may 28th, 2023: the day of pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-05-28_The_Day_of_Pentecost_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Pentecost proves for God’s people that Jesus remains at work in our midst. As we read the story of Pentecost in Acts 2, we see that the ascension departure of Jesus some ten days beforehand is not the end of His work in this world. Far from it! Jesus continues His saving work through the Spirit, whom He poured out upon the lives of His earliest followers. This same Spirit of Jesus enables us to carry His message into all the world. We are the messengers who spread the Good News of Him who was crucified for us, who rose again, who reigns on high, and who will one day return to this world in His full, heavenly glory. We listen to His message today as the Spirit brings it into our midst and are assured that as we are brought to faith in Christ, we receive the fullness of who we’ve been called to be.

may 21st, 2023: the ascension of our lord (observed)

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-05-21_The_Ascension_of_Our_Lord_Observed_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Ascension Day is an opportunity for God’s people to celebrate Christ the King taking His throne in glory, honor, and authority at God the Father’s right hand. Like the ancient believers, who clapped their hands and shouted praises to God at the coronation of their king, we rejoice in the victory King Jesus earned for us, His people, by means of His death and resurrection. Our praises keep rolling from our Easter celebration some forty days ago, all the way to today and even beyond, as we witness Jesus now seated in glory and majesty. Shout your praises to God! The same King who is exalted over all things in heaven and on earth is the King who stoops to serve us as we gather to worship Him!

may 14th, 2023: sixth sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-05-14_Sixth_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

We live in a world where we increasingly hear strange ideas. The people we work, play, and live near increasingly consider the truths that our God created this world and redeemed us to be strange. Jesus, Peter, and Paul lived in a world that had some striking similarities to our own. As we live out our Baptism, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to love Jesus and keep His commands. We are urged to always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). As we do so, it is easy to fall into the angry, divisive, argumentative patterns that we hear in the political realm. Yet, we are called to share our hope with gentleness and respect, so that we keep a clear conscience and suffer for doing good rather than evil.

May 7th, 2023: Fifth sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-05-07_Fifth_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The risen Lord Jesus alone is “the way, and the truth, and the life,” and we come “to the Father” only through Him (John 14:6). God is thus “glorified in the Son,” and those who believe in Him will do the works of Christ because He goes to the Father for us (John 14:12–14). Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5) and “doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8), did the works of Christ. When he was falsely accused and put to death, he “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). Fixing his hope there, he commended his spirit to the Lord Jesus and prayed for his murderers. In the same way, all the baptized are called to follow the example of Christ Jesus by faith. Though He was “rejected by men” in the sight of God, He is “chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4). He is the chief cornerstone of the Father’s “spiritual house,” and we are built upon Him as “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5).

april 30th, 2023: fourth sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-30_Fourth_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Although we “were straying like sheep,” the Lord Jesus Christ has willingly suffered and died for us, bearing our sins “in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24–25). We are healed by His wounds (1 Peter 2:24), and in His resurrection He gathers us to Himself as our Good Shepherd, by whose righteousness we “have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Now through other shepherds whom He calls and sends in His name, He guards and keeps us in the green pastures of His Church, leading us beside the quiet waters of our Baptism and spreading the feast of His table before us. Since He has called us by the Gospel to be His own dear sheep, we also “hear his voice” and “know his voice” (John 10:3–4) in the faithful preaching of His Gospel, and we follow Him by faith. When we receive His Gospel, we have the abundant life and common unity of the entire flock under one Good Shepherd, in “the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship” and in “the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

April 23rd, 2023: third sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-23_Third_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

From “before the foundation of the world” until heaven and earth pass away, “the word of the Lord remains forever” (1 Peter 1:20, 25). This “living and abiding word of God” is the preaching of Christ Jesus, namely that God “raised him from the dead and gave him glory” (1 Peter 1:21, 23). By this living word, we “have been born again” to eternal life (1 Peter 1:23) and ransomed from our sinful and mortal life “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19). This living word also calls us to repentance, to dying and rising in Holy Baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). In this, we receive the Holy Spirit “for you and for your children and for all who are far off” (Acts 2:39). Through the preaching of His cross and resurrection, Jesus draws near to bring us “into his glory” (Luke 24:26). As He opens the Scriptures, He opens our minds to comprehend “the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27), and He brings us to know Him “in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35).

April 15th, 2023: Funeral Service - Eric E. Johnson

Eric E. Johnson

June 6, 1955 – March 12, 2023


View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-15_Memorial_-_Eric_Johnson_-_Default.pdf


Eric E. Johnson, 67, passed away at home on Sunday, March 12, 2023. Eric was born in Elmhurst, IL on June 06, 1955, to the late Alex C. and Helen F. (née, Redker) Johnson. On April 11, 1987, Eric married the former Deborah L. Gall, celebrating 35 years of marriage. He worked at Parsons Corporation in Chicago for 32 years. Eric was a devout Christian and enjoyed Bible study. He was recently a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Glenview, but he also gave dedicated service to several other churches in the area throughout his life, including St. Peter, Schaumburg; Tabor Lutheran Church, Albany Park; and St. Paul, Canfield, where he was an elder. He was a Boy Scout, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout in 1969. He was the first in his troop at St. Peter to do so, and one of the youngest to attain the honor at the time. Eric also loved to watch old Westerns and read science fiction and comics. He was a devoted husband and father and a good friend to all who knew him. Survivors include his wife; his children, Rachel (Azael) Salgado, Nathan Johnson, and Hannah (Brian) Dunn; and grandchildren, Caylee Boblett and Connor Dunn. Eric is also survived by his niece, his nephew, other relatives, and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Angela Johnson; and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Harry E. and Carolyn L. Gall.

april 16th, 2023: second sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-16_Second_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

We gather today still in the glow of the most joyous and amazing celebration of Easter, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, from the dead. The sights and sounds of that celebration linger in our memory, not as just a past event finished and forgotten, but as Peter calls it today, “a living hope,” as enduring and strong as the certainty of our living Lord and the promised future of our own resurrection. We return to continue the Easter celebration because in the afterglow of the days since Easter Sunday, many still do not know that hope. Like the absent apostle Thomas, we still face what seems to be a hopeless world. Today we remember that our only hope is built on a divine Savior whose crucifixion wounds were endured for us and for all. Indeed, we are to learn that every Sunday throughout the entire year is an Easter celebration as our living Lord draws us into His holy, life-giving wounds through His very same body and blood given us in Holy Communion. Thomas saw and believed. Peter rejoiced. Though we do not now see Him, “you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8), the only sure and living hope.

April 9th, 2023: the resurrection of our lord

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-09_The_Resurrection_of_Our_Lord_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

From catastrophic death emerges the mighty salvation of God. Israel witnesses the destruction of its Egyptian adversaries and in revelry sings, “the LORD has triumphed gloriously.” We are heirs of the promise – a Resurrection people mysteriously wrapped up tightly in the forgiveness of Jesus. We have died and been raised in Christ! Through Word and Sacrament, we are entwined with Jesus and all the promises of God, continually receiving His miracles, grieving Christ’s death, and proclaiming Jesus’ Resurrection. Jesus the Christ welcomes sinners, calms all fears, and compels us to consider the question, “How Can I Help Others Experience Christ?” that others may know Him.

april 7th, 2023: Good Friday

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-07_Good_Friday_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Since the altar is stripped and the paraments are gone, the wood of many altars, lecterns, and pulpits are fully exposed. Wood reminds you what took place on the tree of the cross, where your Lord once died. Jesus’ cross brings peace, forgiveness, and salvation. By it, the lives of Christians are rescued, sweetened, and lightened. We reflect upon these familiar words of “The Old Rugged Cross” penned by American composer George Bennard in 1912:

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

The emblem of suffering and shame;

And I love that old cross where the dearest and best

For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,

Till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross

And exchange it some day for a crown.

april 6th, 2023: Holy (MAundy) Thursday

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-06_Holy_Maundy_Thursday_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

On this night when our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed into the hands of sinful men, we receive the blessings of forgiveness and new life as we partake of the Lord’s Supper. Looking ahead to the death of Jesus on Calvary’s cross, we remember with the apostle John that both water and blood flowed from Jesus’ side as He was pierced by the spear of a Roman soldier (see John 19:34). The flowing water reminds us of the mystery of our Baptism, as God the Father cleanses us of our sin and makes us His children. The flowing blood reminds us of the deep love of the Savior, who allowed Himself to die a horrific death so that we may experience a glorious resurrection, and it points to the Sacrament of our Lord’s body and blood. May the blessings of Jesus flow into our lives as we gather to worship Him.

april 2nd, 2023: Palm sunday

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-04-02_Palm_Sunday_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

march 26th, 2023: fifth sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-03-26.Fifth_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The illness and death of Lazarus happened “that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus prompted His arrest and crucifixion, whereby He would die “for the nation” and gather “into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:51–52). As He called Lazarus from the tomb and commanded others to “unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:44), Jesus also calls us and releases us from the bondage of sin and death. We would not “submit to God’s law,” nor could we “please God” (Rom. 8:7–8), but “he condemned sin” in His own flesh so “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:3–4). Now through the Gospel, “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells” in us (Rom. 8:11). His Word breathes His Spirit into our mortal flesh, animating us with His own life. 

march 19th, 2023: fourth sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-03-19.Fourth_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

When someone calls you on your phone, do you always answer?  How about when God calls?  Especially, if that call is one to repentance?  Do you answer?  The Lord is grieved by the spiritual blindness of His people, yet in mercy He does not forsake them.  He restrains His anger and keeps His peace, until He opens their ears and eyes to hear and see Him.  Jonah was a reluctant follower.  He went to Nineveh begrudgingly, but through him God would issue a call for the Ninevites to repentance.  Jesus turns “the darkness before them into light” (Is. 42:16) because He is “the light of the world” (John 9:5).  The incarnate Son of God does the works of His Father and displays the divine glory in His own flesh “while it is day,” until that night “when no one can work” (John 9:4).  By the washing of water with His Word, He opens the eyes of the blind and grants rest to the weary.  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.

march 12th, 2023: third sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-03-12.Third_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Faith is Abraham’s legacy – nothing more! He believed God’s credibility in fulfilling the incredible. How could an aged, childless father boast of countless heirs? And… once he had a child at an advanced age, how could God ask him the sacrifice his own son? It is counted to him as righteousness by FAITH. Many ask today how a condemned world could be redeemed – by the death of a Son? All these things are grasped, believed, and confessed by God’s gift of faith – nothing more!

march 5th, 2023: second sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-03-05.Second_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The pages of the Bible are filled with some very human people. In today's Readings for the second Sunday in Lent, we encounter several. In today’s Old Testament Reading, we hear of Noah, who followed the guidance of God faithfully through The Flood but didn't handle himself well afterwards.  Nicodemus, to whom Jesus explained the Gospel in great detail, kept his association with the Lord a secret. Even at the time of the burial of Jesus after the crucifixion, Nicodemus labors with Joseph of Arimathea “secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). It is well that we are reminded as we confess in the Nicene Creed that “for us men and for our salvation” our Lord “was made man.” As imperfect and very human people, we are assured by the Spirit that we are loved by God, who knows us as we are, and that we truly are “precious in the sight of the Lord” in life and in death (Psalm 116:15).

february 26th, 2023: first sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-02-26.First_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

X marks the spot” is a reminder that a cross, whether on a treasure map or on a police investigation site outline, has a special meaning. It indicates what is at the center and is of greatest importance. In the Small Catechism, Dr. Martin Luther directs Christian people to make the sign of the cross to begin their day, as he writes, “In the morning when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross” (LSB, p. 327). He commends the same sacred action at the close of the day, writing, “In the evening when you go to bed, make the sign of the holy cross” (LSB, p. 327). The purpose of making the sign of the cross, whether at home or in conjunction with our worship, is to indicate that all our lives are marked by the redeeming action of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for us and for our salvation. It is a most blessed sign!

