Immanuel Lutheran Sermon: Recent Episodes
Immanuel Lutheran Church
We know that spiritually-speaking, we have nothing – empty hands as we stand before the Lord. In Isaiah 55, He invites us to come to Him to buy, eat, and drink, even though we have nothing in-hand to pay for it. In the Gospel, Jesus ordered His disciples to feed 5000 people, even though their hands were essentially empty – all they had was five loaves of bread and two fish. At the outset, there didn’t seem to be much hope. But then Jesus went to work, filling His disciples’ empty hands with His good gifts – food for the hungry crowd! That miracle, along with His invitation and promise from Isaiah 55, fill us with hope, in spite of the empty hands we may have. His hands are never empty – He is a God who offers hope when humanly speaking, hope seems in low supply!
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1-5
Epistle: Romans 10:5-15
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
Sermon Title: “Hope with Empty Hands”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Today’s Gospel in Matthew 13 is Jesus telling a series of very short parables in quick succession – all of them about the Kingdom of Heaven. What do we learn about hope from what He shares with us? We’ll couple those short parables with the Old Testament reading and one of many beautiful images the Lord gives to us in His Word about what eternity with Him is going to be like. Hope? Absolutely!
Old Testament: Isaiah 25:6-9
Epistle: Romans 9:1-5
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52
Sermon Title: “Hope in the Kingdom of Heaven”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Romans 8:28 is one of those well-known and oft-quoted passages of Scripture. It is a passage that is filled with hope! The verses that follow build on those promises and give reason for our hope to grow and flourish – because of the love we know in Jesus. It’s a love that no one can take away. It’s a love that fills us with hope! I might also relate this to Solomon’s request of God for wisdom – instead of riches or anything else. That wisdom we seek is a wisdom grounded in the wonder and mystery of Jesus and His love for us.
Old Testament: 1 Kings 3:5-10
Epistle: Romans 8:26-39
Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33
Sermon Title: “Hope Through What We Cannot Understand”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
In Romans 8, Paul speaks about the tension between the flesh and the Spirit. We hear confident promises that we ARE God’s children! He expresses how even creation itself is groaning, awaiting redemption and Christ’s return. He ends this section by speaking about hope – we can’t see it, but we know it is real, it’s a promise. In Jesus’ parable of the weeds, we get a sense of what St. Paul was writing – we recognize the insidiousness of the devil and how he works in our world and in our lives. And through it all, we are encouraged by the profound patience our God has – and seeing God’s perspective, we can understand at least a little more clearly why we go through all we do.
Old Testament: Isaiah 44:6-8
Epistle: Romans 8:12-25
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Sermon Title: “Hope in the Unseen”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
The analogy that Isaiah spoke of connecting the rain and the snow with God’s Word is picked up by Jesus in the well-known parable of the sower and the seeds. We’ll look at both of those reading this day and be reminded of the power that comes to us in God’s Word – and the hope we find in it.
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:10-13
Epistle: Romans 8:1-11
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Sermon Title: “Hope in God’s Word”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
St. Paul expresses a frustration that we all feel – we want to do good, we want to do better, we want to be better. But it just seems like we keep falling in the same hole over and over and over again. We’ll explore that frustration (and reality) that is very much part of our lives. Where can we find hope in spite of what we experience with this frustration with sin and my sinful actions? In the throes of our struggles, we need to hear Jesus’ invitation to us in Matthew 11 to come to Him! Don’t worry – there is hope!
Old Testament: Zechariah 9:9-12
Epistle: Romans 7:15-25a
Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30
Sermon Title: “The Devil Made Me Do It!”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
With two baptisms on this day, the profound way that Paul instructs us regarding baptism brings hope – the life-giving connection our baptism makes directly to Jesus and His death and resurrection. How does He do it? We’ll dig deeply into these amazing words and promises from our Lord here in Romans 6.
Old Testament: Psalm 89:1-4
Epistle: Romans 6:1b-11
Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42
Sermon Title: “Hope Through Baptism”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
In Romans 5 St. Paul speaks clearly of the unusual place from where our hope originates – from suffering! It’s surprising and unexpected, even unbelievable, from a human vantage point. But this is the way our Lord works and how He chooses to bring hope into our lives – even in the most unusual of circumstances with outcomes we could never foresee. Psalm 86 urges us to come to the Lord in those times of suffering and trouble and difficulty. When we take that into consideration with Romans 5, there’s a lot that starts to make sense when it comes to our relationship with the Lord and trust and faith we have in Him.
Old Testament: Psalm 86:1-7
Epistle: Romans 5:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26, 35-38
Sermon Title: “From Suffering to Hope?”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
The Gospel reading is the short account of Jesus calling Matthew to come and follow Him and be one of His disciples. Many looking on would likely question Jesus’ decision in a significant way – “Don’t you know who this man really is? Why would you select Him as one of Your disciples?!” The hope this brings to us is to understand how our Lord chooses to work – and those in whom He chooses to work. As I titled this sermon, “He’ll take anyone!” And that’s Good News for all of us – hope that we need.
Old Testament: Exodus 19:2-8a
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
Sermon Title: “He’ll Take Anyone!”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We begin this series on hope with the “father of hope,” Abraham, focusing on God’s call to Abram that we hear in Genesis 12, and the accompanying promises God poured out on Abram. We’ll lean heavily on Romans 4 as St. Paul expounds on the significance of what God was doing through Abraham. The promise, as it came to Abraham and as it comes to us, comes by grace through faith in God’s promise – and for us, the Promise fulfilled, which is Jesus! Grace is God’s free gift – a gift of love and of life and ultimately of hope.
Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9
Epistle: Romans 4:13-25
Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Keeping Immanuel’s Mission and Vision in mind, on this Trinity Sunday, we offer our thanks and praise to our wonderful, mysterious, powerful Triune God, who is right here in our midst, who has blessed us with this marvelous creation, and has promised to be with us always – no matter what! On this Commitment Sunday, we make our commitments, not just financially toward the campaign, but spiritually as well – as followers of Jesus. In Him and by His power, we will continue to Run with Perseverance!
First Reading: Genesis 1:1-2:4a (video)
Epistle: Hebrews 12:1-3
Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon Title: “Keep Running with Perseverance”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE under license #A-724593-A and/or from CHRISTIAN COPYRIGHT LICENSING INTERNATIONAL (CCLI) under license #875069. All rights reserved.
Pentecost Sunday is all about the Holy Spirit – His dramatic coming on Jesus’ disciples 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead as well as His ongoing coming into our hearts and lives still today through Word and Sacrament. We aren’t able to Run with Perseverance or “fix our eyes on Jesus” on our own—we need the Spirit’s power in our lives! With His help we can run, and we can run with our eyes on Jesus. We are here to point others to Jesus as well – and yes, you guessed it, that’s done by the Spirit’s power, too!
First Reading: Acts 2:1-21
Epistle: 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
Gospel: John 15:26-27
Sermon Title: “Eyes Fixed on Jesus”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We’re not in this on our own. Immanuel’s Mission and Vision are both intended to be carried out by all of us – in our individual lives, but more importantly in our life together as God’s people in this place and time. Hebrews 12 speaks of that great cloud of witnesses that we will think more deeply about because our working and serving and following Jesus “together” is far more than just the people in our lives – it’s that beautiful and amazing cloud of witnesses that need to be realized and included in our thinking about “together.” In 1 Corinthians 12, St. Paul reminds us that together, we are the Body of Christ, each with our unique gifts and talents and abilities, but all to be used for sharing Jesus and building up the Body.
First Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Gospel: John 17:1-11
Sermon Title: “Run Together”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Perseverance is key for us as followers of Jesus. Life isn’t always going to be easy or fun, new or flashy. Our life of following Jesus can be pretty challenging from multiple angles. We’re reminded in 1 Peter 3 that we always have to be prepared to give an answer to the hope that lies within us. We don’t know when that moment may come – with words or actions. We need to keep persevering – with our eyes on Jesus. He is our hope.
First Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3
Epistle: 1 Peter 3:13-18
Gospel: John 14:15-21
Sermon Title: “Run with Perseverance”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
All three readings will come into play again this Sunday with many reminders of the joy the Lord brings to us in this journey we are on with Him. There will be three youth who will confirm their faith on this Sunday and all these readings speak directly to them as well as to us. The Gospel reminds us that Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him. His urging to trust in Him and to not be troubled is such a beautiful promise. Peter reminds us who we are because of Jesus and the quote from the Old Testament assures us that Jesus is indeed the One! Because of that, who are we? Verses 9 and 10 speak such powerful and uplifting words to encourage us to live out our callings as His people. And the Acts reading is a sober reminder that following Jesus will not always be easy. We affirm that we believe and, in the confirmation and baptismal promises, we affirm we will believe in Jesus even to the point of death!
First Reading: Acts 7:55-60
Epistle: 1 Peter 2:2-10
Gospel: John 14:1-14
Sermon Title: “Joy in the Journey”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Jesus speaks about the imagery of sheep and shepherds. Where does joy come from? It comes in knowing our Shepherd, listening to His voice, trusting Him, and following Him. In the Acts reading, we’re reminded of the joy that comes as we live this life together in community, living life around the basics of what God has both asked of us and what He provides. And Peter, in the Epistle, expresses clearly not only who Jesus is but what He has done for us that gives us the joy-full life we have.
First Reading: Acts 2:42-47
Epistle: 1 Peter 2:19-25
Gospel: John 10:1-10
Sermon Title: “A Joy-FULL Life”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
In each of the readings for this Sunday, we hear of the means of grace – God using ordinary elements (water, words, bread, and wine) to accomplish the extraordinary. Acts 2 speaks of baptism; 1 Peter, the “living and enduring Word of God”; and in Luke 24, Jesus reveals Himself by way of the Lord’s Supper and breaking bread. This will be a perfect Sunday to celebrate these ordinary, yet extraordinary, gifts the Lord pours into our lives by which we can be saved. They all communicate Jesus and the joy, the wonder, the surprise He brings to our lives – and through it all, bringing us hope on this journey.
First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Epistle: 1 Peter 1:17-23
Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
Sermon Title: “Joy in the Ordinary and the Extraordinary”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
The first letter Peter wrote to his fellow believers was written in the face of extreme persecution. There is, humanly speaking, an irony for Peter to begin this letter with these words of praise and thanks to God – these people were suffering and going through unspeakable horrors because of their faith in Jesus. But that is the point of this journey we are on. It will never be devoid of challenges, difficulties, doubts, or fears. Today’s Gospel reading demonstrates that – the doubts and fears were real for Jesus’ disciples and closest friends. But this journey will always be filled with joy, “an inexpressible and glorious joy” because of Jesus. That’s what our faith brings to the table and to our lives and this journey we are on.
First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9 (primary focus)
Gospel: John 20:19-31 (secondary focus)
Sermon Title: “An Inexpressible and Glorious Joy"
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Multiple times around Jesus’ resurrection, we hear the words, “Don’t be afraid!” Why? Because this journey we are on takes us from the wilderness into the joy the Lord has brought to us by His Easter victory. The women who had come to prepare Jesus’ body properly for burial, after seeing Jesus, express what real life is for all of us. We’re told that they were “afraid yet filled with joy.” There is joy in this journey and it’s Jesus who brings it!
First Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Epistle: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10 (primary focus)
Sermon Title: “The Journey from Wilderness to Joy”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Holy Week is finally here. This is arguably the most moving week for us as followers of Jesus. It’s a week that changed the course of history. It’s a week that defines us, inspires us, and gives us life as we hear, observe, and celebrate everything Jesus accomplished on our behalf to bring hope, love, and life back to us and our world. As we continue our Worship in the Wilderness series, we’ll look at this part of Jesus’ journey as “A Surprising Journey,” looking at the surprises that continued to come. What surprises lie in wait for us? We’ll continue our Lenten journey on Sunday by walking through the events of Palm Sunday and what they mean for us still today. We hope you can join us!
Old Testament: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Epistle: Hebrews 11:32-40
Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11
Sermon Title: “A Surprising Journey”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We continue with our Lent series, Worship in the Wilderness, thinking about the wilderness and about this journey we are on with our Lord together. This week we’re going to focus on the need to speak Truth in our increasingly secular society. We live in a wilderness, of that there is no doubt. And there are more and more voices claiming truth. How do we discern? Where do we look for real Truth? Come join together in worship on Sunday morning and here our Lord’s encouragement and invitation to speak His Truth on this journey.
Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Epistle: Romans 8:6-11
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
Sermon Title: “A Truth-Speaking Journey”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We continue with our Lent series, Worship in the Wilderness, thinking about the wilderness and about this journey we are on with our Lord together. This week we’re going to focus on the sacrificial journey Jesus took for all of us. We’ll look more closely at what that journey looked like. We’ll also consider His invitation to us to think about what that sacrifice means for us and the lives we lead as we follow Him.
Old Testament: Isaiah 53:1-12 (Scripture in Motion: Isaiah 53:4-12)
Epistle: Romans 9:1-5
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-14
Sermon Title: “A Sacrificial Journey”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We continue with our Lent series, Worship in the Wilderness, thinking about the wilderness and about this journey we are on with our Lord together. This week we’re going to focus on how hard this journey in the wilderness can be. We’ll think about lament and sorrow that we feel at different times and for different reasons. We’ll of course be mindful of our Lord’s sorrow that He expresses in multiple ways as well. Our Lord knows us and all that we go through – and the Good News is that He’s here with us and for us!
