Dr. Adam Lefever Hughes, Author at St. Peter's Lutheran Church

Second Sunday after Epiphany

This week we start to see Jesus in action, calling disciples and foretelling great things to come. This week’s readings also feature the calling of Samuel and Psalm 139. The Psalm, reminds us that God knows us intimately, our going in our coming out, our rising and our resting. Jesus is shown to have similar…

Baptism of Our Lord

This week we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, a sign that God has claimed him as his own. At the same time, we remember our own baptisms and that God, the creator of the whole universe, has claimed us and calls us daughters and sons. In our baptism we heard God’s call to live among…

Blessing of the Home

Matthew writes that when the wise men saw the shining star stop overhead, they were filled with joy. “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother” (2:10-11). In the home, Christ is met in family and friends, in visitors and strangers. In the home, faith is shared, nurtured, and put into…

Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, a partridge in a pear tree,on the second day of Christmas, two turtle doves,on the third day of Christmas, three French hens,on the fourth day of Christmas, four calling birds,on the fifth day of Christmas, five gold rings,on the sixth day of Christmas, six geese a-laying,on the seventh day…

This Little Babe

This little Babe so few days old,Is come to rifle Satan’s fold;All hell doth at his presence quake,Though he himself for cold do shake;For in this weak, unarmed wise,The gates of hell he will surprise. With tears he fights and wins the field,His naked breast stands for a shield;His battering shot are babish cries,His arrows…

Name of Jesus

By Jewish law, every baby boy was circumcised and named on the eighth day of life, so on the eighth day of Christmas the church celebrates this event in Jesus’ life. The keeping of the covenant as well as Jesus’ name are signs of God’s salvation given to us through him. What does your name…

Endings and Beginnings

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none: Cut it down!…

Go Tell It!

Psalm-in-Action Grab a friend and act out these words from Psalm 148 with the suggested motions or come up with your own! point both hands to the skyHallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise God in the heights. flap your angel wingsPraise the Lord, all you angels; sing praise, all you hosts of heaven.…

The Childhood of Christ

“Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the…

The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

If St. Stephen’s martyrdom a couple of days ago was an unusual thing to celebrate, today’s readings about The Holy Innocents, those children Herod killed out of fear that his throne would be taken from him, are even more distressing. The story goes that Herod feared that Jesus was here to overturn Herod’s rule. In…