february 22nd, 2023: Ash Wednesday

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-02-22.Ash_Wednesday_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Lent begins with ashes. The wearing of ashes on our forehead may seem like an unusual tradition, but it is rich with meaning. From the earliest days, God’s children have repented before Him in sackcloth and ashes, a visual reflection of their hearts turning to Him for forgiveness and restoration. Fixing our eyes on Jesus during the forty-day season of Lent, we journey with Him to Calvary’s cross where, enduring the “ashes” of our sins and the penalty they deserve, He grants to us the beauty of His forgiveness, full and free. Let us be renewed in our hearts and minds this day as we gather in the Lord’s house. His Word will show us our great need for His saving love and deliver to us the treasures He has promised.

february 19th, 2023: the transfiguration of our lord

View/Download bulletin: 2023-02-19.The_Transfiguration_of_Our_Lord_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

In one sense, the Transfiguration of Our Lord provides a sort of climax to the first part of the story of Jesus in the liturgical year. In the glorious vision, Moses and Elijah appear as if to prove that everything written in the Bible in the Law and the Prophets has come true in the advent and appearance of Jesus, “true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary” (explanation of the Second Article). Yet this climactic event is not yet the true and complete climax of the story, but a transition now into the season of Lent and the road to the true climax: the cross of Good Friday, the resurrection of Easter, His ascension into heaven, and the sending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. There is so much more to tell. This brief glimpse of glory and Peter’s eyewitness account is to give us the strength and encouragement now to bring the story to completion in us, that we become witnesses in possession of the glorious hope of eternal life through the forgiveness of our sins.

FEbruary 12th, 2023: sixth sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-02-12.Sixth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The God who reveals Himself in His incarnate Son promises life and blessing to all who obey His commandments “by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules” (Deut. 30:16). However, we are “people of the flesh” and “infants in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1), among whom “there is jealousy and strife” (1 Cor. 3:3). Jesus must instruct us against the human ways of anger, adultery, divorce and false witness (Matt. 5:21–37), because all who live in these ways “shall surely perish” (Deut. 30:18). On the cross, He died to forgive our sins and free us from the ways of curse and death. Since Jesus Christ is our “life and length of days” (Deut. 30:20), we can be reconciled to our brother, live in chastity and marital faithfulness, and speak with honesty. He who serves from His cross also offers His gift of reconciliation at His altar, and we can be at peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are “God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9).

february 5th, 2023: fifth sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-02-05.Fifth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Epiphany season continues to illuminate the miracle of Christmas shining its light forward to the goal and purpose of Christ’s coming to us in the flesh. That purpose is the salvation of the world through the forgiveness of our sins. That forgiveness can and will happen only through the sacrifice on Christ’s cross. As often as we Christians have heard this Gospel and believe it, however, the more often we tend to forget that this knowledge, this faith, remains a hidden mystery to the world, which ignores, rejects, or explains away “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Many really don’t get it! Yet, here through the Divine Word and Sacraments, God the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, enlightens minds and hearts to a spiritual epiphany.

january 29th, 2023: Fourth sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-01-29.Fourth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord tells His people, “I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery” (Micah 6:4). By the sacrifice of His beloved Son, He has redeemed us from our slavery of sin and death; He has forgiven our transgressions by the shedding of His blood. His great mercy and salvation lead us “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly” with our God (Micah 6:8). We boast only in the incarnate and crucified Lord Jesus. He is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). He is our life and salvation, our “wisdom” and “righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). Now He opens His mouth and teaches us His wisdom. By His cross and Passion, the kingdom of heaven is ours. We receive mercy and are satisfied; we see God and are called sons of God in Christ. “Blessed are you,” therefore, “when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely” on account of Christ (Matt. 5:11).

january 22nd, 2023: Third sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-01-22.Third_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

When Jesus appeared on the scene of human history, His coming was like the light of a new day. Isaiah had prophesied a day would come filled with joy as at the harvest or when victors divide spoils. But daylight also reveals problems covered by darkness, like the divisions at the Church in Corinth, as Paul writes. Jesus’ light not only reveals, but it also forgives, heals, and enlivens. People brought the sick and demon-possessed to our Lord, and the first four disciples jumped at the opportunity to follow Him. What ills shall we bring to worship today for resolution? Sins requiring forgiveness, gloom needing joy, divisions seeking reconciliation? Jesus came into human history to die and rise for us; today He comes through Word and Sacrament in grace and mercy to meet our deepest needs. Let us rejoice in the light of God’s forgiveness, mercy, and love.

january 15th, 2023: second sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-01-15.Second_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“The Lord, the Redeemer of Israel,” calls forth “his Holy One” (Is. 49:7), Jesus, the Christ, “from the womb” of His mother (Is. 49:1). The incarnate Son of God is revealed as the Savior, not only for Israel but also “as a light for the nations,” whose salvation reaches “to the end of the earth” (Is. 49:6). John came “baptizing with water” (John 1:31) to reveal Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and who glorifies His God and Father by His atoning sacrifice upon the cross. When Jesus was baptized in the waters of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended “from heaven like a dove” and “remained on him” (John 1:32). By our Baptism, we are anointed by the same Spirit, adopted by God the Father, and “called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:9). Therefore, we “are not lacking in any gift,” but we can trust Him who promises to sustain us to the end, “guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7–8).

january 8th, 2023: the epiphany of our lord

View/Download Bulletin: 2023-01-08.The_Epiphany_of_Our_Lord_Observed_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Feast of the Epiphany centers in the visit of the Magi from the East. In that respect, it is a “Thirteenth Day” of Christmas, and yet it also marks the beginning of a new liturgical season. Where Christmas has focused on the incarnation of our Lord, that is, on God becoming flesh, the Season of Epiphany emphasizes the manifestation or self-revelation of God in that same flesh of Christ. For the Lord Himself has entered our darkness and rises upon us with the brightness of His true light (Is. 60:1–2). He does so chiefly by His Word of the Gospel, which He causes to be preached within His Church on earth, not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles (Eph. 3:8–10). As the Magi were guided by the promises of Holy Scripture to find and worship the Christ Child with His mother in the house (Matt. 2:5–11), so does He call disciples from all nations by the preaching of His Word to find and worship Him within His Church (Is. 60:3–6). 

January 1st, 2023: Circumcision and Name of Jesus

View/Download bulletin: 2023-01-01.Circumcision_and_Name_of_Jesus_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

A new year begins! Yet, often so little changes. For most, a new year means little difference regarding life, vocation, house, and home. Outside of annually changing one number on our calendar, much of life remains the same, including the daily battles we face against Satan, sin, and our own flesh. With that, we rejoice today not just in the year’s changing, but a daily changing we recognize every day as we live in this world through the blameless One born for us. Christ was under and has fulfilled God’s Law perfectly for us, even as an infant child brought to a rabbi for circumcision under Mosaic Law. It would mark both the promise of redemption and the burden of the Law—and with Jesus marking the sacrifice that would set us free. Try as we might with new year’s resolutions to become better people, we still find ourselves falling short of God’s moral law that remains today. Rejoice in the newness that has come! More than a new year, we are given a new life, for Christ has fulfilled all and set us free! As we are marked in Baptism and bear Christ’s name, we become inheritors of His promise. It is a newness to celebrate each day of every year!

December 25th, 2022: the nativity of our lord christmas day

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-12-25.The_Nativity_of_Our_Lord_--_Christmas_Day_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Who is the Son of God?  The Promised One was not the son of Adam and certainly not Cain. Years later, the promise came to Abraham. But it was not yet the son of Abraham and certainly not Ishmael. Still the promise held to the great king David. But it was not yet the son of David and certainly not Absalom. Nevertheless, the promise was fulfilled through the house and lineage of David in the Son of Mary of Nazareth, the Son of God. To confirm this truth, both the evangelists Matthew and Luke give the genealogy—Matthew tracing the promise forward from Abraham, and Luke backward all the way to Adam. John describes the mystery of the Savior as a true human, born of the virgin Mary, and as true God, begotten of God the Father. This gift was promised at the very beginning of our need for a Savior from sin and from the last enemy, death, and He comes as the offspring of the woman. Let us celebrate the gift in His eternal life-giving flesh and blood with the awe and reverence of the new, eternal life of faith as true children of God.

December 24th, 2022: The nativity of our lord christmas eve

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-12-24.The_Nativity_of_Our_Lord_Christmas_Eve_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Heaven and earth rejoice on this night because the glory of the Holy Trinity is manifested in the human birth of “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), through whom the Father’s grace and mercy permeate the world. Death’s silence is nullified by this “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). And all we who have gone astray like lost and wandering sheep, who have “walked in darkness” of doubt, fear and sinful unbelief, behold “a great light” in the nativity of Jesus Christ (Is. 9:2). In Him, “the grace of God has appeared” (Titus 2:11). For this child of Mary who is born for us, this dear Son of God who is given to us, bears the burden of our sin and death in His own body on the cross. By initiating and fulfilling His earthly journey from nativity to crucifixion, Christ establishes a government of peace, “with justice and with righteousness,” which shall have no end. This is not by any work of man, but “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Is. 9:7).

december 18th, 2022: fourth sunday in advent

View/Download bulletin: 2022-12-18.Fourth_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

With the blessed Virgin Mary, we await the coming of the Christ, her Son, conceived in her womb by the Word and Spirit of God. This fulfillment of the sign once given to the house of David, that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son” (Is. 7:14), is now given to us in the Gospel. It declares that salvation is by His grace alone, entirely His work and a free gift. It also is the way and means by which the Lord our God is Immanuel, “God with us.” The almighty and eternal Son of God is conceived and born of Mary, and is thus “descended from David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3–4). He comes in this way to save us with His own flesh and blood; wherefore, He is called “Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). As Joseph received this sign in faith and immediately “did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Matt. 1:24), we also live by faith in this Holy Gospel.

December 11th, 2022: Third Sunday in advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-12-11.Third_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Who is the son of David? Just like Adam and Eve and Abram and Sarai, so also David received a promise from God. The Lord’s promise for King David was that his house and kingdom would be established forever. But this promise seems to be in jeopardy when David’s son Absalom rebels against his own father. In the end, however, this disobedient prince dies, hanging from a tree. Yes, God would indeed establish David’s reign, but it would be through Jesus, the greater Son, who is obedient to the will of His Father in heaven. This Prince of Peace dies by hanging nailed to the tree of the cross so we can be restored as sons and daughters of the King of kings.

december 4th, 2022: Second sunday in advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-12-04.Second_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Who is the son of Abraham? Like Adam and Eve before them, Abram and Sarai also received a promise from the Lord concerning their descendants. God pledged that Abram’s offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. But as this childless couple grew older, their patience with God’s promise grew thinner. Having decided to take matters into their own hands, Abram has a son by Hagar, a servant who was not his wife. Yet, in His grace and mercy, God still fulfills the promise of another son, Isaac, born to impatient Abram and Sarai. Through him, in God’s perfect timing, the Lord would finally send the true Son of Abraham, Jesus Christ, into the world.

november 27th, 2022: first sunday in advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-11-27.First_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Who is the son of Adam? When Adam and Eve held their firstborn son, Cain, in their arms for the first time, perhaps they wondered, “Who is this son?” After all, following their sin, the Lord God promised salvation from Eve’s offspring (Genesis 3:15). Could this baby boy be that Savior from sin and death? Not yet. Instead, Cain becomes the first murderer and spills the blood of his brother, Abel. Thankfully, a greater Son of Adam would fulfill the promise of a Savior. This Son would be held in the arms of another couple—Mary and Joseph. This Son would allow His very own blood to be shed for the salvation of Adam, Eve, and all their descendants.

