
WORSHIP
Clinging to Christ. Worship: August 17, 2025
The verbal command “Hold on!” is one that gets our immediate attention. We know instinctively that holding on will keep us safe or secure in some way as we journey through life. The pages of Scripture call us to “hold on” to some very special things. In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer enjoins us: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23). Paul directs his coworker, Timothy, (and all of us) to “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” (1 Timothy 6:12) and encourages him to be “holding faith and a good conscience” (1 Timothy 1:19). Our worship together gives us the opportunity to hold on not only to our Lord Jesus Christ but also to one another as we journey on together toward our heavenly home.
Walking by Faith. Worship: August 10, 2025
In His earthly life, Jesus chose to be a “peripatetic” teacher. Rather than staying in one place and having His learners come to Him, He went from place to place with disciples or followers who listened to the truths He taught as they went along. Walking with Jesus was the greatest of blessings! Whether we hear the Gospel teachings of our Lord in the same setting week by week and year by year or find ourselves in a variety of worship locations and settings, we, too, find blessing in hearing Him as did His first followers. The hymn writer Sigismund von Birken invites us simply: “Let us ever walk with Jesus” (LSB 685:1). May we be blessed in our walking and in our listening today!
Living a New Life. Worship: August 3, 2025
Golfers enjoy getting a mulligan—a free shot or do-over. As we look back on our lives, we sometimes see times that we wish we could go back to and have a mulligan. We would like to be able to go back and make a different decision or fix a mistake we made. We cannot turn back time. God gives us something better. He gives us a new life—a fresh start that we get to celebrate every day as we remember our Baptism and the riches God gives us.
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!