Crossroads at the Empty Tomb   Service is viewable at:   I never really thought about Easter or the empty tomb being a crossroads moment until this year. Maybe it’s because of our Lenten theme or maybe it’s because of the difficult year we’ve all faced in light of the pandemic or maybe because Mark saw it this way. There is something vastly different about the way Mark tells the resurrection story, and you can tell that it was viewed as odd by others from pretty early on. If you look in your Bible, you will see what is considered the original ending of Mark (16:8a) followed by “the shorter ending” (16:8b) and “the longer ending” (16:9-20). Mark’s original ending is abrupt and awkward, and to me, these additions seem an attempt to sanitize that. If Mark’s ending is a bit messy, I assume there’s a reason for that… and the reason might be you! So join us on Easter Sunday (whether online or in person) to hear the Resurrection according to Mark and see why!  Join us to Worship Where You Are this Sunday at 9AM & 11AM or for our in-person SONrise Services at 9AM & 11AM (sign up details below).  The scriptures for this Easter Sunday are 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 and Mark 16:1-8.  Bring an empty cross, butterfly, egg or Easter lily to your home altar as a symbol of the resurrection and the crossroads presented by the empty tomb.  We give thanks to WWYA Worship Leaders, Ralph & Ellie Erchinger.  As we celebrate Holy Communion, remember to make or buy bread and wine/juice.  

TLLC Sunday Morning Sermons

Easter Sunday Worship April 4, 2021 S3:E13

The Ultimate Crossroad - Palm/Passion Sunday   Service can be seen at YouTube link:   This week Jesus finds himself at the ultimate crossroads – the cross itself. We begin the day with palms and conclude with the passion. We move from shouting “Hosanna!” to crying “Crucify Him!” It is a day when our expectations of the Messiah we want and the Messiah we most desperately need collide at this crossroads. We may wonder which way to follow, but Jesus does not.  Join us as we hear a dramatic telling of Mark’s Gospel – how Jesus stayed true to God’s mission all the way to the cross and through it showed the world that “truly this man was God’s son!”   The scriptures for this Palm/Passion Sunday are Mark 11:1-11, Psalm 31:6-16, and Mark 14:1-15:47. Bring a cross to your home altar to remind you of Jesus’ willingness to follow the way of God at the ultimate crossroad. As we prepare for Holy Week and Easter, you may pick up palms as well as consecrated elements for Maundy Thursday & Easter Sunday at the church this Saturday 10:00-11:30.  We give thanks to this week’s WWYA Worship Leaders, Mike and Cheryl Wendling; Davis and Ed Perron; Dan, Henrik and Caleb Koellhofer; Deb Reswik-Hilton; Sujan Sirivella; Kevin McClure; Sara Burden-McClure; Robert Gonzalez; and Jeff Buchle (who played roles and helped behnd the scenes), Production Crew, and Musicians.  

Sunday Worship March 28, 2021 S3:E12

Grace at the Crossroads Service can be seen at YouTube link:     In this week’s Worship Where You Are sermon, guest preacher Pastor Dave Seddelmeyer asks us to get in touch with our feelings.  What feelings have you had throughout Lent? Are there certain feelings we are “supposed to have?”  Do we have different feelings or heightened feelings this Lent in particular? Our scripture for this Sunday is well known and gives us a hint at one feeling we experience that just might surprise us.  Join us this Sunday to see what it is!

