Grace Lutheran Church

08/28/2026

On August 27, the Church remembers the great theologian Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (in modern-day Algeria).

08/20/2026

Please keep the Mandelkow family in your prayers as they mourn Dale’s sudden death. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him.

Search recent and past obituaries for Redwood Falls, Tracy, Walnut Grove, and Westbrook Minnesota. You can search by name, locaiton or death date.

08/17/2026

This is our name, and our reason for existing!

Grace is a constant embarrassment to the prim and proper religiosity of the squeaky clean.

The grace of God in Jesus Christ doesn’t tiptoe around puddles in its shiny new shoes but slogs ankle-deep through the stinking muck of the pig pen to raise up the poor souls who’ve tripped over temptation and face-planted themselves in the rotting mud.

Grace doesn’t hire P.I.s to sniff out the backstories of potential recipients to ensure no impropriety might disqualify them from full acceptance. Grace tramps through alleys and divorce courts and rehabs and prisons to press into unworthy hands an invitation to live for free under God’s roof.

Grace doesn’t sit cross-armed behind its desk and tsk-tsk you from across the room when you blush to confess your darkest secrets, but wraps its arms around your quaking body and lets your tears and snot drench its shoulder as it whispers, “I love you. I forgive you. You are mine.”

For that reason, grace makes enemies. Enemies like the Judaizers of Paul’s day—and our day—who twist the Gospel message from Christ’s “It is finished” to “Well, there are a few things you still must do….”

But grace will put up with none of those bewitching lies vomited from the bowels of hell.

Grace is more than cheap; it is free. Free for us because Jesus paid it all, in blood no less. And this grace of Jesus cannot be stopped, shut up, or shamed into a corner. Grace reigns triumphant in the scarred but resurrected body of Jesus Christ.

That grace is yours in Christ. And he, the love of God incarnate, will keep on doling out that grace to all of us undeserving yet beloved sinners whom he has redeemed.
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We began reading Galatians today in Bible in One Year. In that letter, Paul addresses the false teachings of Judaizers. For more information and to sign up, visit https://www.1517.org/oneyear

08/16/2026

Today on the calendar the Church commemorates Mary, Mother of Our Lord.

“In the person of the Virgin Mary, the Church has seen an image of itself, the representative of the community of the faithful, a model of what each Christian ought to be: prayerful, humble, joyfully submissive to the will and word of God, devoted to her Son and loyal to him even when she did not understand him.

The honor paid to Mary goes back to the earliest days of Christianity, and because she is the mother of the Redeemer, she is accounted preeminent among the saints. The words of the song ascribed to her, the Magnificat, as well as her humble acceptance of the will of God bear more than accidental similarity to the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-11).

More is known about her than about most of the apostles. Mary, the mother of Jesus is mentioned in a number of places in the Gospels and the book of Acts, and a dozen incidents of her life are recorded. The other books of the New Testament are silent about Mary.

St. Paul, not recording her name, says simply that Jesus was “born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). Little is known about the rest of her life beyond her betrothal to Joseph, the conception and birth of Jesus, and his eventual naming.

Tradition says she spent the rest of her life in Jerusalem (the tomb of the Virgin is shown in the Kidron Valley) or Ephesus. The angel’s words in Luke 1:32 imply that Mary was descended from David (or that the early church believed that she was descended from David). She is a model of bold but tender love: she stood at the cross to watch her Son die.

The earliest feasts celebrating her death were observed in Palestine from the 5th century, possibly at Antioch in the 4th century. The date of August 15th, ordered by the emperor Maurice (582-603), probably originated with the dedication of a church in her honor.

By the 6th century, the observance of the date of August 15th was widespread in the East, and the feast day gradually became known as the Feast of the Dormition, the “Falling Asleep”, or passing from this life, of the Virgin. In the 7th century this feast day was observed in Rome, and from there it spread throughout the West, where by the 9th century it had come to be called the Feast of the Assumption (referring to the reception of Mary’s body and soul into heaven in anticipation of the general resurrection of the bodies of all the dead at the last day).”

Martin Luther said of Mary,
"She is the highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ … She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough." (Sermon, Christmas, 1531) and "Mary is the mother of Jesus and the mother of us all." (Sermon, Christmas, 1529). And also, "The honoring of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart." (Sermon, September 1, 1522).

Prayer of the Day:

O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

(from the “New Book of Festivals and Commemorations” by Philip H. Pfatteicher)

08/10/2026

Today, August 10, the Church honors St. Lawrence.

“The sick, the aged, the poor, the widows, the orphans: these are the treasures of the Church.” - Laurence (225-258), Deacon & Martyr at Rome

Laurence was a deacon in the Roman church, responsible for distributing alms to the poor. During the persecution of Emperor Valerian, Laurence was arrested and ordered to surrender all of the riches of the church to the Roman Empire. Laurence asked for three days to gather the wealth. He quickly distributed the remaining alms to the needy. The poor then bravely joined Laurence when he returned to the Roman court. When the Roman prefect ordered the wealth surrendered, Laurence brought forward the poor and said, “The sick, the aged, the poor, the widows, the orphans: these are the treasures of the Church.” The prefect was enraged, bound Laurence, and executed him on a hot gridiron. Today, he is one of the most widely honored martyrs and one of the most famous deacons from the early church.

Almighty God, you gave your servant Laurence boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Art & history by Ben Lansing

This post is the DEBUT of this artwork of St. Laurence. 🎈

NEW - PREORDER the book 📕 www.ourchurchspeaks.com

08/08/2026

We have received the news that Rev. Richard Erickson, age 92, has passed through death into the eternal care of our Lord Jesus Christ. He served as pastor of Grace Lutheran Church from 1968-1973. Funeral service are pending.

08/05/2026

From VBS Day 3: “Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet and a Light Unto My Path.” Thanks to everyone who came to enjoy music and ice cream!

08/04/2026

God’s Word is Our Great Heritage! Day 2 of Vacation Bible School. Hebrew, Greek, LEGOs, ceramics!

08/03/2026

God’s Word is Our Great Heritage! Day One of Vacation Bible School, learning about the Books of the Bible, making ceramics, doing crafts, eating pizza and hanging out with friends. We continue Monday and Tuesday nights from 6-8pm and it’s not too late to join the fun!

08/02/2026

This morning, we recognized Pastor Pari’s 20 years at Grace Lutheran with a gift and flowers. She began here on August 1, 2006!