Shells Evangelical Lutheran Church

06/16/2026

Be sure to keep Emma J. in your prayers this week as she attends All Saints Confirmation Camp 2026

06/16/2026

06/16/2026

GOD PAUSE
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Psalm 69:7-10 [11-15] 16-18 (NRSV)

7It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face.

8I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother's children.

9It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

10When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.[

11When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

12I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.

13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. With your faithful help

14rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.

15Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over me.]

16Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

17Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress-make haste to answer me.

18Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies.

Devotion
The psalmist declares, “For your sake I have suffered reproach,” pointing to faithful suffering—pain that comes from devotion to God. Zeal for God’s house has not brought comfort, but misunderstanding, rejection, and even isolation. Sometimes our struggles come from our own mistakes, but at other times, like for the psalmist, faithfulness itself is costly. The language is heavy—shame, scorn, and alienation—even from family and community. Many know this feeling when standing for truth or living out faith. Yet the psalm does not end in despair. In the midst of “deep waters,” the psalmist cries out in prayer, trusting that God hears and will act, even when God seems distant. When faithfulness feels costly, this psalm invites us to name our pain honestly, to keep praying, and to trust in God’s presence. Even in suffering, God sees, God hears, and God answers in steadfast love—and Jesus himself has walked this path before us and knows what we are going through.

Prayer
Faithful God, for your sake, we sometimes bear reproach and feel alone. When trouble surrounds us, hear our prayers and draw near in your steadfast love. Rescue us and remind us we are never alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Pastor Young Chung '02 M.S.M, '16 M.Div.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Lombard, IL

06/16/2026

The ELCA Human Sexuality - Gift and Trust Reconsiderations Task Force (of which Fr. Barnes is a member) requests your feedback on the following survey. Study groups will be held at Shells 🐚 Church ⛪️ and St John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hoernerstown in the late Summer.

Access publications, courses, and informative content like Human Sexuality - Gift and Trust Reconsideration Process from the ELCA.

06/15/2026

Daily Bible Reading: Monday, June 15, 2026
Psalm 105:1-11, 37-45

‍1 O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples.
‍2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.
‍3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
‍4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.
‍5 Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he has uttered,
‍6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
‍7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
‍8 He is mindful of his covenant forever,
of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
‍9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
‍10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
‍11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”

‍37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,
and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
‍38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.
‍39 He spread a cloud for a covering
and fire to give light by night.
‍40 They asked, and he brought quails
and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
‍41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.
‍42 For he remembered his holy promise
and Abraham, his servant.
‍43 So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
‍44 He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
‍45 that they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!

06/15/2026

GOD PAUSE
Monday, June 15, 2026
Jeremiah 20:7–13 (NRSV)

7O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. 8For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, "Violence and destruction!" For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. 9If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. 10For I hear many whispering: "Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!" All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. "Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him." 11But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. 12O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. 13Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

Devotion
I was struck by the opening words of the reading: “O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed.” They carry deep emotion. Jeremiah makes it clear that everything began with God—a call so strong he could not resist, almost as if he were saying, “You persuaded me, Lord,” or even, “You deceived me.” It reveals the tension of his calling—caught between God’s difficult message and a people unwilling to hear it. He had tried to remain silent, but God’s word burned within him like fire, and he could not hold it in. He kept going because he trusted that God would deliver. I can relate. I feel called to preach, and it is tempting to say only what people want to hear. Yet something stirs within me—I cannot stay quiet. God’s word compels me. Don’t we all feel this tension at times—in our congregation, community, and beyond—between speaking truth and softening the message? Still, we hold onto God’s promise and keep going.

Prayer
Gracious and persistent God, you call us even when your call feels heavy. Like Jeremiah, we resist, yet your word burns within us and cannot be silenced. Give us courage to speak your truth. Turn our fear into trust and our silence into faithful witness. Amen.

Pastor Young Chung '02 M.SM, '16 M.Div.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Lombard, IL

06/15/2026

The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time with the Blessing of Graduates 2026

06/14/2026

Welcome to worship on The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - June 14, 2026

Please click on the YouTube link below for the 9am live stream.

Moses tells the Israelites that they are called to be a priestly ki...

06/13/2026

Join us for our fall youth retreat! All expenses paid!

Sign up by August 31, 2026!

➡️ Sign up sheet in the Narthex
➡️ Email the church office

06/13/2026

Daily Bible Reading: Saturday, June 13, 2026
Mark 7:1-13

1 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders, 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash, and there are also many other traditions that they observe: the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles and beds.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat with defiled hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
‍8 “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

‍9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God), 12 then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13 thus nullifying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”