Sundays:
Adult Bible Class - 9a
Children's Sunday school - 9a
Fellowship Hall
Divine Service - 10:15a
Sanctuary
Mondays:
Junior Confirmation - 6p
Fellowship Hall
Tuesdays:
Bible Study - 9:30a
Fellowship Hall
Wednesdays:
Men's Breakfast - 6:30a
IHOP on Seawall
Lenten Dinner - 5:30p
Lenten Service - 6:30p
During Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday, February 26, we will be offering Wednesday evening services at 6:30pm. The services will be preceded by a light dinner of soup and salad at 5:30pm. The meals are provided by individuals who signed up to host. The theme for the midweek Lenten services is “Joseph and Jesus’ Passion.” The readings will all be from the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Luke. Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, is often referred to as a “type” of Christ, in the sense that his life foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah. We hope you’ll join us this year for these midweek services in Lent.
The Third Commandment:
Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
The Fourth Commandment:
Honor your father and your
mother.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them
Some of the improvements we have planned to do around the church have been done and others are soon to begin. Pastor’s office has been built out over in the Fellowship Hall. This work was done by volunteers from the church. It looks great!! You can access pastor’s new office off of Ave. L through the glass door at the front of the Fellowship Hall. The addition of new ADA compliant restroom facilities for the church will begin soon. We are currently waiting to receive our building permit from the City of Galveston. Thank you for your contribution to these efforts, whether it be manpower, financial assistance, or, prayer.
The Gospel reading for the first Sunday in Lent is always the account of Jesus’ temptation at the hands of the devil. This year’s reading is Matthew 4:1-11. Since Lent begins with this particular event in the life and ministry of Jesus we understand that temptation is a central theme of the season. The devil tempted Jesus when He was most vulnerable. He was alone and He hadn’t eaten for some time. He was weak and fatigued. The devil tempted Him with power and with putting God to the test. Jesus stood valiantly on all accounts, trusting the word of His Father over the lies of the devil.
The devil tempts us too when we are most vulnerable. While his arsenal of temptations is seemingly limitless, he often strikes us with the temptation to lose hope in the mercy and forgiveness of God. In such times, our past looms too large and too insurmountable. Our guilt haunts us and we can’t seem to find comfort and solace in anything. At the end of that dark, long path, at least as we see it, is what we have feared many times. What if my faith isn’t really genuine? What if I’ve just been going through the motions, pretending to be like everyone else around in church? What if I’ve only been deceiving myself?
There is nothing more frightening than a faith that has come loose of its mooring. As the devil tempts you to find peace in solace in your faith, which is ultimately to find peace and solace in yourself, Jesus says to you, “I have bought you with a price. Behold, you are Mine.” (Matthew 13:45-46) The Gospel is many things, but at its core, it is objective, which means it is true regardless of how you feel about it, or, even how you feel about yourself. Jesus, we are told, is “the author and perfecter of your faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) In and through your baptism, God gave you faith, even as He adopted you as His own dear child. It is that faith that He will sustain and purify through His Word and Sacraments.
My friends, as you walk this Lenten road once again and the devil assaults you with seemingly endless temptations, remember He who walked the road before you, who has defeated sin, death and the devil for you.
“For us fights the valiant One,
Whom God Himself elected.
Ask ye, who is this?
Jesus Christ it is,
Of Sabaoth Lord,
And there’s none other God;
He holds the field forever.”
