Service Folder “What are you thankful for?”, is a question many ask at Thanksgiving. Yet, we learn in the lesson of the Ten Lepers that thanksgiving does not come naturally. It is a fruit of faith God works in us by giving us in his Word the greatest blessing of all – Our Savior, Jesus. If you are home for Thanksgiving, come…
Service Folder Today is the Last Sunday in the Church Year. On this Sunday we look for Jesus to return and bring the Church, purchased with his blood and nurtured by Word and Sacrament, home. In the gospel for the day, Jesus is pictured as a Bridegroom and the Church as 10 Virgins waiting for him to bring us to the joyous…
Service Folder Today’s lessons turn us to the end times and Jesus’ return. The end times will be marked by tribulation and false prophets (Matthew 24:15-28). At the end, Jesus will return to raise the dead and “grant to all believers in him, eternal life. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) As we live in these last times, God gives us gospel promises to keep…
Service Folder Baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we belong to two kingdoms. One is called the Kingdom of the Left, where the state governs by laws. The other is called the Kingdom of the Right, where God governs by grace. The Kingdom of the Left is temporary; the Kingdom of the…
Service Folder Saints Are Blessed in the Eternal Presence of Christ “A great multitude from all tribes and peoples and languages cry out ‘salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne.’” (Rev. 7:2-12). It is the chorus sung by the church in heaven, “standing before the throne of God and the Lamb.” Until then, we are a part of the…
Service Folder This Sunday we will observe the Festival of the Reformation. At the time of Martin Luther, the Gospel that we are saved by grace alone had been buried for centuries. Through God’s servant, Martin Luther, he restored the Gospel to the church. The Sunday service will also include a Mortgage Burning Ceremony. This month of October, Saved By Grace made…
Service Folder The Whole Armor of God To the nobleman whose son was deathly ill, Jesus says, “Go; your son will live” (John 4:46–54). And in the very hour Jesus spoke, the nobleman’s son was made well. The Word of Christ still accomplishes what it says. In baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, He declares His life–giving forgiveness to you, and it…