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If you have questions or topics that you'd like discussed by Higher Things, email them to media@higherthings.org or send text to 936-647-3235.
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Today on HT-Radio, Pr. Borghardt and Jon are joined by Rev. Donavon Riley, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Webster, MN. Pr. Riley continues his study on James with chapter 1 verses 15-18.
If you have questions or topics that you’d like discussed on HT-Radio, email them to radio@higherthings.org or send a text to 936-647-3235.
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This week on HT-Radio, Pr. Borghardt and Jon are joined by Rev. Donavon Riley, who begins his series on the book of James. Pr. Riley gives us some introduction, how Luther viewed James, and begins making his way through chapter 1.
If you have questions or topics that you’d like discussed on HT-Radio, email them to radio@higherthings.org or send a text to 936-647-3235.
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This week on HT-Radio, Pr. Borghardt and Jon have a Free Time Episode and start working their way to a new format. In the first half they go through John 2 and the text of Jesus at the Wedding of Cana. In the second half, they focus on the confession of St. Peter and Mark and Matthew’s account of it.
If you have questions or topics that you’d like discussed on HT-Radio email them to radio@higherthings.org or send a text to 936-647-3235.
Higher Things® is once again pleased to offer an entire Vacation Bible School package! The year’s “Te Deum” VBS ties in with the theme of the our 2015 Conferences and bring the worship, Word, and fun of Higher Things® to younger children. This year’s “Te Deum” VBS continues teaching a portion of the Small Catechism, this year, the Lord’s Prayer. The HT VBS contains everything you need for Opening and Closing Worship, Bible and Catechism teaching, Snacks, Games, Crafts, and Preschool and Adult Bible Study materials to round out your program for all ages.
As in previous editions, everything you need to organize, set up, and run your VBS is included in this package in reproducible files. The Higher Things® “Te Deum” 2015 VBS can be purchased for $99 either as a direct download or on a CD (available in the next couple weeks).
If you’d like to know more before you buy, please check out our “Te Deum” 2015 VBS Preview. This file will give you an overview and glimpse into all the great material for the entire Day 1 of the VBS program.
If you would like more information or have questions, please contact us via email: vbs@higherthings.org.
To purchase the 2015 VBS, visit higherthings.org/vbs.
Stuck in waiting-list purgatory? Didn’t even bother registering for a Higher Things conference this year because you heard they were full. ALREADY.
Once again this year, Higher Things is holding three summer youth conferences. But by New Year’s, TWO of those conferences had already reached capacity — weeks earlier than has ever happened before! And now, less than two weeks later, both conferences have over 100 people on waiting lists!
The third conference, being held at the University of Nevada — Las Vegas, still has room with no waiting. If you want register for a conference where you will definitely get in, go to Vegas! It might be a little farther to travel than the midwest sites, but airlines are always running specials to go there. You can probably find a great deal.
In Michigan, we are limited by the capacity of the chapel on Calvin College. We absolutely cannot open up any more spots for that conference. Sorry. However, in Nebraska, we have been limited by the housing capacity on Concordia’s campus. Our conference chapel can actually accommodate a few more people…
…so we are expanding the 2015 Nebraska conference ONLY, by offering a non-housing registration option for 250 people! This non-housing registration is only available via opt-in for those who are already on a waiting list (yes, for Nebraska OR Michigan). Groups who already have approved registrations for a 2015 HT conference MAY NOT use this option. It is ONLY to be used to expand the current approved registrations at the Nebraska conference. However, groups on the waiting list for Michigan may transfer their registrations to the Nebraska conference and opt in for the non-housing registration with no penalty.
