The service for Ash Wednesday (Feb 17, 2021). We took precautions and did not have the imposition of ashes this year. But we do remember the curse of sin: Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen 3:19).
This year we go through the book of Zechariah during Lent and Holy Week. We hear the Lord’s call to “return to me” … “and I will return to you.” For our Christian life, we daily must remember to put first things first with repentance and faith.
We hope to capture all our Lenten services and post them here and on Facebook when they are available. If you would like to assist with recording a service (it’s easy!), contact the church office.
The service for the Transfiguration of Our Lord (February 14, 2021). As the congregation resumes the worship of our glorious God in the church, we join in Peter’s words, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” As much as our eyes delight in the beauty of creation or imagining the glorious sight that Peter, James, and John saw that day, we would do well to stay grounded in the Father’s words, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” Listening to Jesus, we are prepared for our departure from this world of sin to the glory of heaven, just as Jesus has done.
Note: As of this Sunday, the prerecorded service to be posted by Sunday morning will be eliminated. We know many of you have made this service part of your Sunday morning routine, and we apologize for the inconvenience and pray that the service is still a blessing to you. We do not have internet in the church so live-streaming is not an option at the moment, but we are looking into the project. We hope the service will be available to you by Sunday evening. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel and get notifications when the video is available. We pray that you will be blessed to participate in the service with the congregation even though there will be a delay.
Sermon theme: “‘Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here” – Mark 9:2-9
If you have been blessed with this service of the Word and would like to support this ministry, you can mail your contribution to:
Immanuel Lutheran Church 45 West Broadway Plainview, MN 55964
Please do not mail cash. Members: If you have offering envelopes, they are addressed and just need a stamp. If you do not have your 2021 offering envelopes, contact the church office to get them.
You can give online here through our online service or check out other ways to give a financial gift to Immanuel. Thank you for your prayers and support!
Since January the Elders and Trustees have been eyeing a time to return Sunday morning worship from the CLC to the church building. Procedures and precautions have been figured out so that we return to the house of our Lord on February 14.
What to expect:
Service times are still 8:00 and 10:00
Masks required
Entrance will be the elevator/handicapped door on the southwest corner of the building
Rows will be roped off for social distancing but changed between services to reduce shared surfaces (so 8:00 sits in one row and 10:00 in a different row)
Keep two chairs open between households
Hymnals will be in the pews but will not be necessary as we continue to utilize the projector and a portable screen for liturgy and hymns. The CDC has reported that hymnal use is safe and not proven to be a source of spreading COVID19.
Service format will be the same as we have done in the CLC with reduced liturgy and singing; distribution of Holy Communion at the end of service
Regarding the distribution:
We will follow our normal practice of continuous distribution, but please keep 6′ between people as you are ushered out
The bread/body and wine/blood will be served by Pastor and Elder(s) wearing gloves and masks. This is a change from the practice in the CLC where the elements were on tables for communicants to serve themselves.
The dismissal blessing will be reduced to “Depart in peace.”
Exit the building the same way you entered via the elevator/handicapped entrance. Railings and surfaces will be wiped before and after services. Use hand sanitizer if you have contact with any surface or person.
As we experienced in the CLC, we will likely adapt things as we go along for a few weeks as we learn what works or not and where bottlenecks occur. Please be patient, kind, and helpful as we gather in God’s house again.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”(Psalm 122:1)
The Service of the Word for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Feb 7, 2021). What do you make of Jesus? We as sinners want Jesus to be different or more accommodating than He intends to be. But that will not change His purpose to deliver the Kingdom of God to us. God does do great things among us. But those are not the main thing. Jesus is. To Him be the glory!
If you have been blessed with this service of the Word and would like to support this ministry, you can mail your contribution to:
Immanuel Lutheran Church 45 West Broadway Plainview, MN 55964
Please do not mail cash. Members: If you have offering envelopes, they are addressed and just need a stamp. If you do not have your 2021 offering envelopes, contact the church office to get them.
You can give online here through our online service or check out other ways to give a financial gift to Immanuel. Thank you for your prayers and support!
The service of the Word and prayer for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (January 31, 2021). Moses was one of the greatest prophets and leaders of God’s people. Yet there would be a greater prophet God would send. That prophet is Jesus. With so many false or misguided prophets around us, we need to listen to the Prophet to stay true to His Word to stay on the narrow road to heaven!
If you have been blessed with this service of the Word and would like to support this ministry, you can mail your contribution to:
Immanuel Lutheran Church 45 West Broadway Plainview, MN 55964
Please do not mail cash. Members: If you have offering envelopes, they are addressed and just need a stamp. If you do not have your 2021 offering envelopes, contact the church office to get them.
You can give online here through our online service or check out other ways to give a financial gift to Immanuel. Thank you for your prayers and support!
The service of the Word for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany (January 24, 2021). Have you ever suffered for the sake of being a Christian? The prophet Jonah did because God was sending him to a people to be forgiven when Jonah did not think they deserved it. Thanks be to God that His love is given to all who repent and believe in the gospel! It is a love that we will also suffer under because of our own sins and faulty judgments, as well as because of persecution for following Christ. But the Lord’s steadfast love helps us endure until the day when we will see that it was all worth it!
The service of the Word for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany (January 17, 2021). Jesus calls you to be a disciple, and God’s word forms our hearts and lives to live in a way that is pleasing to Him in our thoughts, words, and actions. This is the cross we bear as we live in a world that seeks its own pleasure at every moment. Holy living is not easy, especially in a world that sexualizes so many aspects of life and media and entertainment. But God has called us into the body of His Son, and in Him we are given holiness and forgiveness to live “a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other” (Small Catechism, Sixth Commandment).
