WORSHIP
Makes You Want to Sing! Worshop: March 30, 2025
Traditionally, the Fourth Sunday in Lent has been known as Laetare Sunday, from the Latin Introit Laetare Jerusalem: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her” (Isaiah 66:10). Though still in the penitential season of Lent, this Sunday is a relaxation from normal Lenten discipline. Flowers may appear, and ministers may wear rose-colored vestments as a lighter shade of violet.
Today’s service is inspired by the Old Testament Reading of Isaiah, the First Song of Isaiah: “Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth” (Isaiah 12:5). Today we take that admonition literally as not only the liturgy is sung but also the Readings are expanded with hymn stanzas. “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12:6). In the joy of the faithful father in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, the forgiveness of our sin and reconciliation with God as His baptized sons and daughters, well, it just makes you want to sing! So we shall!
What’s the Deal with Eating and Drinking? Worship: March 23, 2025
A main emphasis of our Lenten discipline is our struggle against temptations to sin and toward true repentance that leads to living faithful Christian lives. As our physical well-being depends in part on healthy choices of diet, in today’s Readings God uses the metaphor of eating and drinking to warn and encourage His people to avoid the temptations of the world and our own sin that leads us away from God and to rely constantly on the forgiveness and faith that God provides to enable us to lead godly lives. In the Epistle, Paul has in mind how God provides for us in His Word and Sacraments. We are to remember not only that we were baptized but that we are baptized, meaning God still provides us with saving, bold faith that relies on His mercy and grace because we belong to Him now. The center of the Divine Service is the Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood, through which we are given forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation—all the benefits won for us by the cross and sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Today we are encouraged to receive and rely on God’s gifts and provision constantly, that we may maintain a healthy and strong faith in the face of all adversities and challenges.
Stand Firm in the Faith. Worship: March 16, 2025
How’s your faith? Is it firm, steadfast, and strong? Or do you find that it seems to be growing weak, uncertain, or even in danger of disappearing at times? As we follow our Lord in this Lenten season, leading up to the distressing events of Holy Week, we are warned today that the same opposition, rejection, and betrayal faced by prophets like Jeremiah, and even Jesus, will also face us as His followers. What did He mean when He said, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake”? (Luke 21:17). But rather than a dire prediction, Jesus said, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12). When challenges arise and temptations overwhelm, we are reminded to remember and observe examples of faith, such as the apostle Paul in his many struggles and even our Lord Himself whose faith and confidence in His Father’s gracious design made Him endure “the cross, despising the shame” with the prospect of His certain victory and eternal placement at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). That certainty is ours. Faith hangs on to the promise “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown” (Revelation 3:11). Or as Paul says, “Therefore, my brothers, . . .my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord” (Philippians 4:1).
God’s Truth: Easy and Powerful. Worship: March 9, 2025
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness” (1 Timothy 3:16). As we have now entered the forty-day pilgrimage of Lent, we approach the most climactic event of our Lord’s earthly ministry, the one that confused and frightened the first followers of Jesus and perhaps even some to this day. The expectation of the establishment of the kingdom of God with Jesus, the Son of God, seated on a royal throne as ruler was demolished as they witnessed their Rabbi, Master, and Lord taken captive, convicted, tortured, and executed on that Passover in Jerusalem.
The cross has always been an offense. To this day, the same mystery stands: His royal throne is but a frightful cross of crucifixion—His kingdom hidden to the eyes. When confronted with the facts of God’s Word, many cannot see past this mystery. Yet it is the power of God’s Word that gives people the gift of faith and new eyes to see what was incomprehensible and secret now revealed by the Spirit of God. God’s truth is that in the death of Christ, redemption and forgiveness of sin now avails for the entire world. Sinners are delivered, justified before God by faith in the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and given the ability to repent and believe and become children of God for eternity. For sinful mankind, this life-giving truth is impossible to believe or understand. Only because of the mighty Word of God proclaimed to the world by His church and by the power of the Spirit is that otherwise mysterious Word actually easy and powerful to understand and to believe.
