Liturgical Seasons – Augsburg Lutheran Church: Recent Episodes
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Welcome to worship through our recorded service.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Resurrection of Our Lord
GOSPEL Mark 16:1-8
Rev. Paul Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Palm Sunday
PROCESSIONAL GOSPEL Mark 11:1-11
GOSPEL John 12:12-16
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fifth Sunday in Lent
GOSPEL John 12:20-33
Rev. Paul Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Joe through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fourth Sunday in Lent
GOSPEL John 3:14-21
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Vicar Norem through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Third Sunday in Lent
GOSPEL John 2:13-22
Vicar Hannah Norem
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Rev Paul Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Second Sunday in Lent
Gospel: Mark 8:31-38
Rev. Paul Wollner, Senior Pastor
Wednesdays:
Weekly Lenten Dinner + Worship
Join us this week for Lenten worship! A light meal is served starting at 5:30 PM in the Family Life Center, followed by a brief evening worship service.
This year, we will be offering a service of Holden Evening Prayer. Short but contemplative, Holden Evening Prayer was originally written during the winter of 1986 while the composer Marty Haugen was at Holden Village in the North Cascade mountains of Washington.
For the little ones, the nursery will be open but not staffed. See you this Wednesday!
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Rev Paul Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: First Sunday in Lent
GOSPEL Mark 1:9-15
Rev. Paul Wollner, Senior Pastor
elcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Rev Joe Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Transfiguration of Our Lord
GOSPEL Mark 9:2-9
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Rev Emily Norris through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
GOSPEL Mark 1:21-28
Rev. Emily Norris, Pastor at The Dwelling
The prophet Jeremiah speaks of the incurable wound of his suffering yet finds in God’s words the delight of his heart. When Peter doesn’t grasp Jesus’ words about suffering, Jesus tells the disciples they will find their lives in losing them. Such sacrificial love is described by Paul when he urges us to associate with the lowly and not repay evil with evil. In worship we gather as a community that we might offer ourselves for the sake of our suffering world.
In Isaiah the people are advised to look to their spiritual ancestors as the rock from which they were hewn. Jesus declares that the church will be built on the rock of Peter’s bold confession of faith. God’s word of reconciliation and God’s mercy are keys to the church’s mission. Paul urges us to not be conformed to this world but to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, using our individual gifts to build up the body of Christ. From the table we go forth to offer our spiritual worship through word and deed.
In Isaiah we hear that God’s house shall be a house of prayer for all people and that God will gather the outcasts of Israel. The Canaanite woman in today’s gospel is a Gentile, an outsider, who is unflinching in her request that Jesus heal her daughter. As Jesus commends her bold faith, how might our church extend its mission to those on the margins of society? In our gathering around word and meal we receive strength to be signs of comfort, healing, and justice for those in need.
Elijah finds the presence of God not in earthquake, wind, or fire, but in the sound of sheer silence. When the disciples face a great storm on the sea, they cry out with fear. Jesus says: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Amid the storms of life, we gather to seek the calm presence of Christ that soothes our fears. In comforting words of scripture and in the refreshing bread and cup of the eucharist, God grants us peace and sends us forth to be a sign of God’s presence to others.
In today’s first reading God invites all who are hungry or thirsty to receive food and drink without cost. Jesus feeds the hungry multitude and reveals the abundance of God. At the eucharistic table we remember all who are hungry or poor in our world today. As we share the bread of life, we are sent forth to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry.
As Solomon prays for wisdom, we seek to more deeply know the treasures of faith. In today’s gospel Jesus offers everyday images that reveal to us the reign of God: a tree that becomes a sheltering home, yeast that penetrates and expands, a treasured pearl, a net that gains a great catch. Even as we seek the riches of God’s reign, the great surprise is that God’s grace finds us first!
It is an age-old question: why is there evil in the world? In the parable of the wheat and the weeds Jesus suggests that both grow together until the harvest. With Paul, we long for the day that all creation will be set free from bondage and suffering. Having both weeds and wheat within us, we humbly place our hope in the promises of God, and from the Lord’s table we go forth to bear the fruit of justice and mercy.
God’s word is like the rain that waters the earth and brings forth vegetation. It is also like the sower who scatters seed indiscriminately. Our lives are like seeds sown in the earth. Even from what appears to be little, dormant, or dead, God promises a harvest. At the Lord’s table we are fed with the bread of life, that we may bear fruit in the world.
The mystery of God’s ways is sometimes hidden from the wise and intelligent. Jesus associates with those often excluded from the religious community. Like Paul, we struggle with our own selfish desires and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. We gather to be refreshed by Christ’s invitation: “Come to me, all you that are weary.” Gathered around word, water, and meal, we find rest for our souls.
The welcome of baptism is for all God’s children. This baptismal gift sets us free from the power of sin and death. In today’s gospel, Christ promises that the disciple who gives a cup of cold water to the little ones serves Christ himself. From worship we are sent on our baptismal mission: to serve the little ones of this world and to be a sign of God’s merciful welcome.
