The prophet Isaiah provides a beautiful column of words from which to build a thoughtful sermon, but truly on this Ash Wednesday the sermon will not be built by words, but by the world that is still trying to stop the hemorrhaging of our much loved friends and family. Truly we sit upon an ash-heap of tears and unrealized hopes in this pandemic.
Read MoreAs congregations and worship leaders prepare for Ash Wednesday in this most challenging year, the ELCA Worship team offers this set of reflections by those serving the church as scholars, pastors, and bishops. Our hope is that their perspectives will provide thinking points as you reflect and prepare worship in your context.
Read MorePastor Steve Springer, Dove of Peace, Tucson, reminds us that January 15 is the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the day he’s on our Lutheran calendar. As Dr. King is a martyr, the liturgical color for today is scarlet red.
Pr. Springer shares five petitions, each beginning with "We remember" and a verbatim citation from "Letter From a Birmingham Jail."
Read MoreAgnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org.
Read MoreWith more than 100 years of history, this annual observance involves Christian communities throughout the world: January 18-25, 2021.
Visit the World Council of Churches site or view material in English, French, German, Spanish, or Portuguese.
Read MoreListen to devotional music available through Augsburg Fortress: “Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ;” “The Everlasting Light;” “Song of Thanksgiving.”
Read MoreSecond Sunday after Epiphany, Year B: Sometimes we feel as if we have no word from God, no vision, no place to come and see what God is doing, no center in a time of alienation. But, as the Psalm says, God has seen us and known us. More: in our baptism, God has called us, like Samuel, Philip, and Nathanael were called.
Read MoreThis weekend we celebrate and remember Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and all that he accomplished through the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We still feel Dr. King’s impact today. Dr. King sought equal rights for African Americans and all who are oppressed by the systems in the United States.
Read MoreListen to devotional music available through Augsburg Fortress: “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness;” “Borning Cry;” “Spirit of the Lord.”
Read MoreMany people go out to John, confessing their sins and hoping his baptism will be the sign of a new age, an indication of God creating all things anew. We, too, hope for such a new beginning and we, too, have been baptized, confessing our sins.
Read MoreLike most of you, I am eager to for my turn to come. When either of the approved vaccines becomes available, my sleeve will be rolled up and ready. These months have been lonely and life has been devoid of so many of the small experiences which make life such a joy.
Read MoreIncorporate care for creation into your worship life. Lutherans Restoring Creation is offering substantive care-for-creation reflections on the lessons in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B, 2020-2021.
These commentaries are exegetically-based, theologically sound, creative in their ecological exploration of the text’s potential, and effective in articulation. These are not add-ons, but an integral part of the exposition of the text itself.
Read MoreThe Grand Canyon Women of the ELCA present the Winter Gather Bible Study on January 23rd, 2021 from 9am to noon MST.
We invite you to join us and Rev. Christa von Zychlin to “Journey with Angels” by exploring the Bible in search for angels and God’s calls to action. Register here for this free event. Registration open through Jan. 21, 2021. English-to-Spanish closed captioning available.
Read MoreListen to devotional music available through Augsburg Fortress: “On Hills of Bethlehem;” “This Little Light of Mine;” “O Laughing Light.”
Read MoreHerod has a way to see the world: it is centered on himself, his power, his privileges, his city. We may often be like Herod, centered on ourselves, using religion only for our own purposes.
Read MoreListen to devotional music available through Augsburg Fortress: “A Babe Is Born;” “O God of Light;” “Now the Heavens Start to Whisper.”
Read MoreThis year on the Tenth Day of Christmas we keep Sunday once more, and the whole mystery of the incarnation of God in Christ washes over us again. Of course, we are often part of that world that does not know him, his own people who do not accept him. But the Word is given to us in these readings. Receiving it, the Spirit of God comes to us and we are brought to faith again.
Read MoreThese petitions are offered as guides to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world.
Download a Word doc, or PDF for letter size printout or legal size printout, or view the ELCA resource page.
Read MoreAugsburg Fortress has great worship resources for congregations and individuals available for 2021, some as inexpensive as three or four dollars.
Do a quick search for conspiracy theories and Google will give you over 100,000,000 results to explore. Conspiracy theories used to be confined to rumors and small groups of ardent believers.
The internet and social media have given conspiracy theories like QAnon and those who believe them a feeling of credibility and a highly effective way to broadcast their beliefs to a larger audience.
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