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St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, 11750 W 930 S, Columbus, IN (2026)

09/05/2026

"How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep!" (Psalm 92:5)

Join us tomorrow as the Lord does His great works among us by bringing us, in His Word and Sacrament, the forgiveness and salvation He won through His death and resurrection. The Divine Service begins at 9:00 AM.

Following the Divine Service, we will continue to gather around God's Word in Bible Study, beginning at 10:15 AM.

Bulletins - http://www.stpeterwaymansville.org/?page_id=525

Sermons - https://www.stpeterwaymansville.org/?page_id=2796 or https://audio.com/rev-erik-sorenson

09/05/2026

Today the Church commemorates Zacharias (Zechariah) and Elizabeth, faithful parents of St. John the Baptist.

"When we meet Zacharias and Elizabeth in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel, they are already advanced in years. Zacharias is a priest of the division of Abijah, and his wife also was a descendant of Aaron. Like Abraham and Sarah many centuries before them, they had no children; Elizabeth was barren.
It was Zacharias's turn to burn incense in the temple as the people prayed outside. As the sweet smoke began to rise from the hot coals, the old priest had an odd feeling and looked up, startled. Indeed, he was not alone. Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, stood before him.
'Do not be afraid...your prayer has been heard.'
Prayer? he wonders. What prayer could the angel be referring to?
'Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son...'
Did he immediately think, 'But that prayer was years ago!'?
The angel was still speaking: '...and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord.... He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah' (Luke 1:13-17).
It was all too much for Zacharias. He wanted to know how he would know it. Gabriel was riled that his good news was met with doubt and disbelief. The sign, then, will be silence. Zacharias would no longer be able to speak until Gabriel's words were fulfilled.
The old priest had been too long in the temple. The people were getting restive. Yet, when he came out, he could not talk. He made a sign, and they gradually realized he'd had a vision. He went home and his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. Five months she kept herself hidden, marveling that the Lord had done such a thing in her. In the sixth month, Mary came calling and the Miracle of all miracles entered their home in Mary's womb. Mary stayed with them for three months, perhaps long enough to see the birth of little John. At John's circumcision, the townsfolk wished to name the child after his father, but first Elizabeth and then Zacharias insisted that 'his name is John.' Immediately, Zacharias could speak again. He blessed God in the words that we know as the Benedictus: 'Blessed be the Lord...'
Zacharias and Elizabeth are thus both remembered as examples of patient faith and godliness. Some think that this Zechariah is who our Lord referred to in Matthew 23:35. If so, he died a martyr's death." (William C. Weedon, Celebrating the Saints: The Feasts, Festivals, and Commemorations of Lutheran Service Book, pg. 166-167)

Collect for this day:

O God, who alone knits all infants in the womb, You chose improbable servants - old and childless - to conceive and parent the forerunner of Christ and, in so doing, demonstrated again Your strength in weakness. Grant us, who are as unlikely and unworthy as Zacharias and Elizabeth, the opportunity to love and serve You according to Your good and gracious will; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

(Bonus: you can find the Benedictus in several places in the hymnal, LSB. See Matins pg. 226-227, Morning Prayer pg. 238-240, and LSB 936 - Sing Praise to the God of Israel.)

09/04/2026

Today the Church commemorates Moses, prophet and leader of God's people.

"Moses was born in Egypt several generations after Joseph brought his father, Jacob, and his brothers there to escape a famine in the land of Canaan. The descendants of Jacob had been enslaved by the Egyptians and were ordered to kill all their male children. When Moses was born, his mother put him in a basket and set it afloat in the Nile River. He was found by Pharaoh's daughter and raised as her son (Exodus 2:1-10). At age forty, Moses killed an Egyptian taskmaster and fled to the land of Midian, where he worked as a shepherd for forty years. Then the Lord called him to return to Egypt and tell Pharaoh, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness' (Exodus 5:1). Eventually Pharaoh gave in, and after the Israelites celebrated the first Passover, Moses led them out. At the Red Sea the Egyptian army was destroyed, and the Israelites passed to safety on dry land (Exodus 12-15). At Mount Sinai, they were given the Law and erected the tabernacle (Exodus 19-40). But because of disobedience, they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years. Moses himself was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, though God allowed him to view it (Deuteronomy 34). In the New Testament, Moses is referred to as lawgiver and prophet. The first five books of the Bible are attributed to him." (Treasury of Daily Prayer, pg. 690-691)

Collect for this day:

Lord God, heavenly Father, through the prophet Moses, You began the prophetic pattern of teaching Your people the true faith and demonstrating through miracles Your presence in creation to heal it of its brokenness. Grant that Your Church may see in Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the final end-times prophet whose teaching and miracles continue in Your Church through the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

09/03/2026

Today the Church commemorates Gregory the Great, pastor and sixth-century bishop of Rome.