Sunday Worship March 14, 2021 S3:E11

Covenant at the Temple Service can be seen at YouTube link:     Throughout Lent we have been hearing the covenant stories from the Old Testament – Noah and the rainbow, Abraham & Sarah and numerous-as-the –stars descendants. This week we hear the story of the Ten Commandments. The word commandment is pretty off-putting for most of us I imagine, but when we remember these Ten Commandments are really the Third Covenant, perhaps that might shift how we view them - as relational rather than legal, as affirmations rather than demands, as a promise rather than simply a list of prohibitions. I really struggle with the commandment to honor the Sabbath. I know – I’m a pastor… I should have that one covered, but I don’t. Honestly, I have a lot of guilt about that… so shifting my focus from commandment to covenant helps! It helps me remember that God gave us the Sabbath as a gift not an obligation so that we could be in deeper relationship with our Creator not check some spiritual box. If you haven’t taken time to rest in God for a few weeks because of COVID chaos or  snow-magedon side effects or superfluous screen time, join us for a little R&R with Worship Where You Are or take a little time to do a walking meditation or hum a hymn on your back porch. Rest in God and God’s promise: I am your God and you are my people!  

Sunday Worship March 7, 2021 S3:E10

Crossroads Confession Service can be seen at YouTube link:  https://youtu.be/y1dSyvkveNw After Peter correctly confesses Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus tells his disciples what this means and what lies ahead for him in Jerusalem - that he will be rejected and killed and after three days rise again.  Peter's initial response demonstrates the crossroads at which we as people of faith often find ourselves: the Jesus we want is at a crossroads with the Jesus we get, the kingdoms of the world are at cross purposes with the kingdom of God, and our way often collides with the Lord's Way.  Yet, Jesus meets us in these moments of tension, continuing the invitation to follow as His disciples, and on the cross he shows us the only way to salvation. 

Sunday Worship February 28th, 2021 S3:E09

Crossroads of the Kingdom Sundays Video can be seen on youtube link:  https://youtu.be/tG0JN0gRwdU Wow! What a week! As a native Austinite I must say, “We just aren’t made for this stuff!”  Sometimes I feel like that as a Christian too. How about you? Discipleship is hard, especially when it comes to the disciplines of Lent, even more so in the midst of a pandemic. It feels a bit like we are at a crossroads – wondering which way to go, certain that we will fail, yet desperate to be faithful followers. And perhaps that is the key to remember not just this Lent but every Lent. We are followers, not leaders. We follow Christ, who himself has faced these very crossroads, shows us the way, and saves us each time we fail, falter, or fumble. 

Sunday Worship February 21st, 2021 S3:E08

Covenant at the Crossroads Video of this podcast can be seen on Youtube at: https://youtu.be/rJ0nmwVDu9c The reading for today is Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 the Gospel is: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Ash Wednesday Service February 17th, 2021

Transfiguration Sunday: You are able to watch the service on Youtube at Link: https://youtu.be/NcLWLvGR8xc As church festivals go, Transfiguration Sunday does not get as much clout as Christmas or Easter, yet it is an important day in the church as we turn from the light of Epiphany to the wilderness of Lent (which begins with Ash Wednesday, February 17th). It sits at an intersection of these two larger church seasons taking on (poignantly) a cruciform shape. Still, sometimes it is difficult to discern the purpose of Transfiguration. Christmas is about the birth of Christ as one of us. Easter is about the resurrection of Christ to save us. What is Transfiguration for? Maybe Transfiguration is about seeing Christ and seeing ourselves through his light.  

Sunday Worship February 14th 2021 S3:E06

Souper Service Video Service can be viewed on You Tube at:  https://youtu.be/MCQU1dnIjRg Yes, it’s Super Bowl Sunday, and I imagine the festivities will not look exactly like they usually do. Yet, if you’re house is like ours, food will still be part of the fun! Did you know that on an average Super Bowl Sunday Americans consume 30,000,000 pounds of pretzels, chips, popcorn, and nuts? Meanwhile, Texas is ranked 2nd in the U.S. for food insecurity. This is undoubtedly more problematic in this pandemic year. Years ago a church youth group started the Souper Bowl of Caring in response to this disparity, and it stuck!   As we listen to the Gospel text about the healing of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law this Sunday, perhaps we will be inspired by her response of service, leading to our own Souper Service! Throughout February we will be collecting items for Austin City Lutherans (ACL) Bread for All Food Pantry (see below for requested items). As you are snacking this weekend or throughout the week remember those who are going without and do some Souper Service like Peter’s mother-in-law!  

