Reformation Lutheran Church, Culpeper VA

Reformation Lutheran Church, Culpeper VA We believe & confess the Bible is God’s revealed Word to us, spoken in Law & Gospel. The Bible is our final authority in all matters of faith & life.

601 Madison Road, Culpeper Virginia 22701
(540) 825-1376 Church Office

Worship, Wednesday 12 noon

Worship, Wednesday 7 pm
Facebook Live, 7 pm

Praise Worship, Saturday Evening 6 pm
Facebook Live, 6pm

Spirited Traditional Worship, Sunday Morning 8 am
Facebook Live, 8am

Spirited Traditional Worship, Sunday Morning 10:30am

09/06/2026

Greatness

09/04/2026

Today's Morning Greeting
Written by Dave Lambert

Good morning! Have you ever grown frustrated when your vision didn't come to pass? It may have been a big vision like for racial reconciliation, world peace, or revival. These things didn't come to pass and over time, you've lost hope and motivation. Does that describe you? The Bible has something to say about that! Let's read today's passages together and see what God will show us:

Let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. Galatians 6:9 GNT

A farmer is patient. He waits for his valuable crop to grow from the earth. He waits patiently for it to receive the first rain and the last rain. You, too, must be patient. Do not give up hope. James 5:7-8 ICB

I like these passages because they give me hope. Overcoming these problems, whether small or large, is a process. Success will come...but it might not come when you want it to come. It took time for things to get the way they are and it will take time to change them. You may be called to be part of the process but you may never see the full result in your lifetime. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we experienced in the 60's and 70's was the answer to somebody's prayers. We experienced it but others had worked and prayed for decades before that. In the 1980's I had a clear vision for racial reconciliation in our area. We have seen some but there is much more to come. Until then, you and I must choose to be patient. Don't give up! Pray for change. Work for change. Live into what the Lord has called you to do. If God wants it, He will bring it to pass. It may not happen in your lifetime or mine but it will happen in somebody's lifetime...and that's very Good News!

09/03/2026

Today's Morning Greeting
Written by Dave Lambert

Good morning! How do you feel when God calls you to do something, you don’t feel very well-equipped to do? When God calls us to do something we are usually reluctant because we don’t feel like we are able to do it with our own talent and resources. But here’s the paradox: God almost always calls us to do things that are beyond our own strengths! When we move into the supernatural provision God has for us, it can be frightening - but also really exciting. When God called Moses to serve Him, Moses was reluctant to do it. Let’s jump into the story this morning and see how God can help us overcome our fear by looking at the way in which He led Moses through his reluctance:

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”…The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Ex. 4:13-14, 27-30

Don’t you just love the opening statement here? “But Moses said, ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.’” That’s my default position, too! “God please send my friend John. Or please send my friend, Brad. Send anyone; just don’t send me!” Interestingly, He did send someone else for support, Moses’ brother Aaron. In fact, God went and spoke to Aaron about it and Aaron was good to go. A number of years ago I knew God was calling me to reach out across denominational lines to other local youth leaders. God was doing some things in the youth in our region and I sensed that He wanted us to work together. I didn’t know how to get started and so I talked with my pastor at the time, Pat Bopp. He said, “Call Matt Gregory.” I didn’t know Matt but he was a youth leader at Open Door Baptist church. I called him and he said, “God’s been saying something to me about this, too. Let’s get together and talk.” We called churches in the area and asked the youth leaders if they wanted to get together. Surprisingly, they did. A couple of days before our first gathering, I received a call from a representative of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He wanted to know if there was a group of youth leaders in the region with whom he could meet about possibly bringing a BGEA evangelistic event to Culpeper. I invited him to the meeting and the event and our regional youth leaders organization was born! God called Moses and helped him overcome his fear by sending Aaron. God called Matt (or me depending on which of us might be telling the story) and sent the other to help. If God is calling you today, He is also preparing those who will help. This morning, prayerfully consider what God might be calling you to do and then ask Him this question: who are You sending to help me?

