February 11 –  Baptism

Join us this Sunday for Baptism Sunday!  We will talk about what Baptism is - and what it’s not - as we wrap up our Back to Basics series.  

February 4 – Holy Communion

Holy Communion is a gift in which a deep union is forged between us and God and us and each other.  Our sins are forgiven and the unity brought on by Christ’s righteousness is renewed.  We will celebrate this gift and then receive it!

January 28 - The Apostles Creed

“I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord… I believe in the Holy Spirit…” These words from the Apostle’s Creed reflect the teachings of the Bible about our God. God’s triune nature is a mystery beyond our comprehension, centered in Jesus and totally committed to our eternal salvation.

January 21 –  Confession & Absolution / The Bible

At the very heart of God’s Word is God calling us to repentance and then giving us forgiveness, acceptance, salvation and eternal life through Jesus. This is often referred to as Confession of Sins (Repentance) and Absolution (Being told you are forgiven).  This Sunday we’ll start by talking about where the Bible came from, why we think it’s the real Word of God, and where different versions came from.  Then we’ll talk about why Jesus said that the entirety of It can be summed up in, “Repent and believe the Good News!” and why we include a time of Confession and Absolution in our worship services.

January 14 – The Ten Commandments / Why Jesus? 

There’s nobody alive who doesn’t understand the problem:  Humans are not perfect.  We make mistakes.  We hurt each other.  We fail. WE die.   Although different people would define these mistakes in different ways, Christianity uses the Ten Commandments.  Similarly, different people have come up with different ways to address the problem.  Many people have come up with systems in which a person can “do enough good” or otherwise purify themselves by keeping certain rules or following a system.  We call these “religions.”  Atheists will go so far as to claim that there is no problem, but this view is still a religion, a way of looking at the problem and the problem, death, is still present.   Christianity is unique in proclaiming that there is no system or anything any human can do, but instead that God has done all that is required to fix the problem through His Son, Jesus.  

January 7th - The Lord's Prayer

Following the six chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism, this series will use material from St. John’s Get Connected Class to teach the basics of the Christian Faith from a Lutheran perspective.  We’ll cover the Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, Confession and Absolution, Holy Communion and Baptism all in an interesting and captivating style. You’ll be left wanting more!  This first week, we will take a deeper dive into the Lord’s Prayer. Many of us have this memorized, but what might God want to say to us and shift in us if we linger within the prayer and let the Holy Spirit do His transformative work? Jesus gave us a powerful gift in this simple prayer!