Pilgrim Worship, The Day of Pentecost May 28, 2023

  Pilgrim Lutheran Church

The Day of Pentecost

May 28, 2023

We're thankful you've come here to watch our service and to worship the one true God!

This was another exciting Sunday at Pilgrim Lutheran Church!  Once again, we had lots of great activities going on, starting with our 10:30 am Worship Service.  Afterward, we gathered for food, conversations, and Adult Bible study, while the children enjoyed Sunday School.  These classes are full of activities and teaching, so the children learn how much God loves them!

If you live in the Burton area, please consider joining us on Sunday mornings!  Anyone can watch our services live on Facebook or later on Pilgrim's website.

Here is information about today's worship service:

SCRIPTURE READINGS

     Old Testament:  Numbers 11:24–30

                  Psalm:  Psalm 25:1–15

  Second Reading:  Acts 2:1–21
                 Gospel:  John 7:37–39

OUR THEME FOR WORSHIP
The Day of Pentecost is often associated with the flames of fire described in the Second Reading today [Acts 2:3].  However, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus prophesies what will happen on Pentecost, and invites us to consider a different image of the Holy Spirit’s work.  Check it out at John 7:37-39.

To watch the video of today's service, please click HERE.

Peace in Christ, your Savior,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

       Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save"  Zephaniah 3:17  

Thursday Psalms: The Friendship of the LORD

 

Everyone knows there is a difference between acquaintances and friendships.  We talk to acquaintances; we walk with friends.  Acquaintances don't require very much effort to retain; friendships require service, sacrifice and investment of time and emotions.  Acquaintances can be fleeting and short-lived; true friendships often last a lifetime.

These verses of Psalm 25 are assigned for this coming Sunday in the church year, The Day of Pentecost, which commemorates God's gift of His Holy Spirit upon His Church on earth.  So what might be the connection between friendship [v14] and Pentecost?  

Psalm  25:1-15

¹ To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

² O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.

³ Indeed, none who wait for You shall be put to shame;

      they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

⁴ Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.

⁵ Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation;

      for You I wait all the day long.

⁶ Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, 

      for they have been from of old.

⁷ Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

      according to Your steadfast love remember me, 

         for the sake of Your goodness, O Lord!

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way.

⁹ He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way.

¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

      for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

¹¹ For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

¹² Who is the man who fears the Lord?

      Him will He instruct in the way that he should choose.

¹³ His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.

¹⁴ The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him,

      and He makes known to them His covenant.

¹⁵ My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net. 

One of the sure hallmark signs of friendship is being physically together in good and bad times.  On the Day of Pentecost, God gave His Holy Spirit to His Church, and in your baptism, God gave His Holy Spirit to YOU.  God the Holy Spirit lives in you and in all believers, and in this way, God has befriended you and me.  

Check out verses 8-14 for evidence of God's constant presence in your life and mine.  Every day, the Holy Spirit instructs, leads, and teaches you.  Every day, the Holy Spirit shows you God's path and keeps you in His covenant promises.  Every day the Holy Spirit abides in you and you abide in Him.  

Pause and lift up a prayer of thanks to God, that He shows you His friendship in two eternally important ways.  First, by sending Jesus His Son to be your Savior and win forgiveness of all your sins.   Second, God gave to you His Holy Spirit to walk with you every day of your life.  

Truly, the friendship of the Lord is the best friendship anyone has ever had!

Peace to you!

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

     We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

        Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

"My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:2 

Pilgrim Worship Sunday May 21, 2023

 

Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, Duccio, ca. 1308-1311

  Pilgrim Lutheran Church

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 21, 2023

We're thankful you've come here to watch our service and to worship the one true God!

This was another exciting Sunday at Pilgrim Lutheran Church!  Once again, we had lots of great activities going on, starting with our 10:30 am Worship Service.  Afterward, we gathered for food, conversations, and Adult Bible study, while the children enjoyed Sunday School.  These classes are full of activities and teaching, so the children learn how much God loves them!

If you live in the Burton area, please consider joining us on Sunday mornings!  Anyone can watch our services live on Facebook or later on Pilgrim's website.

Here is information about today's worship service:

SCRIPTURE READINGS

   First Reading:   Acts 1:12–26

              Psalm:   Psalm 68:1–10
              Epistle:  1 Peter 4:12–19, 5:6–11
             Gospel:   John 17:1–11

OUR THEME FOR WORSHIP
In John chapter 17 God gives us what is often called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, and today’s text includes only the first few verses.  In Jesus’ prayer, He reveals His Father’s love for us and Jesus describes the love He shows to us in His saving work on earth.  We’ll discover many awesome things God does for us and to us in these verses.

To watch the video of today's service, please click HERE.