09/02/2026

Real Faith

09/02/2026

Today's Morning Greeting
Written by Dave Lambert

Good morning! One of my favorite characters in the Bible is an Old Testament prophet and wonder-worker named Elijah, who lived about 950 years before the birth of Christ. You’re probably familiar with him. His name, Eli-jah, means “YAWEH (or my God) is God”. Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh and condemned the worship of the Phoenician god, Baal. During his career, he raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and didn’t die, but was taken up in a whirlwind. I like Elijah. Some modern day analysts have suggested that he was bipolar or suffered from clinical depression. Maybe - but if he was, that certainly didn’t keep him from functioning in his calling as a “Prophet of the Lord”. This morning, let’s take a look at Elijah and see how he came on the scene:

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

1Kings 17:1-6

Prior to this passage we don't know anything about Elijah. There’s no information about his background, other than the fact that he came from Tishbe, a rural district. We know more about Ahab, a Hebrew king who had allowed worship of a foreign god in the palace, building a temple for Baal and allowing Jezebel to bring priests and prophets of Baal and Asherah into the country. OK, so, how did this nobody from Tishbe gain access to the king's court in the first place? We read in this morning’s passage that Elijah walked into the presence of King Ahab (who is busily killing off the prophets of YAWEH) cocked his head to one side, looked at Ahab out of one squinty eye, and said, “From now on, it's not going to rain or dew for the next few years until I say so.” Do you think Ahab took him seriously? He might have asked, “Who is this character and how did he get in here?” We then read that Elijah felt “led” to go hide in a ditch and ravens brought him bread and meat. I'm not sure I’d want to eat sandwiches brought to me by scavenger birds, but there you are. The amazing thing here is that Elijah brought this prophetic word to Ahab and it came to pass. To me, this seems like su***de. No way could Elijah have predicted this on his own and if it came true he might be killed. If it didn’t come true, it would be career su***de and no one would take him seriously. They might even kill him for being a false prophet. Here’s the point: Elijah needed God to work supernaturally in his life and vocation if he was going to succeed. How about you this morning? Do you need God to work supernaturally in your life in order to be what God has called you to be? What are you doing about it? God helped Elijah and He can help you, too...and that's very Good News!

09/01/2026

Today's Morning Greeting
Written by Dave Lambert

Good morning! One of the disturbing trends we have watched over the past 50 years or so has been something I call the “individualization” of Christianity in the US. Millions of young people came to Christ during the Jesus Movement in the 60's and 70's. The parallel movements happening at that time---and continuing today--- were movements which emphasized “doing your own thing” or a “Just Me and Jesus” way of thinking. The writer of the Book of Judges puts it this way: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” There is lots of preaching today on our personal relationship with Christ but there is very little emphasis in our day on the interdependency that we find so evident in the New Testament. This morning, let's take a look at a dear little passage in Malachi that I have appreciated for many years:

Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name.

Malachi 3:16

Malachi reminds us here that there is a relational component to being God's people and that God pays attention to it. Paul also talks about this in Ephesians 4. We aren't just members of the Body of Christ - “we are members of one another.” Over the years, Pam and I have been members of several churches. Some of this moving around has had to do with moving to a different town; some with changes in the churches or in us. Through it all, we have sought to be part of a congregation but we haven’t always been successful. Sometimes we have struggled to find a church that fit us. Our current congregation is completely different from the kind of church we were seeking - and we both love it. The fact that we both love this congregation even though it isn’t what either of us “wanted” is good evidence to both of us that we are where God has placed us. We didn’t choose it; God has chosen it for us. It is important that we find our place in the Body of Christ, even though it can be difficult and time-consuming. I remember the frustration of looking for a church home and not finding it. This morning, let me encourage you not to try to go it alone. The Bible says that, “God sets the solitary in families.” We can help each other; we can encourage each other; we can strengthen each other and bear one another’s burdens. The Body of Christ is one of God's best gifts for you...and that's very Good News!

