Posts by Rev. Greg Mech
Lent 2021 in a Time of Pandemic
From the Desk of Pastor Mech Immanuel Lutheran Church LCMS and Martin Luther School in Joplin, Missouri is Grounded in Christ, Guided by Grace, and Growing to Serve since 1897… NOTE: Lent 2021 begins on Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021. Our Season of Repentance in a Time of Pandemic — Lent 2021 As with everything else in the last eleven months, Lent 2021 will be observed somewhat differently this year. Exhibit One is our ashless Ash Wednesday. I read the…
Lent 2020 Sermon Series | Eyes On Jesus
From the Desk of Pastor Mech Immanuel Lutheran Church LCMS and Martin Luther School in Joplin, Missouri is Grounded in Christ, Guided by Grace, and Growing to Serve since 1897. Eyes On Jesus O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Gradual for Lent, based…
Top Ten Christmas Hymns
From The Desk Of Pastor Mech Christmas celebrations bless us with glorious music. This past season’s choir selections, instrumentalists and children’s programs kept me smiling and gave me warm memories to see me through the coming winter. One of the relatively unchanging elements of Christmas at Immanuel is our Christmas Eve festival of Readings, Carols and Candlelight. Most every year we sing the same beloved hymns, and I am fine with that tradition. Yet several people asked whether some of…
What Child Is This?
From the Desk of Pastor Mech Prepare to share glad tidings of comfort and joy, of a Savior who has been born to us, who is Christ, the Lord! Our Advent and Christmas focus will be shaped by a familiar Christmas hymn. The author of the series, Rev. Ralph Tausz, provides the context: The birth of a certain child two thousand years ago in Bethlehem prompted a poet in the nineteenth century to ask a very un common question in…
Words to Humble and Strengthen You
From the Desk of Pastor Mech These words are intended to humble and strengthen you as we approach Lent. Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations… A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. -Isaiah 42 And now the Lord says‚ … “It is too small a thing for you…
Keep Christ in Christmas
From the Desk of Pastor Mech The signs started popping up in 1977, exactly forty years ago, on billboards, church lawns and other places: Keep Christ in Christmas. It was a reaction to the increasing secularization and commercializing of a Christian holiday which seemed to have forgotten Christ, a birthday celebration where they forgot the birthday boy. This message was shored up by equally clever and ubiquitous signs stating Jesus is the reason for the season. I don’t know how…