God does not promise that the path of the disciple will be easy. Jeremiah feels the pain of rejection from those who do not want to hear what he has to say. Jesus declares that his words may bring stark division. Even so, we need not be afraid for God accounts for each hair on our heads. Though we may experience rejection, frustration, division, and death, God’s grace and love make us a new creation each day. Marked with the cross and filled with holy food, we are sent from worship to witness to Christ in the world.
Moses tells the Israelites that they are called to be a priestly kingdom and a holy people. Jesus sends out the disciples as laborers into the harvest. In baptism we too are anointed for ministry, sharing God’s compassion with our needy world. From the Lord’s table we go forth to proclaim the good news, to heal the sick, and to share our bread with the hungry.
Though Jesus was a devout Jew who practiced his faith, he was criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners—the religiously nonobservant. Jesus criticizes the self-righteous and reminds us that mercy is to be at the heart of our religious practices. God continues to be made known in those on the margins of society, like Matthew the tax collector and the hemorrhaging woman. As we gather each Lord’s day we receive the healing that makes us well and sends us forth to be signs of God’s mercy for the world.
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: The Holy Trinity
Or, listen to the sermon for The Holy Trinity through this audio link:Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:
Download the service bulletin: Day of Pentecost
Or, listen to the sermon for the Day of Pentecost through this audio link:
Gospel: John 20:19-23
Rev.Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Seventh Sunday of Easter
Or, listen to the sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter through this audio link:Gospel: John 17:1-11
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Mary Claire Bevis through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Sixth Sunday of Easter
Or, listen to the sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter through this audio link:Gospel: John 14:15-21
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fifth Sunday of Easter
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter through this audio link:Gospel: John 14:1-14
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fourth Sunday of Easter
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter through this audio link
First Reading: Actor 2:42-47
John 10:1-10
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Third Sunday of Easter
Or, listen to the sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter through this audio link:Luke 24:13-35
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Second Sunday of Easter
Or, listen to the sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter through this audio link:Year A, John 20:19-31
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Easter Sunday
Or, listen to the sermon for the Easter Sunday through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 28:1-10
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Palm Sunday
Or, listen to the sermon for the Palm Sunday through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 21:1-11, 26:1-25
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fifth Sunday in Lent
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent through this audio link:Year A, John 11:17-45
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fourth Sunday in Lent
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent through this audio link:
Year A, John 9:1-6, 35-41
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Third Sunday in Lent
Or, listen to the sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent through this audio link:Year A, John 4:5-42
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Second Sunday in Lent
Or, listen to the sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent through this audio link:Year A, John 3:1-17
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: First Sunday in Lent
Or, listen to the sermon for the First Sunday in Lent through this audio link:
Year A, Matthew 4:1-11
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Transfiguration of Our Lord
Or, listen to the sermon for Transfiguration of Our Lord through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 17:1-9
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Hannah Norem through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Or, listen to the sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 5:33-48
Hannah Norem
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Paul through the links below.
Watch the Recorded Service:Download the service bulletin: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 5:13-20
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Paul through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 5:1-12
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Intern Michael Schultz through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Third Sunday after Epiphany
Or, listen to the sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 4:12-23
Michael Schulte, pastoral intern at the dwelling
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Wollner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Second Sunday after Epiphany
Or, listen to the sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany through this audio link:Year A, John 1:29-42
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Dr. Katherine Shaner through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Baptism of Our Lord
Or, listen to the sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord through this audio link:
Year A, Matthew 3:13-17
Rev. Dr. Katharine Shaner
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Joe through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 1:18-25
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Paul through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Third Sunday of Advent
Or, listen to the sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 11:2-11
Rev. Paul A. Wollner, Senior Pastor
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Joe through the links below.
Watch the recorded service:Download the service bulletin: Second Sunday of Advent
Or, listen to the sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent through this audio link:Year A, Matthew 3:1-12
Rev. Joe Yucha, Associate Pastor
The new church year begins with a wake-up call: Christ is coming soon! In today’s readings both Paul and Jesus challenge us to wake from sleep, for we know neither the day nor hour of the Lord’s coming. Isaiah proclaims the day when God will gather all people on the holy mountain and there will be no more war or suffering. Though we vigilantly watch for the promised day of salvation, we wait for what we already have: Christ comes among us this day as the word and meal that strengthens our faith in the promises of God.
Jeremiah’s promise of the execution of “justice and righteousness in the land” finds ironic fulfillment in the execution of Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. It appears utterly contradictory that a king should be crucified with a criminal. This victory appears for all the world as humiliating defeat. Yet through the gate of death Jesus opens the door to paradise.
The end is near. There is no doubt about it. The warnings are dire. The tone of today’s texts is ominous. But the baptized know how to live in the meantime. The baptized are strengthened for the living of these days in word and sacrament. The baptized rally around the invitation of the apostle: “Do not be weary in doing what is right.”
