Sermon Messages from Ascension Lutheran Church: Recent Episodes
Ascension Lutheran Church
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5
Service Summary: How shall we pray? That question is the focus of today’s Readings. With Jacob as a model, our prayer might seem to be a struggle with God’s will. And Jesus’ parable teaches that prayer is a long-term effort. But prayer is more than a monologue; the Epistle reminds us that God started the conversation with His Word. The Spirit has used Word and Sacrament to awaken and guide our faith. Within that relationship, prayer is a conversation begun by God and continued each day. In worship, we do that with our brothers and sisters in Christ, moving from individual concerns to those of the Body of Christ, the Church. And in worship, we take the time to listen as God accuses and then excuses us by grace for Jesus’ sake. So let us pray and worship together.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 17:11-19
Service Summary: We know a lot about some of the people in today’s Readings. We could write a typical biography of Ruth, for example, because we know her family’s names and even that she was an ancestor of Jesus. Last week we learned that Timothy, the addressee of today’s Epistle, had a Christian mother and grandmother, and is now a young pastor. But all that we know about the leper who thanked Jesus in today’s Gospel is that he was a Samaritan. Yet that is sufficient, for only through his faith in our Lord was he truly saved, not from leprosy only, but from his sins and his sinfulness. He was ready to live in thanks and praise of his Savior and ours. What’s the story of your life? We were dead in sins but now are alive in Christ Jesus. May God strengthen you to share His love as the story of your life continues to unfold.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Proverbs 3:1-10, Galatians 6:2-10, & Matthew 16:24-26
Service Summary: Our theme for this year reflects our response to who God is and what He has done for us. Generous giving is comprised of three components, all required to be fully realized. The third side of this triangle is “Giving In.” Giving in, as it relates to generous giving, is not about resignation, but about loving those who journey with you as Jesus’ followers. It is about supporting and sustaining our brothers and sisters in Christ for the benefit of both the individual as well as the whole group. Jesus describes it: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 24:17-22, Colossians 3:2-6, & Luke 19:1-10
Service Summary: Our theme for this year reflects our response to who God is and what He has done for us. Generous giving is comprised of three components, all required to be fully realized. The second side of this triangle is “Giving Out.” As a recipient of Jesus’ generous giving, I want to follow his lead to be an invitational missionary and connect people to Christ.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 24:17-22, Colossians 3:2-6, & Luke 19:1-10
Service Summary: Our theme for this year reflects our response to who God is and what He has done for us. Generous giving is comprised of three components, all required to be fully realized. The second side of this triangle is “Giving Out.” As a recipient of Jesus’ generous giving, I want to follow his lead to be an invitational missionary and connect people to Christ.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Luke 7:36-50
Service Summary: Our theme for this year reflects our response to who God is and what He has done for us. Generous giving is comprised of three components, all required to be fully realized. The first side of this triangle is “Giving Up” not in the sense of resignation, but a lifestyle of deep love for Jesus Christ and extraordinary generosity toward opportunities of service and the advance of His kingdom. Jesus is first and foremost the generous giver who gives forgiveness of sins.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Luke 7:36-50
Service Summary: Our theme for this year reflects our response to who God is and what He has done for us. Generous giving is comprised of three components, all required to be fully realized. The first side of this triangle is “Giving Up” not in the sense of resignation, but a lifestyle of deep love for Jesus Christ and extraordinary generosity toward opportunities of service and the advance of His kingdom. Jesus is first and foremost the generous giver who gives forgiveness of sins.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Luke 15:1-10
Service Summary: Many people attend to the tasks associated with the beginning of the service, looking at the order of worship they have received or checking out what the opening hymn will be. There is blessing to be found also in looking around us and acknowledging those gathered with us. Each of us is singularly special to God, and, joined together, we become “the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” (Psalm 95:7).
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Luke 15:1-10
Service Summary: Many people attend to the tasks associated with the beginning of the service, looking at the order of worship they have received or checking out what the opening hymn will be. There is blessing to be found also in looking around us and acknowledging those gathered with us. Each of us is singularly special to God, and, joined together, we become “the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” (Psalm 95:7).
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 14:25–35
Service Summary: The first issue that naturally comes to mind to many Christians when hearing the phrase “Choose life!” is that of abortion, which chooses death, not life. And indeed, never should our witness to God’s gift of life be silenced! Beyond that, however, are all the other choices we make in our struggles between God’s good and gracious will for all and the universal disability of sin that constantly attempts to lead us away from God and His call to life. Today, God’s Word gives us the assurance that because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has chosen to take our suffering and death into Himself by His cross, all who are baptized into His saving death are given the power of faith to love God and pursue His ways of life according to His good and gracious Law and Gospel. Blessed is the man whose “delight is in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:2).
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Hebrews 12:28-13:17
Service Summary: Christians do good works most of the time without even thinking about it. That’s because faith is an active, living, real thing. God’s Word for this day is all about how God-given faith shows itself in a Christian’s life—in one’s attitude, relationships, words, and deeds. Those without faith, like many of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, consider “good works” only as a way to influence or manipulate other people and even God. Such good works are never really good at all but are tainted with sin, selfishness, and pride. True faith, on the other hand, is not even our work alone at all, but the work of God the Holy Spirit who, through the Word of God and His Holy Sacraments, instills and inspires in the Christian the mind of Christ, the faithfulness and righteousness of Jesus. Such faith also endures the cross and all sufferings related to living in the world still disfigured by deadly sin. In faith God equips you with “everything good that you may do His will” (Hebrews 13:21). Offer up the sacrifice of praise to God in thanksgiving for His gift of redemption through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Revelation 22:1-20
Service Summary: We have come to the end of our “Tree of Life” series. We began with the account of creation in Genesis and today we finish with the last book of the Bible, Revelation. What does all this mean? Is this the end – the end of everything? What happens after we die? These are questions which have troubled mankind from the beginning. God gives John the gift of a vision of heaven to assure him and all believers that lies ahead. We have hope. “’Jesus is coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: John 20:1-18
Service Summary: After His death on the cross, Jesus was sealed in a tomb with a large stone. But He didn’t stay dead. In lesson nine, we talk about His empty tomb and what His resurrection means for our lives today and in the future. In Jesus’ death, death itself, which has stalked God’s creation since Adam and Eve’s fall, has been forever defanged.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Luke 23:26, 32-46
Service Summary: Today we follow Jesus from His entry into Jerusalem to the judgment hall of Pontius Pilate and to the tree of death, the cross, which He has made into our tree of life.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Matthew 9:14-26
Service Summary: Today we encounter Jesus as he is teaching and then heals Jairus’ daughter and an unnamed but faithful woman. Jesus did many miracles throughout His ministry on earth. Does God still do miracles today? What did His miracles mean back then?