Old Testament: Exodus 3:1-10
Epistle: Romans 5:1-11
Gospel: John 11:20-29, 32-36
Sermon Title: “A Sorrowful Journey”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We continue with our Lent series, Worship in the Wilderness, thinking about the wilderness and about this journey we are on together and with our Lord. This week we’re going to focus on simplicity. We’re going to simplify the worship service a bit and we’ll take a look at how our Lord calls us to live our lives as we follow Him, thinking about the place that simplicity can play in our lives.
Old Testament: Psalm 63:1-8
Epistle: Romans 10:8b-13
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
Sermon Title: “A Simple Journey”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Our new Lent series, Worship in the Wilderness, began on Ash Wednesday. This Sunday we’ll begin exploring what being in the wilderness can entail. We’ll consider the different kinds of roads that have brought us to worship and to the place we’re at in this season of our lives. We’ll look at what being in the wilderness is and what it is not – specifically, as Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness after His baptism, how the Spirit leads us into the wilderness as well. And what does that mean? We hope you can join us as we continue this new series.
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 8:1-5, 15-18
Epistle: 1 Peter 3:18-22
Gospel: Mark 1:9-15
Sermon Title: “A Spirit-led Journey”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We hear about Jesus’ transfiguration as we wrap up the Epiphany season. This miraculous and spell-binding experience for three of Jesus’ disciples is almost beyond description. Peter tries to explain it in his second letter as he reminds us where we need to remain grounded – in God’s Word. It is His Word that we have to pay attention to, “as to a light shining in a dark place.” It is a life-giving Word by which darkness is overcome!
Old Testament: Exodus 24:12-18
Epistle: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Sermon Title: “Blinding Light and Darkness Overcome”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Isaiah is preaching a very harsh sermon – one where he is uncovering all manner of darkness in the form of injustice. Do we see it? Do we care about it? Or are we letting that darkness simply cover us and cover up sin and evil and brokenness all around us? It’s not all doom-and-gloom, though, because we have the Lord who continues to love us and guide us. Isaiah expresses what the Lord will do and some amazing ways He’s going to choose to use us to shine His light. In the Matthew reading, Jesus explicitly tells us that we are the light of the world.
Old Testament: Isaiah 58:1-12
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 2:1-12
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16
Sermon Title: “The Darkness of Injustice”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
The church in Corinth was a real mess! In the opening verses of St. Paul’s first letter to them, he expresses pretty clearly and pretty quickly the bottom-line of the Gospel – that is, the message of the cross. He contrasts God’s wisdom with human wisdom and there’s not much comparison to be made! The foolishness comes in us thinking how smart and fine and wise we are – when, in reality, that is all just another form of darkness. We hear in Micah, the Old Testament reading, some foolishness at the end of the reading, when he lays out what exactly God does require of us. It rings true to what Paul was writing at the end of the 1 Corinthians reading. Paul is urging us toward keeping a proper perspective on ourselves in relation to our God and Savior.
Old Testament: Micah 6:1-8
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon Title: “Foolishness and Darkness: Two Peas in a Pod”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
From Isaiah, we hear a refrain about darkness and light that we heard from Isaiah 60 on the first Sunday of the series. We’ll revisit that but from the context of following Jesus. We hear Jesus’ invitation to Peter and Andrew to come and follow Him. We also hear St. Paul in the 1 Corinthians 1 reading the need to sort out who it is we’re supposed to be following – there was great confusion in Corinth over what all this meant. Bottom line is, you can’t follow anyone in the dark. You need some light to see where you’re going.
Old Testament: Isaiah 9:1-4
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
Sermon Title: “You Can’t Follow in the Dark!”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
In John 1, Jesus is beginning to call and gather His disciples. He’s going about it all backward in comparison to the “regular” rabbis of the day. Normally students or disciples seek out a teacher or rabbi to follow but we see Jesus seeking the disciples and inviting them to follow – and they, in turn, are telling their brothers and friends also to come and see. He’s calling them out of darkness and into His light, which they do not yet realize, but soon they will clearly see. The Old Testament reading is another of Isaiah’s servant songs, which speaks of the One who was coming and how He would be known – and the imagery is full and rich with meaning!
Old Testament: Isaiah 49:1-7
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel: John 1:29-42
Sermon Title: “Seeing in the Dark”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We hear of Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan and the beginning of His public ministry. This Sunday provides the opportunity to talk about the blessing and the gift of baptism, even though the baptism Jesus institutes at His ascension is different than the baptism He received from John. In Isaiah 42, we have one of the Servant Songs of Isaiah, which also provides images of both darkness and light/hope – a bruised reed, a smoldering wick, and the powerful images of what the Savior will do when He comes.
Old Testament: Isaiah 42:1-9
Second Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17
Sermon Title: “Darkness Washed Away”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We start this Epiphany series with this powerful prophecy from Isaiah. He speaks very directly of darkness, a deep darkness God’s people were mired in because of the exiles and the horrors of those experiences. The darkness runs deep but the light is not overcome. We hear from Isaiah the proclamation of a future reality that we know will be Jesus, as God’s promise of a Savior is fulfilled. Isaiah sees this as a reality, even though it won’t happen for another 700 years! But that is the power of The Light. Included in Isaiah’s prophecy is the foreshadowing of the Magi and just how far the light of the Gospel shines.
Old Testament: Isaiah 60:1-6
Epistle: Ephesians 3:2-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon Title: “Darkness Overcome”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
It seems like every keen cultural observer has joined many of us in noting that we are living in a world that is filled with hopelessness. Hope might be in short supply in society at large but it is the lifeblood of followers of Jesus. The Bible unapologetically and joyously proclaims what each of us know in Christ - in HIM we have a LIVING hope! In Jesus we have a hope that transcends whatever circumstance and challenge we face. On Sunday the 28th, we’ll explore that topic and how the birth of our Savior in the celebration of Christmas shares with us in this “weary world” the THRILL of hope!
Old Testament: Isaiah 40:25-31
Epistle: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel: Matthew 2:13-23
Sermon Title: “The Thrill of Hope”
We are home at last as we celebrate Jesus coming into His world. On this Christmas morning, we rest in the wonder, the peace, and the joy that is ours in Jesus!
Old Testament: Isaiah 9:6-7
Epistle: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel: John 1:1-14
Sermon Title: “Home at Last”
This night is filled with lights and singing – from the angels proclaiming that the time has come. It is The Light that has now come into the world – the Light that will lead us home. We join our voices with the angels that night, singing their praises with the shepherds over the King who has been born. Come into the wonderful stillness of this night, to the candlelight and singing “Silent Night” together with all who gather to celebrate this wonder of wonders.
Old Testament: Isaiah 49:8-13
Epistle: 1 John 4:7-16
Gospel: Luke 2:1-20
Sermon Title: “A Light That Leads Us Home”
For all of us, we strive for and desire a peace-filled, unbroken home. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case as we all struggle with the brokenness that sin has brought into our world and into our lives on this side of eternity. What we hear today is the promise and assurance of what the unbroken home will be – established by Jesus Himself. We look forward to the fulfillment of these Advent promises.
Old Testament: Isaiah 66:18-23
Epistle: Romans 1:1-7
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon Title: “A Home Unbroken”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Christmas is a season of celebration, gratitude, and giving, and this cantata focuses on the ultimate Christmas gift...Jesus. Brimming with beloved carols and exciting new songs, The Gift traces the ageless Christmas story through the lens of gratitude and our response to the Greatest Gift.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE under license #A-724593-A and/or from CHRISTIAN COPYRIGHT LICENSING INTERNATIONAL (CCLI) under license #875069. All rights reserved.
While we won’t be talking a lot about clicking the heels of our ruby red shoes, as followers of Jesus, we know that there’s no place like home! We’ll focus on the blessings that we can experience in our times of worship, when we gather here at “home” with the Lord, and are reminded of the powerful promises He holds out for us – promises that we can share with others to help them see the blessings of home!
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1-5
Epistle: Romans 15:4-13
Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12
Sermon Title: “No Place Like Home”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Using the prophet Isaiah and the pending exiles of God’s people, the messages the Lord provides are messages that revolve around “home.” This week, the first of our Advent series, we recognize how, at Christmas, God leaves his home to enter our exile so that, by grace through faith, we might be brought home to him—a gift we could never earn but freely receive in Christ. We’ll consider the many times and the many ways that we can find ourselves far from home and then consider the comfort our Lord brings that we are not alone.
Old Testament: Isaiah 11:1-10
Epistle: Romans 13:11-14
Gospel: Matthew 24:36-44
Sermon Title: “Far From Home”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
On this last Sunday of the Church Year, we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. The end of each church year typically touches on end times. We’ll take that focus based on Jesus’ words in the Gospel reading from Luke 21. He offers us so much direction and wisdom and love, all of which flow so contrary to the messages our world tells us that are filled with fear, anxiousness, uncertainty, and worse. Jesus’ radical message to us is intended to help us keep our focus on what is important and on who we have been called to be as His people.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6
Epistle Reading: Colossians 1:11-20
Gospel Reading: Luke 21:5-19
Sermon Title: “Stand Firm on Christ the King”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
What does resurrection have to do with our life of discipleship in the here-and-now? Isn’t that just about “some day,” that time after we die? Why should we be thinking about it now? As we’ve said all series long, this is definitely a radical view of discipleship, to incorporate the promise and assurance of the bodily resurrection is critical in how it shapes the way we live our lives every single day.
First Reading: Job 19:23-27a
Second Reading: Isaiah 65:17-25
Gospel Reading: Luke 23:33-43
Sermon Title: “Resurrection”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We’re going to take time this week to explore one particular changed life – that of Zacchaeus! Yes, he’s that wee-little man whom Jesus called out of the sycamore tree to have dinner at his house. The changes that took place after this interaction between Zacchaeus and Jesus were, at the very core, radical and life changing. Where do we fit into this? There are multiple elements that Zacchaeus demonstrated immediately in his sanctified life which exemplify radical discipleship.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 1:10-18
Epistle Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10
Sermon Title: “A Changed Life”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
All Saints Sunday is an annual celebration as we take time to remember the many “saints” in our lives and throughout history. The Bible defines saints not as a special, elevated tier of people but as all believers in Jesus. It’s one of those mysterious Sundays that lifts us up and reminds us that we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves. Through this day’s readings, we’ll see the importance and value of living daily in the presence of God now, and the anticipation of living fully in God’s presence for eternity. Why is that so important and what difference can that make in our discipleship today?
First Reading: Revelation 7:9-17
Epistle Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon Title: “Being in the Presence of God”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
With our annual observance and celebration of the Reformation, we hold the four traditional “solas” of this radical change in the church back in the 1500s: “Grace Alone,” “Faith Alone,” “Scripture Alone,” and “Christ Alone.” Through this fall series, we’ve talked about several of these already. This Sunday we’ll look at the extremely radical nature of grace. We talk about it so much here at Immanuel that it can be easy to forget just how radical grace is when it comes to who our God is and how He has chosen to work in, among, and through us. Discipleship flows powerfully out of this gift of God.
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 46
Second Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10
Third Reading: Romans 3:19-28
Gospel Reading: John 8:31-36
Sermon Title: “Grace”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
What is truth and where do we find it? Why is it so important when it comes to discipleship and following Jesus? We’re returning to St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy where, once again, Paul’s inspired writing takes us into some deep and very rich territory when it comes to God’s Word and the power behind that Word. The truth he speaks to us drives a stake right into the heart of our culture and so many of the lies, falsehoods, myths, and confusion of our culture today.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Epistle Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Gospel Reading: Luke 18:1-8
Sermon Title: “Truth”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Is saying “Please” and “Thank you” a regular practice of yours? The whole idea of gratitude runs very, very deep for us followers of Jesus – and it’s not just a matter of being nice or polite. It has everything to do with discipleship – and from a cultural vantage point, gratitude can seem to be a pretty radical idea. We’ll delve into this using one of Jesus miraculous healings – in Luke 17 when He healed 10 people afflicted with leprosy. The gratitude displayed by one of those men moved Jesus to speak of the power of gratitude for the believer.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Epistle Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15
Gospel Reading: Luke 17:11-19
Sermon Title: “Gratitude”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
“What exactly did I sign up for?” After reading the opening of St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy, that might be precisely what you wonder as a follower of Jesus. Paul here expresses all manner of radical notions when it comes to our discipleship as God’s people living in this world. He speaks about the power of the Word, the working of the Holy Spirit, being given not a spirit of timidity but of power, love, and self-control. He writes about suffering for the Gospel and living holy lives. And there’s more! This can feel like some pretty radical idealism – but is it? Or is there some reality to what Paul was inspired to write to us?
Old Testament Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
Epistle Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Gospel Reading: Luke 17:5-10
Sermon Title: “Suffering for the Gospel”
We live in a culture of abundance and a societal mindset of “More! More! More!” How do we combat that as Christians? Do we combat it? Should we combat it? Or is it OK to buy into this cultural cadence? St. Paul has a little bit to say about this near the end of his letter in 1 Timothy and what he shares is very counter-cultural and radical!