November 24th, 2022: Day of thanksgiving

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-11-24.Day_of_Thanksgiving_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Day of Thanksgiving provides us a special time to pause, reflect, and give thanks to God for His countless blessings in our lives. From our early years, we have likely been told: “Count your blessings!” Can you do that today? As you think about the ways the Lord has blessed you in both body and soul, can you ever count them all? No way! God’s blessings are way too numerous! Nevertheless, as we name our blessings and number them, we pause at each one to say, “Thank You, Lord!” Even when we go through difficult and trying times—and perhaps especially when we go through difficult and trying times—it is vitally important for us to learn from the Word of God and, echoing what is recorded in its sacred pages, respond to the Lord in gratitude and worship. 

november 20th, 2022: Last sunday of the church year

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-11-20.Last_Sunday_of_the_Church_Year_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:19–20). On the cross, Jesus died for the sins of the world. On the cross, Jesus comforted one of the criminals crucified with Him. On the cross, Jesus interceded even for those who crucified Him. On the cross, Jesus makes peace by His blood.

November 13th, 2022: Twenty-third sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-11-13.Twenty-third_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

There are signs of the Lord’s coming all around: the cross that marks His Church, the violence and death of the sinful world, and the shaking of the natural order. “There will be great distress upon the earth” (Luke 21:23), but the faithful know that “the kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21:31). Therefore, “straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). Be awake and alert, and heed the words of Christ, which “will not pass away” (Luke 21:33). For you, “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2). He sends His preachers of repentance in the spirit and power of Elijah “before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes” (Mal. 4:5), in order to “direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thess. 3:5). Although you are often faithless, “the Lord is faithful,” and by the preaching of His Word “he will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thess. 3:3). Therefore, “do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thess. 3:13). In the midst of calamity, believe upon the Lord, Jesus Christ. 

November 6th, 2022: All Saints' Day

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-11-06.All_Saints_Day_Observed_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“A great multitude … from all tribes and peoples and languages” cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Rev. 7:9–10). Faith-filled saints from every place and time with unified voices eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we, too, “shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Joined with the throng of angels and countless saints, we shall “serve him day and night in his temple” (Rev. 7:15). In our earthly tension vacillating between saint and sinner, faith and doubt, sacred and profane, we earnestly seek Jesus to calm our fears, comfort our spirits and forgive our sins. The Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ, propels us forward, fortifying us in Word and Sacrament, to our eternal home. In the midst of our constant struggle as believers, we need to be blessed. And so we are. The poor in spirit, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure and the persecuted are all blessed, and we will most certainly inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:1–12).

october 30th, 2022: Reformation day

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-10-30.Reformation_Day_Observed_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The true Wisdom of God, Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, justifies us by His deeds. He prepares His way by the preaching of repentance, but He has suffered the violence of the Law and voluntarily handed Himself over to violent men, that we might eat and drink with Him in His kingdom and “remain in the house forever” (John 8:35). For He has rescued us by His grace from the slavery of sin and death. By the proclamation of His eternal Gospel “to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people” (Rev. 14:6), “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (Rom. 3:21), “that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). And by hearing the Gospel of Christ Jesus, “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:25), “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

October 23rd, 2022: Twentieth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-10-23.Twentieth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

In Humble Repentance, Faith Lives by Grace and Mercy and Is Exalted by God in Christ

Jesus tells a parable “to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Luke 18:9). In this parable, the Pharisee unjustly boasted before God on the basis of his own merits, whereas the tax collector intently prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). That poor, miserable sinner trusted Christ, and he went “down to his house justified, rather than the other” (Luke 18:14). So do little children, “even infants,” come to Jesus with their need, and they “receive the kingdom of God” through faith (Luke 18:15–17). For “the one who humbles himself will be exalted,” but “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” (Luke 18:14). That is why “the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard” (Gen. 4:4–5). St. Paul’s life, “poured out as a drink offering,” was another sacrifice like Abel’s (2 Tim. 4:6). The Lord stood by Paul and strengthened him, that “the message might be fully proclaimed” (2 Tim. 4:17). It is by that Gospel message of Christ that we “have loved his appearing” and as repentant sinners pray to “the Lord, the righteous judge” by faith (2 Tim. 6:8).

october 16th, 2022: nineteenth suday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin:2022-10-16.Nineteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


 

AS WE GATHER

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 the Divine Service, we do that with our brothers and sisters in Christ, moving from individual concerns to those of the Body of Christ, the Church. Here, we take the time to listen as God accuses and then excuses us by grace for Jesus’ sake.  He strives with us and blesses us by grace. So Jesus teaches us “always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).

october 12th, 2022: Funeral service - John Gehring

John Gehring

September 9th, 1959 - October 7th, 2022


View/ Download Bulletin: 2022-10-12.Funeral_For_John_Gehring_-_Default_2_.pdf


John L. Gehring, 63, of Northbrook, passed away suddenly October 7, 2022. He was the beloved husband of Debbie Gehring nee Picciolo; loving father of Amber (Paul) Nowacki and Lana Gehring; proud grandfather of Brooke and Bryce; dear son of Lorraine and the late Irving Gehring; dear brother of Blanche Gehring and Mark (Donna) Gehring; fond uncle of Adam (Jen), Emily (Jamie), Nick (Amber), Pam (Troy), Brandon, Jenna (Greg) and Krystle.


John was always full of energy – working on cars, dirt biking, water skiing and flying radio-controlled airplanes. Later in his life he built a log cabin completely from scratch using whole trees from his land. He never liked to sit still and would always be doing something. At the age of 31 he started his own plumbing business, JL Plumbing, after working years in the Chicago school system. So many of his clients became family to John and Debbie.


The resort in Post Lake, Wisconsin was a large part of his life. He met his wife of 40 years there when he was 14 years old and she was 12. Every year he looked forward to being in Wisconsin so he could be in the woods, plant trees, work on the log cabin and smell the fresh air. John taught both of his daughters how to be self-efficient and mechanically inclined. He started teaching these skills and values to his beloved grandchildren as well.


John left a lasting impression on everyone he met through his energy, unwavering drive and genuine ‘good guy’ personality. He would always help others before himself and without knowing it, he was a mentor to so many.


John is already greatly missed and lives on through the memories and lessons he taught everyone around him.

october 9th, 2022: eighteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-10-09.Eighteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

What was so different in one leper’s life in today’s Gospel? All ten hoped they could be cured, but only he believed in Jesus personally. He lived out that faith in his thanksgiving, and he heard Jesus tell him, “Your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19). In the Old Testament Reading, faith moved Ruth to decide to stay with Naomi and to announce, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). What a change in her life, including becoming Jesus’ ancestor! In the Epistle, Paul encourages Timothy to live out his faith even amid opposition. Today, God’s Word asks us to review the faith the Holy Spirit has given us. How shall we live out that faith? In churchly words and music, in caring for people around us, in using our unique gifts to God’s glory? The day is open for lively faith.

OCtober 2nd, 2022: Seventeenth Sunday after pentecost

View/Download bulletin: 2022-10-02.Seventeenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


1[Jesus] said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

    5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

                7“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

september 25th, 2022: sixteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-09-25.Sixteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side,” and “the rich man also died and was buried” (Luke 16:22). The poor man Lazarus, who knew many bad things on earth, began to be comforted forever, whereas the rich man, after a lifetime of good things, began to be “in anguish” (Luke 16:25). Therefore, “woe to those who are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1), for “the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away” (Amos 6:7). The wealthy are urged “not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,” but “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1 Tim. 6:17–18). Covetous desire for what God has not given is idolatry and “a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Tim. 6:10). Contentment belongs to faith, by which the Christian has “great gain” in godliness (1 Tim. 6:6). 

september 18th, 2022: fifteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-09-18.Fifteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Because God, our Savior, “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), He urges “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Tim. 2:1). Christians should so pray “without anger or quarreling, but “adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” (1 Tim. 2:8, 9). For the Lord does not forget “the poor of the land” (Amos 8:4). He remembers them according to the foolishness of the cross. “For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). Though we try to justify ourselves “before men,” God knows our sinful hearts and calls us to repentance (Luke 16:15). Though we are “not strong enough to dig,” and we are “ashamed to beg” (Luke 16:3), He justifies us by His grace and welcomes us into His “eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). More shrewd than even “the sons of this world” (Luke 16:8), He requires His stewards of the Gospel to bestow forgiveness freely.

september 11th, 2022: Fourteenth Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-09-11.Fourteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). As He had mercy on Paul, in order to “display his perfect patience” (1 Tim. 1:16), so also does He seek out His sheep “from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Ezek. 34:12). To deliver His flock, He “will seek the lost, … bring back the strayed, … bind up the injured, and … strengthen the weak” (Ezek. 34:16), and “they shall no longer be a prey” (Ezek. 34:22). He sets over them one great Good Shepherd, the Son of David, who “shall feed them and be their shepherd” (Ezek. 34:23). For Christ Jesus is the one man who, “having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them,” would “leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it” (Luke 15:4). When He finds the lost one and brings it home rejoicing, “the angels of God” and all the company of heaven rejoice with Him, with great joy (Luke 15:7, 10).

september 4th, 2022: Thirteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-09-04.Thirteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

A disciple of Jesus Christ will “bear his own cross” (Luke 14:27) and follow the Lord through death into life. Discipleship is costly because it crucifies the old man with “all that he has” (Luke 14:33), in order to raise up the new man in Christ. The disciple disavows “his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life” (Luke 14:26), in deference to Christ. That way of the cross is impossible, except that Christ Jesus has already paid the cost. His cross is set before you as “life and good, death and evil” (Deut. 30:15). Taking up His cross is to “choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him” (Deut. 30:19–20). To live that life in Christ is also to bear His cross in love, “that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord” (Philemon 14).

august 28th, 2022: Twelfth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-08-28.Twelfth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.


august 21st, 2022: eleventh sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-08-21.Eleventh_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

With the cross of Christ, the time has come “to gather all nations and tongues” (Is. 66:18). The sign of the cross is set forth in the preaching of the Gospel, the declaration of the Lord’s glory “among the nations” (Is. 66:19). Many “will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29), but only by the narrow way of the cross. Those who refuse to follow Christ crucified will ultimately find only “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28), whereas Christ’s disciples, called from all the nations, will eat and drink with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God. They will come into “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22).

August 14th, 2022: tenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin:2022-08-14.Tenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Today’s Epistle continues the list of heroes of faith begun last week. But the other Readings provide the context. At the time of the Old Testament Reading, false prophets were telling people that nothing was wrong, although God had not commanded them to teach about anything. In the Gospel, Jesus points out that acting on one’s faith inevitably leads to conflict, even within families. Only by faith are we able to look beyond the current, inevitable conflict to the joy that awaits all who follow Jesus. For the eternal joy before Him, He endured the pain. Now it is our turn to run the endurance race until faith is turned to sight.

august 13th, 2022: Funeral Service - Marion Gerken

Marion Gerken

October 10, 1929 - August 8, 2022


View/Download Bulletin: 2022-08-13.Funeral_Service_for_Marion_Gerken_-_Default.pdf


Marion M. Gerken of Glenview, beloved wife of the late Donald; dear mother of James (Donna) Gerken, Cheryl (Bill) Byron and Kathy Gerken; loving grandmother of Bill (Megan) Byron, Amanda (Clint) Raabe, Megan Gerken and the late Colleen Byron; cherished great grandmother of Dresden and Liam; fond sister of Gene (Sheryl) Kohl.

