17th Sunday After Pentecost
September 16, 2018
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am


Prayer of the Day
O God, through suffering and rejection you bring forth our salvation, and by the glory of the cross you transform our lives. Grant that for the sake of the gospel we may turn from the lure of evil, take up our cross, and follow your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Scripture readings
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 116:1-9
James 3:1-12
Mark 8:27-38

Sermon 

"Saved and Sent by the Suffering Servant"
Mark 8:27-38

Who is Jesus? There is no more important question for our lives. It precedes questions about our own identity or purpose because it is only in answering this question that we discover our identity and purpose. Confronted by Jesus with this question, Peter responds, “You are the Messiah.” While Peter is correct, he misses the point. This Messiah is sent by God to suffer, to lose his life so that we would be saved; so that we would find our true life in him. It is only in the cross that Jesus’ identity is discovered, and it is only in his death and resurrection that our identities and purposes will be discovered.

Hymns

In our prayers we remember the health ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea.

Education hour at 9:45am

Sunday School,  Pre-Confirmation and  Confirmation students meet in their regular classrooms. 

Adult Education

September 9 and 16
Comparing the Bible and the Qur’an
, with Mark Swanson
Learning about the role of the Qur’an for Muslims can help Christians better understand their own scripture and its place in the life of faith. This class will compare the sacred scriptures of Christianity and Islam and explore points of similarity and difference. Mark Swanson teaches Christian-Muslim studies and interfaith relations at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Yasir Bilgin, a leader of the Turkish-American Muslim community in Chicago, joins Swanson on September 16.

September 9 and 16
The Gospel in Black and White, with Pastor Dave Kluge
Born in 1899, the son of a textile worker, the German artist Paul Sinkwitz depicted the Gospel lessons from the historic one-year Lutheran lectionary in a series of woodcuts. This slide presentation of his work covers Advent through Pentecost Sunday on September 9 and what was once called the Trinity season through the closing Sundays of the church year on September 16. Dave Kluge is a retired pastor and a member of Grace.

 Adult Ed schedule September–November 2018

The Sunday morning Bible study group meets in the conference room.

The Grace Church Library is open and staffed on Sundays from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Look for books related to Adult Ed topics as well as many other subjects. The library is also open for self-service during the week.