08/31/2026

Today's Morning Greeting
Written by Dave Lambert

Good morning! Every day you and I are bombarded with messages about what we need. Advertisers tell us that we shouldn't be content with what we have. We shouldn't be content with what we do. We shouldn't be content with what we are. Politicians tell us that we shouldn't be content with they way things are in the world. They tell us that whoever the other side is, is lying to us and we shouldn't be content with that, either. God wants us to make changes in our lives and in the world around us but that doesn't mean that we should live our lives without contentment. The Bible tells us in 1 Tim. 6, "that godliness with contentment is great gain." So what do we do about that? Let's read two passages together today that can point us in the right direction:

God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:17 NIV

If God gives us wealth and property and lets us enjoy them, we should be grateful and enjoy what we have worked for. It is a gift from God. Ecclesiastes 5:19 GNT

I like sitting with Pam on the front porch in the morning, drinking coffee and getting ready for the day. That's my favorite time of day, sitting with my favorite person. Our first passage reminds us that God gave us this world for our enjoyment. I like it! We get so busy doing things and wanting more things that we don't enjoy the world that God has already given us to enjoy. Our second passage tells us to enjoy the things we have worked for. And why not? God has given them to us so that we can enjoy them. Suppose you gave me a gift. I said, "Thank you," and then put it in a glass box on a shelf, unopened. Then I tell all my friends about what a wonderful gift you gave me. Would you be pleased with that? God isn't, either. He wants you to enjoy what He's given you. The secret of contentment is to learn to enjoy what God has given you. Look around! Take time to appreciate what God has already given you and enjoy what you’ve got. After all, it's a gift from God...and that's very Good News!

08/28/2026

Today's Morning Greeting
Written by Dave Lambert

One of the things I have learned in more than fifty years of walking with God is that He loves mercy. He rewards mercy. He wants you and me to show mercy to other people. In Ephesians 2:4-5, Paul writes, "God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved." God wants you and me to pay forward the mercy that we’ve received from him. This morning, let's read a simple statement from Jesus and then read one from His brother James that can help us to become better mercy-givers:

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 NLT

You must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear at the judgment” James 2:13 NCV

I've often noticed that when I'm kind to others they're usually kind to me in return. When I'm polite to others, they’re polite to me. When I'm generous to others, they’re usually generous to me. That's the principle of sowing and reaping. Whatever you give in life, you’re going to get in return. The same is true of mercy. Jesus tells us in our first passage that God wants us to be merciful to others. Why? Because He's merciful to us. There's another reason to be mercy-givers, though; someday, you and I are going to need mercy. James tells us in our second passage that if we don't show mercy to others God will not show mercy to us on the Day of Judgment. I don't know about you but I'm going to need a lot of it! Let me encourage you this morning to look for ways to show mercy to the people you encounter today. God likes it and rewards it...and that's very Good News!

08/27/2026

Today's Morning Greeting
Written by Dave Lambert

Good morning! Do you ever compare yourself to other people and come out looking like you are less than they are? This is a common problem, even among Christians who know that Jesus has shed His own blood for them. People often have problems with personal significance. It's a common problem. We compare what we are, what we have, what we may become. We compare ourselves with those we admire. We compare ourselves with people we believe ourselves to superior to, as well. Does the Bible have anything to say about this? Yes! Today, let's consider this brief passage taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes:

It is better to be content with what little you have. Otherwise, you will always be struggling for more, and that is like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 NCV

Nobody else who has ever lived has your fingerprints. Nobody else has your DNA. In Psalm 138:8, the psalmist says, "The Lord will work out his plans for my life." Another translation says, "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me." Each one of us has purpose. God has a plan for you and a different plan for me. He didn't make that plan and purpose today or when you were born; He made that plan and purpose before Creation. Not only does He have a plan and a purpose for you, the Bible tells us that He will fulfill it. I'm talking to somebody this morning. God made you to be you. I want to encourage you this morning to be content to be the person God created you to be. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, God has begun a good work in you and He's going to complete it...and that's very Good News!

Address

601 Madison Road
Culpeper, VA
22701

Telephone

+15408251376

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