The use of contemporary news stories and ashes focuses on our need for a Savior. The Day: Ash WednesdayIt was Ash Wednesday, and a woman sifting in a crowded Catholic church, leaned over to the young man next to her and asked: "What is it that brings so many people out on a cold night, to get a little dirt smeared on their foreheads, and to be reminded that they are sinners and that they are going...
According to the three-year ecumenical lectionary, developed in recent years, the Sunday before Easter is primarily known as the Sunday of the Passion, instead of Palm Sunday. The procession with palm branches is still recommended, but the emphasis of the day has shifted to the Passion of Christ, as seen in the suggested lengthy Gospel readings appointed. In this worship service, however, we have ...
There is one morning in the year when churches can get away with scheduling worship at a very early hour. That is Easter morning, of course! Some people will be there because they want to make the resurrection of Christ a reality in their lives. Others will come because their teenagers are in the youth group that is serving breakfast after the service. But whatever the motivation, it is a unique o...
God Cares This service was for a woman in her mid-forties, a wife and mother of three, killed in a traffic accident on a Sunday afternoon, on her way to the store. She helped her husband on the farm and was a member of the church. Members of the family and friends, in the name of Jesus Christ, our loving Lord and Savior: A few short days ago, you were together as a family, right here in church. No...
Grace Enough This service was for a woman in her thirties who committed suicide. She was a wife and the mother of one child, and a church member. She had a career as a nurse, working with disturbed children. Dear friends in Christ: In God's wise providence, none of us can see very far ahead. The future is always unknown. No one could have foreseen the kind of summons that brought us here for a fun...
[A Message for Good Friday. Bulletin outline found below.]
Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see.
Early in his Galilean ministry, Jesus invited Philip to follow him. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth." Nathanael responded somewhat sarcastic...