Peace in Christ, your Savior,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

       Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save"  Zephaniah 3:17  

Thursday Psalms: Ascension Day

The psalm assigned for this, Ascension Day is Psalm 47, which you might think is a curious and non-obvious choice after reading it.

PSALM 47

1 Clap your hands, all peoples!

Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,

a great King over all the earth.

3 He subdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

4 He chose our heritage for us,

the pride of Jacob whom He loves.

5 God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

7 For God is the King of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm!

8 God reigns over the nations;

God sits on His holy throne.

9 The princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

He is highly exalted!

A little context for the original writing of this psalm will help bring us to this Ascension Day. This psalm was first written to shout out praise for a marvelous victory God gave to His people. In 850 BC, two nations attacked Jerusalem, the capital of Judah.

King Jehoshaphat knew his armies were outnumbered and he cried out to God: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You." [2 Chronicles 20:12]. God sent a prophet who spoke God's words to them: "The battle is not yours, but God's" [v15]. So the nation of Judah went to a hopeless battle with nothing more than singing and praising God with a very loud voice [v19]. God proceeded to keep His promise, causing the two armies to turn on eachother until no enemy remained in Jerusalem.

In Psalm 47, the people praised God their eternal King, who came down to save His people and returned to heaven (v5) , where He reigns over the nations and sits on His holy throne (v8).

This brings us to today, as we remember the Ascension of our Lord. Jesus, your eternal King, came down to be born one of His created, to battle Satan and save you from your sins. Today, Your king has ascended, He has gone up with a shout and He still reigns over the nations and sits on His holy throne!

No matter how hopeless or painful your situation is today, remember God's promise to you: "The battle is not yours, but God's". Your most important preparation for battle is to pray and trust in God, that He will walk with you through your dark days. Consider these precious words of God from Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

Be comforted today and every day because "The battle is not yours, but God's".

Peace to you!

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

     We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

        Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

"My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:2 

Pilgrim Worship Sunday May 14, 2023

  Pilgrim Lutheran Church

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 14, 2023

We're thankful you've come here to watch our service and to worship the one true God!

This was another exciting Sunday at Pilgrim Lutheran Church!  Once again, we had lots of great activities going on, starting with our 10:30 am Worship Service.  Afterward, we gathered for food, conversations, and Adult Bible study, while the children enjoyed Sunday School.  These classes are full of activities and teaching, so the children learn how much God loves them!

If you live in the Burton area, please consider joining us on Sunday mornings!  Anyone can watch our services live on Facebook or later on Pilgrim's website.

Here is information about today's worship service:

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR SUNDAY

   First Reading:   Acts 17:16–31

               Psalm:  Psalm 66:8–20
              Epistle:  1 Peter 3:13–22
             Gospel:   John 14:15–21

OUR THEME FOR WORSHIP SUNDAY
In today’s Gospel text Jesus continues teaching His disciples just before His arrest in the garden outside Jerusalem.  In these two chapters, Jesus calls His disciples then & now to love Him and keep His commandments or precepts.  Jesus calls us to a full life of following Him, including love & unity among other Christians and suffering with patience as Jesus taught us the last two weeks.  But Jesus also gives us a new perspective on this struggle we have with keeping His commandments.  How is this related to love?

To watch the video of today's service, please click HERE.

Peace in Christ, your Savior,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

       Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save"  Zephaniah 3:17  

Thursday Psalms: Truly God Has Listened!

In Psalm 66 God assures us that He uses all things, even hardships, ultimately for our good.  The psalmist encourages us by his own experiences, that God keeps us alive and keeps our feet on solid ground, especially when we are tested.  

  PSALM 66:8-20

⁸ Bless our God, O peoples;

      let the sound of His praise be heard,

⁹ who has kept our soul among the living

      and has not let our feet slip.

¹⁰ For you, O God, have tested us;

      You have tried us as silver is tried.

¹¹ You brought us into the net;

      You laid a crushing burden on our backs;

¹² You let men ride over our heads;

      we went through fire and through water;

            yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.

¹³ I will come into Your house with burnt offerings;

      I will perform my vows to You,

¹⁴ that which my lips uttered

      and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

¹⁵ I will offer to You burnt offerings of fattened animals,

      with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;

            I will make an offering of bulls and goats.

¹⁶ Come and hear, all you who fear God,

      and I will tell what He has done for my soul.

¹⁷ I cried to Him with my mouth,

      and high praise was on my tongue.

¹⁸ If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

      the Lord would not have listened.

¹⁹ But truly God has listened;

      He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰ Blessed be God,

      because He has not rejected my prayer

                or removed His steadfast love from me!

Reading verse nine, I'm reminded of an experience I had years ago, hiking with my family while on vacation in Utah.  I was following my young & athletic sons up the narrow and dangerous trail to Angels Landing.  As the trail got more challenging, I could not stop looking down and thinking of the horrible outcomes of my foot slipping.  In this moment of weakness, I swallowed my Dad-pride, returned to safety and worked on my explanation for when my sons returned.  

