St. Paul's Lutheran Church

St. Paul's Lutheran Church Founded in 1842. The mission of St. We welcome you! Here, the message of Jesus is preached, taught, and shared each time we are together. or Thursdays at 7:00 p.m.

Paul’s Lutheran Church is to enthusiastically share Christ as Savior by nurturing a strong church family and by reaching out with Christ’s love to the community. Jesus said, “Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Our congregation is a hospital for sinners who are in need of the forgiveness, grace, and peace of Jesus. Join us in person for worship Sunday's at 9:3

0 a.m. Our address 3932 MiCasa Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46237. Can't join us in person? We live stream Sunday's service on YouTube. Search for St. Paul's Indy.

09/07/2026

Hebrews 1 Devotion 3

Read Hebrews 1
What are the last days and how has Jesus brought them about?
Much is made of the last days. Books, films, lectures, chat groups, and many other phenomena, have risen up in this information age. Experts have risen up for every aspect of the last days, predicting when, in general, or specifically, the culmination of the last days will occur. Every generation thinks they are living in the last days. For about 2000 years every generation has been right.
The major Old Testament discussion of the last days is found in the later chapters of Daniel. There is much discussion about which portions are referring to the coming of the Messiah and which are referring to the end of time. They seem to run together, causing great confusion. Hebrews 1 helps.
This chapter says that God has spoken to us, in these last days, by His Son. The last days of Hebrews are the days ushered in by Jesus’ incarnation, life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Jesus inaugurated the last days. He is God’s final revelation. He fulfilled Scripture and brought about the fullness of time. We have been living in the last days since He came.
When will the end come? When God is good and ready. The conditions for the end have been true since Jesus came to save us. God has finished His revelation in Jesus, and now we await His return by faith. How do we prepare? We learn of Him and from Him. We receive what He came to give us, and share it with others. We focus on His Word, promised and fulfilled. We live in the fullness of God’s revelation; Jesus Christ.

Today’s Hymn Verse: LSB 523 v1
O Word of God incarnate, O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging, O light of our dark sky:
We praise You for the radiance that from the hallowed page,
A lantern to our footsteps, shines on from age to age.

O Lord God, we thank You that You have spoken to us through Your Son in these last days. We thank You that You have done all that is necessary for our salvation. We await the day of Jesus’ return. Until then, keep us steadfast in Your Word, the final Word of Jesus. Amen.

09/06/2026

Hebrews 1 Devotion 1

Read Hebrews 1
How has Jesus completed the Old Testament puzzle?
In the phrase, “at many times and in many ways” there is a sense, not just of difference, but of fragmentation. Within the writings of the prophets was the fragmented teaching concerning the Messiah. There was a piece here, and a piece there. Some were prophetic predictions, some were found in the events of the history of Israel, while others were found in the customs, particularly the sacrifices that took place in the Temple. Taken separately, it was often difficult for the OT believers even to see the Messiah in some of them. They understood some of it to be clearly Messianic. Others were less clear to them. They would not get a clear picture until these things found their fulfillment.
In Jesus’ journey to Emmaus with two disciples (Luke 24:13-35), it says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Later in Luke 24 (45) it says that Jesus opened the minds of His disciples to understand the Scriptures about His death and resurrection. The fragmented OT puzzle pieces are put together in Jesus.
Ancient Israel practiced sacrifices to atone for certain sins and all sins. We see that these sacrifices pointed to “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Ancient Israel was told of a Suffering Servant in such places as Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Zechariah 12 and others. They did not understand these words, but we see them specifically fulfilled in the cross of our Lord Jesus. Events in the Gospels seem eerily similar to those in the OT. Ancient Israel did not see these events as Messianic, but we see them fulfilled in Jesus.
The apostles took the new understanding Jesus had given them after His resurrection and revealed it in the Gospels and Epistles that make up the New Testament. They saw the fragmented pieces of the OT come together in a picture of Jesus, all He is and did. What the prophets wrote is fulfilled. God “has spoken to us through His Son,” in word and deed.

Today’s Hymn Verse: LSB 583 v2
God has spoken by Christ Jesus, Christ the everlasting Son,
Brightness of the Father’s glory, with the Father ever one;
Spoken by the Word Incarnate, God of God, before time was;
Light of Light, to earth descending, he reveals our God to us.

Father, we thank You for speaking through the prophets, and fulfilling Your Word in Jesus. Grant us the wisdom to see Him in the words, events, and customs of the Old Testament. Fix our faith on Him, that we might live as those forgiven, filled and fulfilled in His life, death, and resurrection. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

09/05/2026

Expressions of Faith
The Tree of Life
LSB 561

Verse 4 (Read Romans 5:6-21)
Now from that tree of Jesus’ shame flows life eternal in His name;
For all who trust and will believe, salvation’s living fruit receive.
And of this fruit so pure and sweet the Lord invites the world to eat,
To find within this cross of wood the tree of life with ev’ry good.