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Luke 3:1-22
Service Summary: In our Gospel lesson today, John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, is doing the work he was called to do. He is proclaiming that Jesus is coming and that the people should prepare for that. How should we prepare? We repent, we turn from our sinful ways, and look to Jesus for our forgiveness and salvation.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Daniel 6:1-28
Service Summary: Today, we see Daniel, a powerful and noble Jew, falsely accused, sentenced to death, and sealed in a tomb with a large stone. We will examine how closely Daniel’s trials and judgment and “death and resurrection” matched those of Jesus Christ.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: 1 Samuel 17:40-51
Service Summary: Today, we look at the familiar story of the shepherd boy David fighting against the Philistine giant, Goliath. David’s seemingly impossible victory shines a new light on Good Friday and the seeming impossibility of Jesus defeating our greatest enemies, armed with nothing but a cross made of wood.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Exodus 12:1-13
Service Summary: Today, we see God deliver Abraham’s descendants from slavery in Egypt through ten plagues. The final plague, the death of the firstborn sons, and the salvation of God’s people through the Passover lamb teach us something very important about the death of God’s only-begotten Son, Jesus, who is our Passover Lamb.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Genesis 12:1-9 & Genesis 15:1-6
Service Summary: Today, we see God choose an aged couple, Abraham and Sarah, from whom He would raise up a new nation through a child of promise. We will watch God call on Abraham to offer his beloved son as an offering, through which He will teach us many important things about the coming sacrifice of His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Genesis 3:1-21
Service Summary: Today, we ask how God’s beautiful, perfect creation came to be the shattered, messy world we are living in today. We will see the tragic moment when everything fell apart—when humanity was barred from the tree of life and how God stepped forward with a plan, giving His very first promise to send His Son to restore His fallen creatures and the world in which we live.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Acts 2:14a, Acts 2:22-36, John 8:48–59, Proverbs 8:1–4, & Proverbs 8:22-31
Service Summary: Holy Trinity, a time we commemorate and celebrate, is different than any other recognized time in the Church Year. Unlike Christmas, Easter, or last week’s Pentecost, where we rejoice in and reflect upon an action of God for our salvation, Holy Trinity is a time to rejoice in and reflect upon a doctrine. We gather around our shared confession of God as we know Him to be in the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Even in the mystery of things we cannot fully understand or comprehend by our own reason, we trust God’s revelation through His Word made known to us of who He is and what He has done, that apart from Him there is no other.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Acts 1:12-26, John 17:20–26, & Revelation 21:1-20
Service Summary: All the Church does is based on our oneness with our Lord. In today’s Gospel, part of His High Priestly Prayer and the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus prays that we would be one, even as He and the Father are one. There is no other, for Jesus says He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). Our oneness will be evident, as He prays, when “the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). But the Gospel is not limited to the present Church, for our Lord prays “also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20). We pray that many join us as we rejoice with the psalmist: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Acts 1:12-26, Revelation 21:1-20, & John 17:20–26
Service Summary: All the Church does is based on our oneness with our Lord. In today’s Gospel, part of His High Priestly Prayer and the night in which He was betrayed, Jesus prays that we would be one, even as He and the Father are one. There is no other, for Jesus says He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). Our oneness will be evident, as He prays, when “the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). But the Gospel is not limited to the present Church, for our Lord prays “also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20). We pray that many join us as we rejoice with the psalmist: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Acts 1:1–11, Ephesians 1:15–23, & Luke 24:44–53
Service Summary: We gather in celebration of our ascended Savior, Jesus Christ, acknowledging that we are to be witnesses of the Gospel!
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Acts 16:9–15, Revelation 21:9–14, Revelation 21:21-27, & John 16:23–33
Service Summary: The disciples thought they knew what Jesus was saying, but it was before Easter, and they could not understand. They would, “in that day,” that is, after Jesus’ victory and the Spirit’s gift of faith. Now we with them know that He has overcome the world, all opposition, and even death itself. John’s vision in Revelation depicts a perfect Jerusalem, clear and beautiful, with the Lamb as its lamp. Anticipating such nearness of God, in this our day we can pray, asking for whatever we need, confident of our Father’s hearing. In the Reading from Acts, Paul has to tell everyone about his Easter joy, and the Lord opens Lydia’s heart. She is baptized and opens her home for Paul and Luke to use to tell others. With the clarity of our Spirit-given Easter joy, we know, pray, and tell!
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Acts 11:1–18, Revelation 21:1–7, & John 13:31–35
Service Summary: Now we know the end of the story. In John’s vision in the Epistle, heaven will be like an eternal wedding feast. All of us in the Church have been made presentable by Christ, the Bridegroom. Unlike the disciples, who in today’s Gospel still had to experience their Lord’s absence from Good Friday through Easter morning, we can be confident that no one can take our joy from us. Now we know that because He has paid the price on the cross, the Bridegroom will freely make all things new. In place of torrents of tears will be the spring of the water of life. When we receive His body and blood in the Sacrament, it is a foretaste of the feast to come, and we cannot wait to enjoy the rest of the eternal celebration!
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Acts 20:17–35, Revelation 7:9–17, & John 10:22–30
Service Summary: It is Good Shepherd Sunday, and the familiar twenty-third Psalm is echoed throughout our worship. Our Lord went through the valley of the shadow of death in our place, leading from death to eternal life. There is work to do before we get to eternity, for following our Shepherd entails confessing our faith even when death’s shadow falls on us. It means vigilance against wolves attacking amid Christ’s flock, as Paul warns in the First Reading. But in his vision, John tells us that Christ is now the victorious Lamb on His eternal throne. We can be confident that what we believe by faith we shall know by experience in the unending joy of the Father’s house.
Speaker: Rev. Mark Mueller
Scripture Focus: Acts 9:1–22, Revelation 5: 8–14, & John 21:1–19
Service Summary: In light of Christ’s eternal victory, we should expect change in our daily living. For example, although they were called to be fishers of men, in today’s Gospel, the disciples learned that they needed to listen to their Lord even when fishing for fish. Change for Peter would mean moving from regretting his past (where he denied his Lord) to feeding Christ’s flock. And for Saul (Paul), Christ’s eternal, living presence would mean changing from catching Christians to proclaiming Christ before Gentiles and kings. The heavenly host in the Reading from Revelation sing their eternal songs of praise to the Lamb on the throne. How might our risen Lord’s eternal victory over sin and evil change us so that we echo their praises already here in time?
