What to Expect

We have two traditional, liturgical worship services on Sunday mornings to choose from.  The first is at 8:00 a.m., and the second starts at 10:45 a.m.  During Advent and Lent, we have Midweek Worship Services at 7:00 pm on Wednesdays. We also have services at 7:00 p.m. on Maundy Thursday, at 7:30 p.m. on Good Friday, at 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and at 10:00 a.m. on Christmas Day. Occasionally we have special "one service" Sundays at 10:00 am — see our event calendar for more details.

An unstaffed nursery is available for children up to and including 3 years of age.  Or, if you prefer, Room 100 is available as a cry room and/or a room for nursing mothers.  Please ask an usher if you need assistance or directions.

Sunday School opening activities for children ages three through 5th grade begin at 9:15 am in Room 116.  After opening, the children will go to their age-based Sunday School rooms.

The Junior and Senior IMPACT Sunday School class (6th-12th grade) meets at 9:30 am in Room 122.

Pastor Shaltanis leads an Adult Bible Study in the Fellowship Hall at 9:30.

Mike Kunschke leads a smaller class for Adult Bible Study in Room 114.

Copies of our worship service bulletins are available in large print. We also have “Growing in Worship” bulletins are available for children 3 years old through 5th grade, along with quiet activity bags.  

Listen to Sermons

          

 
  

WORSHIP FAQ
Public worship, or the Divine Service, is the most public representation of a church and communicates what any congregation believes, teaches, and confesses. Like all Christian churches, we seek to follow Christ’s exhortation in John 4: 23, 24, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” As sacramental Lutheran Christians, our identity is evident in our worship. We know that there have been and still are many valid expressions of corporate worship utilized by different cultures throughout the history of the Church, sometimes evidenced in the variety of worship practices which may be observed today in the LCMS. We realize that worship is an important factor for everyone who visits a church, and we want you to be as comfortable as possible with our Lutheran substance of worship and hope the following questions and answers will help you understand our congregation’s identity:

 When is Communion Offered?  May I participate in it?
We celebrate the Lord’s Supper, sometimes known as communion or eucharist, on the first and third Sundays of the month, plus every festival Sunday (Christmas Eve, Easter, Reformation, Pentecost, etc.) Paul writes in I Cor. 16, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” The high point of the Lutheran service is one of the sacraments—baptism or communion. If you are not a member of an LCMS congregation, we ask that you talk to a pastor before communing.

“Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.” 1Corinthians 11:27-29

Being admonished to receive Christ’s Body and Blood in a worthy manner, Lutheran Christians should prepare their hearts for reception of this sacrament by privately answering the following:

1. Do I believe that I am a sinful human being without hope of eternal life except for God’s mercy in Christ?

2. Do I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and my personal Savior?

3. Do I believe that He is personally present in the Sacrament of Holy Communion with His Body and Blood?

4. Do I hope by the power of the Holy Spirit to live a godly life?

WHEN YOU COME TO THE LORD’S SUPPER you are affirming with each communicant that Jesus is your Savior and Lord, that you believe His Body and Blood are present, and that you desire to serve Him as a dynamic disciple in the fellowship of the church.

Do you have different styles of worship services?
Each service is shaped by the liturgical year and the readings of the day (the lectionary.) We follow a predictable and ordered service format taken from one of the five Divine Service liturgies found in our denomination’s hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book. Our early and late services are identical in order that we can communicate the same timeless truths of Christianity to everyone, regardless of their preferred service time.  We sing from the Lutheran Service Book, the official hymnal of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  

Do you have a praise band?
No.

Do you use the creeds? Why don’t you just use scripture?
The Lutheran Church is a confessional church, meaning we hold the Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds to be faithful explications of what scripture teaches.  We believe they summarize the essential elements of Christianity—the nature of God the Father as Creator, the Son as the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as the Sustainer of the Church Universal.  Everyone has a creed of some sort—it just may not be written down formally.  We recite our statements of beliefs weekly so that we are reminded of the essentials of our faith.  Many people recite the creeds from memory.  However, along with the rest of the service, the creed is printed in the bulletin so you can read it as you are comfortable.  Our Lutheran liturgy is full of scripture.  We sing or recite a psalm (or introit) most weeks, we sing “Glory be to God on high” from Luke 2, we sing “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of power and might” (Isaiah 6:3), we pray “Lord, now let Your servants depart in peace” (Luke 2: 29) and weekly pray the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11) and are dismissed to one of many scriptural benedictions.  We follow the lectionary, meaning we listen to three portions of scripture during most worship services: the Old Testament lesson, the Epistle lesson (taken from Paul’s letters in the New Testament) and one of Gospels.  We hope that everyone reads their Bible at home; but, if they don’t, we want to make sure everyone is nourished in God’s Word on Sunday morning.

What can I expect when I attend Lord of Life?
Whether you attend at 8:00 am or 10:45 am, you will be welcomed at the door by greeters who will give you an order of service.  You are welcome to sit anywhere—there are no assigned pews!  Chairs at the end of the rows have armrests for those needing them. We stand for most prayers and many hymns, but are seated at other times.  Just follow the rest of the congregation.  It is our goal that God will work through our worship so that we all might know Him in “spirit and in truth.”
 

If you have a question that you do not see answered here or on our FAQ page, please contact us for more information.