The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22. Each Sunday during Lent, Pastor David will be preaching a series of sermons titled “A Journey of Stones.” When Moses brought the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel, he found them to be in grievous sin worshiping a golden calf. In his anger he threw down the stone tablets, breaking them into pieces. Each Sunday, we will clutch the metaphoric stones of the tablets in our hands, contemplating the hardness of our hearts and the weight of our sin as we journey to the cross. During the Hymn of the day worshipers will cast their stones down at the foot of the cross where Christ won the ultimate victory over sin and death.
The journey of stones is an impactful and contemplative series. All are encouraged to attend each Sunday during Lent so as to participate and hear the entire series. Below is an outline of the Journey of Stones Lenten Series.
Feb. 26—Written in Stone; Ten Commandments
Mar. 5—Rejected Stones: Mark 12:1-12
Mar. 12—Stick and Stones; John 8:1-12
Mar. 19—Hearts of Stone; Luke 11:37-52
Mar. 26—Built on This Rock; Matthew 16:13-20
Apr. 2 (Palm Sunday)—Crying Stones; Lk 19:29-40
Worship Service Archive
A Journey of Stones
Posted March 3, 2023 By adminWorship at Generations
Posted March 3, 2023 By adminWorship services at Generations Assisted Care of Chapin have made a great difference in the lives of many folks who are not able to attend worship at their home church. St. Jacob’s members are invited and certainly encouraged to share this experience with our friends just down the road. Our next worship opportunities will be on Sunday, March 5th and March 19th at 1:00PM. Join us in the lobby at Generations.
Lenten Prayers
Posted March 3, 2023 By adminDuring Lent, Christians all over the world focus on the disciplines of faith. One central and powerful discipline we can all engage in is prayer. This Lenten season, all members of St. Jacob’s are encouraged to deepen their prayer life by setting aside time each day to pray. Pray for your neighbors, pray for our congregation, pray for your family, and lastly, pray for yourself. Holy Scripture has much to say about God’s command for his people to pray.
Psalm 77:1 – “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.”
James 5:16 – “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
During Lent, everyone is encouraged to lift your prayers to God. Below are some daily prayers you may consider in these remaining days of Lent. The dates in bold we will pray as a congregation during worship special prayers for those who are listed.
March 1 – Pray for our church council and their families
March 2 – Pray for our church staff and their families
March 3 – Pray for our ministry team leaders and their families
March 4 – Pray for our church family; homebound, disconnected, and away from home
March 5 – Pray for our choir and musicians
March 6 – Pray for the pastor and his family
March 7 – Pray for our Sunday school
March 8 – Pray for our NALC Bishop Dan Selbo
March 9 – Pray for the NALC Staff
March 10 – Pray for our Dean, Pastor David Tholstrup
March 11 – Pray for our local emergency personnel (Police, Fire, EMT)
March 12—Pray for Doctors, nurses and medical assistants
March 13 – Pray for our President and Governor
March 14 – Pray for our Senators and Congressional Representatives
March 15 – Pray for the homeless in our community
March 16 – Pray for those who feel alone
March 17 – Pray for those who grieve lost loved ones
March 18 – Pray for those who are afraid
March 19 – Pray for parents
March 20 – Pray for people living in abusive relationships
March 21 – Pray for all caught in the wake of natural disasters
March 22 – Pray for married couples
March 23 – Pray for those going through divorce
March 24 – Pray for the recently retired
March 25 – Pray for people considering the adoption of children
March 26 – Pray for anyone suffering from addiction
March 27 – Pray for the elderly of our community
March 28 – Pray for those who suffer from hunger
March 29 – Pray for those who suffer from depression
March 30 – Pray for missionaries all over the world
March 31 – Pray for those who hurt your feelings or caused you distress
April 1 – Pray for your spouse or significant other
Holy Week
April 2 (Palm Sunday) – Give thanks for Jesus and His public ministry
April 3 – Just as Jesus cleansed the temple, pray for correction with in the Christian Church
April 4 – As Jesus taught in the temple, give thanks for teachers, librarians, and all educators
April 5 (The Day of Preparation) – Give thanks for the opportunity to serve others
April 6 (Maundy Thursday) – Give thanks for Holy Communion
April 7 (Good Friday) – Ask God for forgiveness, give thanks for His grace
April 8 (Holy Saturday) – Give thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit
Holy God, Give us the will and the desire to come to you in prayer. Hold us in earnest as we pray for all those included within this list, and especially for all whom we may have failed to include. Into your hands, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy through your Son Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Worship at Generations
Posted February 1, 2023 By adminEvery other Sunday, Pr. David leads worship for the residents of Generations Assisted Care of Chapin. This ministry has made a great difference in the lives of many folks who are not able to attend worship at their home church. The congregation is invited and certainly encouraged to share this experience with our friends just down the road. Our next worship opportunities will be on Sunday, February 5th and February 19th at 1:00PM. Join us in the lobby at Generations.