Speaker: Rev. Greg Walton
Service Summary: The installation of Rev. Mark A. Mueller as Senior Pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church.
Speaker: Rev. Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Acts 5:12–20, Acts 5:21-32, Revelation 1:4–18, & John 20:19–31
Service Summary: Thomas had missed out. He wasn’t there with the other disciples when the risen Jesus appeared that first Easter night to show them His hands and side. Thomas was absent when Jesus breathed on them with His Spirit and sent them out to proclaim His forgiveness. It’s no wonder then that when Thomas heard about this encounter, he wanted to see Jesus for himself. “Unless I see, . . . I will never believe,” he said (John 20:25). One week after Christ’s resurrection, Thomas had his opportunity. He saw. He touched. He believed. He confessed: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Today is your opportunity—don’t miss out! Our risen Jesus is here with His Spirit and in His body and blood. We see. We touch. We believe. We confess. As we gather in His presence for worship today, may He fill us with great joy as we continue to celebrate His resurrection victory and confess Him as our Lord and God!
Speaker: Rev. Tom Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Isaiah 65:17–25, 1 Corinthians 15:19–26, & Luke 24:1–12
Service Summary: “He is risen!” shouts our true hope. “He is risen indeed!” reverberates our confident belief. The high point of our Christian life is celebrated this morning as we gather with all of God’s children to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. As today’s Gospel from Luke 24 will show us, confusion and fear give way to confident faith when the women who went to the tomb realize Jesus is alive and then share this good news with the other disciples. Through those disciples, this message has reached us also! Just as God had promised through His prophets of old, the Lord Himself will restore creation and bring harmony to all life—beginning with Jesus’ resurrection and continuing until the Last Day, when Jesus returns in glory, destroys death itself, and raises us up to new lives in His eternal kingdom. This victorious Savior is with us now—at the font, in His Word, at His Table—working to bring His new life into our lives as we trust in Him.
Speaker: Rev. Tom Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Job 19:23–27, 1 Corinthians 15:51–57, & John 20:1–18
Service Summary: We have gathered outside of the nave, following the ancient custom of the Church, which for two thousand years has gathered at the entrance of Christ’s tomb at Easter sunrise to celebrate His resurrection. When we join in our opening hymn, we will walk into the sanctuary, as Jesus’ followers walked to the tomb on the first Easter morning. As we gather, think about the despair and hopelessness that must have filled the hearts of Jesus’ followers. Take note of how the somber darkness erupts in joyous light as we enter our worship space to celebrate the victory that is ours. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 10:15-25, and Luke 22:7-20
Service Summary: One of the enduring legends from medieval times relates to the cup used by our Lord at the supper He shared with His disciples in the Upper Room on this evening. Known as the Holy Grail, the cup was said to have been passed into the safekeeping of Joseph of Arimathea, who kept it safely somewhere. Locating it has become a life-long quest for many people through the ages. Luke tells us simply what Jesus did at that meal: “Likewise [He took] the cup after they had eaten” (Luke 22:20). What eventually happened to that blessed cup, we do not know. But we do know that Jesus said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (Luke 22:20). By His grace, that pouring out continues among us this day as we receive His blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 32:36-39, Philippians 2:8b, & John 12:20-43
Service Summary: The words of the prophet Zechariah echo throughout this special day: “Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). On this day, we remember how Jesus Christ, the King of all creation, came down the Mount of Olives riding “a colt, the foal of a donkey.” We know the time and the place of that coming down the hill and traveling in procession across the valley and up to the city of Jerusalem. Jesus rode down a real mountain in a definite time in history and at a place still very much there today. All this was for a most certain purpose. On this day of celebration and of sorrow, we have reason to rejoice in the salvation our humble King brought for us to and through Jerusalem and to the cross on Calvary’s hill. The people there called out Hosanna!—which means “save us now!” And Jesus fulfilled their—and our—heart-felt request.
Speaker: Rev. Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Micah 6:7-8, Hebrews 6:9-12, & John 13:12-17
Service Summary: In this service, we see that we are called to serve in mercy the needs of those around us by Christ’s example.
Speaker: Rev. Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Philippians 3:8–14
Sermon Takeaway: We all have a race to run in our Christian lives, and each one of us will run it differently. But we need to remember the goal that we have, and that goal is heaven. Begin with the end in mind and press on toward the prize.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Genesis 45:1-15, Ephesians 4:25-32, & John 13:34-35
Service Summary: In this service, we come to understand that within the communities God has placed us, we are given the grace to treat one another as Christ has cared for us in his love and mercy.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Isaiah 12:1–6, 2 Corinthians 5:16–21, & Luke 15:1–3, 11b-32
Service Summary: No parable more fully describes the profound character of God’s mercy than the prodigal son and the waiting father. We are the rebels who begin to think we deserve our heavenly Father’s kindness and who demand from Him what is not our right to claim. But instead of disowning us, He meets us with joy, welcomes us with His forgiveness, restores our tattered righteousness with the robe of Christ’s holiness, and sets His Table before us. This is what happens every Sunday as the Lord reclaims us from our sins, restores joy to our heavy hearts, reminds us of His baptismal promise, and feeds our body and soul with the body and blood of His Son. This is the source of our holy joy and this is the peace that passes all understanding.
Speaker: Rev.Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Matthew 26:47-50
Service Summary: In this service, we ponder the truth that though we may turn away from our God again and again, our Lord continues to call us back into his merciful arms for Jesus’ sake.
Speaker: Rev. Thomas Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 33:7–20, 1 Corinthians 10:1–13, & Luke 13:1–9
Service Summary: How then shall we live? What a profound question for Christians to consider midway through Lent! The Lord has shown His mercy to us, forgiven our sins, and delivered us from death. Then what? What is the focus of our lives? The call of the Readings for this Sunday points us to the repentance that bears the good fruit of God’s kingdom. Like trees that have failed to produce good fruit, the Lord has tended us with His Word, with the warning of the Law and the promise of the Gospel. But if the tree remains unfruitful, the tree will have to be cut down. It is a hard word to hear, but God remains merciful, and most of all, He seeks that we bear the good fruits of faith and repentance in our daily lives.
