Pastor Joel Leyrer - The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, August 2, 2020

Text: Acts 26:12-18

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Dear Friends in Christ, He rules the world in truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love… Those words may seem out of place on an air-conditioned August weekend, but you probably recognize them as coming from the beloved Christmas hymn:  “Joy to the World.”  Let’s keep that opening phrase in mind as we make our way through the sermon this morning:  He rules the world in truth and grace.

Pastor Eric Schroeder - The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, July 26, 2020

Text: Job 19:23-27

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²³ “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, ²⁴ that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! ²⁵ I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; ²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes — I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Christian Willick, Seminary Student - The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, July 19, 2020

Text: Matthew 15:21-28

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My dear brothers and sisters, in the name of our true brother Jesus Christ. Before the national health crisis shut down most public events, there was a musical on Broadway called Dear Evan Hansen. It features a high school boy who attempts suicide by jumping out of a tree, but manages only to break his arm and must now deal with the return to his heartbreaking life as an outcast. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. The reason I’ve heard of it is because a song from it came up on my YouTube feed. Now I don’t know all the algorithms that YouTube uses to suggest videos for me, or how much of my personality they could possibly know, but what I do know is that they got it right. That song spoke to me.

Pastor Joel Leyrer - The Sixth Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, July 12, 2020

Text: Colossians 2:13-15

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Dear friends in Christ,  As we continue our summer sermon series on the Apostle’ Creed today we come to a short little four word declaration of our faith that, perhaps more than any of the other statements, seems to always raise a number of questions.  Some are more theological in nature, such as:  When exactly did this happen? Why did it happen? What does it mean? Others are more of a personally curious nature, such as:  what impact does this event mean for us today? What practical application can it provide us as we live out our lives as Christians? Without further introduction, these are the matters we will now consider from God’s Word as we turn our attention to the meaning and the message conveyed in the little phrase:  HE DESCENDED INTO HELL

Pastor Kyle Bitter - The Fifth Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, July 5, 2020

Text: Leviticus 1:1-9

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Isn’t it amazing what a difference good cameras and modern computer enhancement technology can make to a person’s appearance? Maybe the most obvious example is the side-by-side pictures you sometimes see of a movie star or celebrity as they appear on the big screen compared to their appearance in regular life. Sometimes they’re hardly recognizable as the same person! Maybe you’ve seen the same thing on a more personal level by playing with the filters and lenses available on snapchat or Instagram or other similar apps. You can see wrinkles disappear, skin blemishes clear up, you can look years older or years younger, whatever you want – amazing differences to your appearance! Even though we all know such things are not representative of reality, we still find ourselves somewhat drawn to them – at the very least enough that we use them somewhat frequently. So why is that? I suppose on the one hand it’s just fun – it’s kind of a cool toy. But, I think there is also a part of us that is drawn to the idea of things being better than they appear to be. 

Pastor Joel Leyrer - The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, June 28, 2020

Text: Matthew 16:21-23

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Dear Friends in Christ. The last two weekends of our summer sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed were devoted to messages on the First Article, meaning they revolved around God the Father. Two weeks ago, we spent our time on a text that displayed God the Father as Almighty; last week’s text highlighted how he is the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Today we make a shift and move into the Second Article, devoted to God the Son. The first and lead-off statement we confess in the Second Article is beautiful in its clarity and simplicity. We declare: “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.”    

Pastor Eric Schroeder - The Third Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, June 21, 2020

Text: Genesis 2:8-9, 15, 20b-25

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⁸ Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Pastor Joel Leyrer - The Second Sunday After Pentecost - Sunday, June 14, 2020

Text: Exodus 3:1-10

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Dear Friends in Christ. If I gave you a minute, could you identify an old familiar family friend or relative who has always been around and seemingly has always been a part of your life? Maybe someone you grew up with or an especially close Aunt or Uncle? Someone you don’t even think that much about because they always seem to just be there? I’m guessing many of us can. 

Pastor Kyle Bitter - Trinity Sunday - Sunday, June 7, 2020

Text: 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

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So, whose side are you on? Doesn’t it seem like that’s become the question of the day in all kinds of aspects of society? Whose side are you on in response to a pandemic – people have all kinds of different ideas! Whose side are you on when it comes to racial and social issues – again, the lines seem to have been drawn! Whose side are you on when it comes to political ideology? If you haven’t noticed, it’s an election year! Sometimes it almost seems like everyone is expected to choose a side and then go to war against those on the other side until they’re forced to admit they were wrong with every single detail of their position! We’ve all seen the strive and turmoil that creates. Whose side are you on? It becomes the all-important question, and answering it causes nothing but trouble.

Pastor Joel Leyrer - Pentecost - Sunday, May 31, 2020

Text: Joel 2:28-29

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Dear Friends in Christ, I would propose that the word “unique” is routinely overused in the English language, but when it comes to the life of the Christian Church, that term applies today. While all the other great festivals and observations in the church center around an event in the life of God the Son (Jesus Christ), Pentecost does not. Today is all about the work of the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. In that sense, Pentecost is indeed unique.