Witnesses of Glory and Heirs of Promise. Worship: March 2, 2025
Beloved heirs of God’s glory—sinners and saints, sons and daughters—see God’s promised revelation in Jesus’ transfigured glory! All believing patriarchs, prophets, disciples, leaders, teachers, and confessors experience the tragic result of sin. Yet we are all invited into the light of Jesus! Our journeys, despite mistrust and faithlessness, are enveloped in God’s forgiveness. The sinless Son of God appears before sinful Moses, Elilah, Peter, James, and John on the mountain together! A revelation like no other! This pivotal moment of glory compels us to anticipate the journey of the “gory,” the pending crimes against Jesus: the cross, the mockery, the crucifixion. Death is coming! Soon, the church’s alleluias will be hushed.
Is It Possible? Worship: February 23, 2025
Forgiving is not beyond the realm of possibility for us. Although, as children of Adam, we are part of the earthly world, by the grace of God we are also His children, in the family through Baptism. We can extend God’s love and forgiveness to those who hate us, take from us, and are our enemies. Anyone who is in Christ, while still dealing with this Adamic world, can expect undeserved favor—grace—from our heavenly Father for Jesus’ sake. Today our worship helps to strengthen us for the task. Fear not! Those who oppose us are part of this fallen world; Christ has destroyed even death for us. And we are in Christ.
Planted by the Grace of God. Worship: February 16, 2025
Blessing abound in today’s readings! Jeremiah laments the one who “trusts in man,” but sees the one who “trusts in the Lord,” to be like a tree planted with abundant water that “does not cease to bear fruit”
(Jeremiah 17:5, 7, 8). Note that we are “Planted,”—a passive verb, grace! Luke records another time Jesus preached using beatitudes. He concluded that we, his hearers, should rejoice and leap for joy, for
our reward is great in heaven. Such grace! No wonder that Paul, in the Epistle, warns against those who doubt Christ’s resurrection. Our Lord is only “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Today, our worship is full of rejoicing in the grace of God. It also gives us strength to produce fruit every day.
Hook, Line, and Risen. Worship: February 9, 2025
Today we hear the “hook” God used to attract Isaiah as His prophet. With him, we are moved to respond, “Here am I! Send me.” Like Paul, we have a “line” to reel in people who might otherwise stray; we are called to speak clearly to be about the task of “building up the church.” But we are not called to introduce them to a sinker who will weigh them down, for Jesus has risen! Now He sets us up to “fish” for others, replacing their empty lives with God’s overflowing, eternal bounty. Today we let the Word move us into action, to use the hook and line God provides to follow our Lord and catch others for the One who has risen above our every weighty sin and empty life and calls us to follow.
My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation. Worship: February 2, 2025
Although this day is about the purification of Mary according to the law and the presentation of Jesus as the firstborn of her womb, these are saving acts done on behalf of all of us. This is what Simeon acknowledges when he sings the Nunc Dimittis. Here is the promise of God kept in Christ for his salvation and for the redemption of the Gentiles. Here we see the face of God, the display of His mercy, and the glory long promised. We sing with Simeon in praise of our Savior, while acknowledging that in the Holy Sacrament we see our salvation every bit as much as Simeon saw it in the baby in his arms.
Marvel at His Words. Worship: January 26, 2025
When Jesus unrolled the scroll, the people might have been expecting words from His mouth, but what they got was the Word made flesh, the Word that endures forever. It did not take long before they found reason to wonder. “Is this not Joseph’s son?” The reality is that there are always those who look for reason to doubt or to reject but the Word is given to bring forth faith. The Word is given that by hearing we might believe, but wherever God’s Word is spoken it is also a scandal and offense to the way we see ourselves and our salvation. Jesus has come to address us with the Word of Life so that by hearing we may believe and by believing we may see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The best appreciation for God’s Word is faith.