Old Testament Reading: Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Epistle Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-19
Gospel Reading: Luke 16:19-31
Sermon Title: “Contentment”
In the 1 Timothy reading, St. Paul expresses God’s ultimate will and desire – that ALL people be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. That sounds great on paper and in theory, but what happens when we really believe that God wants ALL people to be saved. Think about some of the people in your life, people we hear about on podcasts, people we read about in various new sources, people who are different from us, who believe differently, live differently, people who do evil or terrible things – all of them? Hmmm. We need to talk about this in light of Immanuel’s own mission and vision, a piece of which speaks of “radical hospitality.”
Old Testament Reading: Amos 8:4-7
Epistle Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Gospel Reading: Luke 16:10-13
Sermon Title: “Radical Hospitality”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
When it comes to discipleship, we talk about outreach or the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) regularly. But to actually live it out can be a radical move when it comes to our discipleship. We’ll dig deeper into this from the story of the lost sheep that Jesus tells in Luke 15, which serves as a radical (read “crazy” and “bad”!) idea for a shepherd. How does it look for us to take our Lord’s mission of reaching others seriously? We’ll think about some practical ways that we can pursue this.
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 32:7-14
Epistle Readings: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Gospel Reading: Luke 15:1-10
Sermon Title: “Taking the Mission Seriously”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
During this service, Emma Hubble was commissioned and installed as Immanuel’s Director of Christian Education. Emma’s dad, Pastor Scott Giger, preached for this service on the Gospel reading from Luke 14 and the radical nature of how Jesus describes what it means to follow Him. There is definitely a cost that comes with following Jesus and is not easy! But here we are—Emma and the rest of us are hearing and heeding Jesus’ call to come and be His disciples!
First Reading: Psalm 139
Second Reading: Psalm 1
Gospel Reading: Luke 14:25-33
Sermon Title: “Radical Discipleship”
Old Testament: Proverbs 25:6-7
Epistle: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14
Sermon Title: Unexpected Commands?
At the end of Hebrews, the writer to the Hebrews lays out many, many practical examples and encouragements of just how it is that can live out our faith. From general hospitality to marriage to our leaders, our faith plays a significant part of guiding us in the day-to-day of our lives. Are these unexpected commands from our Lord? From the world’s perspective, absolutely! As followers of Jesus, not really! Our call is to follow our Lord and go against the grain of the culture of today.
Old Testament: Jeremiah 1:4-10
Epistle: Hebrews 12:18-29
Gospel: Luke 13:10-17
Sermon Title: An Unexpected Selection
The prophet Jeremiah had some good excuses as to why he wouldn’t be a good choice for God to use as His prophet. How the Lord counters Jeremiah’s pushback is powerful and pertinent – for Jeremiah and also for us! It was Jeremiah who thought he was an unexpected selection – but that wasn’t what God was thinking. How about you and me?
Old Testament: Isaiah 5:1-7
Epistle: Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Gospel: Luke 12:49-56
Sermon Title: An Unexpected Crowd
Last week we took the first half of the “Heroes of Faith” chapter in Hebrews 11, including the powerful definition of faith. This week we’re going to take the second half and the start of chapter 12, all of which tie together beautifully – and in quite an unexpected and mysterious way. We’ll talk more about this “great cloud of witnesses” and think more about who’s in that crowd – and there may be some rather unexpected characters.
Old Testament: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Epistle: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Gospel: Luke 12:32-40
Sermon Title: Faith – with Unexpected Results
Hebrews 11 is the awesome “Heroes of Faith” chapter of the Bible. Reference is made to story after story of Old Testament heroes of faith. Rather than delving into one or two of these people, we’re going to take the big picture of the faith they had in the Promise and see how that compares to the faith we hold today. Hebrews 11:1 is a powerful definition of faith and hope! The strong commands and urging that Jesus gives in Luke 12 only undergird the call and invitation to have faith in Jesus.
Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23
Epistle: Colossians 3:1-11
Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
Sermon Title: Where’s Your Head? In Expected or Unexpected Places?
In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul instructs us about where we are to set our minds – on things above and not on earthly things. Then in the Gospel reading in Luke 12, Jesus tells a very poignant story about greed and contentment, giving a very practical application to where our minds are supposed to be. We’ll talk about other practical realities that this opens up for all of us.
Old Testament: Psalm 138
Epistle: Colossians 2:6-15
Gospel: Luke 11:1-13
Sermon Title: An Unexpected Gem
Prayer is an amazing gift the Lord has given to us. Many of us know the Lord’s Prayer and we can rattle it off without even thinking about it. But what would happen if we actually did think about it? That’s what we’ll explore on this Sunday, going deep into this precious, unexpected gem that Jesus gave to His disciples and to us.
In the short account of sisters Mary and Martha in Luke 10, it appears on the surface to be a pretty open-and-shut case of who was right and who was wrong (or at least needing a little course correction). But is there more going on here than meets the eye?
Old Testament: Psalm 15
Epistle: Colossians 1:15-29
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
Sermon Title: Lazy or Listening?
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
In Luke 10, we hear Jesus telling the story of the Good Samaritan. There is a surprise here that many of us are familiar with. But it’s also important for us hear the context of this story and what prompted Jesus to tell it and then how Jesus wrapped it up. This speaks to underlying questions people today live with when it comes to so much uncertainty in our world and in our lives.
Old Testament: Amos 7:7-17
Epistle: Colossians 1:1-14
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
Sermon Title: An Unexpected Hero
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
From 2 Kings 5, we hear the account of a man named Naaman, the lead commander under the king of Aram. When Naaman is diagnosed with leprosy--a death sentence in those days--God uses some rather unlikely people to connect Naaman to not just the king of Israel but to the powerful prophet Elisha. The way Elisha brought healing to Naaman speaks to other very unexpected ways the Lord continues to work in our lives still today.
Old Testament Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-14
Epistle Reading: Galatians 6:1-16
Gospel: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Sermon Title: "Dirty Water that Washes Clean?!"
On this Sunday before our nation’s celebration of Independence Day, we hear St. Paul expounding on freedom in Galatians 5. What is real freedom? Where does it comes from? What’s the difference between what we’re celebrating on July 4th and what the Lord is offering to all who believe in Him? These are some of the questions we’ll explore.
Old Testament: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Epistle: Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Gospel: Luke 9:51-62
Sermon Title: Freedom from an Unexpected Source
First Reading: Acts 1:1-11
Second Reading: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Gospel: John 17:20-26
Sermon Title: “Come, Lord Jesus!" John's vision ends with a plea and an assurance that the Lord is coming soon. We again have to understand God's view of time in relation to His promises, the hope He holds out for us, and the victory which is ours now and will be ours yet to come. We again have more connections to Genesis and Old Testament prophecies, we have dire warnings, and we have metaphors and imagery we'll be unpacking.
First Reading: Acts 11:1-18
Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6
Gospel: Luke 24:13-27
Sermon Title: “A New Heaven and a New Earth”
Sermon Theme: The last two chapters of Revelation are packed, which is
why we’ll take the last three Sundays to look more closely at what is here.
Chapter 21 starts out with a bit of eschatology when we hear about “a new
heaven and a new earth.” That, coupled with the Lord’s statement from the
throne, “I am making everything new!” This speaks not only to End Times
but also to how we are called to live our lives today – in hope and victory!
Live this week from the perspective that YOU are one of those in white
robes, standing before the throne of God, washed in the blood of the
Lamb. Let that perspective speak to how you live, how you see yourself,
how you treat others, decisions you make, and opportunities the Lord
gives you to serve Him.
First Reading: Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
Second Reading: Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel: John 21:1-12
Sermon Theme: Throughout the book of Revelation we have these
outbursts of song and praise and worship of the Lamb. These songs and
times of worship carry a deep significance for us still today, especially
when it comes to the hope and victory we know in the Lamb. There are
angels, people, and all creation giving honor to the Lamb.
First Reading: Acts 5:27-32
Second Reading: Revelation 1:1-11
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Sermon Title: “The Revelation from Jesus Christ”
Our Worthy is the Lamb series begins at the beginning!
John very clearly lays the groundwork for what this vision is which the
Lord gave to him. We’ll walk through what some of the details mean for
us when it comes to God’s framework of time, who his intended
“audience” is, the significance of beginning with a doxology of praise to
God, what that doxology reveals to us about who God is, and finally, how
it all got started.
Palm Sunday
Old Testament: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11
Gospel: Luke 19:28-40
“The basis upon which Christians can speak to one another is that each knows the other as a sinner, who, with all his human dignity, is lonely and lost if he is not given help…. This recognition gives to our brotherly speech the freedom and candor that it needs. We speak to one another on the basis of the help we both need.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
April 6, 2025 – The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Old Testament: Psalm 126
Epistle: 1 Peter 4:1-6
Gospel: Luke 23:13-31
Sermon Title: “I Need This… and This… and This…)"
Many of our contemporaries alter their faith when tough times come. “I can’t believe in a God who would…” 1 Peter 1:6-9 gives insight to keep us grounded in the grand narrative of Christian salvation even when we want to cry out with Jesus, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
March 30, 2025 – The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Old Testament: Psalm 32
Epistle: 1 Peter 1:6-9
Gospel: Luke 22:66-23:12
Sermon Title: “I Can’t Believe in a God Who Would”
“Modern Christianity tends to think of the church either as a place where individuals come to find answers to their questions or as one more stop where individuals can try to satisfy their consumerist desires. As such, Christianity becomes intellectualized rather than incarnate, commodified rather than the site of genuine community.” (James K.A. Smith) March 23, 2025 – The Third Sunday in Lent Old Testament: Psalm 63:1-8 Epistle: 1 Peter 4:7-11 Gospel: Luke 22:47-65 Sermon Title: “Who Am I?”
Modernism has left us with nothing. Back in the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, leading thinkers believed that science, reason and logic could lead us to perfection. Reason failed. 1 Peter 1:3-5 presents the story—the Gospel word—by which the Spirit of God defines us amid all the stories swirling around us. This is the grand narrative to which Peter gives witness, that God has acted for us by enabling us to live lives of hope and purpose based in the resurrection of his Son from the dead. Our Life Together as a congregation is living in this story amidst all the stories clamoring for attention in contemporary America.
Old Testament: Psalm 27
Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-5
Gospel: Luke 22:7-23, 39-46
Peter reminds his readers that their “Life Together” came from the Word of God. That word came in baptism (“you have been born again”) and in preaching (“this is the word that was preached to you”). By obeying the preached word, a working of the Spirit, they were purified (“you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth”).
That true and eternal word produces love for one another in our ever-changing lives (quoting Isaiah 40:6-8).
Jesus is literally radiating when He was transfigured in the account we read in Luke 9. In similar fashion, Moses, after his direct encounter with God on top of Mount Sinai to receive the commandments, was also literally radiating. Paul connects all these dots, wrapping us into the Story. We, too, radiate, reflecting the Lord’s glory as we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. As we wrap up our Radiate! series and prepare to move into the season of Lent, we end with strong encouragement and promises of the power of our Savior and how we continue to radiate His light and His love.
The story of Joseph’s life at the end of Genesis is an amazing story of how God can and does work good out of the most difficult of situations – which also echoes what St. Paul writes in the very familiar (and also powerful) Romans 8:28-39. Joseph continued to trust and God continued to work. We’ll think about circumstances we face and how we can take Joseph’s story and the Lord’s promises through St. Paul to heart, especially when we find ourselves in difficult or challenging times.
1 Corinthians 15 is known as the great resurrection chapter of the Bible as St. Paul expounds on what the promise of the resurrection brings to us and to all people – hope! What we believe is not futile. We have hope in Christ and that hope is real. It is this gift of hope, of resurrection, of life that we are called to radiate and share with a world filled with despair, confusion, uncertainty, and hopelessness.
Isaiah, St. Paul, and Peter all acknowledge their sin before the Lord. In each case, God’s grace and forgiveness flow freely, and God demonstrates not only His willingness but His desire to use these broken people to radiate His message of forgiveness and grace to all. We, too, must acknowledge our brokenness before the Lord and before each other, and out of that brokenness, we receive healing and forgiveness and the Lord’s charge to preach the Good News of the Gospel!
We hear Jeremiah’s call from the Lord and what a powerful word that is – not only for Jeremiah but for all of us, knowing that Jesus knows us and that in Him, we have a real purpose in this life.
What’s the purpose? - Like Jeremiah, it’s to share and radiate and speak God’s message of hope and love (from 1 Corinthians 13) without fear – with boldness and confidence. Why? Because God is the one who is putting His words into our mouths, hearts, and lives. Even Jesus, in Luke 4, when He nor His message were accepted in His hometown, shared how God’s message of love and life was for all people, even by way of Old Testament examples He shared. And we can be confident in what Jesus lays before us – perhaps even be amazed as the people were when they heard Him, because His message had authority!