The non-housing registration rate will be $255/person, through the remaining registration period which ends on January 31. From February 1-April 30 it will be $285/person and then on May 1, it will increase to $310/person. That’s a savings of $90/person off the current registration rate! Registration rates are determined by the date your group’s BALANCE is paid in full. For your convenience, we have reserved a block of rooms at a hotel in nearby Lincoln, and will provide the name and contact information for that hotel to each group leader, once they are registered and approved for the non-housing option. Groups will be responsible to contact the hotel and make their own reservation(s). Groups are not required to stay at this hotel if they are approved for non-housing registrations, but we have selected it so that safe, affordable, and nice quality rooms would be available for any Higher Things youth and their chaperones who may be staying off-campus.
For groups already on a waiting list: If you are already on a waiting list and have your deposits paid, you will need to contact Crysten Sanchez, the Conference Registrar (registrar@higherthings.org) to notify her that you would like to opt in for the non-housing registration and she will provide the hotel information for you at that time.
For new groups that have not yet registered: To take advantage of the Nebraska conference expansion, groups must first be registered and on the waiting list to attend the Nebraska or Michigan conferences. If you have not yet registered (and now wish to do so since there’s room!) you will need register online before you can proceed. Once registered and your groups’ deposits received, the Conference Registrar will contact you with the hotel information.
Please remember that this expansion is limited to just 250 registrants. Once we reach this new capacity, that will be all the room we have for the 2015 Nebraska conference. Please do not make hotel reservations or plan to attend without having your registration approved first. This non-housing registration is an exception that Higher Things is making ONLY for the 2015 Nebraska conference and will not be offered for the other 2015 or for future conferences. Download details about the conferences and registration polices and processes at TeDeum2015.org, and remember that there is room with no waiting for the Las Vegas conference!
Questions? Feel free to contact me at conferences@higherthings.org or email my assistant, Crysten Sanchez, the HT Conference Registrar at registrar@higherthings.org or call us toll-free at 888-482-6630.
In Christ,
Sandra Ostapowich
Conference Executive
Higher Things, Inc.
conferences@higherthings.org
888-482-6630
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This week on HT-Radio, Pr. Borghardt and Jon are joined by Pr. William Cwirla. Pr. Cwirla goes through the accounts of the Baptism of Our Lord and talks about what is unique in each of the Gospels.
If you have questions or topics that you’d like discussed on HT-Radio email them to radio@higherthings.org or send a text to 936-647-3235.
Higher Things invites everyone to attend a reception during the CTSFW Symposia
on
Tuesday, January 20,
from
7:00-10:00 p.m.
in the
Commons Building
on the
Concordia Theological Seminary campus.
Come and catch up on all things Higher Things!
Light refreshments and drinks will be provided.
Rev. Mark Buetow
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.” 2 Samuel 7:12-14
When I was a kid, my parents used to read me bedtime stories from a Bible storybook. I heard the main stories about Adam and Eve and Noah and Moses and King David and Jesus, but I never understood how they fit together. What does David have to do with Jesus? I suspect if you ask most Christians, they’re not sure either. But the fact is, the Old Testament is all about Jesus in a very important way. When Jesus was born, He was born in a particular time and place from a particular family line. When the eternal Son of God became man in the womb of Mary, He was choosing a particular woman from a particular family tree. That family tree, as it turns out, went all the way back to Abraham (according to Matthew’s genealogy) and all the way to Adam (according to Luke’s). And Jesus’ family tree was traced through King David.
The birth of the Son of God on Christmas means that God the Father keeps His promises. And that’s really what the Old Testament is all about. It begins with the promise of a Savior to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) and then it tells the story about how the Lord kept that promise by choosing a particular man, Abraham, and his family to be the family in which the Savior would eventually be born (Genesis 15). Seeing the connection between Jesus and these Old Testament saints helps us to understand how the Lord unfolded all these things to bring about the birth of Jesus to save the whole world—past and present—from sin.
Jesus is often called the “Son of David,” a reference to the fact that He was born from King David’s line. If you go back and read about David in 1 and 2 Samuel, you’ll see that his life is one picture after another that points to Jesus. He was a shepherd boy. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He defeated Goliath the Philistine. Jesus defeated the devil, our giant enemy. David conquered the enemies of God’s people and established the kingdom of Israel. Jesus defeats our enemies, sin, death, and the devil by His death and resurrection.
