Worship Services
Worship Service for May 26, 2024
May 26, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Acts 2:14–36
There are times in our life when we have wondered if God cares about us or not. On this festive Sunday of Holy Trinity, we find the answer—yes! There has been a divine plan in place for this world. More than that, there is a divine plan and purpose for you. Listen to Peter’s words carefully. As you do, you will hear Peter tell about God’s definite plan for this world and His definite plan to redeem you and make you His child. Rejoice on this Trinity Sunday that God not only created you but has a definite plan for your life.
Worship Service for May 19, 2024
May 19, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Acts 2:1–21
The Day of Pentecost is more connected to Easter than to the Sundays after Pentecost. It is the fiftieth day of Easter, marking the new dawn under the guidance of the Spirit. The Lord works through the preached Gospel and our life together as the baptized around His Table to deliver what He has promised. Thus, the ministry of the Spirit is not some ethereal reality experienced in our feelings, but the concrete reality of the Word spoken into our ears to bring forth faith and the body and blood of Jesus received by faith in Holy Communion. This is the way the Spirit continues to work in us and for us and we continue to receive His ministry by faith and to celebrate this with great joy.
Worship Service for May 12, 2024
May 12, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • John 17:11–19
This Sunday is a bridge between the Ascension of Our Lord and Pentecost. Upon the Lord’s Ascension, the disciples were not left alone. They had the Word of the Lord and the promise of the Spirit to make known to them all that Jesus said and did. With the testimony of God’s Word and the witnesses to the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, the Church learned to trust in what the Lord had accomplished for their salvation and to be bold in witness to the truth of this Gospel. The Lord is still working in us through the testimony of His Word so that we may be His witnesses emboldened by the Spirit.
Worship Service for May 9, 2024
May 9, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Luke 24:44–53
While the Ascension is often underappreciated, it is a very important feast, and its message is deeply profound. We tend to think of Jesus’ ascension as an ending point, and no one likes to wave goodbye. Even the apostles felt a sense of apprehension. But our Lord prepared them by opening the Scriptures to them so that they might know where to hear His voice even as His visual appearance would not be with them. We know that they understood this, because they returned with joy and not fear, celebrating this event as a new beginning and not an end.
Worship Service for May 5, 2024
May 5, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • John 15:9–17
A treasured children’s song, “I Love to Tell the Story, has a refrain that follows each of the stanzas penned by poet Arabella Katherine Hankey, repeating the simple words: “I love to tell the story; ‘Twill be my theme in glory, To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and His love.” The original Greek language in which John wrote his Gospel uses the word “love” either as a noun or a verb some nine times in the section of Jesus’ words heard in the Gospel for today. Jesus wants His disciples and us to know the abiding power of His love. It is that love that compels us to love one another—and the “others” beyond our circles of family, friends, and other close relationships. We are blessed in hearing the “old, old story of Jesus and His love” anew today. May we be blessed in telling it out in love as well!
Worship Service for April 28, 2024
April 28, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • John 15:1–8
When Jesus uses the image of the vine and speaks of vineyards, He is choosing something very familiar to His hearers. Viticulture is well known around the world. More than eighteen million acres worldwide is used for growing grapes—from Panama to Tajikistan to Zimbabwe! Today, the cultivation of vineyards is still an important agricultural component in both Israel and the Jordan, lands where Jesus walked and taught. Life in the vineyard is vital! As branches grafted to the Vine that is Christ, we are vitalized by His power. As we worship, God’s life-supporting power infuses us! It is time to continue growing!
Worship Service for April 21, 2024
April 21, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • John 10:11–18
One of the small but interesting features of many cathedral and monastery churches in Europe and other places is presence of misericords. A misericord is a small wooden shelf attached to the underside of a folding seat in a church, often in the choir area. Misericords physically supported people at worship during long periods of standing during extended prayer and other services when sitting was not permitted. The term “misericord” means “pity of the heart.” That word is part of the church phrase Misericordia Domini, a Latin term for describing the acts of mercy of God to His people. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, constantly and consistently shows acts of mercy to us as His people. His care comes straight from the heart!