Sunday Morning Worship February 07 2021 S3:E05

 Forming Faith From Roots to Fruit. You can watch the full video service on YouTube Here:  https://youtu.be/zyXPrZOlajk On the surface of things 2020 would not seem a year where there would be much excitement in our ministry, but as I flip through the pages of our Annual Report I am blown away by the way God’s work is flourishing even in the midst of a pandemic! I hope you will join us for the Annual Meeting on January 31st at 12PM. While we can’t serve you BBQ like we did last year for our first annual “meat”ing, you are welcome to BYOB (Bring Your Own BBQ)! While we can’t gather together physically, we can gather together virtually to give thanks for all that God is doing in our midst and through our congregation. Come and See how God is Growing a Generous Faith right before our very eyes!  

Sunday Morning Worship January 31 2021 S03E04

Crisis Discipleship Watch the service on Youtube :   https://youtu.be/HNKABFbm-BM   I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that we have been in a crisis moment in our country lately.  The pandemic has put us all in crisis mode as we learned new ways to work, worship, go to the grocery store, and educate our children.  The racial unrest in our country reignited a crisis moment as we reevaluated “things we have done and things we have left undone” when it comes to systemic and individual changes.  The political divide at our Capitol revealed a crisis of conscience as we realized our democracy is simultaneously frail and resilient.  In all of these instances crisis might seem to have a negative connotation.  Certainly the characters that make up the word in Chinese would believe that because the first is translated as “danger.”  The second, however, is best translated as “turning point.”  As we turn the page on a new year, as we turn the pages of history, Jesus also calls us to turn.  He calls us to turn away from fear and toward him in hope.  He calls us to turn away from sin and toward him in repentance. He calls us to turn away from idols and bad news and toward him and the good news of the kin-dom of God.  For in our moments of deepest crisis, God-with-us calls us to be his disciples and to catch others with God’s reign of justice, peace, resurrection, and love! 

Sunday Morning Worship January 24th 2021 S3:E03

Title:  Come and See You can watch the Youtube video of this service at: https://youtu.be/YljYjxGsfeA The reading This week is: 1 Samual 3:1-6, The Gospel Is: John 1:43-51  It is perhaps the best invitation you could give or receive – come and see!  It is simple, non-threatening, open-ended, and intriguing. In John’s Gospel Jesus uses these words to invite his first disciples to follow him and then some of those disciples repeat it as an invitation to others. We hear part of this contagion in our scriptures for this Sunday. Later in John the phrase is used by the Samaritan woman at the well and at the raising of Lazarus. With these simple words, we too have been invited to come and see the amazing things God is doing! We, in turn, are called to invite others: Come and See our Worship Where You Are this week, Come and See our Women’s Prayer & Devotion, Come and See our amazing CDC program!  On the surface of things 2020 would not seem a year where there would be much to “come and see,” but as I flip through the pages of our Annual Report I am blown away by the way God’s work is flourishing even in the midst of a pandemic! I hope you will join us for the Annual Meeting on January 31st at 12PM and for our pre-meeting workshops on the 17th & 24th at 10AM. While we can’t serve you BBQ like we did last year for our first annual “meat”ing, you are welcome to BYOB (Bring Your Own BBQ)! While we can’t gather together physically, we can gather together virtually to give thanks for all that God is doing in our midst and through our congregation. Come and See how God is Growing a Generous Faith right before our very eyes! 