The service of the Word for the Baptism of Our Lord (January 10, 2021). Pastor John Fuchs serves with the glorious message of baptism whereby we are brought into the kingdom of God. And it all begins with Jesus in the water where He stands in the place of sinners. That the glory of getting all wet!
The observance of the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord in word and song lights our hearts with the joy of Christmas. Epiphany, as we observe it in our liturgical tradition, is the coming of the wise men to worship the Lord Jesus and bring Him gifts fit for a king. They had followed the star to Bethlehem, but the real star is Jesus, because He is the light promised for all people, even these Gentile foreigners. May we also rejoice the the real Star of Christmas is Jesus, who shines on us with His Word and Sacrament to light our path to heaven!
The Service of the Word for the First Sunday after Christmas (December 27, 2020)
This service was not recorded to provide our volunteers and Pastor some time off during this busy holiday season. The video below is compliments of the LCMS video ministry, “Main Street Living.” Pastor Augustine’s sermon is below the video.
Rev. Dr. Roger Paavola, President of the Mid-South District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod presents the message “On the Other Side of Christmas” The message is based on Luke 2: 22-40. The program is interpreted and closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.
Pastor Augustine’s sermon delivered to the saints gathered in person today:
“The Death of 2020” Pastor J. Philipp Augustine
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)
Only 4 days left, and 2020 will be history. It’s funny how something totally symbolic, like the numbers on a calendar, can make people feel like they’re starting over with something brand new.
A new year means a new slate. A new opportunity. A new chance for things to work out right. And of course, new year’s resolutions, which may or may not happen. But that’s half the fun anyways. Because it’s all about new possibilities.
Are any of us sorry to see 2020 go? Probably not. But when have we ever mourned the death of the old year? I think for most of us, we’re happy to lay 2020 to rest. With only four days left, there’s almost no hope left to squeeze out of it. Especially when one abounding in hope is right around the corner.
We’re always running away from the things that give us no hope; or at least ready to leave them behind. And it’s even more clear in the stuff that actually matters.
Try being friendly with someone who is suffering. Try talking with someone who had a terminal disease – for someone condemned to die. Try visiting with someone who has been told that there is no hope; who believes there is no hope. When death itself is right around the corner. It is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Because we want people to have hope in spite of a hopeless situation.
In our text today, Simeon did have hope. The hope that there would always be a New Year’s Day for him and thus, life for him. As long as God waited to send His Son, there would always be a tomorrow. After all, “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”
What would you do with a promise like that? A promise that let you know that as long as you hadn’t seen the Lord’s Christ, there would most certainly be a tomorrow for you, no matter what? Every day would have the hope of New Year’s Day.
Until one day, when a young mother and father bring their baby to the temple for his dedication and mother’s purification and the appointed offerings. And the Holy Spirit reveals to Simeon that this child is in fact the Lord’s Christ. God’s Word had been fulfilled.
Therefore, tomorrow may never come again for him. Because for Simeon, where Christ is, death is right around the corner. Could we bear that day? Could we take it if God came right out and told us, “this is the day you will die”?
And there are no promises that it will be clean. No promises that death will be painless. No promises that we will die in peace. Nor that we will have a good death. Just, today you will die. Or maybe tomorrow. But it will be soon. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
But, to this Simeon said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
You are letting your servant depart in peace. A peace greater than the promise of not dying. A peace greater than a pleasant death. Because now Simeon had seen his Savior.
His eyes had seen God’s salvation, prepared in the presence of all peoples. He had seen God’s light. His Son Jesus Christ. A light to bring the Gentiles out of darkness. A light that was itself the glory of all God’s people.
Simeon knew that Jesus brought a peace far greater than the peace of knowing death was not today. That Jesus brought a hope far greater than the hope for tomorrow.
This Savior was one bringing so much, that Simeon couldn’t help but take the infant up in his arms. Because this Savior would bring about a peace that conquered death rather than delay it. This Savior brought a hope that went past tomorrow and into life everlasting.
And yes, this meant that by seeing Christ, death was right around the corner. But it was now better to say that where death was, Christ was right around the corner. This Savior came to follow death. As death shadows us, Jesus shadows death. Stalking it. Hunting it. Killing it. Using the ultimate trap of the cross, and Himself as the bait.
And by going to the cross, Simeon was right, a sword would indeed pierce mother Mary’s heart. Watching her son, the one promised by God, the one she raised, the one she loved, crucified on behalf of the world.
And yet, Jesus goes to the cross to swallow up death forever. That is why He’s our Savior. That is our salvation. Because through Jesus Christ is the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
These words of Simeon are historically used in the Divine Service right after the Lord’s Supper. Although for most of 2020 we have not sung them in order to shorten the service and our time together in one place. We will sing an adaptation before Communion today.
They are perfect words for what we have just received in Jesus’ own body and blood. Because there we have seen His salvation prepared in the presence of all people. We have seen the Light to the Gentiles, and the glory for God’s people. And we are dismissed from there into the world.
These words are also ones we hear in the funeral service. Where we trust that those dying in the faith have been dismissed from this world in peace. And that God’s Word has been – and will be – fulfilled.
Salvation also means resurrection. A hope greater than tomorrow. A peace right there in our presence, as Jesus is present even in death, preparing to give His resurrection at the right time.
We don’t need to wait four days to have hope. We don’t have to have a new year to live in peace. 2020 may be dying in four days, but that doesn’t mean a thing. Because Christ Jesus is here. Right now; for you. Because in the face of death, He is our life. Thanks be to God. Amen.