The Church forgives as God forgives. Anytime we try to imitate God, we quickly realize our inadequacy. Yet today God tells us to model our forgiveness on his: a boundless, free, and loving forgiveness based on the sacrifice of Christ. How could our sinful hearts ever forgive like that? The Prayer of the Day asks that the mercy and grace of God precede us and follow after us, that we might love God with undivided hearts—hearts always ready to forgive as God does: sins are forgiven, forgotten, forever.
September 20, 2020 - Pentecost 16 - Sunday Worship
The Church fulfills her role as her brother’s keeper. The privilege, responsibility and importance of this task all rest in the words from our Gospel lesson that follow Jesus’ divine directive, “I tell you the truth…” The keys of the kingdom have been placed in our hands. It is our privilege and responsibility to bind and to loose—to be our brother’s keeper—because Christ has appointed the Church to carry out that task on his behalf.
Service will be live streamed on our Facebook and YouTube pages. Our video will be posted here after the fact.
September 13, 2020 - Pentecost 15 - Sunday Worship
The Church is militant: first the cross, then the crown. The Prayer and Verse of the Day center the lessons. Today Christ tells us that for him and for us, going God’s way means death must come before life. He calls on us to deny ourselves and follow him on the way of the cross. Those words offend our sinful flesh and make our Old Adam cry with Peter, “Never!” They make us accuse God with Jeremiah. So today the Church prays for the never-failing mercy of Christ that we might avoid such wicked and harmful thoughts and instead be guided on the cross-laden path to salvation. Then, and only then, do these words of Christ cease offending our flesh and become a joy and delight for our heart (Verse of the Day).
September 6, 2020 - Pentecost 14 - Sunday Worship
The Church will stand forever. Nothing can keep our Redeemer from upholding his promised salvation. Neither false expectations nor the gates of hell, neither an Egyptian army nor a flowing river, not even the great tribulation of the end times will keep our God from preserving his Church.
Our sermon continues our series on the book of Romans. Today’s section urges us to take a step back and to take in just how Awe-some our God is.
August 30, 2020 - Pentecost 13 - Sunday Worship
The Church is meant for all people. The Prayer of the Day reminds us that it is only by God’s gift of grace that we come into his presence to offer true and faithful service. Today’s lessons teach that the gift of grace given to Israel, God also intended to give through Israel to the world. The Church is meant for all people: a display of God’s mercy and a result of the living and active Word of God.
Our sermon continues our series on the book of Romans about how all people are grafted into the church by the mercy of God. There is no room for conceit!
August 23, 2020 - Pentecost 12 - Sunday Worship
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The Christian answers doubt with faith. Doubt is the unfortunate companion of faith. Wherever faith clings to the promises of God, doubt is always right there lingering in the back of our mind, constantly asking the serpent’s Garden question, “Did God really say?” How striking to think that we must have faith in God before we can doubt him! Today’s lessons show us believers who had faith in God and his abilities to save them, but yet doubted when his plans or purpose failed to match theirs. In each case, it is adversity that fights against faith and allows its unfortunate companion to rear its ugly head. And in each case, the true answer to doubt is not found in the great miracle that removes adversity, but in the still small voice of our Savior God whispering in his Word. Today we hear our Savior God ask us, “Why did you doubt?”, and we see that the Christian answers doubt with faith.
Our sermon will continue our series on Romans, focusing on remembering our roots when we get lost in doubt or fear.
August 16, 2020 - Pentecost 11 - Sunday Worship
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The Christian trusts God to provide. The Prayer of the Day summarizes the Sunday: God reveals his mighty power chiefly in showing mercy and kindness. God feeds hungry mouths and hungry souls with his gifts of grace. When we bring our problems to Jesus, he will richly supply all we need.
In our sermon for today we will see just how much love God has given that nothing can overcome it or remove it from us.
August 9, 2020 - Pentecost 10 - Sunday Worship
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The Christian seeks spiritual wealth. This Sunday’s readings are centered around the very ancient Prayer of the Day. For nearly 1600 years God’s people on this day have prayed that God might give them true spiritual wealth. “Teach us always to ask according to your will that we may never fail to obtain the blessings you have promised.” What a magnificent prayer for the materialist world in which we live! Our lessons today show people who have come into great wealth, but yet this earthly wealth only serves to illustrate where true treasure lies. Today we see that true, spiritual wealth can only be found in God and his eternal blessings for us in Christ.
August 2, 2020 - Pentecost 9 - Sunday Worship
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The Christian lives as wheat among weeds as he waits for the harvest. In the Prayer of the Day we ask for the spirit to live like wheat—to think and to do what is right—even while we live in
Our sermon for today will focus especially on how the Holy Spirit helps us in our weak moments and how he expresses our needs and concerns to the Father on our behalf.