What we hear in Nehemiah 8 is how powerful and moving God’s Word is. The Word itself can move us to tears, as well as instruct us and give us hope. That was the power of the Word to God’s people returning from exile – a power that is still very real for us today. Jesus demonstrated that fact in Luke 4 when He read from Isaiah the prophecies that He Himself would be fulfilling – the Word made flesh and the Word fulfilled in Jesus.
January 26, 2025 – The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Old Testament: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Gospel: Luke 4:14-21
Sermon Title: “The Radiating Word of God”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Isaiah 62:1-3 speak clearly about how we can’t remain quiet but how we’ll radiate for all to see – there is some beautiful imagery here. Then St. Paul begins speaking about spiritual gifts in the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 12 and how we have all received these gifts. It’s these gifts that God has given us for the express purpose of radiating His love, His Son, and His righteousness in and through us.
January 19, 2025 – The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Old Testament: Isaiah 62:1-5
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Gospel: John 2:1-11
Sermon Title: “Gifted to Radiate”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
Pastor Glen shares about the power of baptism! God chooses us, gives us the gift of His grace and forgiveness, and empowers us through His Spirit to live a life the way He designed it to be lived...in relationship with Him, radiating and rippling His love to others.
Using Isaiah’s prophecy of the Light that “has come,” this speaks to the reality of the Lord’s presence in the throes of the exile and the hope He brought to God’s people thousands of years ago – a similar hope He continues to bring to us, knowing that this Light has indeed come and is shining brightly here and now! It speaks not only hope but radiates far beyond “God’s people” to those around the world. This, too, is a very applicable word and promise to us of how God desires to use us to radiate His light.
January 5, 2025 – The Epiphany of the Lord
Old Testament: Isaiah 60:1-6
Epistle: Ephesians 3:1-12
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon Title: “Radiate!”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/
We are consumed with worry about not being or doing enough. Christ, in his advent, meets us in our weakness and offers us mercy. Immanuel’s mission and vision include “Fearless Living.” That’s reflected in the Joshua 1 charge that the Lord gave to Joshua (and to us!). The Lord through Paul in Ephesians charges us to be careful about how live our lives – toward the good and not the bad. But when we fail, and we will, we lean into Jesus’ forgiveness – and then share that forgiveness with others.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 29, 2024 – The First Sunday After Christmas
Advent/Christmas Series: His Gospel is Peace: The Advent of Christ and The End of Fear
Old Testament: Joshua 1:7-9
Epistle Reading: Ephesians 4:29-5:2
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46
Sermon Title: No Fear of Failure
Isaiah 52 speaks of those who bring good news, proclaim peace, bring good tidings, proclaim salvation, say “Your God reigns!” It’s all pure joy and celebration! Titus 3 lays out beautifully what a pure gift Jesus is and all that He has come to bring. And John 1 reminds us, in poetic form, how Jesus is The Word who came to live and make His dwelling among us.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 25, 2024 – Christmas Day
Advent/Christmas Series: His Gospel is Peace: The Advent of Christ and The End of Fear
Old Testament: Isaiah 52:7-10
Epistle: Titus 3:4-7
Gospel: John 1:1-14
Sermon Title: Pure Joy!
We fail to grasp the gift of peace that is ours in the birth of Christ. Christ has come, quieting your fears and filling your life with peace. Colossians 3:12-15 helps accent our Savior’s peace that He has come to bring on this Christmas Eve, removing fear or the need to fear. We hear elements of momentary fear throughout the Christmas story in Luke 2 and prior. But this is a night of peace, thanks to Jesus coming into the world.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 24, 2024 – Christmas Eve
Advent/Christmas Series: His Gospel is Peace: The Advent of Christ and The End of Fear
Old Testament: Isaiah 62:6-12
Epistle: Colossians 3:12-17
Gospel: Luke 2:1-20 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: No Fear
We obsess over and idolize the power and influence of others. Christ is born in weakness but is greater than man, and uses his greatness to make you a member of his family.
Isaiah concludes this well-known and powerful prophecy with, “The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” There is nothing man can do to stop what God is up to! The Gospel reading is about Mary visiting Elizabeth (who was barren but now pregnant with John) and we experience vicariously the joy John felt being in the presence of the Christ, as well as Mary and Elizabeth’s joy and excitement as well. The promises expressed in the Magnificat are powerful in that they clearly believe that God is and will accomplish what He is planning to do, in spite of the plans of men to spoil them. God will prevail!
December 22, 2024 – The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Advent/Christmas Series: His Gospel is Peace: The Advent of Christ and The End of Fear
Old Testament: Isaiah 9:6-7 (sermon focus)
Epistle: Hebrews 10:5-10
Gospel: Luke 1:39-55 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: No Fear of Man
The message in worship on Sunday, December 15th, 2024--"Love Is Born: Celebrating the Mystery and Wonder of Christmas"--was presented by Immanuel's Christmas Choir. Join us as we celebrate the incarnation of our Lord!
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE under license #A-724593-A and/or from CHRISTIAN COPYRIGHT LICENSING INTERNATIONAL (CCLI) under license #875069. All rights reserved.
We live in constant fear of not having or giving enough. In his advent, Christ brings with him the promise of total provision.
Jesus expresses in multiple ways how and why we are not to worry, that He will provide everything that is truly needed. Ultimately, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” So trust in Him and His provision! St. Paul writes in the opening of his letter to the Philippians that he is confident (:6) “that the one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God will not leave things undone – He will provide everything needed to complete and accomplish His purposes. In Malachi we have the prophecy of John the Baptist – the Lord was going to provide everything needed, preparing the way for the Promised One, so there was nothing that was going to be lacking.
December 8, 2024 – The Second Sunday of Advent
Advent/Christmas Series: His Gospel is Peace: The Advent of Christ and The End of Fear
Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-4 (secondary sermon focus)
Epistle: Philippians 1:3-11 (secondary sermon focus)
Gospel: Luke 12:22-34 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: No Fear of Lack
The incarnation of Christ means our future is secure and peace in the present is ours. All three readings speak encouragement about not having to fear the future. Psalm 112 speaks of secure hearts because of the Lord and trust we have in Him. 1 Thessalonians 3 speaks about being blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus – and in the meantime, we are called increase and abound in love. And even the Gospel reading from Luke 21 is the record of Jesus talking end times and how we are to be on guard, watching, and prepared – not fearful!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 1, 2024 – The First Sunday of Advent
Advent/Christmas Series: His Gospel is Peace: The Advent of Christ and The End of Fear
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 112:6-8 (sermon focus)
Epistle Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 (sermon focus)
Gospel Reading: Luke 21:25-36 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: "No Fear of the Future"
We wrap up the Church Year with our celebration of Christ as King. We’ll reflect briefly on all three of the readings today, which speak powerfully and directly that, without any doubt, Jesus IS King. We’ll consider how those images and questions asked of Jesus can help us grow in our own appreciation for the need we have for a king – a real king!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
November 24 – Christ the King Sunday
Fall Series: What’s the Big Deal?
Old Testament Reading: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Epistle Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8
Gospel Reading: John 18:33-37
Sermon Title: “Christ as King: What’s the Big Deal?”
At the end of the Hebrews 10 reading, we receive encouragement not to give up meeting together (i.e. worshiping together). As we take in this entire reading more fully, in addition to the reading from Mark 12, we see other elements of worship and why worshiping together is so important (forgiveness, Christ’s sacrifice, our offerings, humility before one another and before God, good works, encouraging one another, etc.). It’s a rich way to consider why we worship.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
November 17th - Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: What’s the Big Deal?
Old Testament Reading: Daniel 12:1-3
Epistle Reading: Hebrews 10:11-25 (sermon focus)
Gospel Reading: Mark 12:38-44 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: “Worship: What’s the Big Deal?”
On this All Saints Sunday, we’ll dig deeper into both the Revelation 7 reading and the Hebrews 12 reading as we explore who and what “saints” are and if they really are a big deal. Part of this annual celebration will include the reading of names of loved ones who have died in the faith as we remember and give thanks for them, the lives they led, and the impact they had on us.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
Sunday.November 3rd – All Saints Sunday, Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: What’s the Big Deal?
First Reading: Revelation 7:9-17 (sermon focus)
Epistle Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3 (sermon focus)
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon Title: “Saints: What’s the Big Deal?”
What’s the way to freedom? Jesus talked about how important truth is – and when we know it, we’ll really be free. On this Reformation Sunday, we’ll look more closely at what Luther re-discovered for us by way of both Truth and Freedom and why those are such a big deal for us in our lives yet today.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 6 – Reformation Sunday
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 46
Epistle Reading: Hebrews 7:23-28
Gospel Reading: John 8:31-36 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: “Truth: What’s the Big Deal?”
We’re talking elections! The texts of the week don’t necessarily spell out “elections” at first glance, but when we take a deeper look at the prophet Amos’ words, it is easy to be caught up in in the passion of the prophet’s relentless call to faithfulness and the urging to uphold/return to God as King. For the disciple of Jesus, that’s what elections give us an opportunity to do – to vote through the lens of our trust in Jesus as our King and His design for life laid out for us through the scriptures. We will see that voting is not foreign to followers of Jesus. There are stories throughout the Bible where God, surprisingly enough, was “on the ballot.” But make no mistake about it, we “vote” daily about honoring the Kingdom of God versus the Kingdom of self, the world, and prevailing culture. If we believe that political power is the ultimate form of power to make things right in the world, we are at odds with the teaching of the Bible and the message of Jesus. We’ll see together that when we vote, we vote, just as we pray we can live every day, through the way, truth, and life of Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. It will be a challenging but timely message as we approach the upcoming election.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 20th – Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost Fall Series: What’s the Big Deal?
Old Testament Reading: Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
Epistle Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10
Gospel Reading: Mark 10:35-45
Sermon Title: “Elections: What’s the Big Deal?”
In Hebrews 4 we’re told that we have a God who can sympathize with our weaknesses. What’s the big deal if God can empathize with me or not? I’m the one who has to live my life with all its ups and downs. It doesn’t make any difference to Him if I’m hurting or struggling or rejoicing or celebrating, does it? The prophecy from Isaiah 53 (the Suffering Servant), gives a powerful and poignant picture of how empathetic our Savior is! We’ll delve into just how important God’s empathy is for us as we seek to follow Him.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 13th – Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 53:4-12 (sermon focus)
Epistle Reading: Hebrews 4:12-16 (sermon focus)
Gospel Reading: Mark 10:17-31
Sermon Title: “An Empathetic God: What’s the Big Deal?”
Does it really matter what we do, as long as we have faith? James has some rather strong feelings about that question! How do life and faith intersect? In Isaiah, we hear a prophecy of Jesus. The Gospel reading from Mark demonstrates how that prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. But is it just about caring for the poor and needy (or performing miracles to heal them, as Jesus did), or where does faith play into all this? What IS the big deal?
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 6 – Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7a
Epistle Reading: James 2:14-17
Gospel Reading: Mark 7:31-37
Sermon Title: “Faith or Good Deeds: What’s the Big Deal?”
As we wrap up our Church: What’s the Big Deal series this Sunday, we’re going to consider the Church at home, where faith is formed. Guest preacher Rev. Dr. Chad Lakies (Vice President, Ministry Engagement of Lutheran Hour Ministries) will be talking about faith in the home, tapping into a wonderful resource that LHM has produced, called “Households of Faith.” Households include all the different shapes and sizes that we have here at Immanuel – everyone is included! You won’t want to miss this helpful and encouraging time together in God’s Word!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
September 29th – Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September Series: Church: What’s the Big Deal?
Old Testament Reading: Proverbs 22:6
Epistle Reading: Ephesians 6:1-4
Gospel Reading: Matthew 18:1-9
Sermon Title: “Households of Faith: What’s the Big Deal?”
Being Church in this time and this place… Immanuel sharing the Gospel in Northern Colorado in the 21st century… Why do we do what we do? We’ll take a closer look at the Lord’s ministry here at Immanuel, asking the question we’re asking all month long – what’s the big deal? Along the way, we’ll also celebrate some of the awesome ways God has been using us in ministry. We hope you can join us!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
September 22nd – Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September Series: Church: What’s the Big Deal?
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon Title: “Immanuel Lutheran Church and School: What’s the Big Deal?”
We began our Church: What’s the Big Deal? series last week by looking big – the Global Church. This week we’re going to take a look at the Lutheran slice of the Global Church. We’ll ask, “What makes the Lutheran church Lutheran?” “What is unique about the Lutheran church?” “What’s the big deal about being Lutheran?” It’s not about bashing other denominations or church bodies – it’s about rejoicing over what God is doing in and through us! Come join me as we explore some of what makes the Lutheran Church a powerful and integral part of all the different denominations, and the gift of God’s grace that sets us apart in so many ways.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
September 15th – Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
September Series: Church: What’s the Big Deal?
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 15:1-6
Epistle Readings: Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3:19-28
Gospel Reading: John 5:24-26
Sermon Title: “The Lutheran Church: What’s the Big Deal?”
As we begin our 4-week September series on the Church, we start with the big picture – the Global Church. The readings take us across the spectrum of time, particularly taking into account God’s perspective on why He established His Church. Ownership is a big deal as is the timelessness of His Church. Through multiple languages used to read the Scriptures, and hearing how we are all one body, amidst so many differences, I pray we grow in appreciation for the church-at-large, the Global Church, of which we are all a part.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
September 8th – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September Series: Church: What’s the Big Deal?
