September 3, 2023
Series: Sundays after Pentecost, The Church...
Nothing can keep our Redeemer from upholding His promised salvation. Neither false expectations nor the gates of hell, neither an Egyptian army nor a flowing river, not even the great tribulation of the end times will keep our God from preserving His Church. The Church will stand forever.
August 27, 2023
Series: Sundays after Pentecost, The Church...
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Topic: forgiveness, Grace, Jealous, mercy, Reject
This week we begin five weeks of focus on the Church. The Church is meant for all people. The Prayer of the Day reminds us that it is only by God’s gift of grace that we come into His presence to offer true and faithful service. Today’s lessons teach that the gift of grace given to Israel, God also intended to give through Israel to the world. The Church is meant for all people: a display of God’s mercy and a result of the living and active Word of God.
August 20, 2023
Series: Sundays after Pentecost, The Christian...
The Christian answers doubt with faith. Doubt is the unfortunate companion of faith. Wherever faith clings to the promises of God, doubt is always right there lingering in the back of our mind, constantly asking the serpent’s Garden question, “Did God really say?” Today’s lessons show us believers who had faith in God and His abilities to save them, but yet doubted when His plans or purpose failed to match theirs. In each case, it is adversity that fights against faith and allows its unfortunate companion to rear its ugly head. And in each case, the true answer to doubt is not found in the great miracle that removes adversity but in the still, small voice of our Savior God whispering in His Word.
July 23, 2023
Series: Sundays after Pentecost, The Christian...
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Topic: Accomplish, Life, Love, Peace, Water
The Sunday is summarized in the Prayer of the Day, which thanks God for the implanting of the Word and asks for the Spirit’s help in producing fruits of faith. The Christian is planted by the Word and produces fruit.
July 2, 2023
The Holy Ministry preaches Christ in spite of persecution. Christ promises courage for His witnesses to testify even in the face of pain or persecution. The Prayer of the Day is one of the most ancient in the Church’s use. It seems to have been suggested by the disasters of the dying Western Empire. As Rome crumbled, the Church prayed for God’s governance that she might worship in peace and joy. Today Christ reminds us that even when that peace and joy are absent, He will give us the courage to continue to testify in His name. The Holy Ministry preaches Christ in spite of persecution.
June 18, 2023
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Topic: Objections, Purpose, Qualified, Questions, Sinners
The Holy Ministry is filled with people who God called out of His boundless mercy. Nothing else could explain the choices for ministers that God made! He calls such sinful and weak men to fill this office. Only mercy can explain the men He chose in this Sunday’s lessons: a despised tax collector, an exiled killer, a persecutor of Christians. How poignant these lessons are, when we remember that each lesson was penned by the unworthy minister called into service by God’s boundless mercy! The Holy Ministry is filled with people who God called out of His boundless mercy.
May 25, 2023
Series: Graduation
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle, Rick Muchka
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
May 23, 2023
Series: Sundays of Easter, The Redeemer Lives
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Topic: Confidence, Forgiven, Glory, Protected, Suffering
Live in eager expectation of glory! That glory is not dimmed by earthly suffering; rather, such suffering reminds us of the glory that awaits us. First the cross; then the crown. Our light and momentary troubles cannot mute the joy of living in eager expectation of glory.
May 18, 2023
Series: Ascension
In the early 700s AD, there lived an English churchman known to history as the Venerable Bede. He was the great teacher of the Middle Ages, the man who divided history into AD and BC, the first great historian of the English language and a devout man of God. On May 25, 735 AD, on the great Ascension Vigil, Bede finished his translation of the Gospel of St. John into Old English. Then, on that day of Ascension, he died. From his deathbed, the Teacher of the Middle Ages spoke the words that have become the Prayer of the Day on Ascension. This beautiful prayer sets the tone for the day, beginning with a note of triumph and ending with a supplication for the Spirit and His work.