Speaker: Rev. Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 26:8–15, Philippians 3:17-21, Philippians 4:1, & Luke 13:31–35
Service Summary: Throughout biblical history, God used prophets to call His people to repentance with the promise of mercy. God’s mercy should encourage us to return to Him, but too often, the people of God have refused His care. That is the story of Jeremiah, who was sent by the Lord to speak His Word, warn His people of disaster if they refused Him, and promise mercy to all who repent. It is also our story. The Law warns us of the failure to confess our sins and the Gospel promises forgiveness to all who confess and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, we pray the Lord to grant us hearts willing to hear His Word, confess our sins, believe in the forgiveness of Christ, and rejoice in this blessing all our days.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 6:4-6, 1 Corinthians 10:6-13, & Matthew 4:1-11
Service Summary: In this service for Week 1 of Lent in our In View of God’s Mercy series, we look at our lives through the lens of God’s love toward us in the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus. In this service, we recall that in the midst of temptation, our merciful God provides us with a way out through Christ, who was tempted just as we are, yet without sin.
Speaker: Rev. Thomas R. Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 26:1–11, Romans 10:8b–13, & Luke 4:1–13
Service Summary: The First Sunday in Lent begins with the temptation of Jesus. Alone in the wilderness, Jesus faces the temptations of the devil, who tries to use God’s own Word to entrap Jesus. The collect reminds us that we are also walking through the wilderness of this world, taunted and tempted by the devil, who still uses God’s Word to entrap us. Jesus does not simply show us how to resist but reveals that our strength lies in the same Word of God. In Christ, we stand strong against the wiles of the devil and, when and if we fall, we find refuge in Christ to be forgiven and restored.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Joel 2:12-18, 1 John 1:8-9, & Matthew 6:16-18.
Service Summary: In this service, we look at our lives through the lens of God’s love toward us in the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus. We also consider the ashes placed on our foreheads as a sign of our sins and remember that God lifts us from our ashes to new life in Christ.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 34:1–12, Hebrews 3:1–6, & Luke 9:28-36
Series: The Transfiguration of Our Lord
Service Summary: The reading from Deuteronomy extols Moses as the greatest prophet. He led God’s people toward the Promised Land, but the Epistle draws a contrast between him and our Lord. “Consider Jesus,” the Epistle encourages us today, not because He is a great servant with us in the “house,” or Church, the people of God, but because He is over it as the builder. When Jesus was baptized, the voice from heaven declared Him to be pleasing to His Father in heaven. The voice from the cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration adds a command not only to the three disciples, but to us as well: “Listen to Him!” From that mount to Mount Calvary, He, the Word Incarnate, tells us of God’s great love; He goes to the cross willingly so that we may graciously follow Him through death to our eternal promised land of heaven.
Speaker: Rev. Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Genesis 45:3–15, Ephesians 6:10-20, & Luke 6:27–38
Service Summary: “What shoes shall I wear today?” You may have asked yourself that question before heading to worship this morning. Most of us have many pairs of shoes from which to choose. But there is one kind of “shoes” each of us is to be wearing. As Paul counsels the Ephesians: “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:14–15). Choosing the right kind of shoes makes the day go better. Hearing the Gospel proclaimed throughout our worship and directing the days of our week in response to that Gospel makes our lives a blessing.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Jeremiah 17:5–8, 1 Corinthians 15:(1–11) 12–20, & Luke 6:17–26
Service Summary: During the middle weeks of the winter season, many homes receive catalogs in the mail from seed and nursery companies that are filled with pictures of beautiful plants and trees. It is easy to project what we see in those catalogs into our own yards and gardens. But before we do any ordering, we must consider whether we can provide settings in which those plants and trees can flourish. In both the Old Testament Reading and the Psalm of the Day, we are given images not only of plants and trees that flourish, but of people who flourish—people with faith in the Lord Jesus, who bring blessings in every season.
Speaker: Rev. Thomas R. Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Isaiah 6:1-8, Isaiah 6:9-13, 1 Corinthians 14:12b–20, & Luke 5:1-11
Service Summary: God calls us to be His holy people. Through the words of the prophet Isaiah and through his experience in God’s presence, the Lord reassures us that in love He forgives our sins and makes it possible for us to be holy in His sight. In the Hebrew language, to express what we would call a comparative word, you would say the “base word” twice—so “holier” would be expressed “holy, holy,” and that which is the holiest would be spoken of in the superlative as “holy, holy, holy.” And that is what our God is! Yet He knows us and cares for us individually. How amazing is that!
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 4:31–44
Service Summary: At the beginning of the Church Year, many sang the hymn “Love Came Down at Christmas.” Indeed, the Bible says, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16). It is only on Good Friday, however, that we discover the depth and power of God’s love in the cross of the Lord’s death. And so it was that ever since the beginning of His earthly ministry, after His Baptism, we are given clear hints about the true nature of God’s love. Initially people marveled at Jesus’ preaching and miraculous healings. Yet not only did the crowds quickly reject our Lord, but Satan also was actively opposing Him from the beginning. The love of God is the power of God to defeat Satan and free the world from the grip of sin and death. The standard of love is the cross of Christ. In today’s Epistle, Paul describes love in and through Christ. Substitute “Christ” for “love” and you get, “Christ is patient and kind; Christ does not envy or boast; . . . Christ rejoices with the truth.” This love of Christ is given to us and through us. “Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these” is the cross of Christ!
Speaker: Pastor Tom Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Luke 3:15–22
Message Summary: The “epiphany,” the showing forth or manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior of the world, began with the coming of the Magi from the East. This “epiphany” now continues as our Lord’s active earthly ministry begins at the hands of His predecessor John the Baptist and His Baptism in the Jordan River. As the Holy Spirit comes upon His human flesh and the voice from heaven declares Him to be the Son of God, so our Baptism gives us “the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). To be thus “born again” is nothing less than to have heaven opened to us with the power of God’s gifts of faith, hope, love, and the perseverance to live as God’s children now albeit as “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13), yet as “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 2:40-52
Service Summary: Have you tired of those Christmas gifts yet, or are you still enjoying them? God gave Solomon the gift of wisdom. God’s wisdom was a gift Solomon displayed vividly at times, but at other times, it seemed he had regifted it. In Jesus, we see the gift of God’s wisdom on full display when He is found in the temple, at age 12, asking questions and providing answers beyond His years. God continues to reveal His wisdom to us through the Bible. What is your plan for connecting with God and His wisdom this year?