PAST— Old Testament Reading: Genesis 12:1-3
PRESENT— Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Gospel Reading: Matthew 16:13-18
FUTURE— Fourth Reading: Revelation 21:1-7
Sermon Title: “The Global Church: What’s the Big Deal?”
Armor-up! We have here again, as we did earlier in our Crazy summer series, the reality of the devil and the dark spiritual forces that are continually plotting against us. However, this time around, we’re going to take a close look at what God provides for us by way of His armor, His mighty power, and all that is needed for us to be able to stand up to the devil and all that is against us. Ephesians 6 is a powerful word of encouragement, especially needed for these days!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 25th – Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Epistle: Ephesians 6:10-20
Gospel: John 3:1-17
Sermon Title: “Fighting Spiritual Forces? Crazy!”
For the past three weeks we’ve been following this significant discourse of Jesus in John 6 where He’s talking continuously about bread from heaven, being the bread of life, etc., and here, at the end of this discourse, Jesus speaks directly about needing to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Crazy sounding stuff, to be sure! What was He talking about? We’ll spend time trying to sort this all out.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 18th – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Proverbs 9:1-6
Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-20
Gospel: John 6:51-69 S
ermon Title: “Eating Flesh?! Drinking Blood?! Crazy!”
St. Paul in Ephesians 4 and 5 hold out some pretty high ideals. How are we supposed to read those for our lives today? They sound unrealistic, even crazy! He’s taking us down a path of the sanctified life and to remind us that we still live by grace and are led by the Holy Spirit. At the heart of it all, however, is forgiveness – forgiveness we receive and forgiveness we’re called to show and to share with others. We’ll touch on a lot of very practical elements of our life together in Jesus.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 11th – Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Psalm 34:1-8
Epistle: Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51
Sermon Title: “Am I Supposed to be Perfect?!”
Ephesians 4 provides so much guidance and encouragement for us when it comes to answering the question I pose as the sermon title for this Sunday. St. Paul speaks to our attitudes and approach to life; he speaks to the unity that we’re to strive for; he lays out the very real hope we have and why we have it; we have a “gift list” that expresses how the Lord chooses to use us for His work; and then at the end, we’re told very clearly how we can be grounded or deeply rooted in Truth and how we speak into the craziness of our world today. This Sunday is rich!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 4th – Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Psalm 145:10-18
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-16
Gospel: John 6:24-35
Sermon Title: “How Do We Stay Strong in This Crazy World?”
We are continuing our crazy sermon series this week and how much CRAZIER can you get reading, studying, and seeing what God is going to say to us about a story where a little boy’s lunch feeds thousands?! Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking when Andrew came to Jesus with a lunch bag with a couple of loaves of bread and five small fish? “What good is that?” may have been the first thing out of their mouths! But Jesus had other ideas… We’ll be considering how our God is a God of abundant grace and love for all of us, that He is not only the “bread of life” but He’s also the One who challenges us to trust Him with anything we can bring to Him of our gifts, abilities, time, and treasure. If Jesus can take a small boy’s lunch and feed thousands, can you imagine what He can do in and through you? Come and join us for worship on Sunday and hear more about what God wants to do in all our lives through this CRAZY story!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
July 28th – Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: 2 Kings 4:42-44
Epistle: Ephesians 3:14-21
Gospel: John 6:1-15
Sermon Title: “Feeding 5000 With WHAT? That’s Crazy!"
The recording of the prophet Isaiah’s call from God to be His spokesman is pretty dramatic and worth spending some time just soaking in the awe and wonder of what that must have been like. In addition to the miraculous and awe-inspiring presence of angels/seraphim, God’s “train” from the throne, and other amazing things that Isaiah experienced, there are actually some very down-to-earth elements of Isaiah’s call we can relate to. At the end, Isaiah is very inspired to raise his hand and ask God to send him/use him for God’s purposes. How do we get there with that same sense of inspiration and confidence? That’s what we’ll be exploring.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
July 21st – Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Isaiah 6:1-8
Epistle: Ephesians 2:11-22
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34
Sermon Title: “Could God Use Me? It Sounds Crazy…”
We’re going to look at the beginning of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The opening of this letter is filled with some amazingly powerful promises and guarantees – we’ve been blessed, chosen before the creation of the world, predestined as His children, loving us freely, redeemed by the blood of Christ, forgiveness freely given, God’s grace lavished on us, and MORE! The section ends with the promise of the Holy Spirit, a “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” – gift after gift after gift! Crazy and amazing! We hope you can join us as we bask in these amazing guarantees!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
July 14th – Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Psalm 85:8-13
Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel: Mark 6:14-17
Sermon Title: “A Guarantee of Eternity? Crazy!”
Focusing on the 2 Corinthians reading once again this Sunday, we hear St. Paul talk about what sounds like some crazy stuff. My focus will be on how this section ends, particularly as Paul writes about grace, power, weakness, and ultimately where real strength is found. To read these things through the lens of the world, it’s all upside-down and doesn’t make much sense – it’s crazy stuff!! But at the same time, life-transforming!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. From now through Labor Day, we will only be live streaming our 8:00am Classic Grace service, which we will do directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
July 7th – Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Ezekiel 2:1-5
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Gospel: Mark 6:1-13
Sermon Title: “Is Grace Enough?”
As we’re in the midst of a financial challenge, this is a great opportunity to hear what “crazy” stuff the Lord has to say to us when it comes to our offerings and our giving to Him. We’ll dig into 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 and some of the “crazy” notions that St. Paul holds up for us when it come to our attitude toward giving to the Lord. Both chapters 8 and 9 provide so many wonderful examples, words of encouragement, and reminders of God’s faithfulness when it comes to how we approach giving in our own lives.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 30th – Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Lamentations 3:22-33
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Gospel: Mark 5:21; 24b-34
Sermon Title: “Giving = Faith? That’s Crazy!”
In Mark 4 we witness Jesus in a boat sleeping during a furious, terrifying storm. The disciples were confused and finally woke Jesus out of their fear. Jesus spoke a word and the wind and waves calmed. And the disciples were suddenly terrified of Jesus. With what God spoke to Job in the Old Testament reading, it seems that there is actually an appropriate fear we should have of God. But this sounds crazy, doesn’t it? We’ll wrestle with this tension.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 23rd – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Job 38:1-11
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41
Sermon Title: “Afraid of God? It’s Crazy!”
We continue our new summer series this week, It’s Crazy! In 2 Corinthians 5, St. Paul talks about being “out of our mind” for God. He continues to spout crazy stuff while at the same time, clarifying why we believe it, live it, do it. That changes everything, including how we look at each other, how we approach our daily lives, even being clear on life and death.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
June 16th – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Ezekiel 17:22-24
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Gospel: Mark 4:26-34
Sermon Title: “Crazy for God!”
We continue our new summer series this week, It’s Crazy! In the Gospel reading for this day from Mark 3, Jesus’ own family calls Him crazy, out of His mind! Is He? There are times when it may seem like it. But where does His “craziness” take us and what does it mean for us? (Hint, hint – it means some very good things…) We hope you can join us as we continue this crazy series!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
June 9th – Third Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Genesis 3:8-15
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Gospel: Mark 3:20-35
Sermon Title: “Jesus – He’s Crazy!"
We continue our new summer series this week, It’s Crazy!, by thinking about voices. Who or what are we listening to these days? In the Old Testament reading, Samuel didn’t know it was the Lord who was talking to him, preparing to call Samuel to be a great prophet and leader of His people. If we’re listening to God’s voice, that can seem a little crazy to some people, especially as counter-cultural that God’s voice to us can be. Or the way St. Paul expresses what our faith in Jesus is can also sound crazy! Even the Gospel reading from Mark 2 has Jesus talking about the Sabbath, seeming to contradict what the religious leaders of the day were saying and teaching and doing. Whose voice are we listening to?
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 2nd – Second Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Gospel: Mark 2:23-3:6
Sermon Title: “Listening to Voices? It’s Crazy!”
We start our new summer series this week, It’s Crazy! There’s more about this series in the lead article in today’s update. This Sunday is Trinity Sunday and we’ll explore this “crazy” idea of our belief in a Triune God, or the Trinity. Where do we get this idea? What difference does it make? How crazy is it? I hope you can join me as we begin this crazy series together!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 26th – Trinity Sunday, First Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: It’s Crazy!
Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27
Epistle: Romans 8:12-17
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon Title: “Trinity – Three-in-One? One-in-Three? It’s Crazy!”
We’ll wrap up our Our Journey With Jesus series as we think about the importance of intentionality when it comes to walking with Him. This will also be so very applicable and appropriate for Confirmation Sunday as we celebrate with eight 8th graders who will be publicly confirming and professing their faith in Jesus.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 19th – Pentecost Sunday
Easter Series: Our Journey With Jesus
First Reading: Acts 2:1-21
Epistle: Romans 8:22-27
Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Sermon Title: “Our Journey With Jesus: Intentional Spiritual Growth”
Mark of Discipleship: Intentional Spiritual Growth
This Sunday we hear a portion of what is referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17. There is so much that we learn about prayer from Jesus, just in this chapter alone. We’ll delve into this amazing gift of prayer and how important it is when it comes to walking with Jesus.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 12th – The Seventh Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Our Journey With Jesus
First Reading: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Epistle: 1 John 5:9-13
Gospel: John 17:6-19
Sermon Title: “Our Journey With Jesus: Prayer”
Mark of Discipleship: Prayer
Our Easter series, Our Journey With Jesus, continues this week with our next Mark of Discipleship which is, “A commitment to ministry through healthy relationships – be a team player. Mark 6:7” This is a Mark of Discipleship that talks about the importance of the ministry within the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is probably the Bible’s most powerful image of what it means for us to be in relationship together living in the reality that God created us to experience – oneness with Him and with each other. Because of our Risen Lord, we are connected, we give honor to each other, we are interdependent, and we each have a role to play in joining Jesus in His mission of grace and love.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 5th – The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Our Journey With Jesus
First Reading: Acts 10:44-48
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Gospel: John 15:9-17
Sermon Title: “Our Journey With Jesus: Healthy Relationships”
Mark of Discipleship: Healthy Relationships
Jesus uses the imagery of a vine and branches to make the point of how important it is that we stay connected to Him. But where does that connection lead? All three readings for this Sunday point us in a similar direction, answering that very question. We’ll be thinking more about the Mark of Discipleship that is discipling or walking alongside another person.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 28th – The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Our Journey With Jesus First Reading: Acts 8:26-40
Epistle: 1 John 4:7-21
Gospel: John 15:1-8
Sermon Title: “Our Journey With Jesus: Discipling Another”
Mark of Discipleship: Discipleship of one other person
Worship is an amazing gift God has given to us. As you look at the Scripture readings for this coming Sunday, you’ll notice that worship is not specifically talked about in any of them. What do we hear? I invite you to give some thought and consideration to that question as you absorb some of what we’ll be hearing on Sunday from God and His amazing Word!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 21st – The Fourth Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Our Journey With Jesus
First Reading: Acts 4:5-12
Epistle: 1 John 3:16-24
Gospel: John 10:11-18
Sermon Title: “Our Journey With Jesus: Worship”
Mark of Discipleship: Weekly Worship
In Luke 24, Jesus speaks about how everything needed to be fulfilled that was written about Him throughout the Old Testament – which speaks to how important it is for us to read and know God’s Word, both Old and New Testaments, and to see how all Scripture points us to Jesus. He then opened their minds to be able to understand the Scriptures. He continues to do that for us yet today and through faith and through God’s Word, as Jesus says at the end of this reading, we are witnesses of all these things! How does knowing the Word of God and being regularly in the Word help us on our journey with Jesus? Come to worship on Sunday and find out!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 14th – The Third Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Our Journey With Jesus
First Reading: Acts 3:12-19
Epistle: 1 John 3:1-7
Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48
Sermon Title: “Our Journey With Jesus: Reading Scripture”
Mark of Discipleship: Reading Scripture
Continuing our celebration of Easter and Christ’s victory, we read in Acts 4 how the resurrection empowered the disciples to live selfless and giving lives. Gratitude, generosity, and love shown through their lives as they gave of themselves, their finances, and their resources to share Christ’s love and the power of the resurrection with others. It’s not about coercion but how the resurrection transforms our lives. Both the 1 John and the John 20 readings provide more foundational pieces that can be related to how and why we give freely, generously, and with thankfulness from all that the Lord has given us. Being intentional about giving in such a way is an important part of our journey with Jesus.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead.
April 7th – The Second Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Our Journey With Jesus
First Reading: Acts 4:32-35
Epistle: 1 John 1:1-2:2
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Sermon Title: “Our Journey With Jesus: Giving”
Mark of Discipleship: Giving
Focusing on the Gospel account from John regarding the resurrection, we are going to look more closely at the wide range of emotions that we see from the disciples, from His other followers, and even from Jesus Himself as we recognize that the Easter story isn’t just a “story,” but rather it is God conveying to us ever so clearly that He knows everything that’s going on in our lives, that He deeply cares for and about us, and that He is here to continue walking with us. This Easter message will include elements of our Lent series (Honest Emotions) and what is coming with the Easter series and the journey on which we find ourselves, walking with Jesus and Jesus with us.
