The bulletin for this online worship service can be viewed or downloaded from here.

HOLY TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH

A Daily Dose of Good News

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Minister of Music Joshua Brodbeck’s musical mediation is available at https://youtu.be/H3H8khCtROs

Special Worship Notice for this Weekend

4:00pm Saturday, April 4– Live Backstage Worship using Webinar (requires Zoom software setup)
8:30am & 10:30am Sunday, April 5– Live recorded worship on YouTube (streamed anytime else too)

You can connect to all worship events at www.engagedbygrace.org/livestream,
make offerings at www.engagedbygrace.org/offering,
find a worship bulletin at www.engagedbygrace.org/bulletin, and
send greetings and prayer requests via screen messaging during Josh’s prelude in each service.

For the Blessing of the Palms, please take a branch or foliage from your yard or a planter before worship.

What Wondrous Love Is This

 1What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

2When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down
beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

3To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb,
who is the great I AM,
while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
while millions join the theme, I will sing.

4And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on;
and when from death I’m free,
I’ll sing God’s love for me,
and through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
and through eternity I’ll sing on.

Text: North American folk hymn, 19th cent., alt.

For a printable PDF version of the worship bulletin for Sunday, April 5, please click Bulletin 20200405-Printer Friendly

For a printable PDF version of this week’s letter, please click Remote Ministry Communication 20200405

Dear Holy Trinity Friends,

Greetings in the name of Christ as we share with you our fourth remote ministry communication, while we do our part to help stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We are praying for you everyday, that you are safe and well.  Please let us know if there are any other ways we can be of service to you.

New to our prayer concerns since our letter last week:

• Katya Brodbeck (Josh’s wife) is isolating at home with virus symptoms.
• First English Pastor Sally Padgett is isolating at home with the virus.
• Barb and Bob Campbell’s son is home after being hospitalized with high blood pressure.
• Nancy Riley is sick at home under doctor’s care with non-COVID-19 symptoms.

Remote Worship Update

Still learning as we go, we had 24 views at 4:00pm last Saturday, 69 views at 8:30am on Sunday, 140 views at 10:30am or later on Sunday, and 20 more views since then.  We will be using the same format going forward, with worship services always being available 24/7 at www.engagedbygrace.org/livestream or through the church website www.engagedbygrace.org.  When you use the website, click on the “Online Worship” tab and there is a drop-down option of dates for the service.  Please click on the appropriate date for worship.  There is also an option for a bulletin where you can choose to print or view it on a separate screen.

Please understand the Live Webinar Worship will always be a bit of a work in progress.  You might think of it as a Backstage Worship experience with the ability to message together at the start.  All worship services marked as a “Zoom” event will require first-time users to download software in advance.  Pastor Steve (steve.wachtman@engagedbygrace.org) is glad to help you get set up.

Below are the plans we have for worship during Holy Week.  We invite you and your family and friends to join us.

Yours in Christ,
Mike Christman, President; Vicar Sara; and Pastor Steve

 Holy Week Worship Plans

Palm Sunday, April 5

• 4:00pm on Saturday, Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 8:30am and 10:30am and after on Sunday
• Interactive Content
  • We have figured out a way to add a soloist to the hymns.
  • For the Triumphal Entry of the service,Vicar Sara is inviting families to record themselves and send photos or videos of themselves waving branches from their yards, banging pots and pans, or doing anything else as a celebratory gesture at the exciting sight of Jesus. Please email (sara.wunsch@engagedbygrace.org) or text to Vicar Sara at 513-581-6006.

Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (April 6 – 8)

• 10:30am live and streaming after
• Daily Dose of Good News with lessons and prayers around the Holy Week Story

Maundy Thursday, April 9

• 10:30am – Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 7:00pm Evening Worship
• Interactive content
  • For the confession and absolution, Pastor Steve will raise his hand to the screen.
  • The story of Jesus’ foot washing will be interpreted around our current commitments for hand washing.
  • The bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper will be prominent images for interpreting that text as we continue our holy communion fast for health reasons.