Romans Sermon Series #8 - Romans 8:27,27 - Prayer
Him + Her Worship Concert - July 28, 2020
We were blessed to have Him + Her Worship share their story, their music, and our Savior. Listen in! Find more about Him + Her Worship and their ministry at their website: https://himandherworship.com/
July 26, 2020 - Pentecost 8 - Sunday Worship
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The Christian is planted by the Word and produces fruit. The Sunday is summarized in the Prayer of the Day which thanks God for the implanting of the Word and asks for the Spirit’s help in producing fruits of faith.
Our sermon will narrow in on the longing the Word produces in us for the culmination of our renewal when Jesus returns.
Sermon Series #7 - Romans 8:18-25 - “Longing”
July 19, 2020 - Pentecost 7 - Sunday Worship
The Christian finds rest in Jesus. From the beginning of time, God provided rest for his creation. He blessed the seventh day and set it apart, that man might learn to find his rest in God alone. In Jesus, the Christian finds rest from his burdens, rest from his battles, and rest forever in heaven.
Sermon Series on Romans: #6 “Battling”
July 12, 2020 - Pentecost 6 - Sunday Worship
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The Christian loves God above all things. The beautiful Prayer of the Day sets the tone for the Sunday. The Church prays for the love of God that we might always love him above all things. The Verse of the Day describes this total commitment to Christ as denying ourselves and carrying our crosses. The lessons warn of the earthly ramifications of such love, but also point to the promised heavenly rewards.
July 5, 2020 - Pentecost 5 Sunday Worship
The Holy Ministry preaches Christ in spite of persecution. Christ promises courage for his witnesses to testify even in the face of pain or persecution. The Prayer of the Day is one of the most ancient in the Church’s use. It seems to have been suggested by the disasters of the dying Western Empire. As Rome crumbled, the Church prayed for God’s governance that she might worship in peace and joy. Today Christ reminds us that even when that peace and joy are absent, he will give us the courage to continue to testify in his name.
June 28, 2020 - Pentecost 4 - Sunday Worship
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The Holy Ministry is given by God out of compassion for his people. Over the next three Sundays we hear Jesus’ Missionary Discourse (Matthew 10:5-42). Last Sunday we saw the unworthiness of the servants God calls by mercy. Today the emphasis is still on the Ministry of the Word, but the focus shifts from the servants to the people they serve. We see the compassion and love of God for this world, love so great that he called ministers of the Word to share his grace and mercy and foretell of the coming kingdom of heaven. The Prayer of the Day is Gregorian and fits the Sunday beautifully as it emphasizes how God protects us, empowers us, and sanctifies us through the ministry of the Word that shows us mercy and forgiveness and leads us to the glory of heaven. The Verse of the Day is an excellent match: ministers clothed by God make the saints rejoice!
June 21, 2020 - Pentecost 3 - Sunday Worship
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The Holy Ministry is filled with people who God called out of his boundless mercy. Nothing else could explain the choices for ministers that God made! He calls such sinful and weak men to fill this office. Only mercy can explain the men he chose in this Sunday’s lessons: a despised tax collector, an exiled killer, a persecutor of Christians. How poignant these lessons are, when we remember that each lesson was penned by the unworthy minister called into service by God’s boundless mercy!
June 14, 2020 - Pentecost 2 - Sunday Worship
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The Holy Ministry stands on the rock-solid truth of God’s Word. Not all who call themselves ministers do that, so watch out for false teachers! Many will come with wise sounding words and pious promises, but they are not what they seem. The Church’s only defense is to stand firmly on the rock-solid truth of God’s Word. The Season of Pentecost explicates the teachings of Christ and the application of faith in the life of the Christian. How fitting that this initial Sunday lays the foundation for that teaching and life: the inspired Word of God.
This Sunday, we also began our sermon series on the book of Romans. This first sermon focused on the concept of Atonement.
June 11, 2020 Devotion - Romans 1:16-17 - "I am not ashamed of the gospel"
Midweek devotion teasing our new Romans series by focusing us on some of Paul’s opening words in his letter to the Roman Christians: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes"…”
June 7, 2020 - Holy Trinity Sunday Service
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We believe in the Triune God. “Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else, hold to the true Christian faith. Whoever does not keep this faith pure in all points will certainly perish forever” (Athanasian Creed). The third and longest of the ecumenical creeds underscores the importance of this Sunday’s message. The doctrine of the Trinity is not a logical exercise or a dogmatic excursion. It’s central to our salvation. The Triune God is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Lose this doctrine, and as the Creed says, you lose it all. A Jesus who is less than God is also less than Savior.
May 28, 2020 Devotion - 1 Peter 5:5b-7 - "Stop thinking you can carry it all."
Wednesday devotion on 1 Peter 5:5b-7 on humbling ourselves so that we don’t think we can carry it all. Instead, let us cast all our anxieties on Him because HE can.