Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – July 4, 2021

Please note: We apologize for the audio quality. We are still fighting a problem where a local radio station signal leaks into our audio. We took various measures to filter and edit the audio, but there are still times when it can be heard.

Hello Dear Friends,

We worship together this Sunday, the 4th of July, through our recorded worship service here on our website.

It will be a great way to begin our family and community celebrations of our nation’s birthday, by offering our lives entirely and primarily to God first.  Over the centuries, humanity has often struggled between loyalty to God and loyalty to nationality. Today we are reminded in our holy scriptures that the two are never equal, but that God alone is to be worshipped and glorified first and foremost. Sometimes our good loyalty to country can be  in contrast to God’s call on our lives, as the Lutheran Church experienced in World War II Germany. At that time, good Lutheran Christian leaders and regular citizens allowed their loyalty to country to either supersede or be equal to their faith in God and the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were only a relative few like Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who were willing to speak God’s truth to the power of a tyrant like Adolf Hitler, while the vast majority of otherwise good but desperate people forgot their baptismal covenant and went about their normal lives while the smokestacks billowed the ashes of millions of people deemed “not worthy” by that nations government.

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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – June 20, 2021

Dear People of God’s Spirit!,

We gather in spirit this 5th Sunday of Pentecost and worship together through the recording here. The bulletin and Celebrate are attached.

Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!  Now we are in the storm, the boat almost swamped; but Jesus is here now, and when we call him, he will calm the storm.  Even the wind and waves listen to him as they would to their creator.  We also listen to him and are called to believe in the power of God’s word in him, a power greater than all that we fear.

Our larger church expression, the ELCA, is producing a hymnal supplement called “All Creation Sings”. This Sunday, we introduce one of those hymns, so please plan on learning it with us. Selections of “All Creation Sings” can be found online (YouTube) by entering it in your search browser. As the Psalms often say: Sing a new song unto the Lord!

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Third Sunday after Pentecost – June 13, 2021

Dear People of God’s Spirit!

Jesus uses parables in today’s Gospel reading with images of sowing and growing to show the vitality of God’s reign here on earth.

The Memorial Service for Lu Sluiter was held Saturday, June 5th at 11am in our sanctuary. This was was our first public gathering since March 15, 2020. It was recorded and is available here on our website.

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Second Sunday after Pentecost – June 6, 2021

Dear People of God’s Spirit!

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel Reading – “Here are my mother and my brothers!” as he begins his public ministry teaching that the inner life of the Spirit is more important than any other pursuit in our lives – even our family relationships. All are truly welcome in God’s family, which we belong to when we set our lives to seek God’s will.

We worship together through the recording here. The bulletin and Celebrate are attached.

Our larger church expression, the ELCA, is producing a hymnal supplement called “All Creation Sings”. This Sunday, we introduce one of those hymns, so please plan on learning it with us. Selections of “All Creation Sings” can be found online (YouTube) by entering it in your search browser. As the Psalms often say: Sing a new song unto the Lord!

The Memorial Service for Lu Sluiter was held Saturday, June 5th at 11 am in our sanctuary. This was was our first public gathering since March 15, 2020. It was recorded and is available here.

[Read more…]

Memorial for Lu Sluiter – June 5, 2021

Dear Beloved Community at St. Stephen’s,

We will gather on Saturday, June 5th at 11am, in-person in the church sanctuary to worship God through lifting up our dear sister Lu Sluiter in memoriam.

This service will also be livestreamed. You can go to our website and open the link to the service there. It will also be recorded and posted on our website.

We will sing hymns that Lu had chosen in advance when we gather, as she prepared well for this time where her beloved church family and friends will be together giving thanks for the time that she was entrusted to us as one of God’s children.

Please wear a mask and sit only with those from your family/group, allowing for safe distancing. There will be no reception following. We ask that we move outside in order to have conversation and greet one another. Remember that this is a public gathering and we are still trying to take the best care of the most vulnerable among us, despite many other aspects of life returning to more familiar ways.