Sunday Morning Worship January 17th 2021, S3:E02

Title:  Torn Apart, Brought Together You can find the video version of this service at Youtube link:  https://youtu.be/uST0iLDAcgQ  Wednesday morning I was in the TLLC Sanctuary preparing for Worship Where You Are. Since this Sunday is Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, my thoughts were focused on baptism and in particular of Mark’s description that Jesus saw the “heavens torn apart” during his baptism by John. I did not expect the flow of news that would come in the hours that followed as we saw the fabric of our nation straining; some might even say “torn apart”. To me though, it differed greatly from the tearing apart done by God in baptism, which is done out of love rather than anger and out of a desire to bring us together rather than separate. The tearing apart at the Capitol differed from the tearing apart done by Jesus in his ministry, which was done peacefully and non-violently.  And so we pray for our country and its leaders:  Gracious God, in this time when anxiety is infectious and anger runs rampant. Help us to tear apart the barriers of mistrust that divide us, end violent protests, and open doors of conversation between disparate groups. Grant us all peace and reassurance, healing and hope, strength and wisdom in the days ahead. We ask this through Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.  Worship Where You Are! Join us to Worship Where You Are this Sunday at 9AM & 11AM.  The scriptures for this Baptism of Our Lord Sunday are Isaiah 64:1-5a, Acts 19:1-7, and Mark 1:4-11.  As you gather at your home altar bring a bowl of water to represent baptism or a piece of fabric that you can tear to represent God tearing apart the heavens to reach us. As we celebrate Holy Communion, remember to bring your own bread and wine/juice to your home altar or you may pick up consecrated elements at the church on Saturday 10:00-11:30. We give thanks to this week’s WWYA Worship Leaders, Kelly Condon, Evan Kephart, and Beth Gonzalez, Production Crew, and Musicians. 

Sunday Morning Worship January 10th 2021 S3:E01

First Sunday of Christmas This Sunday we sing perhaps the oddest of Christmas carols, Simeon’s “Lord, Now Let Your Servant Go in Peace” (the Nunc Dimittis). Luke’s account of Simeon’s troubling song hauntingly hints at the specter of his own death, not to mention his piercingly prophetic aside to Mary about her child’s future. Alongside the other Christmas carols we still sing this first Sunday of Christmas, this one sounds odd, even dissonant.  But just as the specter of the cross cast a shadow over the manger, the specter of death still casts a pall over this pandemic Christmas.  Perhaps then it is not so out of place, not so dissonant after all. So yes, we sing of death just a few days after our Christmas celebration of life so that by naming death, it may no longer control, terrify, or diminish us and the life this birth intended for us.  For in the birth of the Christ-child so long ago, and each time we gather around word and meal, we too have seen and heard, tasted and touched, God’s steadfast and tenacious commitment to be both with us and for us…forever!  Worship Where You Are!  Join us to Worship Where You Are this First Sunday of Christmas.  The scriptures for December 27th are Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3, Galatians 4:4-7, and Luke 2:22-40.  As we celebrate Holy Communion, remember to bring your own bread and wine/juice to your home altar. 

Sunday Morning Worship December 27, 2020 S2:E51

ADVENTageous Magnifying in the Wilderness Youtube video link of this Service:  https://youtu.be/WwzOjTM6Lno On the fourth week of Advent, we celebrate our annual Lessons & Carols service. Among the lessons, anthems, hymns, and carols, we will hear the song of Mary’s Magnificat. She must have felt a sense of wilderness wandering as the angel proclaimed the holiness about to be birthed inside her, and yet she sings to her cousin Elizabeth about how her soul magnifies the Lord. On this Sunday, we sing along with Mary, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices to God my Savior.” Our worship magnifies the Lord, and this is a great week to further magnify the Lord by sharing our worship links with family, friends, and neighbors! Our serving magnifies the Lord. Our Advent preparations magnify the Lord as we share hope, joy, peace, and love in our community. Each year we join Mary in song, but this year in particular we can perhaps sense the wilderness in which she sang. Yet when we join in magnifying the Lord, it is ADVENTageous to us and the world.

Sunday Morning Worship December 20th 2020 S2:E50

Sunday worship is the centerpiece of our ministry at Triumphat Love. If you couldn’t be present for a service and missed the sermon or if you just want to hear one again, this podcast is for you. We want you to experience God’s grace on the go and wherever you are so that you can celebrate and share this grace with others!

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TLLC Sunday Morning Sermons

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