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:12-17
Service Summary: Are you prepared for heaven? Admittedly, this is an odd question when we are celebrating Jesus’ birth. Yet, Jesus was born to die to save His people from their sins. As Simeon held the Christ Child, he couldn’t help but say, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word,” while also telling Mary, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed.” That opposition eventually brought about His death on a cross. Yet, Jesus was born to die and rise to life again so that all who believe in Him might live! That is the best Christmas gift ever.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: 1 John 4:7-16
Service Summary: God’s love was promised and fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Despite ongoing sin and sinfulness by His human creatures, God loved us so much that our Lord was born as one of us so that He could die for us. When He appeared on the scene of human history, it marked the start of His fulfilling the very promises He had made centuries before. But His love was not finished for us until He was born in our hearts. That took the gracious gift of faith by which we receive His great love and are enabled to share it with others. We now celebrate the start of Christ’s love at His birth in Bethlehem and His finishing it as He is born anew in our hearts in time and into eternity.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 1:39–56
Service Summary: Our world is filled with turmoil, strife, contention. Every time it seems that our nation or even our own lives are at peace, again something disrupts it. Peace is as elusive as a slippery eel. Today's readings will point us to the truth that the peace we seek cannot come from the powers of the world, nor can it come from anything in our own hearts or our spiritual potential. Real peace comes from what seems like the least promising place: a little town, through the young Virgin. Peace comes from Bethlehem, from where God comes to us. From God’s Word. From the Bread of Life in Holy Communion. Real peace comes to us, often beyond our understanding, through the babe of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, through whom God made peace with us by a cross.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 1:39-45
Message Summary: Too often we get caught up in what is going to happen next or on what is to come. Be in the moment this Advent season. Don’t let another good opportunity to rejoice pass you by. Enjoy the family you have! Have fun with what you have going on right now! Rejoice and be glad in his salvation, right now!
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 7:18–35
Service Summary: Some Advent wreaths have a pink candle for this Third Sunday in Advent. The festive, joyful pink candle reflects today’s Readings, which begin to anticipate the unbridled joy that Jesus’ birth brings. We do many joyful things during Advent. We sing Christmas carols, bake cookies, decorate our homes inside and out, and travel far and wide to visit those we love. Yet all these joyful things point to an even greater joy—the joy that comes by the Creator of the universe, the Lord almighty, who loves you, forgives you in Jesus, and cares about you beyond human measure! “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Psalm 130:5-6
Message Summary: The gifts we get from Jesus last forever! So when we say that we hope in Jesus, we aren’t just saying that Jesus might give us forgiveness if we are good enough. We are saying the Jesus WILL give us forgiveness, because he is good enough! Our HOPE is always in Jesus!
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Malachi 3:1–7b
Sermon Focus: What if in this Advent season, we consider Advent to be about stewardship? The possibilities of blessing others through the stewardship of the Gospel are endless. With this in mind, let us go and be those messengers, preparing the way of the Lord. There is a whole world out there that needs what we have—the blessing and stewardship of God.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Genesis 17:1-9, Matthew 1:1-25
Message Summary: We put our faith in Jesus, because he never leaves us. He is always with us. He doesn’t go away. He always keeps his promises. The most important promise he kept was to save us. He saved us by coming to earth as a baby, living a sinless life, dying on the cross and rising to life again to give us new life in heaven with him! We are all now part of the family of God because of Jesus, and we always will be. YAY, JESUS!
Speaker: Pastor Tom Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Luke 17:11–19
Service Summary:Thanksgiving can be a time when families come together to celebrate and give thanks to God for all that He has given us. These times of celebration can also be times of tension, stress, and conflict due to challenges in the relationships. Thanksgiving can also be a time of loss as we grieve those who are no longer with us. In all these things, we gather to give thanks to the God who has created all people and who desires all people to be saved through the knowledge of the saving truth about His Son, Jesus.
Speaker: Pastor Tom Zehnder
Scripture Focus: Mark 13:24–37
Service Summary: The Last Sunday of the Church Year is here as we prepare to celebrate the return of Christ our King. When will it be? How will we know so that we are ready? There are the signs in nature, the sight of the Son of Man, and the angels. For these things, we keep an eye on the sky while we watch and wait, living our lives under God’s grace as His righteousness draws near.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 13:1-13
Service Summary: Like the disciples of old, we look around us and presume that our accomplishments will endure. But even now, they are falling, brick upon brick. There is no repairing a world that must be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth. The urgent need is not to predict when these things will happen, but to endure when they do come. The world is in labor until God delivers His eternal kingdom, but you are not of the world. You belong to the Lord. Through your witness, the elect of many nations will be called by the Spirit through the preaching of the Word. The world will reject you, but you belong to God. He who endures in this faith to the end will be saved.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Matthew 5:1–12
Service Theme: All Saints' Day
Service Summary: How blessed you are! Yes, you! Right here, right now, the Lord Jesus is ready to speak His blessings over you. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Jesus promises to satisfy you as you lay your sins at His feet and receive the blessing of His forgiveness this day. But not only are you blessed right here and now, you are forever blessed! “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). One day, Jesus will wonderfully bless you and all His saints by welcoming you into His presence forever. God grant you the heart to receive and share all the blessings He so freely gives.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 8:31-36
Service Summary: Reformation Sunday is not just a special day to celebrate our history by remembering the story of Martin Luther; it is a perfect opportunity to rejoice in the freedom we have been given from sin and death through Jesus Christ alone. By gathering to receive His Word and to share in His Supper, we come to know yet again the eternal Gospel that is being proclaimed to all who dwell on earth. This good news not only sets us free from our captivity to sin and death, but it also enables us to live a life of freedom in Christ and boldly share with others how they, too, may be set free. The same Savior who speaks His Word to us says to all who will listen: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 10:46–52
Service Summary: In the first stanza of the hymn “Amazing Grace” we confess, “I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see!” (LSB 744). When we say we were lost, we may think of the parable of the prodigal son. We mean that apart from God, like the rest of the world, we do not truly know our real spiritual need. Likewise, the blindness we confess is our condition apart from the enlightenment of God’s word and deliverance. Blind Bartimaeus in today’s Gospel, by the enlightenment of God’s Word, believed that Jesus as the “son of David” is the divine agent, the Son of God come to save. He had heard through Isaiah the prophet that one of the first things the Messiah will do would be to open blind eyes (Isaiah 35:5). With this blind man, we come today with the heartfelt prayer “have mercy on me” and discover more. Our eyes are enlightened to see God’s mercy as we join this man and Jesus’ disciples following Him in the way, on the road to Jerusalem. There we discover the mercy and gracious reign and rule of God in the mighty suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord of life.