August 7th, 2022: Ninth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin:2022-08-07.Ninth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Today’s Epistle is from Hebrews 11, the “by faith” chapter. It lists heroes of faith, people who trusted in God’s promises, assured of what they hoped for (the definition of faith). The Reading from Genesis singles out Abram believing God, for which God counted it to him as righteousness. Now we can look back, knowing that in one descendant of Abraham, Jesus, all God’s promises were kept. His calming words in the Gospel give us the assurance we need to rely on God’s care and concern when we don’t have all we think we need. “Seek [God’s] kingdom, and these things will be added to you,” He promises (Luke 12:31). Our faith-filled response echoes today’s Psalm: “Let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You” (Psalm 33:22).

July 31st, 2022: Eighth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-07-31.Eighth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The three Readings today all tell of the contrasts between people who have faith in Christ and those who do not. The important message is that we recognize God’s gracious blessings and so reflect them as we live. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15) and warns about one who is “not rich toward God” (v. 21). When in Ecclesiastes “the Preacher” sees vanity all around, he writes, “to the one who pleases Him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy” (Ecclesiastes 2:26). In the Epistle, Paul promises that we who, in our Baptism, “have been raised with Christ, . . . will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1a, 4b). We have been given not only physical life but also eternal life.

july 24th, 2022: seventh sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin2022-07-24.Seventh_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord not only teaches us what to pray for but also how to pray. With the words of the Lord’s Prayer, we are directed in confidence to the Lord. When doubts arise, we are reminded of how earthly fathers give good gifts to their children and are encouraged to believe that God will do so even more for us, because of our Savior Jesus Christ. It can be tempting to think of ourselves as the center of our prayers instead of the God who graciously invites us to pray and promises to hear and answer us. Today we are encouraged to learn from Jesus and to pray in His name to the Father, trusting that He will give us all good things and all things needful because of our Savior Jesus Christ.

july 17th, 2022: sixth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-07-17.Sixth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

july 10th, 2022: fifth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-07-10.Fifth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Law commands that “you shall love the Lord your God” with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27), and that you shall “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). Love fulfills the Law because love does no harm to the neighbor. Christ Jesus is the Good Samaritan, who with divine compassion saves you from all evil. He takes your sin and death upon Himself and bears these in His body to the cross. He binds up your wounds with the healing balm of His Gospel, and He brings you into His Church, where He takes care of you at His own expense (Luke 10:34–35). By such mercy, He proves “to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers” (Luke 10:36). Therefore, “you go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). By “your faith in Christ Jesus” and “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:4–5), you have the same love for others as the Lord Jesus has for you.

july 3rd, 2022: fourth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-07-03.Fourth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord restores Jerusalem, His Church, because she is the mother of His children, whom He comforts “as one whom his mother comforts” (Is. 66:13). We are “satisfied from her consoling breast” with the pure milk of the Word, and we “drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance” (Is. 66:11). The messengers of Christ bestow such gifts upon His Church. For He sends them out “as lambs in the midst of wolves” (Luke 10:3), bearing in their bodies the sacrifice of His cross, by which “the kingdom of God has come near” (Luke 10:9, 11). Wherever He enters in with this Gospel, Satan is cast out and falls “like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Thus, we do not “boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). Rejoicing in this Gospel, we “bear one another’s burdens” in love, according to “the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).

june 26th, 2022: Third sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-06-26.Third_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

When the prophet Elijah became discouraged and despaired of his life, “the word of the Lord came to him” (1 Kings 19:9b) and stood him “on the mount before the Lord” (1 Kings 19:11). The Lord made Himself known to the prophet — not in the impressive power of gale force winds, or in an earthquake, or in the fire, but in “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). Today God reveals Himself to us through the frail preaching of the Gospel. The Son of Man sends “messengers ahead of him ... to make preparations for him” (Luke 9:52). Putting their hand to that plow of preaching, they “go and proclaim the kingdom of God,” and they do not look back (Luke 9:60, 62). What they preach is not the power of the Law with its “yoke of slavery,” but the power of God unto salvation through the Gospel of forgiveness, by which “Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1).

June 19th, 2022: Second Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-06-19.Second_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord finds those who did not seek Him or ask for Him. He spreads out His hands “to a rebellious people” (Is. 65:2) and calls them to be His people and to dwell in peace upon His holy mountain (Is. 65:9). For wherever Jesus Christ enters in, Satan is cast out. Those who were enslaved and driven mad by the assaults and accusations of the devil are set free by the Word of Christ. He drowns and destroys the old Adam in us with the waters of Holy Baptism and thereby brings us out of death into life. No longer naked in our shame, living “among the tombs” (Luke 8:27), we are brought into the Lord’s house, fully clothed by Christ; He has come in “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4) to fulfill the Law on our behalf and to redeem us from its every accusation. Therefore, having been justified by His grace through faith in His Gospel, “you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Gal. 4:7).

June 12th, 2022: The holy trinity

View/Download Bulletin:2022-06-12.The_Holy_Trinity_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

June 5th, 2022: the day of pentecost

View/ Download Bulletin: 2022-06-05.The_Day_of_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Following the flood, Noah’s descendants failed to spread out and fill the earth as God had spoken. Rather, they exalted themselves; with “one language and the same words” (Gen. 11:1), they spoke proudly and arrogantly. The Lord humbled them by confusing “the language of all the earth,” dividing and dispersing the people (Gen. 11:9). That dispersal was reversed on Pentecost Day (the 50th day of Easter), when God caused the one Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to be preached in a multitude of languages. “At this sound the multitude came together” (Acts 2:6), for the preaching of Christ is the primary work of the Holy Spirit, whereby He gathers people from all nations into one Church. The Holy Spirit teaches and brings to our remembrance the words of Jesus, which are the words of the Father who sent Him. These words bestow forgiveness and peace to those who keep and hold on to them in love for Jesus. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

May 29th, 2022: the ascension of our lord

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-05-29.The_Ascension_of_Our_Lord_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

What have you witnessed? Jesus’ disciples witnessed Jesus teach with authority, feed the five thousand with a few loaves of bread and some fish, heal people of a variety of diseases, and even bring Lazarus back to life. Yet, in spite of what they witnessed, they struggled to believe the story would continue after Jesus was crucified on Good Friday. Surprise! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Following the resurrection, they witnessed more amazing things Jesus said and did, and now they would get their chance to share what they had seen and heard. What have you seen and heard about Jesus? What have you seen and heard Jesus do in your life? Who can you share with what you have witnessed?

may 22nd, 2022: sixth sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-05-22.Sixth_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“In that day,” Jesus told the disciples in the Upper Room, “whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you.” They could not understand, hearing Him before Easter and Pentecost. But we know now that the day has arrived, thanks to His death and resurrection, when our heavenly Father’s ears are open to our every prayer. In this our day, we can anticipate by faith seeing Him and Jesus, the Lamb, in the perfect Jerusalem, as John writes in the reading from Revelation. Hearing the good news, Lydia, in the Reading from Acts, asked if the disciples deemed her worthy for Baptism. Indeed, with the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit, Christ’s worthiness and her sins had been exchanged on the cross. She provided a home for Paul and Luke, and God had an eternal Jerusalem awaiting her entry. What Easter joy!

may 15th, 2022: fifth sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-05-15.Fifth_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

On earth “you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). Already the Spirit grants you peace and joy through the forgiveness of your sins. For by the cross of Christ, “God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). His Gospel is “a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11:14). He gives freely “from the spring of the water of life” (Rev. 21:6), “and death shall be no more” (Rev. 21:4). He dwells with His people, adorning His Church as a bride for her husband, “making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). Therefore, as the Son of Man is glorified by His cross, “and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31), so He is glorified in us by our “love for one another” (John 13:35), which His Spirit works in us by His grace.

may 8th, 2022: Fourth sunday of easter

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-05-08.Fourth_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

May 1st, 2022: third sunday of easter

View/Download bulletin: 2022-05-01.Third_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

In the Reading from Revelation, John reports that he saw God’s throne, where the Lamb is the only One worthy to open the sealed scrolls. Not only is Jesus holy in Himself, He makes holy all those whose sins He forgives because of His own sacrifice. Saul is a prime example. He is called by Christ to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, even though he had been looking for Christians to arrest. In their fishing attempt in the Gospel, the disciples learn that even their physical wellbeing depends on trusting their Savior’s guidance. For Peter, that would also mean feeding and teaching Jesus’ flock. Made worthy because of our incorporation into the Body of Christ, what are we called to do?

April 24th, 2022: second sunday of easter

View/Download bulletin: 2022-04-24.Second_Sunday_of_Easter_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

On the Lord’s Day, St. John the apostle was given a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. He is the Living One, “the firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5). He died for all people, and behold, He is alive forevermore! Therefore, He has “the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev. 1:18). For His death atoned for sin and conquered death, and in His resurrection He opened the kingdom of heaven to us. The “sharp two-edged sword” of His mouth (Rev. 1:16) calls you to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” that by such faith “you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). To that end, He sends His ministers of the Word, as the Father sent Him, “to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).

April 17th, 2022: Easter Sunday

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-04-17.The_Resurrection_of_Our_Lord_-_Easter_Day_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“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.

april 14th, 2022: Holy (maundy) Thursday

View/Download bulletin: 2022-04-14.Holy_Thursday_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The quarantine (literally, forty days) of Lent, a time of repentance, began on Ash Wednesday with an extended prayer and confession of sins, and with this reminder: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The forty days (not including Sundays, which are considered “little Easters”) come to their conclusion now in the three holy days, or Triduum, of Holy (Maundy) Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Therefore these days center around the only sacrifice that gives us absolution, the forgiveness we so desire: the body and blood of the Lord’s Supper that proclaim the glorious substitutionary suffering and death of our Lord on the cross and interment in the tomb. Only in this way can a person know and believe what there is to be so happy about on Easter Sunday!

April 10th, 2022: Palm Sunday

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-04-10.Palm_Sunday_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

April 3rd, 2022: fifth sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-04-03.Fifth_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

That God has authority is not always in question, but how God uses His authority so often confuses and confounds us. Such is the way of mercy. We instinctively believe that mercy should be reserved for those who deserve it, but God shows His mercy even to those who reject it. The tenants in Jesus’ parable treat the servants of the vineyard owner shamefully, and yet he sends his own son. Is this not the story of the world since Adam and Even rebelled against God? Yet even as we rejoice in God’s mercy, we realize that the rejection of His mercy is not without consequence and those who reject the cornerstone will be crushed by it on the day of judgment.

march 27th, 2022: fourth sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-03-27.Fourth_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

march 26: Memorial service - vivian frazier

Vivian Frazier

January 28, 1930 - January 24, 2022


View/Download Bulletin: 2022-03-26.Memorial_-_Vivian_Frazier.pdf


Vivian A. Frazier, 91, of Arlington Heights and Glenview, IL went to her Heavenly home on January 24, 2022. Vivian’s Christian faith was deeply personal. She lived her faith with actions rather than a lot of words. “I wish for my family and friends to know that I do not fear death itself. I think it is not the end, but a new beginning for me. I do believe a joyful, unending future awaits!” Vivian’s love for family and friends ran so deep that it was hard for her to express. “I wish to have my family and friends know that I love them, though I’ve not always been able to convey those feelings.”


march 20th, 2022: third sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-03-20.Third_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). By this warning, the Lord would turn us away from wickedness and bring us to life in Himself. For He is patient with us, that we would not be cut down in our sin but live and bear fruit in Him. As He lives, the Lord has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). So the Scriptures have been “written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor. 10:11), that we should not desire evil but trust in Christ. He alone is faithful, the Rock who feeds us with His “spiritual food” and pours out His “spiritual drink” (1 Cor. 10:3–4).