First Reading: Psalm 71:1-14
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Gospel: John 20:1-18 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: Easter and Honest Emotions
This is Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week! As we continue with our Lent focus on the psalms, we’ll be looking more closely at Psalm 118, a psalm that is filled with prophecy and very direct connections to Palm Sunday. We hope you can join us as we begin the amazing journey once again through the last week of Jesus’ life on earth and celebrate the love He showed to us through Holy Week.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
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March 17th – Palm Sunday
Lent Series:
The Psalms: A Book of Honest Emotions
Old Testament: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11
Gospel: Mark 11:1-11
Sermon Title: “Psalm 118: A Psalm of Celebration”
Psalm 119 is essentially a devotional on the Word of God. The psalm gives us a powerful directive that speaks to both how we’re called to live our lives as God’s people as well as what God’s Word truly provides for us. Over and over the psalm writer points us straight back to God in His Word. I hope you can join me as we take a look at this small part of Psalm 119 together.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
March 17th – Fifth Sunday in Lent
Lent Series: The Psalms: A Book of Honest Emotions
Old Testament: Psalm 119:9-16
Epistle: Hebrews 5:5-10
Gospel: John 12:20-33
Sermon Title: “Psalm 119: The Way, the Truth, and the Life”
Psalm 107 was likely used in a liturgical sense with one of Israel’s annual religious festivals. It’s a psalm of praise to God for His unfailing love – a response for His hearing and answering the prayers of His people in need and of His saving actions. This psalm gets very real with regard to the troubles, the challenges, and the hardships we face, including being up against death itself. And these are the stories that we’re to be telling – stories of our lives that point people back to Jesus. We hope you can join us as we step through Psalm 107 together!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
March 10th – Fourth Sunday in Lent
Lent Series: The Psalms: A Book of Honest Emotions
Old Testament: Psalm 107:1-22
Epistle: Ephesians 2:1-10
Gospel: John 3:14-21
Sermon Title: “Psalm 107: Tell Our Stories”
Psalm 19 is a beautiful psalm extolling the wonders of creation and the glory of God. God’s glory is reflected in creation and also in God’s Word. We are reminded through this psalm to not take for granted the beauty we see all around us. We’re also encouraged to take to heart the beauty and power of God and His Word. We hope you can join us as we take in Psalm 19 together!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
March 3rd – Third Sunday in Lent
Lent Series: The Psalms: A Book of Honest Emotions
Old Testament: Psalm 19
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Gospel: John 2:13-22
Sermon Title: “Psalm 19: Creation and the Word”
Psalm 22 is another psalm written by King David. No other psalm is quoted more frequently in the New Testament than Psalm 22. This is a psalm that, more than almost any other, points directly to Jesus and His suffering on the cross on Good Friday. We’ll focus on some of those direct images tied to Jesus’ Passion and also ask what they mean for us. If you want honesty, this is a psalm where King David pours out his heart in a very personal and, at the same time, a very prophetic way. David’s prayer here is seeking God’s help and deliverance. Throughout Psalm 22 there are emotions and prayers that we can most certainly relate to.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
February 25th – Second Sunday in Lent
Lent Series: The Psalms: A Book of Honest Emotions
Old Testament: Psalm 22
Epistle: Romans 4:13-25
Gospel: Mark 8:31-38
Sermon Title: “Psalm 22: A Psalm of Jesus… and Us”
We continue our new Lent series which we began on Ash Wednesday, The Psalms: A Book of Honest Emotions, as we look more closely at a wide variety of psalms throughout the season of Lent. This Sunday we focus on Psalm 25. Psalm 25 is one of many psalms written by King David. This psalm was written as a psalm of trust, leaning into God’s mercy and His covenant of grace and love. It’s a prayer asking for guidance, wisdom, and direction of what to do and how to live life. The psalm itself is a very practical, down-to-earth expression of wanting to be all that our Lord wants us to be.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
February 18th – First Sunday in Lent
Lent Series: The Psalms: A Book of Honest Emotions
Old Testament: Psalm 25:1-10
Epistle: 1 Peter 3:18-22
Gospel: Mark 1:9-15
Sermon Title: “Hope and Trust in the Lord”
Psalm 51 is a classic and well-known Psalm of David, written after Nathan had confronted King David following the king’s adultery (and more!) with Bathsheba. Many pieces of the Church’s liturgy have flowed out of this psalm with the power that it speaks to confession, forgiveness, and the possibilities with God of where a truly penitent and grace-filled life can lead.
Old Testament: Psalm 51:1-17
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-2
We wrap up the Epiphany season and our Called, Gathered, and Enlightened series with our observance of Jesus’ Transfiguration. However, I’m not going to focus as heavily on the Transfiguration event itself as I have in the past. As we’ve spent this season in St. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, I’ll be focusing on 2 Corinthians reading for the day. Here, Paul again speaks to our times when it comes to the Gospel, the Light shining, the devil’s work in blinding people to the Light and the Truth and veiling their minds, and how the power of God miraculously continues to shine.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
February 11th – Transfiguration Sunday
Epiphany Series: Called, Gathered, and Enlightened
Old Testament: 2 Kings 2:1-12
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 (sermon focus)
Gospel: Mark 9:2-9
Sermon Title: “Shining the Light of the Gospel”
We hear from St. Paul the mandate that flows out what we are called, gathered, and enlightened to do – to share the Gospel and “to win as many as possible.” There is some amazing freedom given here, as exemplified by Paul’s own life examples, when it comes to how important the mission is! Isaiah reminds us, with this well-known passage, exactly where the power to do what we do comes from – it is the Lord who will renew our strength!
February 4th – Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
Epiphany Series: Called, Gathered, and Enlightened
Old Testament: Isaiah 40:21-31 (secondary focus)
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 (sermon focus)
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39
Sermon Title: “Called to Do It All!”
St. Paul speaks right into our times once again this week – not only current times, but from the Enlightenment and Modernity with a jump to very recent times and the constant refrain we heard a couple years ago about trusting the science. Where does our trust lie? Is it in our knowledge or is it in love? Paul gives some great direction when it comes to how we live our lives, or, as he puts it, how we exercise our freedom. We’ll lean heavily into relationships and the practical outcomes of the choices we make.
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
January 28th – Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Epiphany Series: Called, Gathered, and Enlightened
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (sermon focus)
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
Sermon Title: “Knowledge vs Love”
This Sunday will be a reminder to keep a loose grip on the things of this world. Why? Because “this world in its present form is passing away.” What does that mean for us as we are Called, Gathered, and Enlightened? St. Paul lays this out in just a few short verses which will give us opportunity to consider what Jesus has to say in the Gospel reading, that “the time has come... the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” How does all of this help us keep a loose grip on the things of this world? That’s what we’ll be exploring. We hope you can join us!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
January 21st – Third Sunday after the Epiphany Epiphany
Series: Called, Gathered, and Enlightened
Old Testament: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (sermon focus)
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20 (secondary focus)
Sermon Title: “Keeping a Loose Grip”
As we start our new Epiphany series, Called, Gathered, and Enlightened, we begin our 5 week journey through 1 Corinthians with some tough stuff – sexual immorality. The Lord through St. Paul is pretty direct as He speaks on this particular topic – and for good reason. I’ll dive into why that it and some direction and encouragement for all of us. I hope you can join me!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
January 14th – Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Epiphany Series: Called, Gathered, and Enlightened
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 3:1-10
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (sermon focus)
Gospel: John 1:43-51
Sermon Title: “Called, Gathered, and Enlightened for the Tough Stuff”
Epiphany Sunday is always a celebration of light. We’ll hear the powerful promises and encouragement the Lord gives us through the prophet Isaiah in this week’s Old Testament reading. Isaiah also speaks to the reality of the darkness all around us and how we as God’s people are here to stand up and shine with the light of our Savior’s love to brighten this dark world. We hope you can join us for this service and celebration of Light!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
January 7th – Epiphany of the Lord
Old Testament: Isaiah 60:1-6
Epistle: Ephesians 3:1-12
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon Title: “Arise! Shine!”
On the cusp of a new calendar year, we’ll take time on this New Year’s Eve Sunday morning to reflect on 2023 and look with anticipation toward 2024. We’ll consider the reminder from Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 about the many different times and seasons of life and the value that can be gleaned in the ups and the downs that we go through, clinging always to the promises of our Savior. We take the closing words of Scripture in Revelation 22 to heart with the prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 31st – The First Sunday after Christmas
Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Second Reading: Revelation 22:12-21
Gospel: Matthew 25:35-46
Sermon Title: “The Times and Seasons of Life”
Christmas Day is the opportunity to move beyond the wonderful sentimentality and to celebrate the power behind this miracle of Christmas. We hear those profound words from the opening of John’s Gospel in chapter 1, taking us back to the very beginning of creation and making clear for us God’s plan to save us, using images of light and darkness, thinking of Jesus as that “Word made flesh.”
December 25, 2023 (Christmas Day)
Old Testament: Isaiah 52:7-10
Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4
Gospel: John 1:1-14
Rather than talk about Christmas in general or a specific piece of the Christmas story, this message simply walks us through Luke 2 and gives us the opportunity to soak in with a sense of wonder and awe, this miracle of God’s promise fulfilled. We encourage you to grab a Bible or pull up your Bible app and follow along as we step through this amazing part of God’s Story from Luke 2.
December 24, 2023 (Christmas Eve)
Old Testament: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
Second Reading: Titus 2:11-14
Gospel: Luke 2:1-20
This message does NOT have a focus on Christmas. This Sunday was the Fourth Sunday in Advent as we wrap up our Advent series, The Bible: Our Book of Advent(s), focusing on the many advents or comings of Jesus. We’ll reflect on God’s promises for the Promised Land for the people of Israel and on our own promised inheritance of eternal life with our Savior in the new creation. What does “land” have to do with the promises of Jesus’ coming? Listen and find out!
As always, if you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 24th – The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Advent Series: The Bible: Our Book of Advent(s)
Old Testament: Joshua 1:1-6
Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Third Reading: Revelation 21:1-7
Sermon Title: “The Goodly Land I See”
We’re headed back to the Old Testament again as we remember God’s many advents, or comings. We’ll look at God’s call to Moses to lead His people out of slavery with the great Old Testament event of the Exodus. Moses and this event foreshadow Jesus and the rescue He would bring. As God’s people, He invites us to pray for deliverance and rescue in times of suffering. When all is said and done, the Advent message is a plea that we trust that God IS coming to us at all times, especially when we’re going through rough times. Our Savior assures us, “I AM is here!”
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 10th – The Second Sunday of Advent
Advent Series: The Bible: Our Book of Advent(s)
Old Testament: Exodus 3:1-15; Deuteronomy 18:15
Second Reading: Hebrews 3:1-6
Gospel: John 8:54-58
Sermon Title: “I AM Has Sent Me to You”
We begin our new Advent series this Sunday. When you understand the Bible as a Book of Advents, especially birth announcements leading to the incarnation of the Son of God in whom you have been given new birth in baptism, then you gain a greater sense of the presence of God for a life of living hope. We’ll be thinking through the Old Testament and the various places where Jesus was already making advents in those Old Testament times. We hear it in Abraham and in Isaac. We hear it in Jesus’ birth announcement. And we hear it in baptism, which is God’s birth announcement that He has a newborn – you and me! All of this serves to bring us hope. We hope you can join us.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
December 3rd – The First Sunday of Advent
Advent Series: The Bible: Our Book of Advent(s)
Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-3; 18:1-15
Epistle: 1 Peter 1 Peter 1:17-23
Gospel: John 17:1-5, 24
Sermon Title: Born, Born, Born, to Living Hope!
We wrap up our Kingdom People series this Sunday, which is the last Sunday of the Church Year, Christ the King Sunday. We hear more of Jesus’ “backward” theology when He tells us that the people we’re supposed to hang out with, love, and serve are those who are the poor, strangers, sick, and in prison people. We don’t “get ahead” by serving those who are well-to-do. And the clincher is that as we serve those who can’t serve us back, we are actually serving the King, Jesus Himself!
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We live stream our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
November 26th – Christ the King Sunday
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Epistle Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23
Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People Serve the King”
All three readings this week are dialed in on the End Times. What we hear in Zephaniah is a bit overwhelming when it comes to the “doom and gloom” aspect of the End Times. In 1 Thessalonians 5, St. Paul speaks some pretty helpful and straight-forward direction when it comes to what exactly the End Times are all about. And Jesus, in Matthew 25, using yet another story, offers some amazing wisdom when it comes to how we as Kingdom People are to live in these End Times. I hope you can join me as we near the end of our fall series, Kingdom People.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them ahead of Sunday.
November 19th – Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
Epistle Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:14-30
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People are Awake and Sober”
Focusing on the lengthy reading from Joshua 24, we hear Joshua’s bold proclamation of who he and his household will serve – the Lord! Along with that comes a challenge to all of God’s people to serve the Lord and Him alone. As Kingdom People, we have to look at what the Lord asks of us as His people and how He desires us to live in these times, and we have to do it honestly and with our eyes wide open to how difficult this is going to be. But when all is said and done, we are bold in our faith, our following the Lord, and in sharing where our strength comes from.
