February 17, 2026
Dear fellow redeemed,
The season of Lent is a time of preparation for the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday. And so it is a time of focusing on repentance and faith. This is a time to recognize our need for a Savior!
When we acknowledge our sin, we see that sin separates us from the Holy God. But we also see that God is the God of love and grace and mercy. He has given us a Savior in His Son, Jesus Christ. And so this is a time for confession of sin and trusting in God’s forgiveness that comes to us in Jesus Christ.
But here is an important distinction to be made. As we acknowledge sin, confess it, and ask for forgiveness, we have the confidence in knowing that God has already forgiven us!
This isn’t like when I wanted and needed a relationship with a woman. And so when I met Sandra (my wife of 41+ years), I asked for her phone number, and eventually I asked her to marry me. But I did not know that she would say “yes”, until she did so. (In fact, I needed to ask her three times before she said “Yes!”.
Now with God: we don’t have to wonder IF he will be our Savior and forgive us our sins. He has already said “Yes!” in the sending of His Son, and in his life, death and resurrection!
So our Lenten preparations can be done in the confidence that God IS our Savior. He has died for us. He has risen for us. He is now with us, now and forever.
May you find comfort, strength and hope in knowing and trusting in God, our Savior and Lord!!
With you in God’s grace,
– Pastor Steve
Pastor Steve’s 2-Minute Devotion – 2/3/26
Pastor’s Monthly Update – February 2026
Dear fellow redeemed,
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven; a time to…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2) It’s that time already?! How time flies! Your time is up (already?!) Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday that I was… You remember that far back? You were born in WHAT year?!
So how do we deal with the passage of time? Aging? And all that goes with getting older. I have a theory for why time seems to be going so fast for me. When a year passes for me, it is only 1/69 of my life. But when a two year old has a birthday, it is 1/2 of her life! No wonder than that a year seems longer for that child than for me. :)}
Here are a few suggestions to help deal with the passage of time:
1). Time is a gift from God! So let’s be thankful for each and every day that God gives us. Every breath and heartbeat is God’s gift!
2). God has entered our time when He sent His Son into our world. So God in Christ knows our experience of passing through time.
3). “Kairos” is a word in the original language of the Bible that means “the right time”. It is the word used in Galatians 4:4, “But when the fullness of time (kairos) had come, God sent forth His Son…” Certainly God knows the right time for all things. And praise be to God that He found “the right time”, the “kairos” for sending us a Savior! Now we can pray for the right time for all the important things in our life. Let’s pray that God gives us the wisdom and time to do all that is needed.
4) It seems to me that the best advice to follow for dealing with time is to take life a day at a time. Psalm 118:24 simply puts it, “This the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” The words of the Apostle Paul are helpful also, “make the most of the time” (Ephesians 5:16). So let us live in the grace and mercy of God our Savior and Lord! Trusting in the Lord, who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)
Living in Christ,
– Pastor Steve
Redeemer Lutheran Church - Hartford, WI 