Pastor Otterstatter • July 17, 2022

Focused Worship Seeks Service From Jesus More Than Service For Jesus

We call worship a "service.” Which raises the question: who is serving whom? In answering that question, it is easy to focus on what we do in worship. “I set aside time in my week to come to church. I am singing praise to God. I brought him an offering. Clearly, I am serving him.” True enough.


However, as God speaks this week, he clarifies our focus, letting us see that worship is primarily about him serving us. Through Word and sacrament, he delivers every spiritual gift he wants us to receive. Our service to God is good. His service for us is perfect. Our service to God is important. His service for us is essential. God loves our service to him. But we desperately need his service for us.


Receiving his service is actually the highest form of worship. “God wants to be worshipped through faith so that we receive from him those things he promises and offers” (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV).

What Helps In Life Fails in Death

By Pastor Quinn • September 14, 2025
In a sense, prayer comes naturally to us. We want so we ask. We hurt so we cry out. We are frustrated so we vent. We are blessed so we give thanks. Natural! What does not come naturally, however, is a proper understanding of the privilege of prayer. Prayer is a privilege, based entirely on the unique and unearned relationship we have with God, our Father. And the purpose of prayer is really not to tell God what we want, but to claim that which God wants for us. Prayer provides the opportunity to bring our will into conformity with God’s will, not the other way around. This week, we give our undivided attention to what God says about this access we call prayer. Along with Jesus’ disciples we say, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

Count the Cost

By Pastor Quinn • September 7, 2025
This week Jesus’ sharp words expose our desire to pursue comfort and avoid pain at all costs. Jesus explains that following him will be hard. Jesus’ disciples will be called to let go of things they love and embrace things we naturally loathe. Jesus promises that discipleship comes with crosses—a unique type of pain. So, Jesus tells us that we must count the cost of following him. He wants us to do that now, ahead of time, rather than waiting until we are in the heat of the moment and emotions are running high. However, our calculations must not only consider what we might give up for Jesus. They also entail calculating what we get through him! When we perceive the infinite blessings we find in Christ, the decisions we just make, while difficult, will be clear. Whatever is lost as we follow Jesus pales in comparison to what we gain.

The Door is Very Narrow

By Pastor Quinn • August 24, 2025
We tend to think of mission work as being “over there,” something done in a far-away place. It is good and right to support foreign mission work with our prayers and offerings. However, something is off if we allow our appreciation for “over there” mission work to take our eyes off the mission that is right before us. Here is the two-fold reality worthy of our undivided attention this week. First, if we have seen the grace of God, we will serve as witnesses for Christ. Second, we need not cross the ocean to share the gospel. We can simply cross the street. In our various callings— parent or grandparent or sibling, friend or neighbor or coworker—God will provide one opportunity after another to serve as the witnesses Jesus has made us to be. So, let us continue to pray for and support “over there” mission work. But let us also give our undivided attention to the mission that God had placed right before each of us.
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