Call To Prayer
Posted January 5, 2023 By adminPastor David is calling all members of St. Jacob’s to pray for St. Jacob’s spiritual health, vision, and growth. Everyone who is willing to gather for Prayer, or come at a time when you can be alone, is encouraged to do so each Monday afternoon or evening in January. Beginning on January 9th, the Church sanctuary will be open
from 12:00PM to 5:30PM. You may simply enter the nave, take a seat in the
pews and lift up your prayers to our God who promises to hear you. As the evangelist writes in the book of James, “The prayer of a righteous person has
great power as it is working” (James 5:16).
Choir Notes
Posted January 3, 2023 By adminWhat was that hymn?
I’m sure there have been weeks when you left church wondering where on earth did that hymn come from, and some weeks we sing everyone’s favorites. There is a pattern to the hymns that we sing each week. I would love to pick my favorite hymns each week, but the hymns are chosen based not only on the season of the church year but the lessons for the day. Our opening hymn prepares us for worship. It invokes God, the Holy Spirit, to dwell with us as we gather and hear God’s word. It often addresses our need to enter into worship with open hearts and confessing our need for our savior.
The hymn of the day, which we sing just after the sermon, is chosen by the pastor to support the message for the day. All of the lessons and the psalm tie together to support the theme of the day. The prayer of the day just before the children’s sermon usually gives an idea of how the lessons all tie together. The hymn of the day does the same. We also sing hymns during communion.
As I stated in a previous article, the church body joins as one when it raises its voice in song with all the saints on earth and with the heavenly hosts gathered around the throne of God. As one we come forward to receive the body and blood of Christ. Although many think of communion as a very personal experience, just as its name suggests, it is a communal act. We gather as the first Christians did, and as Jesus and his disciples in the upper room, and we confess our sins and are fed with the body and blood of Christ. We join our voices in song at communion to join with each other for the feast. These hymns are almost always about Jesus our savior.
Finally, the closing hymn is a hymn of praise. We have been forgiven of our sins, God’s word has been opened for us just as Jesus did for his disciples on the road to Emmaus, and we have received the body and blood of Christ. We leave the church praising God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and profess our commitment to go into the world and share his good news.
The hymns we sing each Sunday are chosen very carefully to reflect all the elements I have listed above. I often find it helps to read the hymns without singing to truly get the full message of the words. I encourage you to pay attention to the words we are singing. What is it that we are saying through our music. We are not simply enhancing our worship with music. We are speaking to God as we lift our voices in song. If you are not familiar with a particular hymn and are having difficulty singing it, read it to yourself as the congregation sings. What are the words saying to
you and to God?
Through the centuries we have been blessed with a rich abundance of hymns. There are many like Amazing Grace, that we can sing by heart, but there are also many hymns we are less familiar with that can enrich our worship and our under-
standing of the Word.