Good Friday, April 10

• 10:30am – Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 7:00pm Evening Worship
• Interactive content
  • Pictures of the Holy Trinity wooden cross will be prominent.
  • As a Tenebrae service, viewers are encouraged to begin the service with 1- 5 lit candles.
  • Pictures of each reader will be dropped from the screen after they complete their reading.

Service of Lament and Healing on Easter Saturday, April 11

• 10:30am, Live Remote Worship (Zoom Meeting)
• Interactive Content
  • Using Zoom Meeting, each participant will be visible on their own screen.
  • Each person on the screen will light their own candle for prayer, spoken or silent.
  • We will use only spoken liturgy for simplicity.

Resurrection of our Lord, Sunday, April 12

• 4:00pm on Saturday, Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 8:30am and 10:30am and after on Sunday
• Interactive Content
  • Households are invited to send in pictures in their Easter best via email (wachtman@engagedbygrace.org) or text to Pastor Steve at 614-579-8128.
  • Households are encouraged to make diorama Holy Week scenes using Legos, Play-Doh, drawing or any other medium, again sending pictures via email or text to Pastor Steve.
  • The Barrett family has agreed to provide special music.
  • Households are encouraged to add the fragrance of flowers to their worship time.

Please invite your family and friends to join us online for any and all of these remote worship opportunities.  More information is available in the Weekly Communication article above.

Palm Sunday, April 5

• 4:00pm on Saturday, Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 8:30am and 10:30am Sunday and streaming online 24/7 after
• Interactive Content
  • For the Triumphal Entry of the service,Vicar Sara is inviting families to record themselves and send photos or videos of themselves waving branches from their yards, banging pots and pans, or doing anything else as a celebratory gesture at the exciting sight of Jesus. Please email (sara.wunsch@engagedbygrace.org) or text to Vicar Sara.

Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (April 6 – 8)

• 10:30am live and streaming online 24/7 after
• Daily Dose of Good News with lessons and prayers around the Holy Week Story

Maundy Thursday, April 9

• 10:30am – Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 7:00pm Evening Worship and streaming online 24/7 after

Good Friday, April 10

• 10:30am – Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 7:00pm Evening Worship and streaming online 24/7 after

Service of Lament and Healing on Easter Saturday, April 11

• 10:30am, Live Remote Worship (Zoom Meeting)

Resurrection of our Lord, Sunday, April 12

• 4:00pm on Saturday, Live Backstage Worship (Zoom Webinar)
• 8:30am and 10:30am Sunday and streaming online 24/7 after
  • Households are invited to send in pictures in their Easter best via email (steve.wachtman@engagedbygrace.org) or text to Pastor Steve.
  • Households are encouraged to make dioramas of Holy Week scenes using Legos, Play-Doh, drawings or any other medium, again sending pictures via email or text to Pastor Steve.

By His death and Resurrection, Jesus has restored us to our Father.  Through our Baptism, God has made us part of His family.  God has given us purpose in this life.  God has made us His stewards.  Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit” (John 15:16).  God is almighty; He could have chosen any way He wanted to do His work. God chose us to carry out His plan. God also gives us grace to use all the blessings we’ve received from God to bear that fruit He’s appointed us to bear.  For more information about stewardship, please contact Max Buban.

HOLY TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH

A Daily Dose of Good News

 Thursday, April 2, 2020

At 10:30 today, this devotional will be offered online at https://youtu.be/aRUlXhAaV5k

 and will remain available throughout the day and the week.

Good morning!  How are you all?  I hope you’re well and hanging in there! Alright, our text for today is Philippians 1: 1-11.  Basically, it’s a letter from Paul to the church in Philippi, and I thought it would be interesting for us to reflect upon today.

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the Gospel from the first day until now.  I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.  It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel.  For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.  And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God”.

Here ends the reading.

