What to Expect.
Worship is a way of life that happens every day wherever we are, but we gather to celebrate the Spirit’s work in us and through us. Language and patterns will be adapted to our new reality.
Worship is more than a performance by paid staff. It is a way of life, a posture of openness to the life-giving message of grace, healing, reconciliation, and transformation. Worship is every day in everything that we do and say. It is to live with open hearts to experience healing and be reminded that we all are known, we all belong, and all are made whole in the Lord.
The scattered church gathers every weekend to celebrate God’s deeds during the week and to be nurtured by the Word and the Sacrament. The weekend worship is traditionally called Sunday Worship, in which the community of faith gathers, listens to the word, participates in the meal, and then is sent out again to continue worship during the week.
The symbols, songs, and liturgical readings and prayers are each a reminder of the story of love that God has been writing throughout time. Every weekend we hear God’s resounding “Yes” for us which reminds us that God continues to write God’s love story in the lives of all people.
We leave the weekend gathering being fed to continue worshiping in our everyday lives as agents of love, mercy, grace, and peace.
![[Sermon] The Disruption of Resurrection + April 20, 2025 + Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zv1br6w7PfU/maxresdefault.jpg)
![[Sermon] Take Off Your Shoes + April 17, 2025 + David Horton](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SNnElLb-2OI/maxresdefault.jpg)
![[Sermon] Disrupted by Praise + April 13, 2025 + Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LJBixOjQq9g/maxresdefault.jpg)
![[Sermon] The Beauty That Disrupts + April 6, 2025 + Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J1m61CkqwKI/maxresdefault.jpg)
![[Sermon] The Prodigal Gift of Belonging + March 30, 2025 + Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oRBYsCnaGZs/maxresdefault.jpg)
![[Sermon] Embraced by Grace: A Full Lenten Journey + March 16, 2025 + Jeff Tobin](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ic_UTidnxpU/maxresdefault.jpg)
![[Sermon] Finding Life in the Barren Places + March 9, 2025 + Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pDJR0HnQyv8/maxresdefault.jpg)
![[Sermon] Living in the Light of God's Reign + March 2, 2025 + Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgclzxp79fM/maxresdefault.jpg)
Sermons.
Inclusive Language.
As Trinity Lutheran Church & Schools continue to live into our mission and values, the worship team and pastoral staff are exploring various ways to implement them in our Sunday worship.
We continue to use various Bible translations, including The Inclusive Bible, The Message, and the New Revised Standard Version, which helps to live into our value of inclusion in worship and liturgies. You may also notice a change to the way the Lord's Prayer is printed in the bulletin: "Our Father/Mother/Creator in heaven..."
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus addressed God as Abba, "father." This address does not ascribe a male gender to God but is an intimate address that is suggestive of the loving and trusting relationship between parent and child.
(from ELCA Worship Resources FAQ: "How is Language Used in Worship?")
As you join your siblings in the words of the Lord's Prayer, you are invited and encouraged to use the language, translation and word for God that the Spirit places on your heart.
We pray that we will continue to live into our values, exploring new ways to serve ALL the people of God through our gatherings, liturgies, rites, songs, and prayers.
The Holy Spirit calls the scattered church together every weekend to celebrate God’s deeds during the week, welcoming one another as Christ welcomes all into the live giving grace of God. Music and prayer at the opening of worship, symbols of the great celebration of God dwelling with God's people, root the day firmly in that grace and center those gathered in preparation for the rest of the service.
Gather
Meal
God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ in, with and under the elements of the bread and wine. We come to the table eager and hungry for God's life giving abundance in Jesus Christ, the bread of life, responding in kind with gratitude and generosity: giving of our selves, our time, and our possessions.
Worship is...
...A time to join in one spirit
...A space where the Lord Jesus welcomes ALL
...An opportunity to be part of the welcome that God extends to ALL in Jesus
...A place where anyone can come as they are, no matter where we come from or where we are in our faith journey
..A time to have a faith based experience
..A time to be challenged
...A time to experience intergenerational celebration
...Interactive messages and sensorial worship practices
...A Young Worshipper's message that is more than a quick prayer
