WORSHIP
God's Way Opens Before Us, September 8 Worship
Jesus echoes Moses’ words that when God enters our world new vistas open before us. God shows us sacred and eternal things. God sets before us life and love of God and compassion for everyone around us. These are the things we can choose today because God has made it so. Choosing the things of God may require careful thought and even sacrifice. We ask for the Holy Spirit to lead us and teach, and inspire us. We pray that we may choose what God has set before us: the good and eternal things that are right and true.
The Humble Will See the Glory of God, September 1 Worship
God can accomplish more with our humility than we can do with our pride. When we are asking questions such as what would leave room for the love of God or what would give glory to Him the world around us is transformed into a place where God can be seen and that is always greater than whatever we might try to achieve. The path of humility is the path of faith, as we believe that God’s Glory is greater than all else.
Pastor Disney was a guest preacher on Main Street Living, a Lutheran television program that is endorsed by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. His sermon was recorded several weeks ago and aired on TV this past Sunday, Sept. 1. This is the same sermon that Pastor Disney preached at Bethlehem on Sunday, Sept. 1. We hope you enjoy the video version.
God is Always Good, Worship August 25, Pentecost 11
Most of us would agree that life can be hard. We would probably also agree that life is incredibly meaningful. The challenge we all face is putting those two things together in order to say that even the hardship in life can be meaningful. C S Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” God can use everything and anything in our lives to purify us, make us more holy, and draw us closer to Him. Jesus spoke of this as a “narrow door.” Even when life is hard God is good, all the time!
Faith, The Eyes of the Heart, August 18 Worship
Look at the world around you and sense that it must have been designed and built by someone. Here begins the journey of faith and it can carry you very far. You can look at the evidence and decide to believe that a man named Jesus rose from his grave alive. Believing that will change a lot of things about your life, both now and forever. Faith can be a way of looking at the world and interpreting everything that happens. Things look very different when you are ready to affirm that there is a good, merciful, and just God. It is a dramatic and wonderful thing to let your heart be led by the eyes of faith.
The Blessing of Our Faith in God, August 11 Worship
Faith opens doors and windows. Our faith is inspired by God and used by Him to create new things that would be otherwise impossible. Our faith, like that of the saints of old, rests on the promises of a good God who loves us. Our faith is built on Jesus who gave His life in sacrifice for us and rose alive to prove that God can be trusted with everything and anything both now and forever.
A Song for the Summertime, August 4 Worship Pentecost 8
So, what’s growing at your house this summer? Weeds seem to grow easily. But what would you rather see grow? In the epistle lesson from Colossians we are challenged to grow in living lives of integrity that honor our Creator. Paul says this kind of growth comes when we get rid of things like “lust, evil desires and greed.” Jesus challenged a man who had many material things to work on growing in the spiritual things of God. We can grow flowers rather than weeds when we are nourished in God’s goodness and love. Let’s sing a prayerful song for the summertime: “Lord enable us to grow in lives that glorify You.”
Praying for the World Around Us, July 28 Worship Pentecost 7
God wants us to be talking and praying to Him. But what are we supposed to be talking to Him about? In our Old Testament lesson Abraham pleads to God for a place and a people that others would have forsaken. We can learn from Abraham’s example to pray that God would mercifully care for the culture of the world around us. God is great in wisdom and might. How will He answer your prayer? Praying keeps us at once humble and hopeful.
God Visits Us, Worship July 21, Pentecost 6
Jesus visits the home of two women, Mary and Martha. They are very different people. Jesus cares for each of them in a different way. This helps us to see that God can enter the distinctly different predicament of any of our lives. Do you need to hear of the mysteries of God, or do you need to let go of the accumulation of ordinary things that clouds your mind? God knows what you need. Are you ready to invite Him for a visit?
Growing in God's Great Love, Worship July 14, Pentecost 5
In today's Gospel reading a young lawyer asks Jesus, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Their conversation leads Jesus to tell one of His best known parables known as “the Good Samaritan.” In this story Jesus stretches our imagination about what godly love can do in the reality of our lives. How great do you think God’s love is? In Christ Jesus we see that God’s love is eternal, almighty, and ours forever, and even today.
The Kingdom of God is Near You, 4th Sunday of Pentecost, July 7
In the Gospel for today, Jesus sends out seventy-two of His followers with power to heal and cast out demons. But most importantly Jesus wanted them to share that the Kingdom of God is near. As they bestowed care and concern on those they met they were embodying the Kingdom of God. The goodness they brought to people’s lives was pointing to the even greater blessing of our everlasting future in God’s Kingdom. In Jesus all this is near even for us. The Kingdom is near, now and forever.