Pray Early and Often. Worship: July 27, 2025

God’s Word instructs us to stay connected to Christ. We experience that connection as we gather to hear God’s Word, dine at our Lord’s Table, and pray persistent, bold prayers for ourselves, our neighbors, communities, and world. Today we hear Abraham pleading with God on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. We hear Jesus teaching His disciples to pray. Jesus then illustrates the power of bold, persistent prayer and affirms the goodness of the One who hears our prayers. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5–6).

Always Better. Worship: July 20, 2025

We try to exercise our freedom and planning, but God’s way is always better. It was better for Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament Reading and gets Mary’s attention in the Gospel. It was still taking some time for the new believers of Colossae to fathom that God had done so much for them in Christ. And when their friends found the treasure of the Gospel, they, too, must have laughed that God had such gracious plans for them, plans that are always better than they imagined.

Put in Our Place. Worship: July 13, 2025

Today’s Old Testament Reading is full of what God demands that someone should or should not do; it sounds almost scary. But it is only His putting us in our place and telling us how He wants to work through us and share His love, already poured out on us: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). But we try to limit the definition of “neighbor.” We don’t have to! Today we thank God for giving us, for Jesus’ sake, “the inheritance of the saints in light,” as Paul writes in the Epistle (Colossians 1:12). It is time to set aside our daily activities to let God put us in our place as His friends, followers, and family.

We Rejoice That Our Lord Has Won. Worship: July 6, 2025

Today’s Old Testament Reading should be read last, for it is a call to rejoicing, at least for people of faith in Christ. The guaranteed future includes “peace . . . like a river” (Isaiah 66:12), a powerful and restful image. The Epistle, however, is full of marching orders for daily living and the warning, “let us not grow weary of doing good” (Galatians 6:9). When the Seventy-Two (not just the Twelve) went out in the Gospel, we do not know how fearful they may have been, but they returned triumphant and were congratulated by our Lord. Because He has won the final battle for us, our worship today may certainly focus on the peace that awaits us. It is an opportunity to “shout for joy to God, all the earth” (Psalm 66:1).

New Tree, New Fruit. Worship: June 29, 2025

If you have ever enjoyed a homegrown tomato or plucked a ripe peach straight from the tree, you know there is no substitute for good fruit. Today, the Holy Spirit is continuing the work begun in your Baptism, bringing forth good fruit. Too often, we imagine bearing good fruit is a result of our own careful cultivation, paying special attention to getting things right. The Spirit takes another approach. Just as the flavor of fresh fruit is a delight to our senses, the Spirit delights our soul with the tantalizing tastes of joy, kindness, gentleness, and love! The Spirit teaches us to crave what is good and, in so doing, leads believers to produce the fruit the Lord always intended.

True Wisdom, on the Way. Worship:June 22, 2025

The season of Pentecost has arrived! With the arrival of the Holy Spirit, this season of the Church Year is marked by growth. We see evidence of the growth the Spirit is seeking in this week’s Readings. The Lord and giver of life seeks to see His people grow faithful hearts through faithful worship, resulting in faithful service. When the way ahead isn’t as clear or as comfortable as we would like, we rely on the Lord’s wisdom, leading us back to His faithful servant, Jesus Christ, who clears the obstacles of our sinfulness and comforts us with His Word and sacramental gifts.

The Holy Trinity Just Works! Worship: June 15, 2025

The Holy Trinity presents profound complexities. The church wrestles to dissect and sync together the identities and the activities of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The Athanasian Creed is the treatise that sews together the equality and uniqueness of the three persons of the Trinity. With faith’s assurance, the church confesses trinitarian substance, coeternal majesty, and seemingly unattainable mystery. The Uncreated, the Infinite, the Almighty are One in Three. The Holy Trinity is vested in working in our midst today, every day, and eternally. In faith, the church and its members forge ahead in life because the Holy Trinity just works! We may not understand fully, and yet, by faith we believe the Father works—creating; the Son works—redeeming; and the Spirit works—sanctifying. Our entire life of frailty and faith is only possible because the Holy Trinity just works—all the time—with us, for us, and alongside us!

Kindle in Us the Fire of Your Love. Worship: June 8, 2025

It is the week of weeks—seven times seven plus one, the fiftieth day—when Pentecost arrives. It is the last day of Easter and the first day for the fruits of Christ’s Easter victory to be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. Today we discover anew what it means to be united in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. All things in common, the disciples are gathered to bring the nations together as one people by the Word of Christ’s death and resurrection and the faith that apprehends and confesses this saving truth. All of this is enabled by the fire of the Spirit burning in us and through us so that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Only One Source. Worship: June 1, 2025

 How close must we be to achieve unity? For us sinners, separation of even a little bit compromises unity. What we need is a single source to unite us. It is our singular Savior who is the only source of true unity. Our Readings today show us the one church continuing and Matthias elected to sit in Judas’s chair. Jesus promises power to His followers and tells them to stay close and do His will. And our Lord even prays that they might be one with Him even as He is one with the Father. Today we need to hear the Word of God to find strength for continuing our being the one Body of Christ.

We Can’t Wait. Worship: May 28, 2025

It is almost the end of the Easter Season, and we would like it to continue. The non-festival half of the Church Year doesn’t seem as, well, festive. But listen to the Readings! There are people, like Paul in the Reading from Acts, who need support today. And Lydia is an example of a new Christian, ready to help. The vision in Revelation showed John’s readers the perfect city, ready to welcome all whose names are in the Book of Life (that’s us)! We can hardly wait to get there.

In the meantime, there’s no time to lose. “Ask,” Jesus tells us in the Gospel, “and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). You see, even now He is with us. What would you like to ask Him?