Lighthouse Lutheran Church

Today we worshiped at Lighthouse Lutheran Church, 501 3^rd Avenue, Freedom, PA 15042, 724.544.7203, www.lightouselutheran.org, Dennis Whalen, Pastor.

Scripture – NLT

Philippians 3:17-21 –

“Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”

Matthew 22:15-22 –

Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

His reply amazed them, and they went away.

Bob’s thoughts:

We were warmly welcomed to this small A-frame style church beginning with our entrance on the first floor and all the way up into the sanctuary. I noticed no signage but we were offered directions to the sanctuary and to where we might hang our coats. The only crosses I saw were on the rear wall of the sanctuary and atop the flagstaffs.

Something I noticed that was different: during the responsive reading, the pastor read with the congregation. So often the people are weak in their response without a lead voice, but today they were strong.

In the sermon the pastor raised the question, “who do we want to fit in with?” He quoted some interesting statistics from Barna Research about the percentage of children who attend worship with both parents and then continue after maturity (76%) compared with those whose parents did not attend worship (6%). I’m glad we could invest that time in our children.

We have all been given worth by our creator, and it is not in the things that we have done. Be a living example of what you are in Christ.

A highlight for me was a family sitting in front of us. During the Lord’s Prayer, the older sister got down to the level of the younger girl to share the prayer in the bulletin with her. It was a powerful moment for me.

After the service we got to visit a bit with friends, the pastor, and his gracious wife. I learned that the pastor’s family had experiences similar to ours when visiting churches, and it was refreshing to visit with someone who understands some of what we have experienced in our visits.

I was thanked for my service by a few people; which is always humbling.

Jan’s thoughts:

This church is only about a 10-minute drive, and we had the pleasure of worshiping with some friends.

We entered through the door nearest where we parked, not knowing where that would bring us in. Some kind folks led the way to the cozy sanctuary and several people extended warm welcomes as we found seats.

I did not know what to expect, as we have experienced highly liturgical Lutheran services as well as the more relaxed variety; this was somewhere in between, with all the liturgy clearly printed in the bulletin, making it very easy to follow, for which I was grateful. The friendly, warm, relaxed atmosphere continued into the service.

Often in churches where the music is led by an organ, there is the thinking that the louder the organ, the better, which is not true in my opinion. Today the organ was well-played at the perfect volume to be able to hear the congregation sing, and I enjoyed it tremendously.

Because the bulletin contained all the liturgy along with many announcements it was six sheets of 8½ x 11 paper, which could have been a nightmare had they not been stapled in the center. Judging from the end product, a great deal of work was lovingly put into this effort.

Today I was blessed to attend a worship service that included a written prayer of confession that was honest, true, touching, and eye-opening. I clipped it to keep with my devotionals because it was truly food for thought.

The untitled sermon spoke about the difficulty and importance of living like we are different from the world because of the Kingdom to which we belong, about the impact of those we hang out with, and the mindset we carry by understanding Who it is who gives worth to our life.

We joined the time of fellowship between worship and Sunday School and enjoyed the conversations immensely.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we are grateful for Your presence in an uplifting worship experience today. We pray for Your continued presence and blessing on this church. Amen.