Welcome to St. John Lutheran Church-LCMC

From the desk of Pastor Geske....

Greetings to you in the name of Christ! Summer is upon us and so are 

all of the joys of summer and all of the activities that pull on our time. I 

pray that you have an enjoyable and fun summer. As you are enjoying all

of the activities and time outdoors, I would like to

 encourage you to take time to worship our 

God who is the giver of all things. I love how Martin Luther

 reminds us in the Meaning of the 

First Article of the Apostles’ Creed that everything we 

have and are is a gift from our God and so it is our duty to do four things. Do you recall what these are? 

Martin Luther said, “All this He 

does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, 

without any merit or worthiness in me. For 

all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.”

These four things are central to what we do in worship. 

First and foremost, we gather to hear 

God’s Word of love and forgiveness for us. We also thank, praise, serve, and obey Him as we 

worship through our confessions, through our songs, through 

our offering. Worship is a time to 

hear and interact in a special way with our Heavenly Father 

and other brothers and sisters in 

Christ. This summer, I encourage you not to forget 

about worship but to be like David when he 

said, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go 

to the house of the LORD.’” (Psalm 122:1 

NIV)

I think it is good for families to talk about why 

they do what they do. Why do we worship and 

why should we worship every Sunday? The answer is Jesus and all He has done for us! Yes, 

we are called to remember the Sabbath Day. We are called to hear, learn, and meditate on 

God’s Word. In our catechism, we are encouraged by a question that asks, “What do the 

Scriptures teach about our life in the church?” The answer states, “They teach that A. we 

should seek always to be and remain members of the 

invisible church, Christ’s body, by sincere 

faith in Christ, our Savior; B. we should be faithful to that 

visible church, or denomination, which 

professes and teaches all of the Bible’s doctrine purely and administers the sacraments 

according to Christ’s institution; C. we should avoid false teachers, false churches, and all 

organizations that promote a religion that is contrary to 

God’s Word; D. we should maintain and 

extend God’s church by telling others about Jesus Christ, 

by personal service, and by prayer 

and financial support.” (-LSC Q. 179) Consider the many Bible passages listed in the answer 

to this question, like John 15:5; Acts 2:42; John 8:31-32; 

2 Timothy 4:3; Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 2:9 

and 1 Peter 3:15.

My prayer is that God would so motivate and 

encourage us to be mightily about His work in this 

corner of His kingdom. God’s blessings to you 

as you worship and as you enjoy this summer of 

fun. I look forward to seeing you in our Father’s house each week!

Yours in Christ, 

Pastor Jeffrey Geske