"Gregory the Great (c. AD 540-604) was the last of the four great Doctors of the Western Church (together with the earlier Saints Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome). Gregory was a capable administrator, having served earlier in his life as mayor of Rome, a post he assumed at the young age of 33. He restored a measure of prosperity and order to the decimated city, weakened by waves of barbarian invasions and plague. His successful civil service could not still an inner yearning. He felt a calling to serve in the Church. He sold off his sizable holdings, donated the money to the assistance of the poor, and founded a monastery in what had been his father's villa.
Pope Pelagius II ordained him a deacon and then appointed him to be an ambassador of the Roman bishop to the imperial court in Constantinople. While there he engaged in a disputation with Eutychius, bishop of Constantinople, and vanquished his opponent simply by quoting the Scripture: 'Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have' (Luke 24:39). He later returned to Rome, where upon the death of Pelagius II due to plague, Gregory was acclaimed bishop of the city. That took place this day in the year AD 590.
Gregory, even as a deacon and presbyter, had a great heart for mission work. Due to his determination, the Gospel's proclamation was strengthened in England. He had noted a young lad in the marketplace for sale and remarked upon his beautiful countenance. He asked from whence he came and whether his people were Christians or still heathen. Upon finding that they were heathen, he asked the name of their race. 'Angles' he was told, upon which he remarked that it was fitting, for they have angelic faces. He wished the country to be delivered from God's wrath and brought into the unity of the catholic faith. Toward that end, he begged the pope (this was before his own elevation) for leave to preach the Gospel in that land. The pope, however, was not about to lose his right-hand man. It would fall to St. Augustine of Canterbury to preach the Gospel and begin organizing the Church among the Germanic tribes that had invaded and largely displaced the original Britons.
Gregory is remembered also for bringing order and discipline to the music of the Latin Church, for adding the Lord's Prayer to the order of service in the Roman Church (bringing it into conformity with wider Christian practice), and for writing 'The Pastoral Office,' a handbook on the ministry that continued in use for a millennium." (William C. Weedon, Celebrating the Saints: The Feasts, Festivals, and Commemorations of Lutheran Service Book, pg. 162-163)

Collect for this day:

Almighty and merciful God, You raised up Gregory of Rome to be a pastor to those who shepherd God's flock and You inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people. Preserve in Your Church the catholic and apostolic faith that Your people may continue to be fruitful in every good work and receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

09/02/2026

Join us tonight at 6:30 PM for Wednesday Night Bible Study. Tonight we will continue a study on the life and times of Martin Luther. All are welcome!

09/02/2026

Today, the Church commemorates Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel.

"Hannah was one of two wives of Elkanah. His other wife, Peninnah, taunted Hannah when they went up to the yearly sacrifice at Shiloh. She mocked her barrenness, perhaps intimating that while Hannah might be more beloved of Elkanah than she, God obviously didn't love or care for her since He had withheld the fruit of the womb. Hannah's grief was inconsolable. Elkanah asked her, 'Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?' (1 Samuel 1:8)
Hannah took her sorrow in hand and went to pray before the ark. She stood outside the door of the temple praying in her heart and weeping bitterly. She promised that if the Lord remembered her in her affliction and gave her a son, she would give him to the Lord all his days. He would be a perpetual Nazirite.
As she prayed and wept, her mouth moved, but she didn't speak aloud. Eli, the priest, beholding her standing there and muttering, mistook her for a drunkard: 'How long will you go on being drunk? Put away your w**e from you.' She told the priest that she was not drunk, but speaking to God out of 'great anxiety and vexation.' Eli then looked kindly upon her: 'Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to Him.' She replied, 'Let your servant find favor in your eyes' (1 Samuel 1:14-18). Then she went her way at peace and hopeful.
In time, the Lord remembered Hannah. She gave birth to a little boy and gave him a fitting name: Samuel, that is, God has heard. When he had been weaned, she went up with a three-year-old heifer and a skin of w**e and presented him to the priest in Shiloh. 'As you live, my Lord, I am the woman who was standing here in Your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord granted me my petition that I made to Him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord' (1 Samuel 1:26-28).
Hannah then prayed and sang a song of fierce beauty, foreshadowing the Magnificat of the blessed Virgin. Among its memorable lines: 'My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord.... There is none holy like the Lord; for there is none besides You; there is no rock like our God' (1 Samuel 2:1-2)." (William C. Weedon, Celebrating the Saints: The Feasts, Festivals, and Commemorations of Lutheran Service Book, pg. 160-161.)

Collect for this day:

God the Father Almighty, maker of all things, You looked on the affliction of Your barren servant Hannah and did not forget her but answered her prayers with the gift of a son. So hear our supplications and petitions and fill our emptiness. Grant us trust in Your provision, so that we, like Hannah, might render unto You all thankfulness and praise, and delight in the miraculous birth of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

09/01/2026

Today the Church commemorates Joshua, the successor to Moses.