March 13th, 2022: Second sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-03-13.Second_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

MArch 6th, 2022: First sunday in lent

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-03-06.First_Sunday_in_Lent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Jesus Christ, our champion against the devil, endures and overcomes “every temptation” (Luke 4:13) on our behalf. He worships the Lord, His God, and serves Him only by trusting the Word of His Father: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). Jesus’ victory is now ours through His gracious Word, which is not far away but near us — in our mouth and in our heart, in the proclamation of repentance and faith. For “with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom. 10:10). Our confession of Christ includes the prayer of faith, which is not disappointed, “for ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Rom. 10:13). The Lord is not oblivious to “our affliction, our toil, and our oppression” (Deut. 26:7), but has mercy upon us. He has brought us out of bondage through the “signs and wonders” of Holy Baptism, “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deut. 26:8), and now He leads us by His Spirit even in the wilderness.

March 2nd, 2022: Ash wednesday

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-03-02.Ash_Wednesday_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Throughout the Bible, ashes have been associated with humility, repentance, and mortality. In Genesis, we read of the great patriarch: “Abraham answered and said, ‘Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes’ ” (Genesis 18:27). In Job, we read that the long-suffering Job said of his life: “I have become like dust and ashes” (Job 30:19b). Daniel the prophet states: “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). Ash Wednesday brings us the opportunity to follow the pattern set by our spiritual ancestors and to begin the observance of “a holy Lent” as we come before the Lord in ashes.

Pastor jim kirschenmann's installation

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-02-27.Pastor_JK_Installation_-_Letter.pdf


The official installation of Pastor James Kirschenmann as our Intentional Interim Pastor. Led by Reverend Michael Brown, representing the Northern Illinois District office.



February 27th, 2022: the transfiguration of our lord

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-02-27.The_Transfiguration_of_Our_Lord_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant,” but Christ Jesus “has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (Heb. 3:3, 5). A beloved and well-pleasing Son, faithful even to the point of death, Jesus’ own body was raised up on the third day as the house of God, and He has brought us into that house through the waters of Holy Baptism (Heb. 3:6). Thus, it was not Moses, the lawgiver, but his successor, Joshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus), who led the people into the Promised Land (Deut. 34:1–4, 9). Now, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the New Testament Joshua appears in the glory that He is about to manifest by His “departure” (exodus) in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Having entered the waters of the Jordan in His Baptism, He passed through those waters and entered into glory by His cross and Passion. What He thereby accomplished in His own flesh and blood, crucified and risen, He reveals and gives to His Body, the Church, by the means of His Word. Therefore, the Father declares from heaven, “Listen to him!” (Luke 9:35).

february 20th, 2022: seventh sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-02-20.Seventh_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Your inheritance as a child of Adam is sin and death, but in Christ you are made alive through His resurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15:21–22). As you have died with Him in Holy Baptism, so are you raised with Him to newness of life. Therefore, “do not go on sinning” (1 Cor. 15:34). Instead of serving your desires and harming your neighbors, live as “sons of the Most High,” and “be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35–36). Deal with others as you would have others deal with you (Luke 6:31, 37–38). As Christ loved you when you were at enmity with Him, as He blessed and prayed for those who abused Him, and as He did good to those who hated Him and hurt Him, so also “love your enemies, do good” (Luke 6:27–29, 35). For God sent His Son to bear the cross and suffer death, not to condemn the guilty, but “to preserve life.” So does He provide a place for you within His Church, where He is near and deals kindly with “you and your children and your children’s children” (Gen. 45:5–10).

February 13th, 2022: sixth sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-02-13.Sixth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man,” for all the strength of his flesh is like the grass that fades away (Jer. 17:5). The one who turns away from the Lord may have food and money and laugh for now, but he “shall mourn and weep” in the judgment (Luke 6:24–25). But “the man who trusts in the Lord” is blessed with all that he needs, “like a tree planted by water.” When heat comes, he survives (Jer. 17:7–8). For the Lord has come in the flesh to heal the people of all their diseases, to cleanse their spirits with forgiveness, and to preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God to the poor (Luke 6:18–20). As all of this is by way of His cross, it is solely by faith in the promise of His resurrection that Christians “rejoice” and “leap for joy” (Luke 6:21–23). “If Christ has not been raised,” our faith is in vain and we are most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:14–19). But, in fact, just as “Christ died for our sins,” so has He also “been raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15:3, 20).

february 6th, 2022: fifth sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin:  2022-02-06.Fifth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

When Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” he was overcome with an awareness of his sin and “unclean lips” (Is. 6:1, 5). But the Lord atoned for his sin, took away his guilt and sanctified his lips with “a burning coal” from the altar (Is. 6:6–7). Not only was he rescued from death, but he was called and sent as a prophet of the Lord’s Word (Is. 6:8–9). Similarly, when Simon Peter and his companions “enclosed a large number of fish” at the Word of Jesus, he humbled himself and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:4–8). But Jesus comforted Simon, called him to discipleship and declared that he would be “catching men” (Luke 5:10–11). So in the Office of the Ministry, the Church remains the little boat from which Jesus teaches His people (Luke 5:3). Thus are we instructed in the faith, so that we say “Amen” and return thanks with heart, mind, tongue and life. For the preaching of Christ Jesus is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, by which He builds up His Church on earth (1 Cor. 14:12–19).

January 30th, 2022: Fourth sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-01-30.Fourth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Jesus was sent to “preach the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43). His preaching is an epiphany, or manifestation, of God because His Word reveals the authority of His cross and resurrection, by which He has atoned for the sins of the world. By the preaching of His Gospel in every place, He silences the unclean spirits and casts out demons, heals the diseases of body and soul, and restores life and health to His creation (Luke 4:40–41). For the sake of His divine love, He is “patient and kind” toward us; He “bears all things,” “endures all things” and delivers up His body to save us (1 Cor. 13:3–4, 7). So also for the sake of His love, He calls and sends His prophets, as ministers of His Word, “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:10).

january 23rd, 2022: third sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-01-23.Third_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

At Easter, on the road to Emmaus, the Lord Jesus taught us how all the Scriptures ultimately point to Him and His ministry of salvation. Today, we hear the same claim at the beginning of His ministry. Quoting Isaiah 61, He tells His hometown neighbors, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). They were impressed. But only for a short moment. Not everyone will listen to the Word of God until it first inspires repentance over sin. Only when God gets us to face up to our real need, the forgiveness of sins, does the Spirit of God work true faith in the heart that results in praise of God who saves us. The world wants only to cover up and does not like hearing God call what we are doing and what we are sin. In a strange way, however, the Christian actually likes getting honest and facing up to sin, confessing it in order to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and new life. As one Body in Christ, we respond with one voice in praise to God.

January 16th, 2022: Second sunday after the epiphany

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-01-16.Second_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

On the second Sunday of each Epiphany season, the manifestation of Jesus as the Christ sent by God is grounded in the Gospel of John, who gives us the deepest insight into the goal of our Lord’s entire earthly ministry. We hear of water and wine and the Holy Spirit. Through Baptism we are made the Church, the Bride of Christ. In Holy Communion, wine bears the blood of Christ’s cross to us, the price of our forgiveness and deliverance. Now the same Spirit who empowered Jesus all along the way of the cross empowers us. The one Spirit enables each of us to love God and one another in a united worship of God and a variety of service and care for one another. “The faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14) overflow in us who already now celebrate the marriage feast of the Lamb and His kingdom, which has no end.

january 9th, 2022: the epiphany of our lord observed

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-01-09.The_Epiphany_of_Our_Lord_Observed_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Feast of the Epiphany centers in the visit of the Magi from the East. In that respect, it is a “Thirteenth Day” of Christmas; yet, it also marks the beginning of a new liturgical season. While Christmas has focused on the incarnation of our Lord — that is, on God becoming flesh — the season of Epiphany emphasizes the manifestation or self-revelation of God in that same flesh of Christ. The Lord Himself has entered our darkness and rises upon us with the brightness of His true light (Is. 60:1–2). He does so chiefly by His Word of the Gospel, which He causes to be preached within His Church on earth — not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles (Eph. 3:8–10). As the Magi were guided by the promises of Holy Scripture to find and worship the Christ Child with His mother in the house (Matt. 2:5–11), so does He call disciples from all nations by the preaching of His Word to find and worship Him within His Church (Is. 60:3–6). With gold, they confess His royalty; with incense, His deity; and with myrrh, His priestly sacrifice (Matt. 2:11).

January 2nd, 2022: Second sunday after christmas

View/Download Bulletin: 2022-01-02.Second_Sunday_after_Christmas_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord Jesus “grew and became strong” (Luke 2:40); He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). As His body grew and developed, His mind also increased in knowledge and understanding. For as our brother in the flesh, that we might “have redemption through his blood” (Eph. 1:7), He lived by faith in the Word of His Father. Thus, He was catechized by His parents, who took Him up “to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover” (Luke 2:41); when He was of age, He gave attention to the Holy Scriptures in His Father’s house (Luke 2:46, 49). Christ Jesus is still found in His Church, in “the word of truth, the gospel,” by which we are adopted by His Father and sealed with His Spirit (Eph. 1:5, 13). Thus do we gain “an understanding mind” to go about our vocations, discerning “between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). And so do we also go up to Jerusalem, to stand “before the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (1 Kings 3:15), that is, in the Holy Communion of His body and blood.

december 26th, 2021: First sunday after christmas

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-12-26.First_Sunday_after_Christmas_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

When the Lord destroyed the firstborn sons of Egypt, He spared the sons of Israel by providing a lamb in their stead. Hence, all the firstborn sons belong to Him. Every firstborn male animal was sacrificed, and every firstborn son of man was redeemed (Ex. 13:12–13). Therefore, the parents of Jesus “brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22). However, He is not redeemed from priestly service but is consecrated for “the redemption of Jerusalem” and “the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25, 38). For God the Father did not spare His only begotten Son, but offered Him up as the true Passover Lamb, in order to redeem His people from bondage. His cross has caused many to stumble and fall, but His blood atoned for the sins of the world and delivers us from death. We now depart in the peace of Christ because we are also raised with Him. As we receive His body and blood, we join Simeon and Anna in “giving thanks to God the Father through him,” “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” including the Nunc Dimittis, with thankfulness in our hearts (Luke 2:28–32, 38; Col. 3:15–17).

december 25th, 2021: The nativity of our lord - Christmas Day

View/Download Bulletin2021-12-25.The_Nativity_of_Our_Lord_-_Christmas_Day_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord sends out His ministers of the Gospel to make disciples “of all the nations,” so that “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” For the Lord has “bared his holy arm” in the incarnate Christ (Is. 52:7, 10). The Child in the manger, born of the Virgin Mary, is the very Word of God, the only begotten Son of the Father, “whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Heb. 1:2). As “all things were made through him” (John 1:3), so are all things redeemed and made new in Him. In His body of flesh and blood, we behold “the radiance of the glory of God” (Heb. 1:3), “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He dwells among us in peace that we might have life and light and salvation in Him. For by His Word of the Gospel, we are born again as the children of God, bearing His name and sharing His eternal life. 

