'worship' Tagged Posts
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…
Business As Usual | Lent Devotion
Business As Usual Daily Devotion for Lent | Tuesday, March 19 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 What happens when “business as usual” is sin? Think of the merchants and the money changers, sitting there comfortably in the large temple court, doing business just as they had done every day for years. Listen to the lambs bleating and the pigeons calling from their cages. Don’t breathe too…
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…
POWERwalk Returns in November
Saturday Services, Version 3.0 POWERwalk Saturday Evenings, beginning on November 10 | 6:00 to 7:00 pm Part of Immanuel’s mission statement declares that we are “Grounded in Christ.” This means that the people of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin are committed to providing opportunities for folks to worship, to hear God’s Word proclaimed, and to study the Bible together. POWERwalk has been an opportunity to do just that. In our first walk through the Scriptures together (version 1.0), we read…
Covering For Shame
Covering For Shame Daily Devotion for Lent | Tuesday, March 20, 2018 Read John 19:23-24. And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting lots. (Matthew 27:35) Most of us know shame. Shame for something we’ve done long ago, something almost forgotten until a chance word reminds us, and we cringe. Shame for something that was done to us, that we know was not our fault, but we can’t shake the memory. Shame for something…
Water And Blood
Water And Blood Daily Devotion for Lent | Monday, March 19, 2018 Read: Matthew 27:24-26. So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd … (Matthew 27:24a) It was so dramatic—and such a waste of time. Pilate’s little act with the handwashing did no good at all. “Innocent of this man’s blood”? Hardly. Everyone knew he was too scared to act justly and…
Crown Of Thorns
Crown Of Thorns Daily Devotion for Lent | Sunday, March 18, 2018 Read John 19:1-5. So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” (John 19:5) Where I grew up there is a little desert plant called “crown of thorns.” It has long spidery branches so covered in thorns you can’t even touch the bark. Bright green leaves grow toward the ends of the branches, and small red flowers—round…
No Regrets
No Regrets Daily Devotion for Lent | Saturday, March 17, 2018 Read John 19:1-5. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged Him. (John 19:1) “Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.” Such a short sentence for such a terrifying punishment. A Roman flogging was no joke. The victim was stripped and tied facing a pillar to prevent him running or collapsing to the ground. Two skilled men held whips resembling a cat-o’-nine-tails. The limit on the number of strokes? Among Romans,…
Dress-Up
Dress-Up Daily Devotion for Lent | Friday, March 16, 2018 Read Mark 15:16-20. And they clothed Him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him. And they began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Mark 15:17-18) When you were little, did you ever play dress-up with your parents’ clothes? Perhaps you tried on mom’s shoes, or dad’s tie. Perhaps it was an older brother’s graduation cap or a sister’s wedding…
Tables Overturned
Tables Overturned Daily Devotion for Lent | Sunday, March 4, 2018 Read Mark 11:15-19. And He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. (Mark 11:15b). Some things just shouldn’t be there—like a whole market set up inside the temple courtyard itself. Pigeons, oxen, sheep—a zoo full of noise. Air filled with smells, dust, and feathers. Men sitting behind tables to change foreign money into money acceptable for temple use, there were cheaters and…