Starting this month we will have a hymn of the month to help us learn some of these less familiar hymns. This hymn will be sung at communion and we will sing this same hymn each week for a month. Please sing along with us and learn the music that God has blessed us with.
In Christ,
Angela
Thank You!
Posted January 3, 2023 By adminThank you to all who shared their musical gifts and talents with our church family during our Christmas Prelude and worship services on Christmas Eve. Your music truly beautiful and greatly enhanced our worship
Advent at St. Jacob’s
Posted December 5, 2022 By adminAt St. Jacob’s we will celebrate Advent in traditional ways. Sunday worship services will focus on the lessons prescribed by our lectionary. Our mid-week services will feature dramatic readings and the Vespers liturgy from the Lutheran Book of Worship.
On Wednesday, December 21, we will include a special prayer and candlelight hymn as we worship on the Longest night of the year. Traditionally called “Blue Christmas” worship on the longest night reminds us that through Christ, light has come into the world, and the darkness shall not overcome it.
Advent service begin each Wednesday in December at 6:30PM. Further information will be shared in the weekly worship bulletins. Note: There is no Holy Communion shared as we use the Vespers liturgy.
An Advent Message from Pastor David
Posted December 5, 2022 By adminIn the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3
Have you seen something wonderful today? Have you noticed the beauty of God’s creation all around you? The world we live in is filled with beautiful things, trees, lakes, rivers, animals; the list goes on. All of these and everything is the result of the creative love of God. Sometimes I wonder if we can even imagine the conditions before God said “Let there be…” We humans cannot begin to understand the formlessness and void of creation in the beginning. Yet God said, “Let there be…” And it came to be.
As Christians all over the world begin to observe the Advent of our Lord Jesus, we do so by recalling the history of our salvation through Christ, which begins of course, in the beginning. As we read Holy Scripture, we believe Christ was present in the creation of all there is. The opening verses of the Gospel according to John teach us “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1- 4).
The Creation narrative teaches us that apart from God there is no life or light. Still, even today so many continue to discount God’s creating love. Many people also deny the presence of God in the world or even in their lives. Yet, the simple fact remains, without God there is nothing. Without God humans have no purpose. Without the love of God in Christ Jesus, the people of the world walk in the darkness of their sin and their reality is such that they have no hope for salvation.
Jesus is the light of the world; he is the one in whom we find hope. Through Christ, God’s Word incarnate, the people of God are able to walk in the light of God’s mercy and grace. Our lives are no longer formless, they are not void, rather, they are filled with the purpose of proclaiming the gospel and the vocation of love for our neighbor. Today, as we find ourselves at the beginning of Advent, we find ourselves as sinners awaiting the celebration of our Savior’s entrance into earthly life in order to rescue God’s people from sin and death. In Advent, we find ourselves at the beginning, the beginning of new life in Christ. We believe that Christ’s presence at the beginning of Creation proves the creative nature of God’s faithful and redeeming love.
People of God, Christmas is just around the corner. As a disciple of Jesus, invite someone to worship with us at Christmas, and in the beginning of the new year, perhaps God will work the miracle of faith within their hearts and minds so that, they too may experience a new life in Christ; a life that was meant for them from the beginning.
Thank you God, for this beautiful world in which we live. Thank you for each person you have created in your image. Most of all, thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, who is our light and our life. Amen.
Worship at Generations
Posted December 5, 2022 By adminEvery other Sunday, Pastor David leads worship for the residents of Generations Assisted Care of Chapin. This ministry has made a difference in the lives of many folks who are not able to attend worship at their home church. The congregation is invited and certainly encouraged to share the love of Christ Jesus in worship with our friends just down the road. Our next worship opportunity will be: Sunday, December 11 with a service of Christmas Lessons and Carols. We begin our worship at 1:00PM in the lobby. Join us as you are able and bring a smile to those whom God loves.