We hope you can join us as we continue our fall series, Kingdom People. If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
November 12th – Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Epistle Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:1-13
This Sunday we are celebrating All Saints Sunday, a day we observe every year and that officially falls on November 1st. On this beautiful, mysterious, and powerful Sunday of the Church Year, we’ll explore “sainthood” from the three readings for this All Saints Day celebration. We’ll look at the vision of worship from Revelation 7, being surrounded by this “cloud of witnesses” and the encouragement the saints of God (living and departed) provide for us in this race of life, and Jesus’ Beatitudes from His Sermon on the Mount provide some additional and important considerations for how we as God’s saints are to live and what we can expect as we live our lives as Kingdom People.
We hope you can join us as we continue our fall series, Kingdom People. If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
November 5th – All Saints Sunday
Fall Series: Kingdom People
First Reading: Revelation 7:9-17
Epistle Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People are Saints”
This Sunday we celebrate the Reformation, marking when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany, ultimately leading to a separation from the Roman Catholic Church and birthing not only the Lutheran Church but all other Protestant churches as well. Reformation celebrations provide a wonderful, annual opportunity to celebrate the Truth which sets us free – the gift of God’s grace, which saves us. We’ll tap the various “solas” of Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone, and Christ Alone. We’ll be honing in particularly on Jesus’ words in John 8 about truth and freedom, as well as St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 3, as we focus on what real Truth is. We hope you can join us as we continue our fall series, Kingdom People.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 29th – Reformation Sunday
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 46
Epistle Reading: Romans 3:19-28
Gospel Reading: John 8:31-36
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People Know Truth”
What St. Paul writes in the opening verses of his first letter to the Thessalonians speaks to how God’s Kingdom People were not just “believers,” but they were the very embodiment of the Good News of Jesus. Paul speaks of the modeling that was happening and how it was not just a WWJD sort of thing but rather they were living as they were, doing what they did, speaking God’s Word, all with power – a power that came from beyond themselves. It was the power of the Holy Spirit. We’ll explore further what embodying the faith can look like when it comes to being Kingdom People.
We hope you can join us as we explore some of these difficult questions in our fall series, Kingdom People. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 22nd – The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 96:1-9
Epistle Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:15-22
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People Embody the Faith”
We’re given some amazing pictures and images of what we as Kingdom People are receiving through faith in Jesus. Isaiah 25 gives us a picture of eternity as a banquet, an amazing banquet! Paul, in Philippians 4, urges us to rejoice – not just occasionally but all the time. And Jesus gives us another story this week from the Gospels about the kingdom of heaven – and this story is about, you guessed it, a wedding banquet. So as Kingdom People, we party and for very good reason! What does that look like in the face of some of the horrors and evil going on in our world today? I hope you can join me as we explore some of these difficult questions in our fall series, Kingdom People.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 15th – The Twentieth Sunday after
Pentecost Fall Series: Kingdom People Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 25:1-9
Epistle Reading: Philippians 4:1-9
Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:1-14
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People Party!”
Using St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we are reminded of who we are as Kingdom People. St. Paul hammers home the importance of where we put our confidence, where we find our identity, where we get meaning for our lives. It’s a powerful reminder and what, I pray, will be a helpful encouragement for all of us. We hope you can join us as we continue our fall series, Kingdom People.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 8th – The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 118:15-24
Epistle Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14
Gospel Reading: Matthew 21:33-46
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People’s Identity is in Christ”
Do you know the 10 Commandments? How many can you recite? God’s giving of the commandments will be one of the readings we’ll hone in on as we consider the “why” and “how” of obedience for us as Kingdom People. It’s not that difficult to understand but where we tend to get in trouble is with the misunderstanding of the purpose of the Commandments and how Christianity tends to be viewed through the lens of God’s Law. We hope you can join us as we continue our fall series, Kingdom People.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
October 1st – The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-10, 12-20
Epistle Reading: Philippians 2:1-13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 21:23-32
Sermon Title: Kingdom People Obey
Generous, counter-intuitive, upside down – any of those words could fit into today’s theme when it comes to who we are and how we live as Kingdom People. The Gospel reading is another story from Jesus – this one about generosity. But not everyone sees it that way. Others in His story cry “Foul!” because what the landowner did didn’t seem fair when it came to the wages he gave to his workers. In this story, we also get a sense of God’s sovereignty. Over and over again, we hear of God’s generosity, His grace, and His love. We hope you can join us as we continue our fall series, Kingdom People.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings.
September 24th – The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Jonah 3:10-4:11
Epistle Reading: Philippians 1:21-30
Gospel Reading: Matthew 20:1-16
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People are Generous”
Our fall series, Kingdom People, continues this Sunday with another pretty challenging yet important topic – forgiveness. We hear a powerful example of forgiveness through Joseph in the Old Testament as he extends (and doesn’t renege on) forgiveness to his brothers after his father Jacob died. Jesus tells another story in response to a question from Peter regarding forgiveness – a story that speaks pretty clearly and directly about how we as Kingdom People are to live out this gift of forgiveness.
September 17th – The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 50:15-21
Epistle Reading: Romans 14:1-12
Gospel Reading: Matthew 18:21-35
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People Forgive”
We start this new fall series with a pretty major and even difficult topic – reconciliation. Jesus speaks to it very directly in the Gospel, St. Paul speaks to this in a more indirect way in Romans 13, and even the Old Testament reading from Ezekiel holds up in no uncertain terms the responsibility that we have toward one another. How do we live out reconciliation in our lives? What does it look like? We’ll dig into it here.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. We are now streaming our worship services directly from the home page of Immanuel’s website through YouTube. You can view our worship live streams here: https://immanuelloveland.org/ Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
September 10th – The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Fall Series: Kingdom People
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 33:7-11
Epistle Reading: Romans 13:8-14
Gospel Reading: Matthew 18:15-20
Sermon Title: “Kingdom People Reconcile”
Using Romans 12 and Matthew 16, we wrap up our summer “complicated” series. We’ll hear from both Jesus and from St. Paul about what following Jesus entails. Some of it, particularly as Paul describes, is pretty simple and pretty straight-forward. But in other ways, as Jesus describes it, it’s complicated, it’s difficult, and it can feel far beyond what we can possibly do. And that’s where the Holy Spirit at work in us comes to the forefront. We’ve heard much of this throughout the summer readings and on this Labor Day weekend it serves as a wonderful way to wrap up the series.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. PLEASE NOTE that our live stream is now on the home page of our website. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
September 3rd – The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Psalm 26:1-8
Epistle: Romans 12:9-21
Gospel: Matthew 16:21-28
Sermon Title: “Following Jesus: It’s Complicated (or is it?)”
What is God’s will? Not an easy question and certainly no easy answers. But we see again, through God’s Word, how God’s will is carried out. Paul in Romans 12 provides some wonderful guidance with regard to knowing God’s will. And in Matthew 16, Sunday’s Gospel reading, we hear Peter proclaim, as prompted by the Holy Spirit, that Jesus IS the Christ, the Promised One. We’ll see how that plays into better understanding what God’s will is.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option. PLEASE NOTE that our live stream is changing platforms – it will be streamed on the Immanuel website home page: www.immanuelloveland.org. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 27th – The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Exodus 1:8-2:10
Epistle: Romans 12:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20
Sermon Title: “God’s Will: It’s Complicated”
We’ll be hearing the story of Joseph and his brothers from the end of Genesis – and what a life Joseph led! It was filled with ups and downs (actually a lot more downs on the front-end!) but Joseph continues to trust the Lord. As we look at Joseph’s life, we get a glimpse into how God works which, as we’re discovering this summer with so many aspects of our lives, is complicated!
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page (8:00am service only through Labor Day): https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 20th – The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Genesis 45:1-15
Epistle: Romans 8:26-30
Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28
Sermon Title: “How God Works: It’s Complicated”
What scares you? With our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, we’ll look that question square in the eyes because it’s something that all of us deal with at some level. Complicated for us as followers of Jesus? It was for Elijah of the Old Testament and for Peter and the other disciples in the first century and you can count it being no different for you and me today. We’ll also be installing and dedicating our school staff on Sunday in worship.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page (8:00am service only through Labor Day): https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 13th – The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: 1 Kings 19:9-18
Epistle: Romans 10:5-15
Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33
Sermon Title: “The Things That Scare Us: It’s Complicated”
Our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, continues with a focus on the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000. We’ll be walking through that miracle and, in the process, we’re going to learn a lot more about Jesus, His heart, and the ways in which He chooses to work. It’s pretty cool to see how Jesus does what He does and the part we get to play in that.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page (8:00am service only through Labor Day): https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
August 6th – The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1-5
Epistle: Romans 9:1-5
Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
Sermon Title: “The Job Jesus Gives Us: It’s Complicated”
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License #A-724593-A. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License # A-700000 . All rights reserved.
This Sunday in our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, we hear Solomon asking God for wisdom and reflecting more on what we’re asking the Lord for in our lives – do we ask for wisdom and what does that look like? Romans 8 is packed with promises and assurances that the love we know in Jesus is a love that no one and nothing can take away from us. God’s love is real and plays into the wisdom we seek from God. The Gospel reading is filled with little parables about the Kingdom, reminding us to set our sights on life in the Kingdom, which we experience right now and how that interplays with wisdom and with love. Wow – it’s complicated!
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page (8am service only through Labor Day): https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
July 30th – The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: 1 Kings 3:3-12
Epistle: Romans 8:31-39
Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Sermon Title: Wisdom and Love and the Kingdom of Heaven: It’s Complicated
For our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, the focus this Sunday will be on Jesus’ parable of the weeds in Matthew 13 and the question of “Why evil?” We hear the wisdom Jesus shares in this parable and how that plays out – but it’s still confusing and very complicated. So we’ll be asking, What’s Up With the Weeds?
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
July 23rd – The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Isaiah 44:6-8
Epistle: Romans 8:12-25
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Sermon Title: What’s Up With the Weeds?! It’s Complicated
For our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, we continue for another week in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul begins Romans 8 right where we left off last week, with the ongoing struggle in which we’re engaged as we strive to live our lives as followers of Jesus. In this chapter he sets up the “flesh” versus the “Spirit” and challenges us to consider on which of those we are setting our minds. He lays out the pros and the cons in pretty convincing fashion. We’ll put our own minds to work on this to hear what the Lord is expecting of us.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
July 16th – The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:10-13
Epistle: Romans 8:1-11
Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Sermon Title: Where is Your Mind Set? It’s Complicated
Our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, takes us to Romans 7 and the classic sinner-saint struggle. The question, even for us as Christians, is “Why do I do what I do?!” This is asked especially when it comes to the temptations to which we fall and the less-than-Christlike-attitudes and actions that we sometimes demonstrate. We’ll delve into that struggle. What Jesus offers in the Matthew reading is great comfort and encouragement, especially in the midst of our struggles, as He invites us to come to Him when we’re burdened.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
July 9th – The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Psalm 145:8-14
Epistle: Romans 7:15-25a
Gospel: Matthew 11:25-30
Sermon Title: “Why Do I Do What I Do? It’s Complicated”
With our nation’s Independence Day celebration right around the corner, our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, will have us thinking about the real freedoms we enjoy as followers of Jesus. To get us there, we’ll be taking a deep dive into Romans 6:12-23 where St. Paul talks about slavery and freedom in multiple ways.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 25th – The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Psalm 13
Epistle: Romans 6:12-23
Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42
Sermon Title: “Slavery and Freedom in 2023: It’s Complicated”
Our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, takes on another major topic – Grace. How complicated could “grace” possibly be? Well… We’ll focus on some of what St. Paul shares in Romans 6 when it comes to some of the abuses that were happening already in the first century. We hear some of the awesome expressions of what grace can look like. Then in Matthew 10, Jesus also speaks of a life of grace – but not necessarily in the language you might expect. We’ll unpack what amounts to another set of challenging things Jesus has to say to us as His followers. And, yeah, it’s complicated…
With VBS this week, we’ve invited our VBS children and families to come join us and share in leading some of the songs they learned this week in our Stellar VBS.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 25th – The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Genesis 21:8-13
Epistle: Romans 6:1b-11
Gospel: Matthew 10:24-39
Sermon Title: Life Under Grace: It’s Complicated
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License #A-724593-A. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License # A-700000 . All rights reserved.
We continue our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, hearing in Matthew 9 and 10 how Jesus sent His disciples out and the accompanying instructions He gave them for the journey. Talk about confusing! Talk about scary! Talk about crazy! If we pay close attention to exactly what Jesus was saying, how Jesus sent them out makes no sense. It was complicated. But the crazy thing is, in so many ways, many of these instructions still apply today. We’ll walk through and consider the warnings as well as the promises.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 18th – The Third Sunday after Pentecost Summer
Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Genesis 21:1-7
Epistle: Romans 5:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:22
Sermon Title: “Instructions for the Journey: It’s Complicated”
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License #A-724593-A. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License # A-700000 . All rights reserved.
