Christ gives a radical mercy to us, and calls from us—in His Name—the same. The call of Christ is absolute. He is God. He is worshipped as God by the magi (Mt 2.11). He is worshipped as God after His resurrection, by the disciples (Mt 28.17) Thus, the First Commandment applies in our worship toward him: “You shall have no other Gods.” Nowhere does this hit more powerfully than with family ties. If family “responsibilities” call for unfaithful worship or life, then one must abandon family and follow Christ. (See Lk 14.25-35) There is no half-way here. Jesus, as with Moses before Him, “sets before us life and good, death and evil.” (Dt 30.15) Part of that call is always to receive in mercy those who are repentant, even if history and hurt and justice seem otherwise. Through Paul, God called Philemon to practice this towards Onesimus. Who is it in your life, who needs mercy from you?

We believe that a consistent, Scripture-based order of service, or ‘liturgy’—particularly sung liturgy—is better for the faith-formation of all ages. We believe that Jacob and Delores: A Love Story presents powerful evidence for that conviction. In this episode you’ll hear Season Two’s Jacob’s Story re-told, and—in a clip we received permission to publish—you’ll also hear a much older woman names Delores confess her faith in Christ.

This isn’t a romantic love story. It’s an ecclesiastical love story, a story about how Christ loves His people and continues to teach them through the ministry of a Church that keeps deliberate communion with those who have come before us and with those yet to know Christ, a Church that knows how enduring faith in Christ is nurtured and sustained. Jacob and Delores: A Love Story provides much of the affective evidence for several conversations that will occur in Season 3. It’s about what is best for the spiritual health of all of God’s people.

Recorded 26 August, A.D. 2025

“Jacob’s Story” is about a lot of things. This account, his parents’ summary of his last days with us, is both heart-rending and faith-filling. It is a tragedy, but one that is imbued with Christian hope. “Jacob’s Story” is an episode to which we will refer many times in Season 3 and beyond, for what happened with Jacob Juneau changed more than the lives of his family. It changed the lives of many others. We suspect, as the conversation continues, that “Jacob’s Story” is going to change more lives than, perhaps, even we can imagine.

We had a long break in Season 2 of Christ In All Things. We’ll talk a bit about that in Season 3. Starting soon, Christ In All Things will not only be the podcast location for teaching and interviews, but also for sermons delivered at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and for other teaching and conversation at events such as our Reformation Tap Society. We’re glad to be back.

Recorded 14 May, A.D. 2025.