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/Dowload: 2021-05-02.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

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 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/Download: 2021-02-28.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

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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

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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

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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.