We continue our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated, thinking about how we live by faith. We tend to make it sound so easy – we “live by faith” – but the reality has always been that it’s hard to live by faith. It was hard for Abram/Abraham and all that he went through. Paul expounds on that challenge in the Epistle reading from Romans 4. It’s complicated, but not impossible! The invitation to live by faith is actually quite freeing and powerful.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 11th – The Second Sunday after Pentecost
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9
Epistle: Romans 4:13-25
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-22
Sermon Title: “Live by Faith? It’s Complicated”
This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, and the official start of our summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated. On Trinity Sunday all three readings point us to the mystery of the Trinity and include references to our belief in one God who comes to us in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We’ll explore this mystery using all three readings, which include the wonder of creation and the Great Commission, bringing home why this mysterious doctrine is important and what it has to do with our day-to-day lives. The mystery is complicated but what it brings is powerful.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
June 4th – The First Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-5, 1:26-2:3
Epistle: 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon Title: “Three In One? It’s Complicated”
This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday – a celebration that goes back thousands of years, deep into the Old Testament. We’ll look more at the history of this particular celebration and what has happened over time to make it what it is today. We’ll see and hear how the plan was always to transform this celebration to be so much more than it was originally – but that’s how the Lord always works! We’ll be transitioning from our Easter series, Words to Live By, into our new summer series, Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated.
In the meantime, keep working on memorizing and putting God’s Word in your heart, especially this passage from last Sunday – “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:6-9)
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 28th – Pentecost Sunday
Easter Series: Words to Live By
Summer Series: Life in the Spirit: It’s Complicated
First Reading: Acts 2:1-21
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Gospel: John 7:37-39
Sermon Title: “Life in the Spirit”
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This Sunday we hear Peter refer to Satan as a “roaring lion looking for whom he may devour.” We’ll look at the realities of Satan and his work in this world as well as the important direction our Savior gives to us as to how to counter that roaring lion in our midst. These are again some powerful Words to Live By.
In the meantime, keep working on memorizing and putting God’s Word in your heart, especially this passage from last Sunday – “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15) If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 21st – The Seventh Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Words to Live By
First Reading: Acts 1:6-14
Epistle: 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
Gospel: John 17:1-11
Sermon Title: “Standing Firm”
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License #A-724593-A. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License # A-700000 . All rights reserved.
This Sunday the Lord is encouraging us to be ready, to be prepared. For what? To give an answer to anyone who asks us about our faith, about Jesus, about how we live like we do, which is a life filled with hope. These again are some powerful Words to Live By.
In the meantime, keep working on memorizing and putting God’s Word in your heart, especially this passage from last Sunday – “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 14th – The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Words to Live By
First Reading: Acts 17:22-31
Epistle: 1 Peter 3:13-22
Gospel: John 14:15-21
Sermon Title: “Be Prepared”
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE, License #A-724593-A. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License # A-700000 . All rights reserved.
This Sunday we hear some powerful words of affirmation from our Lord through Peter in this week’s Words to Live By. My prayer is that as we gather in worship, we are reminded of some very important promises and words our risen Savior has given us – words that speak pretty directly to some of the confusion and challenges that we’re up against in our culture today.
Keep working on memorizing and putting God’s Word in your heart, especially this passage from last Sunday – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) If you can’t be here in-person, you can always take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
May 7th – The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Words to Live By
First Reading: Acts 7:55-60
Epistle: 1 Peter 2:2-10
Gospel: John 14:1-14
Sermon Title: “Affirming Words”
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This Sunday’s Words to Live By are all about healing. What does that healing look like? Healing takes many different forms but when it’s all said and done, healing is what we need – all of us! In the meantime, keep working on memorizing and putting God’s Word in your heart, especially this passage from last Sunday – “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 30th – The Fourth Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Words to Live By
First Reading: Acts 2:42-47
Epistle: 1 Peter 2:19-25
Gospel: John 10:1-10
Sermon Title: “Healing Words”
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We get some more amazing Words to Live By from our Savior through 1 Peter. This week, we hear about the power of the Word itself and we’ll think more about how that plays out for us in our lives. In the meantime, keep working on memorizing and putting God’s Word in your heart, especially this passage from last week in 1 Peter 1:3-4 – “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 23rd – The Third Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Words to Live By
First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Epistle: 1 Peter 1:17-23
Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
Sermon Title: “The Living Word” All rights reserved.
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We continue in the afterglow of our Easter Sunday celebration, marveling at our Savior’s love and all that He provides for us to live in this crazy world! We take a deep dive into 1 Peter 1 and the very significant way the apostle Peter starts his letter. We hope you can join us in what promises to be a very relevant and helpful series! If you can’t be here in-person, you can take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 16th – The Second Sunday of Easter
Easter Series: Words to Live By
First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Epistle: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Sermon Title: “Living Hope”
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He is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!! This Sunday we begin a new series titled Words to Live By for our glorious Easter celebration!
If you can’t be here in-person, you can always take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 9th – The Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday
Easter Series: Words to Live By
First Reading: Acts 10:34-43
Epistle: Colossians 3:1-4
Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10
Sermon: Words to Live By: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” (Matthew 28:5-6)
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This Sunday we begin the awe-inspiring journey through Holy Week. It all started with Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem amidst cheers and shouts of joy, palm branches and coats being laid before Him, and His preparation for how this world-changing week would unfold. You won’t want to miss this glorious celebration, or any of the worship services in the week ahead.
If you can’t be here in-person, you can take advantage of our live stream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
April 2nd – Palm Sunday
Old Testament: Isaiah 50:4-9a
Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11
Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11
Sermon Title: “Hosanna in the Highest!”
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This Sunday we wrap up our Honest Repentance series with the topic, “Salvation.” The Exodus is THE salvation event in the Old Testament. This story is not only about what happened to the Israelites long ago. It sets forth a pattern of God’s deliverance that we can see repeated multiple times in the Bible and in our own lives as well. The story itself echoes the pattern that God established at creation. And then the pattern is repeated in Christ’s resurrection and as well as in our baptism.
If you can’t be here in-person, you can also take advantage of our livestream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
March 26th – The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Lenten Series: Honest Repentance
Old Testament: Exodus 14:10-31
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
Gospel: John 3:16-21
Sermon Title: “Salvation”
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This Sunday’s topic in our Honest Repentance series isn’t one that is talked about much – purification. A few weeks ago we explored the theme of water throughout the Bible. This week, we’re going to be thinking about fire and how it’s used by God – and specifically how He uses it to purify us. We’ll be looking at fire from two different perspectives both helping us along the path of the cross.
If you can’t be here in-person, you can take advantage of our livestream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
March 19th – The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Lenten Series: Honest Repentance
Old Testament: Daniel 3:1-30
Epistle: Titus 2:11-14
Gospel: John 8:31-36
Sermon Title: “Purification”
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This Sunday will be a core Sunday in this series as we’ll be talking very directly about “Repentance” – Honest Repentance! To get there, we’ll take a look at the account of the prophet Jonah when God commanded him to go to the city of Ninevah, a city of great wickedness, darkness, and evil, and call them to repentance. Jonah wasn’t thrilled about it but, without giving too many spoilers, it is amazing and even miraculous what God can do in the hearts of any and all people!
You can always take advantage of our livestream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
March 12th – The Third Sunday in Lent
Lenten Series: Honest Repentance
Old Testament: Jonah 3:1-10
Epistle: 1 John 1:5-10
Gospel: Matthew 12:38-41
Sermon Title: “Honest Repentance: Repentance”
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This Sunday we’ll be hearing about Abraham and the unthinkable command that God gave to him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. As Abraham, by faith, trusted God and obeyed what He commanded him, God stopped Abraham from actually killing his son, this act of faith became the foundation from which faith is talked about throughout the rest of Scripture. How does that continue to speak into our lives yet today? We continue our Lenten series, Honest Repentance, looking at how faith is such an integral component to living lives of honest repentance.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our livestream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings.
March 5th – The Second Sunday in Lent
Lenten Series: Honest Repentance
Old Testament: Genesis 22:1-18
Epistle: Romans 4:1-5
Gospel: Luke 7:44-50
Sermon Title: “Honest Repentance: Faith”
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Throughout the season of Lent we’ll be thinking about Honest Repentance. On Sunday we’ll consider the chaos that life so often brings – chaos all around us as well as chaos within us. As part of our consideration, we’ll be looking at all the metaphors connected to water that we find throughout the Bible. God uses this to convey some powerful, helpful, and even healing truths.
You can take advantage of our livestream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLovelandCO. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
February 26th – The First Sunday in Lent
Lenten Series: Honest Repentance
Old Testament: Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:1, 8-13
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:20b-22
Third Reading: 1 John 5:6-9
Sermon Title: “Honest Repentance: Chaos”
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As we wrap up the Epiphany season with Transfiguration Sunday, we’re reminded in no uncertain terms that it’s always about Jesus. The Transfiguration event in Matthew 17 was all about Jesus – pointing to Him, the presence of Moses and Elijah giving clarity about Jesus and who He truly is, the glowing/shining and then the words of affirmation from the Father/the voice from the cloud, it’s all about Jesus! We’ll dig deeper in the 2 Peter 1 reading as well, which appropriately exalts Jesus even further, as Peter speaks of what he personally saw and experienced on that mountaintop. We go to the mountaintop on this Sunday to “see” what Peter saw, along with James and John, and add our worship and praise to the shining light of Jesus. We hope you can join us on the mountaintop for worship!
Below are the Scripture readings:
February 19th – The Transfiguration of the Lord
Winter Series: Epiphanized!
Old Testament: Exodus 24:12-18
Epistle: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Sermon Title: “Epiphanization at its Best!”
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The Scriptures for this Sunday are beautiful and powerful expressions of LIFE and what the Lord very clearly puts in front of us. He gives us choices and His ultimate desire is that we listen to Him, obey Him, and follow Him. As we continue our Epiphany series, Epiphanized!, these choices are significant when it comes to what we shine and how we shine as children of God.
Below are the Scripture readings:
February 12th – The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
Winter Series: Epiphanized!
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (sermon focus)
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: “Epiphanized to Live”
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We continue our Epiphany series, Epiphanized!, thinking about how we as God’s people are being looked upon as being more foolish every day. This is good because it’s a testimony that we represent the Light of Christ. We hold dear the message of the cross, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is life-giving and life-sustaining.
If you can’t be here in-person, take advantage of our livestream option on Immanuel’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ImmanuelLove.... Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
February 5th – The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Winter Series: Epiphanized!
Old Testament: Micah 6:1-8
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (sermon focus)
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20 (sermon focus)
Sermon Title: “Epiphanized with Foolishness”
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We continue our Epiphany series, Epiphanized!, continuing to talk about darkness and light. But this Sunday we’ll be looking at these realities in the context of living in the Kingdom of God. Jesus had some things to say about Kingdom-living and they relate pretty directly to what we hear throughout God’s Word and some of the challenges we’re up against as Epiphanized children of God.
January 29th – The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Winter Series: Epiphanized!
Old Testament: Isaiah 9:1-4
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
Sermon Title: “Darkness, Light, and the Kingdom”
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Our Epiphany series, Epiphanized!, continues as we hear in all three of our Scripture readings this week of the truth of how the Light is truly shining brightly all around us. As Epiphanized people of God, we’re reminded again of just how that same Light is shining in us and through us. Below are the Scripture readings if you want to take a look at them.
January 22nd – The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Winter Series: Epiphanized!
Old Testament: Isaiah 49:1-7
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel: John 1:29-42
Sermon Title: The Light Shining for All
We are continuing our Epiphany series, Epiphanized!, as we look at what exactly that means. We’ll do that in light of the account of Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3) and in light of our own baptism. It all starts with Jesus (as everything does!!) and continues to flow in and through us. It promises to be a Sunday of encouragement and hope for these days in which we’re living.
On Sunday we are celebrating the Epiphany of our Lord, a celebration of light (The Light!) shining into our world and into our hearts. There’s some serious darkness that we’re contending with these days so this Sunday’s time of worship, including the music, candles, God’s Word, and the sermon, are needed more than ever! It will be a powerful time together as we are reminded, equipped, and encouraged by our Savior, the Light of the world, and I hope you can join me.
We begin the New Year by talking about prayer. Prayer is such a rich gift of God’s grace and love to us. Jesus not only taught us how to pray but assures us that the “doors of heaven” are swung wide open because we have bold access to the Father through Christ. God is inviting us into a deeper, growing relationship with Him through prayer. God is interested in our prayers because He is interested in us, and HE IS ABLE to accomplish what concerns us today!
And so we hear the Christmas Story from Luke 2 – a story far from a fairy tale but a story we hold to be true and filled with Truth and Hope and Life.
It’s Christmas and we’ll be talking about what you would expect – what Christmas is truly all about for us as we live lives in these ongoing crazy times.
Where do you look for guidance? There are lots of options in our world today. As followers of Jesus we know where we should go and where we should look. In this episode we’ll dig a bit deeper into why and how the guidance our Lord provides can make such a big difference in our lives. This is the third week of our Be Born in Us Today Advent series and we hope you can join us as we continue to prepare our hearts throughout this wonderful season of the year.