Speaker: Pastor Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Mark 10:23–31
Summary:Pastor Brindle reminds us that in the end, the sting of death has been removed because of Jesus Christ. This is the good news of the Gospel. In Him we have hope. In Him we have life. He alone is the resurrection and the life, and that is what makes all things possible.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 10:17–22
Service Summary: One of the best ways to commit passages of Scripture to memory is by learning to sing them. “Seek Ye First” (LSB 712) supplies a trio of passages taken from Matthew. The first of the three is a section of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus counsels His hearers, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). The kingdom of God truly is found by those whom the Lord has sought and claimed as His own. By God’s grace in Jesus, those “found people” include us. With hymn writer Henry Baker, who beautifully paraphrased Psalm 23, we can sing, “Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, But yet in love He sought me” (LSB 709:3). Happiness is being found!
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Hebrews 2:1-13, 14-18
Service Summary: The pages of Scripture counsel us regarding things that are not to be neglected. Proverbs says plainly: “Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it” (Proverbs 8:33). Paul writes to young Timothy: “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you” (1 Timothy 4:14). But the book of the Bible with the most reminders about what is not to be neglected is Hebrews. Here we are directed: do not neglect to do good (Hebrews 13:16), do not neglect to show hospitality (13:2), do not neglect to meet together (10:25), and do not neglect our great salvation (2:3). We do well to take that divine guidance to heart.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 9:38–50
Service Time: 18th Sunday After Pentecost
Service Summary: In biblical times, salt was treasured almost as much as gold. Among its many uses was preserving food and other perishables. In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls us salt, by which He reveals how much God values us. Sometimes people outside the Church also see our worth and offer their support. It is nothing new! Moses valued two men who received the Spirit even though they were missing from gathering with the seventy elders. Jesus valued a man healing in His name, though he was not one of the Twelve. We are worth our salt, our relationship to Christ, so much that a person receiving us receives Christ. And within the Church, our saltiness supports, prays for, cheers up, confesses, and forgives our fellow members. We are worth so much that God does not want anything to cause us to stumble. “Have salt in yourselves,” He says, “and be at peace with one another.”
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: James 3:13–4:10
Service Summary: There is a war going on. It is quite evident in the outward conflicts within society. And, as Jeremiah and David realized, the world has warred against people of faith throughout history. But in today’s Epistle, James reveals that the struggle continues within each of us. Our passions are often opposed to God. Our Lord Jesus, by His death and resurrection, has won the victory—and therefore, peace—over outward and inward warfare. His grace assures us of daily and eternal peace.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: James 3:1–12
Service Summary: Our tongues might be small but, like the rudder of a ship, the tongue is vitally important to us for staying on the right course. If the rudder is broken, the ship is adrift. If the tongue is filled with evil, so will the rest of our lives. But the tongue also boasts of great things, speaking God’s good word of forgiveness and life. Remember that Jesus has restored all things, including our tongues to no longer speak evil, but to speak His Word.
Speaker: Pastor Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:23-24
Message Summary: Pastor Brindle reminds us that we are to do our work willingly as servants of Christ.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 3:16-21
Service Summary: Today is the day we have been talking about and looking forward to: Rally Day! Yes, we will worship together in one service. We will eat together and have some fun after the service. But today is much more than that. Today is a day we return and recommit ourselves to God, as we reclaim our roots in Christ. Today is a day to return to Ascension, where we gather in fellowship in God’s Word in Scripture and Holy Communion. Today is a day we reclaim our passion for the Lord as reclaimed children of God. Today is a day we reignite our hearts and out of gratitude for what the Lord has done for us, we go forth together, joyfully working as servants of God in the mission field. As we return to our roots in Christ, as we reclaim our identities as Christians, we undergo restoration. As we strive towards restoration, we do so filled with the Holy Spirit, who helps us to boldly go forth and proclaim the good news of salvation to a world that so desperately needs it.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 7:1-13
Service Summary: What is your favorite family tradition? Perhaps it is an annual celebration such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Perhaps it is a more common tradition—an old family recipe or a favorite game. Traditions are passed down from generation to generation. They are often wonderful and meaningful. But sometimes we pass down traditions that are not good for us or the world. The Israelites had passed down traditions related to divorce and giving that were not what God had intended. Jesus rightly criticizes such traditions. Today we consider the most trustworthy tradition that we continually pass from generation to generation: Jesus.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 6:51-69
Service Focus: Today we consider why we follow Jesus. In the Gospel, we see many people stop following Jesus because His words offend them. When Jesus asks the disciples if they want to stop following Him as well, Peter answers, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Not only does Jesus have the words of eternal life, but He also gives us the food of eternal life—His body and blood. As we gather for worship, we gather around God’s Word and God’s Meal—the Lord’s Supper.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 6:35-51
Service Focus & Summary: Most food we make, purchase, and use has a shelf life. Some longer, some shorter, but at some point, we know goods expire. This is especially true with bread. When not used in a timely manner, bread dries out, hardens, and even molds. How different is the bread Jesus teaches of, the bread that is Himself. Continuing in John 6, He teaches the people what He came to provide, which is Himself from heaven. In our worship, in our reception of His Means of Grace, in our prayers and praise, and in our daily lives, let us rejoice in the Bread that lasts for our needs of faith and forgiveness, that we, too, may continually “taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8).
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 6:22-35
Sermon & Service Focus: Bread, in one form or another, is a diet staple in most every culture. Though today we can be overwhelmed at the grocery store with countless types and styles, even in its simplest form, bread continues to sustain stomachs in a variety of ways. Bread, or the simplest form of manna, is what the Lord would use to sustain His people in the wilderness, and the image of bread is what He would use to help people understand the greater gift He came to give in His own Son. Yet, more than sustaining a diet for this body and life, Jesus, the bread of life, has come to serve us salvation, sustain our souls, and feed us with His forgiveness.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 6:45–56
Description: The hymn insists, “God Himself is present” and “God is in His temple” (LSB 907). This hymn reminds us of the prophet Isaiah’s amazing vision of God in the temple when he heard the eternal song of the angels, “Holy, holy, holy,” causing the prophet to cringe, bow, and kneel at the awesome and fearful presence of God. Today, we bring ourselves with our own fears and hear how Jesus’ disciples witnessed their Lord’s real presence amid their strains and pains in a boat struggling against the wind. So today for you God is present with healing, forgiveness, and life not in the imagination but in the objective truth of His inspired Word, by your Baptism, and in the taste and touch of His body and blood given and shed for you. You cannot get any more real than that. “Let us now adore Him And with awe appear before Him.”