December 24th, 2021: the nativity of our lord - Christmas Eve

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-12-24.The_Nativity_of_Our_Lord_-_Christmas_Eve_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Heaven and earth rejoice on this night because the glory of the blessed Trinity is manifested in the human birth of “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). In Him, the Father’s grace, mercy and peace rest upon the world. The silence of death is broken by this “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). And all we who have gone astray like lost and wandering sheep, who have “walked in darkness” of doubt and fear and sinful unbelief, behold “a great light” in the nativity of Christ (Is. 9:2). In Him, “the grace of God has appeared” (Titus 2:11). For this Child of Mary who is born for us, this dear Son of God who is given to us, will bear the burden of our sin and death in His own body on the cross. He thereby establishes a government of peace, “with justice and with righteousness,” which shall have no end; not by any work of man, but “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Is. 9:7). 

december 19th, 2021: Fourth sunday in advent

View/Download Bulletin2021-12-19.Fourth_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter_2_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“And He shall be their peace.” That is how the prophet Micah described the coming Messiah. God’s people will not find their peace in a big bank account. Nor will our peace be found in being part of the right social circle. Nor will our peace be found in a political leader or even in a political ideology. Nor will our peace be found in our living good and upright lives. Our peace is found in the Messiah, in Jesus, in the Good Shepherd whose strength is the Lord. Mary’s circumstances were difficult; the angel’s announcement of her pregnancy had to be quite a surprise. Pondering all these things in her heart, she found peace in God, who blessed her. So she sang God’s praises, a song that we sing still today, the Magnificat, a powerful reminder that “He shall be their peace.”

December 12th, 2021: Third sunday in advent

View/Download Bulletin:  2021-12-12.Third_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Third Sunday in Advent has traditionally been called by the Latin word Gaudete, meaning “Rejoice!” For as you are called to repentance, so also are you urged to rejoice in the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ. By His own cross, He has accomplished salvation for you; “he has cleared away your enemies,” “taken away the judgments against you” and come to reign in your midst. Indeed, He rejoices over you with gladness and song (Zeph. 3:15–17)! Therefore, even from prison St. Paul encourages us to “rejoice in the Lord always,” knowing that the peace of God will guard and keep us in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:4, 7). We find an example and encouragement in the case of John the Baptist. As he languishes in prison, he calls upon Jesus and is strengthened by the Word of the Gospel that he receives. The same good news is preached to you, by which all things are made new and even “the dead are raised up” (Luke 7:22). Do not be offended by the cross, therefore, but let your life be one of prayer and thanksgiving (Luke 7:23; Phil. 4:6).

december 5th, 2021: Second sunday in advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-12-05.Second_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The preaching and Baptism “of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3) prepare us for the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ. The historic work of John the Baptist was completed with the first advent of our Lord Jesus in the flesh, but the ministry of the forerunner continues in the preaching of Law and Gospel and in Holy Baptism. Through His messengers, the Lord calls people of all nations to “see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6). Our haughtiness is removed and our mountains of pride are brought low, but the Lord humbles us in order to exalt us in His mercy. As the Lord has begun this good work of repentance in us, so also does He perfect it by His Word and Holy Spirit, and He “will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). He purifies us to be His priestly people, precious in His sight and abounding in faith and love, so that we offer our very lives in righteousness to the Lord (Mal. 3:3–4). 

November 28th, 2021: First sunday in advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-11-28.First_Sunday_in_Advent_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The season of Advent focuses on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this first Sunday establishes this theme for the rest of the season. The Son of God came long ago to be our Savior, “a righteous Branch” descended from David (Jer. 33:15). As He then came into Jerusalem, riding on a lowly donkey to sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world (Luke 19:28–40), so does He come to His Church today in the humility of Word and Sacrament to deliver the fruits of His Passion: the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. He absolves us and establishes our hearts “blameless in holiness before our God and Father” (1 Thess. 3:13). The same Lord Jesus, who came to Jerusalem then and who comes to us now in peace, will come again with power and great glory on the Last Day. Then there will be “distress of nations in perplexity,” with “people fainting with fear.” Yet, as we anticipate that great and terrible day, He bids us to rest securely in Him: “Raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:25, 26, 28).

November 21st, 2021: Last sunday of the church year

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-11-21.Last_Sunday_of_the_Church_Year_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Do you remember what Jesus told His disciples about when He would return? Jesus said, “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:32–33). Do you remember the promise the angels shared as Jesus ascended? “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Be on guard, keep awake, and remember He is coming soon.

November 14th, 2021: Twenty-fifth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin:  2021-11-14.Twenty-fifth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

We ought to know from experience that the end times will not be quiet. The world is ending its days with wickedness and destruction. Soon all of mankind’s accomplishments will stand in ruin, but the Word of the Lord will endure forever. There will be blood, but the blood that matters is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all our sins. The Lord who covered us with this blood in Baptism will not now abandon us to the persecution, suffering, and death around us. We belong to Him. Even now, He is at work sanctifying and purifying His Church that we may meet Him in holiness and righteousness at the end of our days and at the end of all days. Thanks be to God who gives us this promise: He who endures to the end will be saved!

November 7th, 2021: All saints day

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-11-07.All_Saints_Day_Observed_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

October 31st, 2021: Reformation day

View/Download Bulletin2021-10-31.Reformation_Day_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Jesus calls us to abide in His Word. To abide means to dwell or be at home. Are you at home in Jesus’ Word? Is it the place where you long to be? Jesus’ Word is the only place in all the world where we can find the absolute guarantee of sins forgiven, hope restored, and new life granted as children of God the Father. Today, Jesus mercifully calls us to come to Him, confess our sins, and be filled with His pardon and peace. He will renew us by His Word, strengthen us at His Table, and send us forth with His blessing to proclaim to all creation: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

October 24th, 2021: Twenty-second sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-10-24.Twenty-second_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

October 10th, 2021: Twentieth Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-10-10.Twentieth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord is the Author and Giver of life, as well as a consuming fire of judgment against all “who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate” (Amos 5:12). “Seek the Lord and live,” therefore, by hating what is evil, loving what is good and doing what is just and right, according to His Word. “And so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you” (Amos 5:6, 14–15). Understand that “no one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). The life that you are called to live is found neither in your “great possessions,” nor in your good works, but only in Christ Jesus. Let go of “all that you have” and follow Him, even unto death, and “you will have treasure in heaven” (Mark 10:21–22). Do not harden your heart against His voice, nor turn away from Him, lest you “fall away from the living God.” Rather, hear and heed His call, cling to His Word, and “exhort one another every day,” that you may remain steadfast in Christ and “firm to the end” (Heb. 3:12–15). 

October 3, 2021: Nineteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin2021-10-03.Nineteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter_1_.pdf


 

AS WE GATHER

Because Jesus added humanity to His deity and experienced human suffering, He is able to help us in temptation. He knows what we are going through. We have two advantages – knowing the example of Jesus in temptation, but also having His active assistance from heaven, providing strength and a way of escape. With these we can find victory in the midst of temptation and come out better from being tempted. Jesus did not lose anything from being tempted – He only gained in glory and sympathy and ability to help His people. In the same way, we do not have to lose anything when we are tempted.

September 26, 2021: eighteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-09-26.Eighteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

When the people of Israel wept, complaining that they had no meat to eat (Num. 11:4), Moses cried out to the Lord that “the burden of all this people” was too heavy for him and that he was “not able to carry all this people alone” (Num. 11:11–14). So the Lord had Moses gather “seventy men of the elders of Israel” (Num. 11:16), and the Lord “took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders” (Num. 11:25), so that Moses would not carry the burden alone. All who thus labor are honored, and all the people are cared for, in the name of the Lord (Mark 9:39–41). Everything is done with reference to Christ Jesus. So we cling to Him, and we flee from all sins that would separate us from Him (Mark 9:42–48). The life of the Church is one of repentant faith in Christ. Christians confess their sins to one another, and they “pray for one another,” that each would be raised up and healed by the Lord Jesus, who covers “a multitude of sins” and saves our souls from death (James 5:15–20).


September 23: Funeral Service for

donald e. long

Donald E. Long

August 16, 1928 - September 16, 2021


View/Download Bulletin: 2021-09-23.Funeral_-_Donald_Long_Letter.pdf

 

Donald E. Long, 93, lifelong resident of Glenview, passed away surrounded by his loving family on September 16, 2021.One of his favorite past times was to volunteer and be a docent at the Wagner Farm in Glenview. The passion came from the fact that Don grew up on his family farm in Glenview which is now Flick Park. Don was also a lifelong member of Immanuel Lutheran Church where he served in many capacities including Chairman of the Congregation, Chairman of Property Commission and Chairman of the Cemetery Board. He was also a member of the church choir and would be a part of the many plays they performed.


September 19, 2021: Seventeenth Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-09-19.IELC.Seventeenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.docx.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The sinful heart is filled with “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” (James 3:14), which causes hostility, quarrels and conflicts, even among those who are fellow members of the Body of Christ. This should not be so! Rather, God “opposes the proud” with His Law, in order to humble them unto repentance; He “gives grace to the humble,” in order to exalt them by His Gospel of forgiveness (James 4:6–10). This true “wisdom from above” is found in the gentleness, mercy and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself and sacrificed Himself for the salvation of sinners (James 3:17). He was “like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter,” committing Himself to God, His Father, “who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind” (Jer. 11:19–20). Therefore, “after three days,” His Father exalted Him by raising Him from the dead (Mark 9:31). In Holy Baptism, He takes disciples of all ages into His arms like little children. In receiving Him through repentance and faith in His forgiveness of sins, they receive from His Father a share in the glory of His cross and resurrection (Mark 9:36–37).

September 12, 2021: sixteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-09-12.Sixteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.docx.pdf


AS WE GATHER

In today’s Readings, Jesus encounters another person possessed by an unclean spirit. The young man’s father is distraught and desperate. The father utters these words: “I believe; help my unbelief!” Jesus does help the man’s unbelief by healing his son. Jesus helps our unbelief as well in all that He does. In His miracles and teaching, suffering and death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus calls us to faith. And He calls us to be His witnesses.

September 5, 2021: Fifteenth sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-09-05.Fifteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord proclaims the Gospel “to those who have an anxious heart” to comfort and encourage them with His presence. He comes not only with threats of “vengeance” and “recompense,” but with His gracious salvation (Is. 35:4). He opens “the eyes of the blind” and “the ears of the deaf,” and He loosens “the tongue of the mute” to “sing for joy” (Is. 35:5–6). Like water on thirsty ground, He speaks His life-giving Word to people of all nations. With His Word and the touch of His hand, He does “all things well,” so that you may now speak “plainly” (Mark 7:31–37). You confess the truth of God in Christ to the glory of His holy name, and you call upon His name in every trouble, confident that He will hear and answer. As you pray and confess with your tongue, so also “love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8).

August 29, 2021: Fourteenth Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-08-29.Fourteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Today we consider what it means to be wise and understanding people of God. As we examine the words of encouragement from Moses to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 4, we will see that God’s wise and understanding people are given God’s Word and keep God’s Word. God is near His people with His goodness and grace shown to us today in His Word and Sacraments.

August 22, 2021: Thirteenth Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-08-22.Thirteenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

August 15, 2021: Twelfth Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-08-15.Twelfth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Today we consider Jesus’ claim that He is the bread of life and whoever feeds on His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life. While this may sound mysterious to us, it was downright offensive to those who first heard these words. The way and wisdom of Jesus are often countercultural and counterintuitive, but He offers us eternal life as He gives His body and pours out His blood for us and our salvation.

August 14: Memorial Service - Susie Severn

Ethel "Susie" Jane Severn

October 01, 1939 - May 14, 2021

View/Download Bulletin:  2021-08-14.Memorial_-_Susie_Severn.pdf

Susie was a cherished wife, beloved mother and adored grandmother and great-grandmother who’s joy was to share stories, her passion of gardening, and her love of reading. Her artistic talent, sharp humor and the ability to feel loved and accepted in her presence was gifted to so many over the years. You never left her house without a hug and a meal.