Left on our own to walk the narrow trail of our daily lives, we slip on temptations and would plunge to the sinful death we deserve.  But we don't face the narrow trail of temptation on our own; God strengthens us and often keeps us from falling.  When we do slip and fall into sin, we fully deserve our heavenly Father's wrath & punishment.  We fully deserve the eternal death our sins deserve.  This is certainly more frightening than any hiking trail!  

But we don't face testing alone, God is with us and will never abandon us!  When we cry out our prayer of confession, truly God listens and attends to the voice of our prayers!  God may not answer all your prayers in the way you would like, but God ALWAYS answers your prayers of confession with His forgiveness!  Give thanks to God for His endless mercy and grace today!  Truly, God has listened, and always does listen to your prayers!

Peace to you!

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

     We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

        Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

"My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:2

Pilgrim Worship Sunday May 7, 2023

 

  Pilgrim Lutheran Church

The Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 7, 2023

We're thankful you've come here to watch our service and to worship the one true God!

This was another exciting Sunday at Pilgrim Lutheran Church!  Once again, we had lots of great activities going on, starting with our 10:30 am Worship Service.  Afterward, we gathered for food, conversations, and Adult Bible study, while the children enjoyed Sunday School.  These classes are full of activities and teaching, so the children learn how much God loves them!

If you live in the Burton area, please consider joining us on Sunday mornings!  Anyone can watch our services live on Facebook or later on Pilgrim's website.

Here is information about today's worship service:

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR SUNDAY

   First Reading:  Acts 6:1–9, 7:2a, 51–60

              Psalm:  Psalm 146
             Epistle:  1 Peter 2:2–10
            Gospel:  John 14:1–14

OUR THEME FOR WORSHIP SUNDAY
Even before Jesus raised Lazarus from death, the disciples’ lives were crazy.  The Jewish leaders let it be known that Jesus was a marked man.  They were worried & anxious, and the events of this Passover week in Jerusalem made their hearts even more troubled.  Like all things, Jesus has the answer for that.  

In today’s Gospel, Jesus does more than simply tell us what we should do.  Jesus does even more than lovingly encourage our troubled hearts.  Jesus goes & gives & promises all things needed to heal our hearts!

To watch the video of today's service, please click HERE.

Peace in Christ, your Savior,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

       Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with each other and the World.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save"  Zephaniah 3:17  

Thursday Psalms: Trust in the Way!

     

Psalm 146 is included in our Scripture readings for this coming Sunday.  This is a beautiful anthem of praise, and a powerful call to trust in the Lord.  God lovingly calls us to face this challenging question:  Who do you trust?  To whom do you turn for comfort and salvation as you walk through days of suffering in this world?  In our sermon last Sunday we wrestled with God telling us:  it is a gracious thing in the sight of God...when we suffer unjustly.  This psalm reminds us to trust and hope in the Lord, who gives us His grace in our suffering.

   PSALM  146

¹ Praise the Lord!

     Praise the Lord, O my soul!

² I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

     I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³ Put not your trust in princes,

     in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴ When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;

     on that very day his plans perish.

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

     whose hope is in the Lord his God,

⁶ who made heaven and earth,

     the sea, and all that is in them,

         who keeps faith forever;

⁷ who executes justice for the oppressed,

     who gives food to the hungry.

         The Lord sets the prisoners free;

⁸ the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

     The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

         the Lord loves the righteous.

⁹ The Lord watches over the sojourners;

     he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

         but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever,

     your God, O Zion, to all generations.

                        Praise the Lord! 

Verses 5-9 in this psalm describe so many examples of God's grace, gifted to His beloved children, including you & me.  But this psalm also points us to John 14:1-14, the sermon text for this coming Sunday.  In John 14:6 Jesus focusses His grace, telling us:  "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."  Jesus is the WAY through your suffering, oppression and hopelessness in this life!  Jesus is the WAY to eternal peace & joy in heaven!  Jesus is the TRUTH, who opens your blind eyes, who raises you up and makes you righteous!  Jesus is the LIFE, who remains always with you, comforts you, and gives you hope no matter what is going on in your life!  The truth of Jesus is the only way to eternal life!

I pray for you today, that this psalm and these trustworthy assurances from Jesus will lift you up and comfort you during the suffering and struggling times in your life.

O  Lord, teach us to always trust You, our Way, our Truth and our Life.  AMEN.

Peace in Christ, the Way,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

     We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

        sharing God’s love & mercy with each other and the world.

office:  810.744.1188

mobile:  248.881.7627

Pilgrim Website

Pilgrim Facebook page

Soli Deo Gloria

"My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:2