Speaker: Pastor Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Mark 6:30–44
Service: A Righteous Shepherd-King (8th Sunday After Pentecost)
Speaker: Pastor Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Ephesians 1:3-14
Description: Sometimes Satan uses appearances to deceive us, but the Epistle reminds us that God had predestined us to be with Him forever—even before He began creation! Although others might not recognize it, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 2:1-5
Description: When Israel was in exile, God called Ezekiel to speak for Him to tell the truth to Israel. The Lord made no promises about results, but at least the people would recognize that a prophet had been among them. After His hometown did not believe His Messiahship, Jesus still sent out the Twelve to the surrounding towns. Not only did He instruct them about what to do or say, He also prepared them for rejection and how to respond to it. Now it is our turn, as we are called to tell others the truth about sin and grace. But we might think we are not up to the task. Here, Paul is our model, for he was well aware of his limitations, including his thorn in the flesh. Rather than keep silent, he spoke and wrote, confident that God’s power was made perfect in weakness. Our worship today is a reminder that above all else, the truth reveals God’s great love for us in Christ.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 5:21-43
Description: Are you rich or poor? Some people answer that question by checking their finances and others by considering how popular they are. Christ was rich in the glories of heaven but became a poor and despised human being. He did so that we by His poverty might become rich, joining Him in eternity. Indeed, both Jairus’s fervent prayer and an unnamed woman’s desperate touching of Jesus’ robe were both answered by our Savior. We have the ear of almighty God! We are rich indeed!
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 4:35-41
Description: In the Gospel lesson, Jesus commands the wind and the sea to become calm, which understandably stuns the disciples. “Who is this?” they wonder. The other readings from Job and 2nd Corinthians reaffirm that we know that Jesus is one person of the Holy Trinity. The Creator puts creature Job in his place. We also ought to remember with whom we are dealing when we request or complain. Paul encourages his readers, then and now, to put their circumstances into the context of the whole Church. Our situations do not define us! Sure of God’s care and emboldened by the strength He provides, we are called to live out our faith confidently. We know who this is: He is Jesus, our Savior.
Speaker: Pastor Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: Mark 4:26-34
Description: Though much is made of the smallness of the mustard seed, the focus of Jesus is on outcome—the plant that becomes large enough to give nest and shade to all the birds of the air. The kingdom of God seems small and even irrelevant in the face of large problems, challenges, and problems of this mortal life, and yet it is the kingdom of God that is great. God gives to us the forgiveness that makes a clear conscience, the life that is stronger than death, and the joy that is greater than every joy this world can deliver. In this way, the small seed makes for a great plant, large enough for us to find refuge and a home in its shade. How the kingdom of God grows may seem part of the mystery, but we know that it is a seed planted in the good soil and fed and nourished by God’s grace to the day when the harvest delivers us into His presence forevermore.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 3:20-35
Description: “Whoever does the will of God, He is My brother and sister and mother,” said Jesus. What is the will of the God? That all people would come to the knowledge of the truth in Christ and be saved by His mercy. Faith is the will of God and family is the fruit of this faith—a people united in Christ’s death and resurrection by Baptism. A house divided cannot stand. We know this to be true in an earthly sense, but it is an eternal truth. We belong to the Lord, not just in part but in whole. God was even willing to own our sins to restore us from Satan and his dominion. What keeps us from this wonderful identity and this future is only this: our refusal of God’s mercy and our rejection of His work to save us. The goal of God in all that He is doing is faith, for by this faith we are made one with Him and are united together as His family, the Church.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: 1 John 4:18-19
Description: If we abide in God, we also abide in His love. This love, given to us through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, will never let us go. Our heavenly Father will not leave us or forsake us, no matter what hardships come our way. Because this is true, we should abide, or remain, in this love, sharing it with others.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 37:1–14
Description: The outpouring of the Holy Spirit reaches to all who belong to Christ, granting a renewed and eternal life. In his Letter to Titus, Paul writes of the salvation of God our Savior and the renewal of the Holy Spirit that is for all God’s people. Assuring us that we are God’s children, the Spirit enables us to address God as our Father with all boldness and confidence—as Martin Luther affirms in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer. When we are directed by the Spirit, our daily lives are ordered in such a way that we continually walk in a heavenly direction. The Spirit shapes our lives of prayer and of worship, interceding for us—and with us—as we worship in spirit and truth.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 17:11b–19
Description: A classic hymn begins “In the hour of trial, Jesus, plead for me.” The words remind us that we can come to Jesus asking for prayer because indeed our Lord is always praying for us. John encourages us by telling us that “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). We can be confident that our prayers by which we bring our concerns to our Lord become part of His praying. We can come to Him with assurance that He prays for our protection and our unity at all times.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Acts 1:1–11
Description: “I’ll see you soon!” So says the parent, spouse, or friend leaving for an errand or a short trip, with certainty that time together will soon be had again. “I’ll see you soon!” so says Jesus as He departs and ascends into heaven. And though it has not been hours or days or even weeks, rather nearly two thousand years later, we still hold to the certainty of His promise that we shall see Him again soon at His time. Until that day, though, we are wise to not stay looking up into the sky, as the disciples began to do long ago. Rather, we heed His mission to make disciples and keep ourselves prepared for that day. Even as we long to see Him soon, we know that Jesus is enough for us every day, and we take comfort in the fact that our ascended Lord Jesus remains present with us now, in this life, even amid troubles and trials. We hold on to His promises by the faith given, and we anticipate that joyful day when He will come again in the same way He was taken up into heaven.
Speaker: Pastor Murray Brindle
Scripture Focus: John 15:9-17
Description: A sermon honoring and speaking to the faithful women we call mothers.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 15:1-8
Description: One agricultural crop that is becoming better known in our days is the grape. Grapevines are everywhere in America, from New York and Virginia on the East Coast to California and Washington on the West Coast. Driving by a vineyard and seeing row after row of flourishing vines is a visually pleasant experience. Jesus speaks to the disciples and us that He is the true vine and we are the branches. He says that God looks for us to be fruit-bearing as we are grafted into our life-giving Lord. Through our worship together, we are nourished in fruitfulness by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Acts 4:1-12
Description: We can’t avoid conflict. As Christians, we’re ever going to be in a world of conflict, taking God’s Word into the world. Because of this, we must be bold and courageous for Christ, both as individuals and as Ascension Lutheran Church.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Acts 3:11-21
Description: As we confess our sins through repentance, we are focused anew on the life saving mission of our Shepherd, empowered once again to see the world differently and to bring the healing power of Christ to the lame, the lowly, and the oppressed.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 20:19–31
Sermon Reflection: We tend to look for things to make faith easier. Signs, wonders, or just little hints here and there would help. But the disciples had all these things and heard Jesus promise His resurrection, and still they gathered behind the locked doors of their fears. What we do have is Christ, His Word that bestows and sustains our faith, and His Holy Sacrament wherein He feeds us with His body and blood. Though we have not seen with our eyes, we see with faith and join with doubting Thomas to confess, “My Lord and my God!”