It began with two trees in the Garden of Eden. One was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which they ate of, and brought sin into the world. The other was the tree of life which they were barred from lest they eat and live forever in sin.
God, in His mercy overcame sin and death by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The cross becomes the tree on which He takes all sin for all time, sacrificing Himself to overcome what Adam did by his sin. The cross also becomes our source of eternal life, since the death we deserved was crucified that we might live with Him forever in heaven, where Revelation 22 tells us the tree of life is. Instead of the fruits of disobedience, we receive the fruits of faith in the crucifixion of Jesus. We find redemption in His blood, and eternal joy in His resurrection.

The joy can ne’er be spoken, above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring, Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring, I’d breathe my soul to Thee. Amen.

09/04/2026

Expressions of Faith
The Tree of Life
LSB 561

Verse 3 (Read Galatians 4:4-7)
What mercy God showed to our race, a plan of rescue by His grace:
In sending one from woman’s seed, the One to fill our greatest need –
For on a tree uplifted high His only Son for sin would die,
Would drink the cup of scorn and dread to crush the ancient serpent’s head!

God promised Adam and Eve salvation in the words of condemnation He spoke to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.” God reaffirmed that promise in Isaiah 7:14 by promising that a virgin would conceive and bear a son who would be “God with us.”
When the fullness of time had come, God sent the angel Gabriel to the village of Nazareth to announce to a young woman, named Mary, that she would be the promised mother of God her Savior. She gave birth to her Son and He was named “Yahweh saves,” because He is Yahweh who came to save us. The purpose of Jesus’ coming was to die on the cross for our sins, so that all that separated us from God would be removed by Him. He rose from the dead to pronounce His victory over sin and death, that we might rise to eternal life in heaven. God, in His mercy, could not leave us in our sins, so He came to be our Savior.

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown.
O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss, till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine. Amen.

09/03/2026

Expressions of Faith
The Tree of Life
LSB 561

Verse 2 (Read Genesis 3)
The stillness of that sacred grove was broken as the serpent strove
With tempting voice Eve to beguile and Adam too by sin defile.
O day of sadness when the breath of fear and darkness, doubt and death,
Its awful poison first displayed within the world so newly made.

We live in a world of frustrated utopians. In every generation we see those who think they can create a perfect world. The attempt is genuine and thought out, then fails. The problem is putting sinners in charge. Sin corrupted the world and the people in it. Perfection gave way to a place where blessings come alongside sorrows. We would love to blame the generations before us for just being too dimwitted to accomplish what surely must be possible; perfection. Perfection is gone, replaced by the valley of the shadow of death. We see the result of paradise lost in our lives, our experience, and even on the daily news broadcast.
The sinful world left God, but God did not leave us. He continuously promised a Savior to win us back from the corruption we caused. He fulfilled God’s promises in a way the sinful world could not imagine, but that we, by faith, know as the wisdom of God. The broken pieces of this sinful world would come together in a picture of one crucified and risen from the dead. What sinful man hopelessly broke, God hopefully restored.

And so we come, O God, today and all our woes before You lay;
For sorely tried, cast down, we stand, perplexed by fears on ev’ry hand. Amen.

09/02/2026

Expressions of Faith
The Tree of Life
LSB 561

Verse 1 (Read Genesis 2:5-17)
The tree of life with ev’ry good in Eden’s holy orchard stood,
And of its fruit so pure and sweet God let the man and woman eat.
Yet in this garden also grew another tree, of which they knew;
Its lovely limbs with fruit adorned against whose eating God had warned.

In moments of reflection, we might imagine what it was like to live in the Genesis 2 world. We try to imagine a perfect garden to live in, a place of perfect harmony with God. The tree of life was there to eat, and life was refreshed. Adam and Eve lived in harmony with God and with each other. The tree of life was their sustenance, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was their place of worship. By their obedience to this one command, they showed their devotion to God.
Such a world is a far away dream as we walk in the valley of the shadow of death. There is still much beauty for us to enjoy and worship God for. There are also the clear reminders of the corruption sin has caused. We live in the grace of the one who made all things and pronounced them “good.” We live in the restoration of the one who has promised forgiveness, grace, and the glory of heaven. We do not look back, but forward to what God has promised and accomplished.

Finish then Thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee,
Changed from glory into glory, till in heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and grace. Amen.

09/01/2026

Expressions of Faith
God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It
LSB 594

Verse 5 (Read Acts 2:36-39)
There is nothing worth comparing to this life-long comfort sure!
Open-eyed my grave is staring: even there I’ll sleep secure.
Though my flesh awaits its raising, still my soul continues praising:
I am baptized into Christ; I’m a child of paradise!