August 8, 2021: Eleventh Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-08-08.Eleventh_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we speak in the Fourth Petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We are reminded that “daily bread” includes everything we need for this body and life as we pray and give thanks for all the Lord provides regarding our well-being in this mortal life. Yet, we are never left to just be satisfied with earthly things, as we will be taken from worldly provisions to His greater eternal gifts, which always last. It is why He sent His Son into this world, and why Jesus spoke to the people then and still to us today, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

August 1, 2021: Tenth Sunday After pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-08-01.Tenth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Letter.docx.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

July 25, 2021: Ninth Sunday After pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-07-25.Ninth_Sunday_after_Pentecost.docx.pdf


AS WE GATHER

God’s promise of life in the rainbow summons us to hope in God. The apostle Paul urges us to discover and to know how real and firm is God’s love. Like the fearful disciples in today’s Gospel, we may have doubts of faith. But God’s Word assures us: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mark 6:50). This causes us to stop our worrying and believe. Hope in God can calm you. The love of God can convince you. Here, now, at His mighty Word, your sins are forgiven, and you have hope, love, and life. We now gather before Him, our Creator, our Redeemer, and our loving God.

July 18, 2021: Eighth Sunday After Pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-07-18.Eighth_Sunday_after_Pentecost_-_Portrait_2_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

An old Jewish prayer begins, “Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe.” To call God “King” is to acknowledge Him as the highest ruler over all. Earthly kings never created the subjects of their rule out of nothing as has the one Creator God. So much higher and more exalted than any earthly sovereign king is God. In the Old Testament, God gave His people kings for their nation. But unlike the rulers of other nations, Israel’s kings were to rule in God’s name and after His heart and will and word. They were to rule God’s people like shepherds tending sheep, like David of old. Few, however, were faithful to their calling. Through a king named Zedekiah, God both condemned the former faithless kings and promised the future righteous Branch of the great King David. In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus, God’s Son, having compassion on people as a shepherd has compassion on the sheep. Because of Jesus’ blood and righteousness, you have a King that cannot fail. He cares for you and will deliver you safely to your eternal home.

July 11, 2021: Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-07-11.Seventh_Sunday_after_Pentecost.pdf


APPEARANCES ARE DECEIVING


AS WE GATHER

In today’s Gospel, it looks like the end of the story when John the Baptist is executed. But he was but the forerunner for Jesus, the promised Messiah. Appearances were certainly deceiving! That was the case with Amos, a herdsman and dresser of sycamore figs when the Lord called him. He did not look like a prophet, but he stood up to Amaziah and Jeroboam in a long line of faithful prophets. 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!

july 4, 2021 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

View/Download: 2021-07-04.Sixth_Sunday_after_Pentecost.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

June 27, 2021 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

View/Download: 2021-06-27.Fifth_Sunday_after_Pentecost.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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. In the meantime, the Epistle encourages us to thank God by sharing whatever blessings He has given us. Moreover, both the Old Testament Reading and Gospel make clear that we need to keep in direct communication with God, who has given us all we are and have. He will hear our every word, for the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 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!

June 20, 2021: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

View/Download: 2021-06-20.IELC.Fourth_Sunday_after_Pentecost.pdf


AS WE GATHER

In today’s Gospel, Jesus commands the wind and the sea to become calm, which understandably stuns the disciples. “Who is this?” they wonder. The other Readings today 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.

June 13, 2021: Third Sunday after Pentecost

View/Download: 2021-06-13.Third_Sunday_after_Pentecost.pdf

 

AS WE GATHER

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.

June 6, 2021: Second Sunday after Pentecost

View/ Download: 2021-06-06.Second_Sunday_after_Pentecost.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“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.

May 30, 2021:
The Holy Trinity

View/Download: 2021-05-30.The_Holy_Trinity.pdf


AS WE GATHER

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, we do not so much explain God as confess Him. We testify to Him who has revealed Himself to us. To the mind in search of reasonable answers, God will always be a question or riddle to be solved. But to the empty heart, the Holy Spirit leads us to see with faith the God whose majesty has worked for our salvation and whose mercy has rescued us sinners from sin and the grave. Like Nicodemus of old, we want to know how, yet our Lord gives us not the how, but the who; not the explanation, but the mystery of mercy big enough to save us. We come today confessing with our fathers in faith the Athanasian Creed, singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and rejoicing in the God who is bigger than we are, but who becomes one of us to save us.

May 23, 2021:
The Day of Pentecost

View/Download: 2021-05-23.The_Day_of_Pentecost.pdf


AS WE GATHER

A familiar sight along highways and roadways in summer is the posting of work-zone signs as repairs are made to streets and bridges during the season of good weather. These signs bring a special level of care and concentration for drivers. For Christian people, the Church is the “work zone” of the Holy Spirit. In his hymn paraphrasing the Apostles’ Creed, Martin Luther writes of the Holy Spirit at work: “Who the Church, His own creation, Keeps in unity of spirit. Here forgiveness and salvation Daily come through Jesus’ merit” (LSB 954:3). As we are called and gathered, we are assured that we are in the most vital of work zones—the one to which we can give our greatest care and concentration.

May 16, 2021: The Ascension of Our Lord (Observed)

Confirmation Sunday

View/Download: 2021-05-13.The_Ascension_of_Our_Lord.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“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.

May 9, 2021: The Sixth Sunday of Easter

View/Download: 2021-05-09.Sixth_Sunday_of_Easter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“In the sight of God” is a phrase used throughout Scripture. It reminds us of God’s unceasing care and concern for His creation. In Proverbs: “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:3–4). All our life is in God’s amazingly loving sight as He watches over all His creation and especially over people. Out of love for Christ and one another, we can strive to see others around us in the same way that God sees them.

May 2, 2021: The Fifth Sunday of Easter

View/Dowload2021-05-02.Fifth_Sunday_of_Easter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The images Jesus uses as He proclaims the kingdom of God often come from the world of agriculture. His parables are filled with plants and trees and birds and animals. Grapes, grapevines, and vineyards are all used as illustrations by Jesus as He teaches the people who are His first hearers and us also. As people who have been grafted as branches into Christ the Vine through Holy Baptism, we seek ways to strengthen that connection as the Holy Spirit works in and through us. We now nourish our faith as branches in Christ’s vineyard as we grow in Him by Word and Sacrament.

Aprl 25, 2021: The Fourth Sunday of Easter

View/Download: 2021-04-25.Fourth_Sunday_of_Easter.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Of all the animals that could have been used to portray humanity, does it feel strange to be called a sheep? After all, it is not the most honorable creature. There are no defense mechanisms to escape a predator, no intimidating roar, and limited ability to fend for one’s self when it comes to seeking nourishment, water, and safety. Yet these things reveal the point we are called to understand. It may not be good to be a sheep on our own, but it is great to be a sheep with a Good Shepherd to care for the flock. Jesus is our perfect shepherd who protects and defends, feeds and nourishes, leads and provides all we need in this body and life. Together as His flock, we are blessed to follow Him as by His Word and Means of Grace He leads us to streams of living water and paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

The Third Sunday of Easter

View/Download: 2021-04-18.Third_Sunday_of_Easter_1_.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” (Luke 24:38). These are questions our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ asked of His disciples in another resurrection appearance after that first Easter morning. They are questions that could also be asked of us numerous times in our daily lives as we face trouble and doubts. Yet as Jesus kept on appearing, He kept on showing them Himself, and more than that, He continued to teach and remind them that all that was written was fulfilled in and through Him. Though we cannot physically touch His hands and side, each time we gather, Jesus continues to speak to us, affirming His work, the Word fulfilled, and the worth of humanity for whom He came. Amid troubles and doubts, through Christ, we can “see what kind of love the Father has given to us” (1 John 3:1).

Second Sunday of Easter

View/ Download: 2021-04-11.Second_Sunday_of_Easter.pdf


BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN AND YET HAVE BELIEVED

 

AS WE GATHER

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!”

The Resurrection of Our Lord

Easter Day

View/Download: 2021-04-04.The_Resurrection_of_Our_Lord_-_Easter_Day.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Death is our common enemy. But God has chosen to do battle with our enemy and has given to all the same victory won by Jesus Christ. The veil of death cast over all is now removed in Christ Jesus. Death and all its terror and power has been answered by the resurrection of Jesus once for all. We participate in this victory in the banquet our Lord has prepared, first in the Holy Communion of His crucified and risen flesh and blood, and then in the marriage feast of the Lamb, which has no end. Though for now we wait by faith for Him to bring to consummation all things, we wait as a people saved by His blood and marked for everlasting life. So let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation!

Maundy Thursday

View/Download: 2021-04-01.Maundy_Thursday_First_Communnion.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The quarantine (literally, forty days) of Lent, a time of repentance, began on Ash Wednesday with an extended prayer and confession of sins, and with this reminder: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The forty days (not including Sundays, which are considered “little Easters”) come to their conclusion now in the three holy days, or Triduum, of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Therefore these days center around the only sacrifice that gives us absolution, the forgiveness we so desire: the body and blood of the Lord’s Supper that proclaim the glorious substitutionary suffering and death of our Lord on the cross and interment in the tomb. Only in this way can a person know and believe what there is to be so happy about on Easter Sunday!

Palm Sunday

View/Download: 2021-03-28.Palm_Sunday.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Sunday, “the eighth day of the week,” is celebrated by Christians as the first day of the eternal life into which they were baptized. Today, the beginning of the great and Holy Week of Lent, we begin with the note of great joy as the crowds receive Jesus entering Jerusalem. This will be the last time He comes to the holy city. For we then follow Him to the judgment hall, the cross of suffering, and the fearful tomb of death. The penitential season of Lent concludes with the three holy days, the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Let us follow our Lord and allow Him to take our sins upon Himself that we may receive His new life in the forgiveness of our sins and the joy of the resurrection.

Fifth Sunday in Lent

View/Download: 2021-03-21.Fifth_Sunday_in_Lent.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The ancient name for today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, is Judica, the Latin behind “vindicate.” Jesus predicted was about to happen – this vindication – and more...Yet despite all the miracles they see, the disciples repeatedly fail to grasp and trust his promises.  When we are tempted to think, “My faith would be stronger if I’d been there,” Mark reminds us that seeing is not believing. We ourselves often do not see Jesus as we should.  Instead, through rich language and masterful narration, Mark directs our eyes toward the cross, where with the eyes of faith we will truly see the Son of God in his glory

Fourth Sunday in Lent

View/Download:

 2021-03-14.Fourth_Sunday_in_Lent.pdf


WELCOME - AS WE GATHER…

Few are as popular in America as is Jesus. Polls and books may show that people don’t like the church, but they do like Jesus. In fact, any religion that comes to America has to find a way to account for Jesus and treat him positively in order to survive in America. And in recent years several books have come out highlighting that very fact. One by Steven Prothero is entitled American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon. The other by Richard Fox, is entitled, Jesus in America: Personal Savior, Cultural Hero, National Obsession. So, from movies like Last Temptation of Christ down through Jesus Christ Superstar, to Godspell, to Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, Jesus has been an object of fascination for Americans. But which Jesus?

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, just as the Israelites looked to the pole with the bronze serpent…

Third Sunday in Lent

View/Download: 2021-03-07.Third_Sunday_in_Lent.pdf



AS WE GATHER

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.

 

Second Sunday in Lent

View/Download2021-02-28.Second_Sunday_in_Lent.pdf



AS WE GATHER

The old Latin name for this, the Second Sunday in Lent, is Reminiscere, because the Introit pleads, “Remember Your mercy, O Lord.” Confidently, it continues by encouraging us to trust Him because “He has remembered us; He will bless us.” Indeed, God’s promises to Abram in today’s Old Testament Reading were kept as Jesus moved unswervingly toward the cross, as He does in today’s Gospel. As a result, we can be sure, Paul reminds us in the Epistle, that we have peace with God. Even in suffering, we know that hope will not disappoint us, for we remember that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

First Sunday in Lent

View/Download: 

2021-02-21.First_Sunday_in_Lent.pdf


AS WE GATHER

As the disciples follow Jesus from the upper room to the Mount of Olives, he has a hard word for them, and they find themselves unable to accept it. It is a hard word also for us to accept, but it is ultimately a powerfully saving and transforming word.
The Things That Matter Are NOT About You!