Worship Service for April 14, 2024
April 14, 2024 • Luke 24:36–49
Luke reports that at seeing the resurrected Jesus, the disciples “disbelieved for joy” (24:41). The theme of rejoicing is woven throughout the Scriptures. The psalmist exhorts: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise!” (66:1-2). The prophet Isaiah assures God’s people that they will have cause for rejoicing as he writes: “For the Lord comforts Zion… joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song” (51:3). Paul writes to people who know of the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ on that first Easter day: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). The season of Easter is a time for joyous praise that begins now!
Worship Service for April 7, 2024
April 7, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • John 20:19–31
Jesus' bodily appearance, one week following his resurrection, to the disciples who were cowering behind closed doors, and his words of forgiveness, peace, and comfort, show us today that Jesus still enters the room, your room, every room, to forgive sins, to grant the Holy Spirit, and to give us faith.
Worship Service for March 31, 2024, 9:00 a.m.
March 31, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Isaiah 25:6–9
In our text, we learn that "On this mountain" the Lord of hosts prepares a feast. The beautifully repetitious 8 words of Hebrew poetry read literally, "feast of fat things, feast of aged wine, fat things with marrow, aged wines purified." In the ancient Near East, where starvation was a constant threat, fatty and rich foods were the most desirable. (In Job 21:24, "bones rich with marrow" describes a prosperous, satisfied person.) This fine meal fully satisfies the members of God's household, even amid our earthly sorrows and cares (Ps 36:8). This has many parallels to the Lord's Supper. This banquet is the end-times meal Jesus promised after instituting the Lord's Supper, when he will dine with us "anew" (Mt 26:29; cf. 1 Cor 11:26). It is the marriage supper of the Lamb, accompanied by hymns (Rev 19:6–9).
Worship Service for March 31, 2024, 6:30 a.m.
March 31, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Exodus 15:1–11
The Old Testament Lesson appointed for Easter Sunrise this year is a portion of the crossing of the Red Sea narrative (Ex 13:17 through 15:21). The crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh's armies are to the Old Testament what Good Friday and Easter Sunday are to the New Testament. Both speak of God's great acts of salvation on behalf of his people.
Worship Service for March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Psalm 41:10
Nothing could be more natural than seeking revenge against one who has wronged you. Even the youngest child’s untrained sense of fairness demands payback. God’s children, however, are not to submit to human thinking but to the Word of God. What do the Scriptures say about our desire for revenge? When King David’s enemies rose against him, the Holy Spirit inspired him to pray in Psalm 41:10, “But You, O Lord, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them!” David prays for vengeance, and God ordains vengeance. Yet the Scriptures also tell us not to “resist the one who is evil” (Matthew 5:39). What are we to make of this paradox? As with all matters of faith, we must look to our Lord’s crucifixion for the answer. For only by the cross is God gracious to you; only at the cross does He demand payment for every injustice.
Worship Service for March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Psalm 41:9
Have you ever been betrayed by someone close to you? You are not alone. King David prayed in Psalm 41:9, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” To have a heel lifted against you is to receive a tremendous kick. It is a kick that sends you reeling and knocks the breath out of you—much like the feeling of being betrayed by a trusted friend. When trust has been broken, you can pray David’s words as your own and put your trust in the One whose betrayal they prophesy. For your Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took the pain and shame for you.
Worship Service for March 24, 2024
March 24, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Mark 16:15–20
Today’s processional Gospel looks at the first day of Holy Week, and the Passion carries us on to Jesus’ tomb. Throughout the entire week, and since His transfiguration, our Lord has moved toward the cross step by step. Despite opposition from crowds and His circle of friends, He has been determined to love us to death so that He might open heaven to us by the grace of God. Zechariah had written about the procession centuries earlier, and Paul proclaims that God the Father has exalted Jesus for His steadfast commitment to our salvation. But this is no mere history! We also are called to follow, to live through each day, step by step, faithful under various circumstances yet confident of mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
Worship Service for March 20, 2024
March 20, 2024 • Rev. Daryn Bahn • Psalm 41:7–8
In Psalm 41:7-8, David lamented, “All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me. They say, ‘A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.’” These words pointed forward to our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose again in defiance of His enemies. Do you have enemies who whisper and scheme against you? Have you been brought low—perhaps so low that you despair of ever rising again? Jesus was vindicated in His resurrection, and you shall be too. You can have certainty in your resurrection and vindication because Jesus Christ is risen.