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Mark 16:1-8
Description: Though Christmas may be our favorite, Paul reminds us that Easter is of “first importance.” If Christ had not arisen, our hope would be still locked in the tomb. Because He is risen, just as He said, we have hope of our own resurrection from the dead and look forward to the life everlasting, which death cannot touch. We come here today not simply to remember an event but to rejoice in the future made possible for us because of what happened. Before the world we confess that Jesus’ resurrection is not a hope but a fact witnessed by more than five hundred and on that fact God has built a future for us—one we anticipate now even as we wait to see it fulfilled.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: John 13:1-35
Description: In this service for Maundy Thursday, we remember that the wounds of false testimony we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross. Maundy Thursday reminds us that though we have been brought low by sin, our Lord will bless us with new life in him through the cross.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Philippians 2:6-7
Description: In this service for Palm Sunday, we remember that the wounds of coveting power we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross. Palm Sunday reminds us that though we have been brought low by sin, our Lord will bless us with new life in him through the cross.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: Luke 20:25
Description: In this service, we remember that the wounds of stealing and dishonesty we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross. Our Lenten observance reminds us that though we have been brought low by sin, our Lord will bless us with new life in him through the cross.
Speaker: Rev. Thomas R. Zehnder
Scripture Reference: Jeremiah 31:31–34
Description: The Israelites repeatedly had broken the covenants God made with them, and yet in today’s Old Testament Reading He promises a new covenant. This one, however, will not be based on the external Law of God; by pure grace, it will be written on the hearts of God’s people. To do that, God sent His Son, who paid for all sin by offering Himself as both priest and sacrifice. Although we are all imperfect, knowing that we have been forgiven only by the grace of God, we have the desire to love one another. As we recall our Lord’s Passion in the coming weeks, we will recognize that love means forgiving, giving oneself for others. Jesus puts it bluntly in the Gospel: The greatest in the kingdom of God is the one who serves all the others. And, of course, the greatest is our Lord Jesus, who loves us to death.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Reference: Matthew 5:27-30
Description: In this service, we remember that the wounds of adultery and unfaithfulness we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross. Our Lenten observance reminds us that though we have been brought low by sin, our Lord will bless us with new life in him through the cross.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Reference: Numbers 21:4–9
Description: Look out! There were snakes biting the Israelites, sent by God as punishment for complaining about the manna, that miraculous food He gave on the way to the Promised Land. But look up! See the bronze serpent Moses put on a pole. Everyone who looked up at the serpent will live. The serpent was a type of Christ, a parallel symbol in the Bible. We, too, have snakes—our discontent with God’s daily blessings and lack of faith in His promises. But as we look up in faith to Jesus, the Christ on the cross, we shall be saved. That faith is a gift of God in His grace. Jesus is the center of the gracious Good News. We are God’s workmanship, and now He holds the door open as we walk through, looking up to Jesus.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Service Focus: We remember that the wounds of murder and violence we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross.
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Scripture Focus: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Description: The Church has what the world doesn’t want: God’s Law, which always accuses us sinners, and His Gospel, which allows for no boasting on our part. To this day, Jewish leaders teach that God will not demand what we cannot achieve. What a stumbling block, preaching a Messiah who becomes a sacrifice for our failings, both in our actions and our very nature. The polytheistic society of Paul’s day and the secular one of ours both find the Law an encumbrance, preferring to judge by their own standards (or lack of them). What folly, our society believes, to preach a God who chooses people whom everyone knows to be weak. Today is a day for foolish preaching: Christ crucified, the power and wisdom of God.
We remember that the wounds of dishonoring authority we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross.
Our Lord’s whole purpose in becoming one of us in human history was to die for us. As a result, He purposely marched toward Jerusalem and the certain death on the cross He knew would come. For Him, the Scriptures were not forecasts of what might happen but God’s immutable will for Him. He had to suffer and die so that we could be saved. And the eternal life He thereby won for us gives us purpose in daily living. We can willingly deny ourselves in service to others; we can take up our cross, knowing that our life with Him will never end.
In this service for Week 1 of Lent, we remember that the wounds of violating the Sabbath we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross. Our Lenten observance reminds us that though we have been brought low by sin, our Lord will bless us with new life in him through the cross.
As we go through life, striving to live out our calling as God’s people, we will hit obstacles and face tests to our faith and to how we live that faith. God can work through these tests to draw us closer to Him. On the other hand, Satan wants to lure and entice us away from the path God would have us walk.
As we reflect on this Ash Wednesday message, we remember that the wounds of blasphemy we committed against our Lord were laid on Christ on the cross. Ash Wednesday reminds us that though we have been brought low by sin, our Lord will bless us with new life in him through the cross.
Pastor Paul Wiegert preaches on the transfiguration of Jesus with a scripture focus from Mark 9:2-9.
Pastor Paul delivers our Sunday morning message with a scripture focus from 1 Corinthians 9:16-27.
When someone calls you on your phone, do you always answer? In our present day with caller identification, many are apt to let the call go to voicemail to wait and see what the message is and who it’s from and at times wait to respond depending on the level of importance. How about when God calls? Especially, if that call is one to repentance? Do you answer? We hear in today’s Readings of the response of some. Jonah was a reluctant follower. He went to Nineveh begrudgingly, but through him God would issue a call for the Ninevites to repentance. Jesus would call Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him, and promised that through them, God would issue a call of repentance to many. In Baptism, God has called us to follow Him in a life of faith and repentance, and He promises that through us, others will also be called to that same repentance and new life.
Pastor Paul Wiegert speaks on how Jesus came to "shatter the silence" with a scripture focus from John 1:43–51.
Pastor Paul Wiegert delivers a message with a scripture focus from Matthew 2:1-12 as we celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Prepare Ye: Family Advent Worship Series
Scripture Focus: Luke 1:41-44
Speaker: Pastor Raleigh Sims
Series: Prepare Ye - Family Advent Worship
Scripture Focus: Luke 1:13-17
Preacher: Pastor Paul Wiegert
Worship Team: Nathan Hatton, Fletcher Wilson, Nadia Schult, Blanche Marie Lewis, Mark Lewis, and Linda Wiegert
Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 3:15-22