WORSHIP
Persistence Pays. WorshipOctober 19, 2025
From an early age, many of us learned that persistent pestering is rude, as parents make this clear to children who repeatedly ask for the same things over and over. We are thankful that our heavenly Father
never grows weary of our asking Him for what we need, no matter how repetitive our requests may be. As we see in Jacob’s persistent proclamation, “I will not let You go unless You bless me” (Genesis 32:26), in
Paul’s exhortation to continually persist in what we have learned and believed (2 Timothy 3:14), and in Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1–8), we know we can bring all things to our heavenly
Father persistently in prayer, trusting through it all that His will would be done.
Guided by Faith. Worship: October 12, 2025
Compass Rose, from a Blaue Atlas, published in Amsterdam
In our Readings today, we see not only where faith guides but also to whom it ultimately leads. In Ruth 1, we learn of Naomi’s difficulties as she faced numerous instances of grief. Yet her faith remained in the Lord and His provision, which would lead her to Judah. Faithful to her mother-in-law, Ruth would be guided not only to a new land but also to the knowledge of the one true God. In 2 Timothy 2, even amid imprisonment and suffering, Paul points young Timothy and all hearers in faith to remember Jesus Christ, reminding of the One who remains faithful despite earthly troubles. In Luke 17, ten lepers encounter Jesus and beg for His mercy. Jesus heals them all and then affirms the faith of the cleansed Samaritan, making him well spiritually. As we are called, gathered, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, who gives and sustains the gift of faith still, we are guided by Scripture and led through it to our Savior, Jesus, in whose name we worship in our prayer, our praise, and our thanksgiving for all He has done.
Your Unworthy Pastor. Worship: October 5, 2025
This is a difficult day for your pastor. For you are, in a sense, listening in to our Lord speaking to him of His high expectations as His called and ordained servant. It all has to do with addressing his sins with the cutting accusation of God’s Law, but with the goal of applying the comforting healing and hope of God’s Gospel of forgiveness and strength. Yet, if you listen carefully, you will discover that it’s not only about your pastor’s frailty or sins, but it is also Christ addressing your sins and need through him. The pastor’s calling is, at once, a most difficult one but also the most joyous and fulfilling calling and vocation. Your pastor has the responsibility and obligation not to mislead you into sin but to apply the remedy for it. Preaching and teaching the Word of Christ, and administering that Word of forgiveness of sin and new life through the Sacraments, is not primarily the pastor’s work but is indeed the work of Christ Himself. The pastor pours baptismal water, and the believer dies and is raised with Christ. The pastor does no magical incantation, but Christ speaks through him. The bread and wine are Christ’s body and blood for you that takes away your sin (and the pastor’s!), imparting forgiveness and eternal life. Pray for your pastor, as he prays for you. Forgive your pastor, as he lives by the same forgiveness he declares to you.
Profit without the Pitfalls. Worship: September 28, 2025
Though it sounds like a contradiction, the “poor rich man” in today’s parable of Jesus apparently never really heard or just ignored the dire warning of God’s prophets like Amos against trusting in earthly gain and riches to the exclusion of trusting faith in the merciful promises of God. The temptation of earthly wealth infects all people throughout history to this day, regardless of outward circumstances, rich and poor alike. Paul sums up the challenge for faith as he contrasts the “great gain” (or profit) of godly faithfulness and the temptations (or pitfalls) of temporary riches. We all know the sentence of Paul, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10), which is so often misquoted as only “money is the root of all evil.” Money is not the problem. There’s no sin in possessing earthly riches. The deeper question is what or who is the object of our love and trust. The Christian’s true riches are in Christ Jesus, namely, the new life we have been given through our baptismal faith. It is the life we can take with us through and beyond the grave and gate of death. “Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live” (Psalm 146:1–2), which will be forever!
The Time Is Ripe. Worship: September 21, 2025
The Divine Service is unlike our other activities during the week—in the marketplace, our place of employment, or our school—where we struggle to be “the people of God” amid the temptations and confusing details of living in a world still disfigured by sin, tragedy, selfishness, and death. By our own fault, we daily fall short of our calling as Christians. We are reminded today of the judgment of God’s Law by the prophet Amos against our worry over money and our own needs that distract us from the often-greater needs of others and even our own true need of faith and reliance on God above all. Each day of the week, the demands of the Ten Commandments of God call us back to our need for forgiveness and God’s mercy, grace, help, and love. So, we gather here for Divine Service, that is, God attending to our real needs. We come to repent of our sin and failure, and to receive forgiveness and new life and hope. That forgiveness and hope comes solely from the God who “loved the world” so much “that He gave His only Son” to die for you (John 3:16). We do not have to wait and wonder until the Day of Judgment. By your Baptism into Christ, by His mighty and reliable Word of forgiveness spoken over and into you, and by your connection with the body and blood of your crucified and risen Lord Jesus, you are being delivered from all evil, redeemed, restored, and forgiven for everlasting life in the kingdom of God already here and now.
The Joy of the Angels. Worship: September 14, 2025
The charge against Jesus was always the same—He keeps the wrong company. But Jesus has come for sinners, and if you are not a sinner, He does not have anything for you. To emphasize why He has come, our Lord tells the stories of ninety-nine sheep left behind to find one who is lost and a woman who rejoices over finding one lost coin. You are that lost sheep and lost coin for whom Christ has come and in whom heaven rejoices. Jesus has come for you and for you He has offered Himself upon the cross and been laid in the tomb. This is the heavenly joy of the angels above, and it is our earthly joy as well. Christ came for us!
Counting the Cost. Worship: September 7, 2025
Cover Art for 30th Anniversary Edition of Detrich Bonhoffers “The Cost of Descipleship”
Jesus is blunt about the cost of discipleship. He does not sugarcoat the life He calls us to in the baptismal waters but neither does He diminish His promises, gifts, and blessings that accompany this life of faith. Today He calls us to count the cost, knowing that the way of the Christian is constantly tested and tried by our affection for the things of this life, our vulnerability to the enemies of the faith, and the weakness of our own sinful flesh. Part of that cost is not just in what you desire but also in what you are willing to surrender for the sake of Christ and His kingdom.
Following in Humility. Worship: August 31, 2025
Entering the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the traditional site of the birth of Jesus, is one of the most memorable experiences for any Christian pilgrim visiting the Holy Land. First constructed at the commission of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great in AD 326, the church is on the oldest site continually used for worship by Christians anywhere in the world. Although the basilica initially had a grand arched entrance in its first thousand years, it came into a period of disuse and neglect after the conquest of the Holy Land by the Islamic rulers of the Ottoman Empire in AD 1516. In an effort to prevent people from entering the church with horses and cattle, the Christians caring for the building at that time walled up the main entrance, leaving only a very small door. This opening has ever since been known as the “Door of Humility.” It makes a most fitting way for those who come to worship at the site of the manger of the Christ Child to enter that sacred space. Where we worship here and now is also a sacred space. Although we may not have needed to bow down to enter the front door today, bringing an attitude of humility to our worship of our gracious Lord is truly fitting for us.
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!