Monthly Archives: August 2013

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 25, 2013:

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We hope to see many backpacks at church for blessings. God gives all of us jobs; things to do that help us to serve God in the world. This is called our vocation. One of the childhood vocations is to go to school. Children can serve God by going to school and learning about God’s world, by being with other people, by being loving toward others. Come worship with us on Sunday with Holy Communion at St. Peter’s at 9:00am and at Messiah at 10:30am. Sunday School classes meet at Messiah at 9:15am and at St. Peter’s at 10:15am. 1:00 pm will be Rally Day Picnic at St. Peter’s, chicken supplied by the church and covered dishes from others. Prayer of the Day: O God, mighty and immortal, you know that as fragile creatures surrounded by great dangers, we cannot by ourselves stand upright. Give us strength of mind and body, so that even when we suffer because of human sin, we may rise victorious through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

All are welcome…

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For Lutherans, worship matters. In fact, worship lies at the heart of how we understand ourselves together. There is a basic pattern for worship among Lutherans. We gather. We encounter God’s Word. We share a meal at the Lord’s table. And we are sent into the world. But we do not think about worship so much in terms of what we do. Worship is fundamentally about what God is doing and our response to God’s action. Worship is an encounter with God, who saves us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Think about it like this. God’s Spirit calls us together. God speaks to us through readings from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, through preaching, prayer, and song. God feeds and nourishes us in a saving way. And God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world.

Taken together, the Word proclaimed and the sacraments — both Holy Baptism and Holy Communion — are called the means of grace. We believe that Jesus Christ is present in these means through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we describe worship as a “gathering around the means of grace.” This is a way of saying that we trust that God is genuinely present with us in baptism, in preaching, and in sharing the bread and wine of Holy Communion. In that sense, Lutherans believe that God’s presence permeates all of Christian worship.

The cross is the central symbol that marks our worship spaces and when Lutherans worship, singing fills the air. The voices of all the people joined in song and the participation of all the people in the worship is a witness to our conviction that in worship we are being drawn in to God’s own saving story.

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 18, 2013

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Today’s gospel contains harsh words concerning the purifying and potentially divisive effects of God’s call. People who follow the way of Christ often encounter hostility and rejection, even from those they love. Come worship with us on Sunday with Holy Communion at St. Peter’s at 9:00am and at Messiah at 10:30am. Sunday School classes meet at Messiah at 9:15am and at St. Peter’s at 10:15am. Prayer of the Day: O God, judge eternal, you love justice and hate oppression, and you call us to share your zeal for truth. Give us courage to take our stand with all victims of bloodshed and greed, and, following your servants and prophets, to look to the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.