The Passion According to Mark - with reflections by Martin Luther

READINGS FOR PASSION SUNDAY 2015                      

Reflections from Martin Luther – Day by Day We Magnify Thee (Fortress Press, 1982).

Reading 1: Mark 14:1-25

Reflection:

Anyone who wishes 
to receive the Holy Sacrament

must offer to God Almighty

an empty, single, and hungry soul.

           

Therefore it is most fitting 
when the soul is least fit,

which means,

when the soul feels altogether wretched, poor, and devoid of grace,

it is most receptive for God’s grace 
and most fitted to receive it.

       

The Great and Holy Week

Worship Schedule

Palm/Passion Sunday:        6:30 pm         Sat. March 28

                                           10:30 am        Sun. March 29

Individual Confession          7:00 pm – 8:00 pm    Sun. March 29

                                            7:00 pm – 8:00 pm    Mon. March 30

                                            7:00 pm – 8:00 pm    Tue. March 31

Wednesday Evening Prayer    7:30 pm        Wed. Apr. 1

Maundy Thursday                    7:30 pm        Thurs. Apr. 2

Good Friday                            12:30 pm/7:30 pm    Fri. Apr. 3

Easter Vigil                              6:30 pm        Sat. Apr. 4

EASTER SUNDAY                     10:30 am        Sun. Apr. 5

    (Easter Breakfast 9:00 am, Children’s Egg Hunt 9:30 am)   

Sermon Lent 5, March 22, 2015

Friday nights were special at Camp Nawakwa.

The entire camp would trudge up

through one of the apple orchards

that dotted the Adams County landscape

to a small stone amphitheater known as ‘Upper Temple,’

from which one had a glorious view of the sun

setting over the hills.

There we would hold a worship service,

and then the campers and staff

trudged back down the hill for the end-of-week campfire.

When everyone had gathered

at another stone amphitheater in the woods,

a staff member would kneel inside the stone

as another one said,

‘Kneel always when you light a fire;

kneel reverently, and thankful be

for God’s unfailing charity.

And on the ascending flame

aspire a little prayer,

which shall up bear

the incense of our thankfulness.

Kneel always when you light a fire;

kneel reverently, and thankful be,

for God’s unfailing charity.’

Discipleship Moment #2 with Bishop John Bradosky

Bishop John Bradosky's meditation on the hospitality he received while visiting NALC missionaries in India:

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

For earlier discipleship moments, click here.

Sermon Lent 4, March 15, 2015

NALC 'Discipleship Moments'

“Discipleship Moment” videos from Bishop John Bradosky and other executive staff members will be published regularly to the NALC’s website.  These short videos can be used before worship on Sunday mornings, as an introduction to Sunday school or Bible study times, or for personal use.
Reflections on what the word “discipleship” really means, the vision for the NALC, and what it means to be “mission-driven” are just a few of the many topics you will hear about. Personal stories from local congregations, international missions and personal ministry experiences will also be featured.

The first Discipleship Moment - by Bishop Bradosky.

Sermon Lent 3 - March 8, 2015: 'The Freedom of the Commandments'

3 Lent Year B – March 8, 2015

Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22

St Stephen Lutheran Church

The Rev. Maurice Frontz, STS

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

During the Paris student riots of May 1968,

a phrase entered the French lexicon,

spray-painted on doors and crudely lettered on placards.

The phrase was Il est interdit d’interdire,

which I cannot pronounce.

‘It is forbidden to forbid.’

The phrase was perfect for that generation

which had been radicalized

and was ready to raze the foundations

of French society, a society that had failed to live up to its promise.

Socially, politically, and morally,

the young French had had enough of strictures,

and they wanted to tear down everything that stood in the path to freedom:

la liberte.

Sermon 2 Lent 1 March 2015

2 Lent Year B – March 1, 2015

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:22-30 (LBW) Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38

St Stephen Lutheran Church

The Rev. Maurice Frontz, STS

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To enter into a covenant is to bind oneself by one’s word;

to let the word that is spoken in the present moment determine the future.

Last week we heard of God’s covenant with Noah,

that the human race, sin and all,

would continue on the earth.

Genesis tells us that rather than flood the sin of the world out of existence,

destroying humanity in the process,

God would be patient with sinners,

finding another way to deal with the sin and evil of the world.