I don’t know if you realize it, but the church of Philippi was one of Paul’s favorites.  There are many letters he wrote to many churches where he’s scolding them, and redirecting them, and correcting them or rebuking them.  But the church in Philippi is one that he thinks is doing a great job and that he thinks loves really well.  He cares a lot about them.  It struck me that he is both praising them for their efforts already and he is encouraging them at the same time.  So, I think that’s similar to how I feel about you all.  I know that you’re doing a great job already.  You may be surprised to hear that, but I hear stories about you all often.  I hear of different things that you all are doing at Holy Trinity, that have an impact on other people, and that you are loving them well.  So, I hear stories about you taking excellent care, extraordinarily, wonderful care of your elderly parents.  And I hear stories of you hanging out on your front porches, and your neighbors are on their front porches during this shelter in place, and you all just spending some time chatting together and hanging out.  Or you tell me stories about how you’ve put teddy bears in the windows.  So when kids are on walks with their parents, and they’re basically doing a teddy bear scavenger hunt, they can see the teddy bear in your window and know that it’s your way of saying:  “Hey! I see you!  I know you’re bored!  How are you doing?”  So, I hear wonderful things about you a lot.  And, at the same time, I like the end of this passage and how Paul is encouraging this group to let their love overflow. I’ll read that part again:

“And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God”.

What I love about that piece is that it says “Let your love overflow”.  It doesn’t say:  “Do everything you possibly can, work yourself to the point of exhaustion, and fall in a heap”.  What it says is:  “let your love overflow”.   So “overflowing” is this bubbling over, bubbling out.  Alright?  So it’s the concept of:  it doesn’t have to be hard or strenuous or extreme.  It’s just letting the love overflow out of you, easily, naturally. So, I think of us, doing this shelter in place.  Many of us are with our families and there are lots of jokes out there about how our kids are sometimes driving their parents up a wall, and how spouses are jumping up and down on each other’s last nerve.  There can be some frustration in that and some stress in that because we’ve been sheltering in place together now for a couple of weeks.  So while you’re doing a good job and you’re hanging in there, and some days that’s probably difficult… right?  That’s real.  At the same point, it’s a good reminder to just let our love overflow to those who are in our proximity.  So for those who are living with family, maybe that is making a meal that you know people like, out of what remains in your pantry, rather than just grabbing leftovers out of the fridge.

Or maybe showing love is taking the time to hang out and watch a tv show with one of your kids, even though you’ve got a bunch of other things to do.  Or maybe it’s when your spouse does something that’s super frustrating, instead of getting into an argument, it’s deciding you’re just going to let it go, and you’re going to shift and go do something else. And for those of you who may not be with family, it may be thinking about:  “ok, what’s a nice thing I can do for my neighbor- that’s pretty easy?”  So, maybe that’s just picking up the phone and talking to them for five minutes, or maybe it’s waving to them across the yard. It could be many different things.

But the idea is your love just overflows, into the natural places around you and you share that with others.  The great thing about that is, it does produce this harvest of righteousness. You have all these relationships around you, that have been planted and that have grown over the years and over time. And you loving on those people, you loving on those relationships, I think is righteousness!  I think that is a way that we show God to all the world, because God is all about loving relationships.  That’s what God came here for… So, while we may relate to Paul’s feeling of imprisonment, because he’s writing this text from prison, not knowing what’s going to happen next and feeling confined, as we can relate to…. In the midst of that, he’s thankful for what he knows and what he sees about this beloved group in front of him who is doing a great job already.  And I commend you also in that, you’re doing a great job already. And he’s encouraging them to keep it up, let your love overflow, and show God to the world in that way, as this harvest of righteousness.  Don’t stress out about it.  Don’t work yourself into a frenzy trying to think of good ideas. Just ask God to help direct you into what is wise and good that you can do to let your love overflow.  So I hope you spend some time on that today and I hope you have a great day.  Take care everybody.  Bye-bye.

-Vicar Sara