Virtual Bulletin: https://immanuelglenview.updates.church

The Transfiguration of our Lord

View/Download: 2021-02-14.The_Transfiguration_of_Our_Lord_-_Creative_Worship.pdf


AS WE GATHER

There is nothing quite like being an eyewitness, giving a special perspective to share on the event. Peter writes about being on the Mount of Transfiguration as he, James, and John were privileged to have a special vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. He states: “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16b–18). Today, through the words of Scripture, we, too, become eyewitnesses and are given a glimpse of glory in the vision of our transfigured Lord!

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

View/Download: 2021-02-07.Fifth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_-_Creative_Worship.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The Lord alone “is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Is. 40:28). He “sits above the circle of the earth” and “stretches out the heavens like a curtain” (Is. 40:22). Yet, His almighty power is demonstrated chiefly by His mercy and compassion. “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Is. 40:29). The only begotten Son of the Father, the very Word by whom all things were made, becomes flesh and takes all the poverty and weakness of our sin and death upon Himself, bearing it in His body to the cross. As He dies for us there, He also raises us up, a new creation, in His resurrection from the dead.

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

View/Download: 2021-01-31.IELC_Fourth_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany.pdf


AS WE GATHER 

In today’s Gospel from Mark 1, we are reminded of Jesus’ divine authority in His teaching to the people and also in His power over evil spirits. This power and authority was foretold by prophets such as Moses, pointing to the One who would fulfill all things as the long-awaited perfect prophet and Savior. In that power and authority, Christ has won our victory through His death and rising, and we are blessed with freedom in that faith to be used to His glory in service to others.

Third Sunday after the Epiphany

View/Download: 2021-01-24.IELC_Third_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany.pdf


AS WE GATHER

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.

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

View/Download: 2021-01  17_Second_Sunday_after_the_Epiphany_Bulletin.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Today we consider the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. How we live and interact with others is important, for we are representing the Holy Spirit. How we act when we are alone is important, for the Spirit is always present with us, and He has no desire to take part in sin of any kind. As we reflect, we remember the glorious news that we were bought with a price—the blood of Jesus, which forgives all our sins and removes all our shame. For that we are most thankful!

The Epiphany of our Lord (Observed)

View/Download: 2021-01-10_The_Epiphany_of_Our_Lord_Bulletin.pdf

AS WE GATHER

We consider the mysteries highlighted by the Readings for the Feast of the Epiphany. The Wise Men, or Magi, mysteriously show up in Jerusalem, and these strangers are looking for the King of the Jews. The King of the Jews is mysteriously an infant, born to a humble family in Bethlehem, not in Jerusalem. And this King of the Jews mysteriously invites all people from all nations into His kingdom. These mysteries, hidden for the ages, is revealed in Jesus, the Light of the world.

Second Sunday after Christmas

View/Download Bulletin: 2021-01-03_Second_Sunday_after_Christmas_Bulletin.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“Let our gladness have no end, alleluia!” (LSB 381:1). “Let our gladness banish sadness All throughout creation!” (LSB 371:1). These two songs of the Christmas season remind us that we are in glad times as we celebrate the birth of our Lord. This year, because of the way the days of the week fall immediately after Christmas Day, we are blessed by having not one but two Sundays after Christmas! Through the Holy Gospel today, we hear about our Lord Jesus when He was a young man—one who increased in wisdom and stature. Jesus was glad to be in God’s house when He was in Jerusalem. Our gladness in these special days is heightened by our being here for worship as we grow in wisdom and in stature by God’s endless grace!

First Sunday After Christmas

View/Download Bulletin: 2020-12-27_First_Sunday_after_Christmas_Bulletin.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son,” born of the woman, “to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4–5). Simeon praised God and blessed the parents of the Christ-child by confessing the cross for which this child was appointed. We also “greatly rejoice in the LORD,” because this child has clothed us “with the garments of salvation,” covered us “with the robe of righteousness” and called us “by a new name” (Is. 61:10; 62:2). The Lord causes “righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations” (Is. 61:11). The Time Has Fully Come for Redemption and Purification through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

Christmas Eve/Day

View/Download Bulletin: 2020-12-24-25_The_Nativity_of_Our_Lord_Bulletin.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Advent has long been a time of preparation, preparation for the celebration of Christmas. Yet the road to Christmas is anything but easy. It twists, it turns, and we meet many strange figures along the way. The Midweek series during this Advent has been presenting a different perspective. We have been hearing “Voices from the Edge.” Prophets cry out in visions. John the Baptizer preaches in the desert. The voices are varied, the places are strange. And... Angels! Angels appear whether you are asleep or awake. One thing is certain: in each encounter, God is preparing us for the celebration of the greatest encounter of all, the birth of Jesus, his Son, our Savior, the Redeemer of the world. As that event is upon us at our Christmas celebration in this service, we hear of that Great Joy for All people that was announced by an Angel!

Fourth Sunday in Advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2020-12-20_Advent_4.pdf


AS WE GATHER

The promise made to Adam and Eve after the fall, the promise signified by the rainbow after the great flood, the promise of a land for God’s wandering people, the promise of a Messiah from the mouths of the prophets to God’s wavering people: all of these come to fruition in the birth of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son. The Word of promise has become flesh and made His dwelling among us, full of grace and truth. So today we rejoice with unbridled joy! God does not leave us alone to our wandering and wavering. He comes as a baby, as our Savior, as our Lord, as the firstfruit of God’s restoration of all creation. Rejoice!

Third Sunday in Advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2020-12-13_IELC_Advent_3_Bulletin.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). What a beautiful proclamation from the Father! Jesus is more than meets the eye—more than a mere man. He is the Son of God. Yet, His identity will be challenged. Immediately following His Baptism, Jesus is tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He tempts, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). But Jesus remains faithful and does not sin. Then, at the cross, we hear a similar temptation from those gathered, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40). But again, Jesus remains faithful, doing the will of His Father. Rejoice that for Jesus’ sake, God looks at you as His baptized child and says, “This is My beloved son, my beloved daughter, with whom I am well pleased.” What a beautiful proclamation from our heavenly Father!

First Sunday in Advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2020-11-29_IELC_Advent_1_-Worship_Bulletin.pdf


As We Gather

“Very good.” These are the words used in Genesis 1 to describe what God sees as He looks over everything that He has just made. All of creation, including humanity, is perfect and just as God intended it to be. Yet, that perfection does not last long. With Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God’s command to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin enters the world. What was once “very good” is now fallen, imperfect, and not-so-good. Yet, already in Genesis 3:15, the Lord promises One who will save. Eve’s offspring, Jesus, will bring redemption by another tree—the tree of the cross. Through His birth, life, death, resurrection, and return, all creation will be restored and will again be “very good”!

Second Sunday in Advent

View/Download Bulletin: 2020-12-06.IELC_Advent_2_-Worship.pdf


AS WE GATHER

“The land of Moriah.” Our first impression may be that this geographic location in the Middle East does not have much meaning for us today. Yet, it does. A mountain in Moriah is the place that the Lord instructs Abraham to travel to in order to sacrifice his son Isaac. As the pair ascend the mountain and come to where God led them, the Lord intervenes and spares Isaac’s life, providing a ram as the offering. In the New Testament, “the land of Moriah” has even greater significance for us. This is where Jerusalem and the temple are built. This land is where Jesus will ascend Mount Calvary. God, however, will not spare the life of His only begotten Son; instead, He will allow Him to die for you. This sacrifice for you is what Jesus was born to do. Worthy is the Lamb whose death makes me His own!

thanksgiving day

View/Download Bulletin: 
2020-11-26_Day_of_Thanksgiving_Bulletin.pdf


AS WE GATHER

A Day of National Thanksgiving is an honored tradition in this nation. But thankfulness to God is something that transcends national borders and the boundaries of time. God’s people are always thankful people, for they know what great things He has done and continues to do for them. In Martin Luther’s explanation of the First Article of the Creed, he states that in response to God’s great gifts, it is the Christian’s “duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.” Our worship is one way through which we carry out that joyful duty.

The Last Sunday of the Church Year

View/Download: 2020-11-22_Last_Sunday_of_the_Church_Year_Bulletin.pdf


AS WE GATHER

Today is the Last Sunday of the Church Year. This Sunday is traditionally filled with themes of Christ’s roles as King and Judge. But consider these words from Psalm 95: “We are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” We are God’s chosen sheep. He is our Shepherd. We follow Him as He goes to seek the lost, bring back the stray, and bind up the injured.

24th Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin: 11.15_bulletin.pdf


As We Gather

We read today about three servants. Two were good and faithful. One was evil and faithless. Two enter into the joy of their master. One does not. Our Lord has entrusted us with many good and gracious gifts and sends us into the world to make disciples and multiply the gifts we have received. Yet, it is not our own work that leads us into the joy of our Master; rather, it is our Master’s work on our behalf. Jesus’ saving work of death and resurrection brings us into the joy of our Master.

23rd Sunday after pentecost

View/Download Bulletin


As We Gather

We hear today the extremely encouraging words from the apostle Paul concerning our everlasting life. Paul tells us, “We will always be with the Lord.” What comforting words! What encouraging words! You have the assurance that when Jesus returns, you will spend everlasting life in His gracious presence.

All Saints Sunday

View/Download: 2020-11-01_All_Saints_Day_Bulletin.pdf


As We Gather

At Christmas is sung “God rest you merry, gentlemen,” with “tidings of comfort and joy.” Those tidings were made because our Lord had entered human history. We will finally realize those tidings for ourselves when we join the saints in eternal glory, they who are seen in the vision we will read from Revelation. In the meantime, in these mean times, we rely on hope to get us through each day, as St. Paul writes in the Epistle. That hope is based on our being God’s adopted children, brothers and sisters of our risen Lord Jesus. It is both comforting and joyful, no matter our circumstances. As Jesus proclaims in the Gospel’s Beatitudes, people with such hope are blessed indeed!

Reformation Sunday

View Download: 10.25_Bulletin.pdf


October 25, 2020 will be the observance of REFORMATION.


We encourage you to Wear RED.


AS WE GATHER

To the consternation of His opponents, Jesus announced that those who abide in His Word know the truth, which sets them free. And the truth, Paul points out in the Epistle, is that God has declared us justified, not guilty under His Law, because of His gracious gift of faith in Christ. That gift frees us from fearing God’s righteous wrath; we are confident that the Lord of hosts is with us. Sure of His presence and protection, we need not fear the forces of nature, the conflicts of people and nations, and the wiles of the devil. Rather, in all that we think, say, and do, we are free to respond to the angelic invitation we hear today: “fear God and give Him glory . . . and worship Him who made heaven and earth” (Revelation 14:7).

20th Sunday after Pentecost

View/Download: Oct18.2020_Bulletin_doc.pdf


As We Gather

As the Lord speaks to us in His Word, He calls the righteous to live by faith and always gives reason why His people can do so through His continual presence, power, and providence. The Readings today urge us, in various ways, to live by faith in our confession and conviction. In Isaiah, He with great conviction reminds through the prophet, “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides Me there is no God.” In the Epistle, Paul assures the Thessalonians, “He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” Finally, in today’s Gospel, Christ urges us to live by faith and as stewards of all He has provided, to “render . . . to God the things that are God’s.” Moved by His Spirit out of gratefulness for the salvation earned for us by Christ Jesus, we then give God our willing obedience, dedicated service, and the glory due His name as we in confession and conviction live by faith in and through Him.