My mom died several years ago. I visit her grave. It’s a place I connect with her, but, more importantly, a place where I connect with the resurrection of the dead. We are accustomed to a cemetery being a scary place of movies or television shows. Visiting my mom’s grave is not scary, intimidating, or final. She is alive, awaiting the resurrection of the dead.
Cemeteries are a place of assurance for those who believe in Christ. The decaying bodies, touched by the blessings of Baptism, will be transformed on the day of resurrection. We will be reunited with perfect bodies to enjoy the wonders of our heavenly home. My mom, and all the saints who have gone before, will be raised and enjoy the blessings of heaven with us forever. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Grant us Thy peace throughout our earthly life,
Our balm in sorrow and our stay in strife.
Then, when Thy voice shall bid our conflict cease,
Call us, O Lord, to Thine eternal peace. Amen.

08/31/2026

Expressions of Faith
God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It
LSB 594

Verse 4 (Read John 3:1-17)
Death, you cannot end my gladness: I am baptized into Christ!
When I die, I leave all sadness to inherit paradise!
Though I lie in dust and ashes faith’s assurance brightly flashes:
Baptism has the strength divine to make life immortal mine.

THE GRIM REAPER! We have seen pictures of this very famous depiction of death. The words conjure a picture in our heads. Why does such a picture of death exist? For too many people, death is the great unknown. It is a door behind which people cannot see, a door that most assume leads to some form of darkness. The unknown is scary, hence the picture of death is such a frightening figure.
One of the great blessings of Jesus’ death and resurrection is that it makes the unknown, of death, known. Jesus died in our place. He paid the atoning price for sin, and our sins, which are the reason there is death in the first place. Jesus has transformed our death into the gate of eternal life in heaven. This is part of the covenant relationship we have with Jesus in our Baptism. Paul writes, in Romans 6, of being baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. The person we were died, and the new has arisen by God’s grace. Though we still struggle with sin each day, God has made us His own and assures us that the new life we have in Jesus includes heaven. We are born from above (see John 3) that, in the covenant of salvation He made with us, we might live assured that the salvation He accomplished for the world is ours in the blessings He gave us in Baptism. Death is not a grim reaper for those united to Christ, but the gate to unspeakable joy, where we await the resurrection from the dead. We will dwell with God forever in heaven. No Grim Reaper, just fullness of joy.

Holy Spirit, faith preserve through Your Sacraments and Word,
Till we join the host on high singing Baptism’s lullaby. Amen.

08/30/2026

Expressions of Faith
God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It
LSB 594

Verse 3 (Read Colossians 2:8-15)
Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ!
Drop your ugly accusation, I am not so soon enticed.
Now that to the font I’ve traveled, all your might has come unraveled,
And against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me!

Satan is our prosecutor. He accuses us of being sinners and, therefore, separated from God. Satan claims us as his, making his case by pointing out our sinful nature, and our sinful actions. He desires to make this accusation in such a way that we will despair.
But Satan’s evidence against us has been washed away in Jesus’ blood. We do not claim innocence, but cling to the fact that Jesus paid the price for our sins. Our sentence has already been pronounced against Jesus and He died in our place. Our defense against Satan’s accusations is what Jesus has done. Will Satan be content with that? No. He will try to cast doubts, even getting us to doubt that what Jesus did can actually be ours. Even if Jesus did it, who’s to say we actually receive it? Here our defense is the fact that we are baptized into Christ. He has united Himself with us in the promised blessings of Baptism. We have been cleansed. We know how and we know where that cleansing has taken place. We have the touch of God’s grace that makes us His own. Let Satan accuse. I am baptized into Christ!

This, Your child You’ve reconciled, Satan seeks to make defiled.
Your protection, wide and high, comes in Baptism’s lullaby. Amen.

08/29/2026

Verse 2 (Read Titus 3:3-7)
Sin, disturb my soul no longer: I am baptized into Christ!
I have comfort even stronger: Jesus’ cleansing sacrifice.
Should a guilty conscience seize me since my Baptism did release me
In a dear forgiving flood, sprinkling me with Jesus’ blood?

“Did you wash your hands for dinner? Show me.” Many of us have heard these words as children, and many of us have said them to our own children. We often had to show our moms the evidence of our washing, to prove that it was actually so. It’s one thing to say you have washed. It is another thing to actually be clean.
What about the problem of sin? How do we know we are clean? How do we know that what Jesus did is ours? The answer is found in the blessings of Baptism. God has washed us clean as He places the blessings of Jesus’ death and resurrection in Baptism. We are washed by God of our sins in the blessings of Jesus, promised and delivered. This “washing of regeneration” is the means by which touches us with His saving grace. Are we sure we are clean? God has washed us, therefore we are surely clean! Our formerly blood-stained hands are made clean and prepared for the feast God has served, here and in heaven. Let the accusers come! We have nothing to fear from their accusations. Jesus suffered and died in our place. Jesus has baptized us into His death and resurrection. We are washed.

Your forgiveness, full and free, now and to eternity
Are wrapped up in this supply of Your Baptism’s lullaby. Amen.

Address

3932 Mi Casa Avenue
Indianapolis, IN
46237

Telephone

+13177874464

Website

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