"Joshua, the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, is first mentioned in Exodus 17 when he was chosen by Moses to fight the Amalekites, whom he defeated in a brilliant military victory. He was placed in charge of the tent of meeting (Exodus 33:11) and was a member of the tribal representatives sent to survey the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:8). Later, he was appointed by God to succeed Moses as Israel's commander-in-chief. Joshua eventually led the Israelites' capture of Jericho. He is remembered especially for his final address to the Israelites, in which he challenged them to serve God faithfully (Joshua 24:1-27), concluding with the memorable words, 'As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.' (24:15)." (Treasury of Daily Prayer, pg. 680)

Collect for this day:

Lord Jesus Christ, Your servant Joshua led the children of Israel through the waters of the Jordan River into a land flowing with milk and honey. As our Joshua, lead us, we pray, through the waters of our Baptism into the promised land of our eternal home, where You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

08/29/2026

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

Join us tomorrow as we delight in the Lord who comes to give us the forgiveness of our sins, life, and salvation through His Word and Sacrament. The Divine Service begins at 9:00 AM.

Following the Divine Service, we will continue to gather around God's Word in Bible Study, beginning at 10:15 AM.

Bulletins - http://www.stpeterwaymansville.org/?page_id=525

Sermons - https://www.stpeterwaymansville.org/?page_id=2796 or https://audio.com/rev-erik-sorenson

08/29/2026

Today the Church commemorates the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist.

"He worked no mighty miracles. He had neither wife nor child nor place he could call home. He lived in the desert wilderness of Judea and ate insects and wild honey growing up. He dressed in a rough fashion reminiscent of Elijah (in whose spirit he served, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and children to the obedience of the just). His life prepared him for a ministry that lasted at most a year and half. He was jailed for daring to criticize King Herod Agrippa I and telling him that it was not lawful for him to take his brother's wife as his own.
It was at this stage of his life, as he was in prison, that Jesus said of him, 'Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.' Under unjust arrest for speaking truth, John no doubt knew exactly what awaited him. After all, from the time he baptized Jesus and heard the Father's voice and saw the Spirit descend, he had proclaimed that Jesus was 'the Lamb of God' (John 1:29). John knew that 'He must increase, but I must decrease' (John 3:30), since he was the one who prepared the way, the forerunner. Lambs were for slaughter, and to be a forerunner is to go ahead on the way the Lord Himself was to travel. John knew it wouldn't end well for him in the world. Yet, Jesus had sent him the comfort, 'Go and tell John...the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them' (Matthew 11:4-5).
Did he whisper that promise to himself as the executioner came with sword in hand? Herodias's daughter's swirling and salacious hints had captured the old man's lust. Herod made his foolish promise and Herodias finally had her revenge. The regretful king handed the grisly platter with the prophet's head upon it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. When word reached John's disciples, they came and took away the body and buried it. Then they went to Jesus.
That is what John had taught them to do. Go to Jesus. And hear from Him the words that will sustain when all else fails. They were words John clung to as he entered into the darkness, forerunner in death as he had been in life. Did he announce to the dead, 'Fear not! The Death of death, the Lamb of God, lives! I've seen Him. Soon He will bring light to those who sit in darkness, in the shadow of death. He will free us, raise us, bring us to His kingdom!'? So today we commemorate the death of the greatest born of women in the natural way and last prophet of the Old Testament: John the Baptist." (William C. Weedon, Celebrating the Saints: The Feasts, Festivals, and Commemorations of Lutheran Service Book, pg. 156-157)

Collect for this day:

Almighty God, You gave Your servant John the Baptist to be the forerunner of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in both his preaching of repentance and his innocent death. Grant that we, who had died and risen with Christ in Holy Baptism, may daily repent of our sins, patiently suffer for the sake of the truth, and fearlessly bear witness to His victory over death; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

08/28/2026

Today the Church commemorates Augustine of Hippo, pastor and theologian. He died on this day in AD 430.

"Augustine was one of the greatest of the Latin Church Fathers and a significant influence in the formation of Western Christianity, including Lutheranism. Born in AD 354 in North Africa, Augustine's early life was distinguished by exceptional advancement as a teacher of rhetoric. In his book 'Confessions' he describes his life before his conversion to Christianity, when he was drawn into the moral laxity of the day and fathered an illegitimate son. Through the devotion of his sainted mother, Monica, and the preaching of Ambrose, bishop of Milan (AD 339-97), Augustine was converted to the Christian faith. During the great Pelagian controversies of the fifth century, Augustine emphasized the unilateral grace of God in the salvation of mankind. Bishop and theologian at Hippo in North Africa from AD 395 until his death in AD 430, Augustine was a man of great intelligence, a fierce defender of the orthodox faith, and a prolific writer. In addition to 'Confessions,' Augustine's book 'City of God' had a great impact upon the Church throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance." (Treasury of Daily Prayer, pg. 667)

Collect for this day:

O Lord God, the light of the minds that know You, the life of the souls that love You, and the strength of the hearts that serve You, give us strength to follow the example of Your servant Augustine of Hippo, so that knowing You we may truly love You and loving You we may fully serve You - for to serve You is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church

09/05/2026

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