David also wanted to build a house for God. He built himself a nice palace and then decided the Lord shouldn’t be living in a tent (the Tabernacle which was a movable tent) but in a nice house instead. But the Lord had better plans for David. He said, “No, you won’t build me a house. But I’ll build yours and it will last forever,” (the words I referenced above). What the Lord meant was, “The Savior is going to come from your ‘house,’ that is, your family. And that Savior will be an everlasting King.”
King Solomon, David’s son, did end up building a more permanent house for the Lord. It was a mighty temple in which the Lord Himself lived. Within that temple there was the Ark of the Covenant and all the sacrifices. That temple got torn down. When Israel returned from exile in Babylon, they rebuilt the temple. It wasn’t quite as big and awesome as before. Later, that temple got torn down, too. A Gentile king named Herod rebuilt it again with loads of money, making it the most impressive temple yet. That’s the temple that was there in Jesus’ day. But remember what Jesus told them? “Tear down this temple and in three days I will build it again.” But He was talking about His body.
The Romans eventually destroyed the temple Herod built. And there has not been a temple ever since. But the Lord kept His promise. He kept His promise by sending His Son in the flesh. King David’s family and the temple were pictures and foreshadowings of something greater: Jesus. Jesus the Good Shepherd. Jesus the King of Kings. Jesus the One greater than the Temple because He Himself IS the temple, the very bodily dwelling of God on earth (John 1:14).
David was from the town of Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was born there because that’s where David was from (and so Joseph and Mary had to return to the town of their ancestors). But He was also born there because “Bethlehem” means “House of Bread” and Jesus is the Bread of Life.
The more we read and hear the Old Testament, the more the New Testament makes sense. The more we read and hear the New Testament, the more we see what the Old Testament is about. All of it is about Jesus. The Old Testament points to Him. The New Testament is the eyewitness testimony about Him and the preaching of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins in His Name. What at first seems like stories that aren’t really connected, is really a complete and consistent message: God keeps His promises. He keeps those promises in Christ, through the family of real people—in this case King David’s family.
As we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus, we are seeing God keeping His promises. He kept His promises to David and Israel. He keeps His promises to you. The promise is that you have a Savior, born in the City of David, to be One even greater than David and the temple—to be the King of Kings and God-in-the-flesh, all so that you and I are now made a part of that family of God, too. David wanted to build God a house. But the Lord built a house for David and you and me—an eternal dwelling whose cornerstone is Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!
Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois and serves as the deputy and media services executive for Higher Things. He can be reached at buetowmt@gmail.com.
We have reached capacity on the Higher Things “Te Deum” conference in Seward, NE and groups have been moved onto the waiting list. Those groups with unpaid deposits should assume that they are on the waiting list unless they are contacted by the Registrar stating that their deposits have been received and they are approved for registration.
Registration is still open for the other two conferences in Las Vegas (July 14-17) and in Michigan (July 21-24). Download information and register online at TeDeum2015.org!
Registrations for two of the three Higher Things “Te Deum” conferences this summer are quickly reaching capacity! Grand Rapids is over 80% full and Seward is over 90% full — and has fewer than 100 spots left! The waiting list policies will go into effect once each conference reaches capacity. This will prioritize those groups who have paid deposits over those that have not. If your group has registered, please get those deposits in as soon as possible. And if your group is still planning to register, do so quickly (and pay the deposit immediately) or your group may end up on the waiting list to attend a conference. Pastors and group leaders can download registration information and register online at TeDeum2015.org.
There is still plenty of room at the conference at the University of Las Vegas. The UNLV campus is in a safe area of the city and many airlines offer inexpensive airfare to Las Vegas year-round! We look forward to celebrating our 15th year of Lutheran Youth conferences this summer!
In Christ,
Sandra Ostapowich
conferences@higherthings.org
Conferences Executive