In holy baptism God makes saints out of sinners. In holy communion God forgives the sins of all the saints. In worship today we give thanks for all the saints “who from their labors rest.” In the same breath we petition our God for the strength to hear and to heed the admonitions of Jesus in today’s gospel. Sealed by the Spirit and sustained by the Savior’s body and blood, we live with joy as God gives us breath, to the praise of God’s glory.
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Rev. Joe Yucha through the links below. Watch the recorded service: Download the service bulletin: Reformation Sunday Or, listen to the sermon for the Reformation Sunday through this audio link: Year C, Luke 19:1-10
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Genuine repentance and pretentious piety stand in stark contrast in the gospel and all around us. All creation stands in need of God’s forgiveness. Keep the faith. God’s people shall be accounted righteous for Jesus’ sake. Our God is merciful to sinners. For this we worship and glorify God forever.
Pray always. Do not lose heart. This is Christ’s encouragement in the gospel today. Wrestle with the word. Remember your baptism again and again. Come regularly to Christ’s table. Persistence in our every encounter with the divine will be blessed.
It’s a miracle! Multiple miracles! The waters of holy baptism have healed us. The body and blood of Jesus in holy communion have made us clean. We have died with Christ and been raised with him. For all this we have returned to offer thanks. From this place we are sent on our way rejoicing to share the good news.
A little faith goes a long way is Jesus’ point in the gospel. A mustard seed’s-worth of faith has miraculous potential. The patience, tenacity, and endurance required for the life of faith are the blessings received in holy baptism, holy communion, and the word read and proclaimed in this assembly. Anticipate them. Receive them with thanksgiving.
Welcome to worship through our recorded service. Watch the video of the complete service or listen to the sermon delivered by Pastor Yucha through the links below. Watch the recorded service: Download the service bulletin: Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Or, listen to the sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost through this audio link: Year
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As we are invited today to consider what it means to be managers (rather than owners) of all that we have, it is crucial to recognize that we are bought with a price. “Christ Jesus, himself human, . . . gave himself a ransom for all.” Apart from the generosity of God we have nothing—we are nothing. By God’s gracious favor we have everything we need.
The grumbling of the religious leaders in today’s gospel is actually our holy hope: This Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. That our God seeks and saves the lost is not only a holy hope, it is our only hope. As the writer of 1 Timothy reminds us, “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Thanks be to God.
Called to contemplate the cost of discipleship, we might be helped by translating Paul’s request to Philemon into our prayer of the day: Refresh my heart in Christ. Strengthened by the company and forgiveness of Christ in holy communion and recalling God’s grace in remembrance of baptism, we can be strengthened in this hour to “choose life”—to choose life in God as our own.
Invited and inviting—that is the nature of the church. By God’s grace in holy baptism we have a place at Christ’s banquet table. When, by the power of that same Spirit, humility and mutual love continue among us, the church can be more inviting still.
Remember the sabbath day. Call the sabbath a delight. This is the Lord’s day, and the Lord will do for us what the Lord does: feed us, forgive us, help and heal us. Rejoice at all the wonderful things God is doing.
The word of God is a refining fire. Jesus is the great divide in human history. He invites our undivided attention and devotion. Today in worship we are surrounded by a great “cloud of witnesses.” In the word and in holy communion we are invited yet again to look to Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
Jesus says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It is God’s promise from the beginning—to Abraham, to the early church, and to the “little flock” of which we are a part in today’s assembly. Faith, God’s baptismal gift, trusts the promises of God. Have no fear.
Today’s texts offer instruction and encouragement for all who are occasionally overwhelmed by the “unhappy business” of life. Jesus urges us to take care and be on guard against all kinds of greed. We who have died with Christ in holy baptism have also been raised with him and are encouraged to elevate our thinking, seeking the “things that are above.” To that end we seek the sustenance of the Lord’s supper and the encouragement of God’s word.
Persistence in prayer is encouraged by Jesus and wins the attention of God when Abraham intercedes for Sodom. The life of the baptized—to be rooted and built up in Christ Jesus—is to be nurtured with prayer. God hears and answers prayer and so strengthens God’s own. “When I called, you answered me; you increased my strength within me.”
Perhaps the church, at its best, is “all ears.” God urges the faithful, again and again, to “listen up!”—to heed the word that gives life. So it was with Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Martha, and the early church at Colossae. So it is today as we join the assembly to hear the word of God, the word of life.
To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind is to reflect God’s mercy in responding to one’s neighbor. That mercy found its most profound expression in the “gospel that has come to you”—namely the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That gospel mercy comes to us again today: at the font, at the table, and from the pulpit. It is very near to you.
God is the source of our nourishment. Jesus’ invitation to “take and eat . . . take and drink” is a repeated one. In holy communion, in the word read and proclaimed, in the assembly of the people of God, the dominion of God has come near. Rejoice! Your name is written in heaven.
“O LORD our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Today we celebrate the holy Trinity. Paul writes that through Jesus we have peace with God, whose love pours into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, giving us lasting hope. We celebrate the gracious One-in-Three, eternal Three-in-One, as we worship in community; as we share water and word, bread and wine; and as we bring God’s love and hope to our neighbors.