The Lord Come Down from Heaven, Novemeber 12 Worship

God is infinite and eternal. He has no beginning and no end. That means that wherever and whenever you meet God you know there is more. He always has something else, another move, one more chapter. As we go through the ordinary things that fill our lives we might assume that the rest will be just the same as before. But God is infinitely creative and eternally generous. He is always beginning something new. As the church year winds down we are reminded to keep watching and expecting anytime, anywhere. We celebrate that we will see God in all of His glory, infinite and eternal.   

For All the Saints, November 5th Worship

All Saint’s Day could bring some pressure. Being a saint sounds like a lot to live up to. 500 years ago when Martin Luther felt this he left everything behind and joined a monastery. The monks Luther joined prayed and worshipped God around the clock, seven days a week. But it did not make Martin feel like a saint. The harder he tried the more he sensed his lack of righteousness. When he started looking into the Bible for answers he found a different story. Holiness is God’s gift to bestow on us. Jesus came among us to bring holiness into our midst. In Jesus anyone can be holy, not just monks, everyone, even us find we are made into Saints because of what Jesus did for us.

500th Anniversary of the Reformation, October 29th Worship

“It’s still all about Jesus.” It was all about Jesus when the Lord God first promised a Savior to Adam, Eve, and their descendants. It was all about Jesus with every foretelling of the coming Christ by Old Testament prophets. It was all about Jesus at the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb. It was all about Jesus as the apostle Paul penned, “We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). It was all about Jesus when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. It’s still all about Jesus today as we receive the Means of Grace—Word and Sacrament. It will be all about Jesus when He returns in glory on the Last Day. As we observe the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we celebrate that it always has been, and always will be, all about Jesus!

Jesus, "Man of Integrity, Teaching the Way of God" October 22nd Worship

There is a mystery at the center of everything, and we all can sense it. When the mystery was revealed his name was Jesus. As we ready ourselves to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation we are reminded that it is easy to lose sight of this simple insight: it is really all about Jesus. They called him, “a man of integrity, teaching the way of God in accordance with the truth.” They were trying to flatter him and prompt him to say something that would get him in trouble. But Jesus just kept coming up with amazing answers creating clarity. The great secret is revealed: Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth.

Invited to God's Banquet, October 15 Worship

We are invited to a banquet. It’s quite a feast. On the menu is mercy, grace, and joy. Come and sit at this table and you will laugh with relief and wonder. This is God’s banquet, and He invites us to come and sit with him at His table. It is an honor we have not earned and do not deserve. If you are surprised to be invited you might pause and think, “But I have nothing I could wear to such a lavish banquet.” Look again and you will see that the invitation says “come as you are.” Here we are in the presence of the Almighty Creator and King. God’s banquet is just getting started. It is an eternal celebration of all that good, right, and true. 

Listening for God, October 8th Worship

God might want to send you an important message. But if you cannot accept the messenger you will never hear what the Almighty and All-knowing God wants to say to you. This happened in the days of Isaiah the prophet just as it did again when Jesus revealed himself to the people of Israel. How might God be speaking to you today? Sometimes we are not listening because we simply are not expecting God to be speaking. At other times we hear His truth and then we actively resist it because it sounds too threatening or difficult. Opening ourselves to the idea that God could be speaking to us today will change many things including our relationships with other people. When we listen to others with respect and consideration, not only do we honor them in a way that makes our relationships with everyone easier and better, but we also open our hearts wider to the amazing revelation of God’s pure love and grace.    

God of Completion, October 1st Worship

Every day we deal with things that are too big or complicated to finish. Even though we long for things that are whole and complete, so many things in life are too vast to even be able to see the end. At work or school we strive to finish long projects that have no end in sight.. At home we continue long conversations with family and friends without resolution. In the eyes of God everything about us is incomplete. His great promise is to continue with us until we are made complete. Even when it feels like we will never get to the end of things God is here. No wonder Paul urges us to remain hopeful as we “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

Our Generous God, September 24th Worship

As we begin to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we rejoice that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. The whole point of the Reformation is that it is easy to forget this amazing thing. Because of Jesus God is abundantly, outrageously generous in His love for us. Jesus tells us a story about how surprising and mysterious the mercy and love of God can seem. He invites us to worship and rejoice in the wonder of our Generous God.

God's Gracious Account, September 17th Worship

Each of us is, in a sense, writing the story of our lives. We want to steer the story in a certain way. Yet, along the way there are many “what if’ moments that we cannot control. Paul tells us in Romans that in the end each of us “will give an account of himself to God.” In other words we will get to tell the story from our perspective. But what really ignites the imagination is that we will then get to hear Almighty God’s version of our story. Along the way, as it is being written God can turn our stories in surprising ways. He can add or subtract things, not because we deserve it but because it is His pleasure to see something better than we could ever create for ourselves. In the end, God can choose to see the whole of our lives in an entirely different way because Jesus the Son of the Living God has made sure that our stories include grace and forgiveness and the undeserved eternal compassion of God.

God Creates Anew, September 10th Worship

God is creative. The Bible tells us from its first pages that God has infinite power to make new things, and maybe even more amazing, He can also renew and recreate. When Jesus finds his disciples squabbling about who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven he invites them to think about themselves as children. In thinking of ourselves in this way we prepare ourselves for the newness of life God can create. By his Word and Spirit God can bring newness in wonderful, graceful, and eternal ways. Today as we begin new things we gather to pray, “God, come among us, and create anew”.