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.

06/18/2026

Expressions of Faith
Take My Life and Let It Be
LSB 783
Verse 5 (Read Ephesians 5:15-20)
Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne.

At times, each of us has been strong willed, and we have all known strong-willed people. Having a strong will is not necessarily a bad thing. It is often used to stand strong on the confession of God’s Word, and to persist in our love for others. It is only when our will is set against God’s that strong will becomes a problem. So we pray the Spirit to use our will for His own. May He grant us the grace to stubbornly teach His Word, love and care for His people. When our will is opposed to God’s, we pray He may bend that will to His Word and service. As the hymn says, “I shall doubt His wisdom never, as God wills, so be it ever; I to Him commit my way.”
It is also the same with our heart, our passion and zeal. Being passionate is not a bad thing. Too often our passion departs from God’s Word and will. Then we are to repent the passion of our hearts. But we pray that God would dwell in our hearts, to turn our passion to His will and work. We pray for a heart that seeks God and His Word. We pray for a heart that sees the needs of neighbor and passionately seeks their good. We pray the Christmas prayer, “Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, prepare a bed, soft, undefiled, a quiet chamber set apart for You to dwell within my heart.”

Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne. Amen.

06/17/2026

Expressions of Faith
Take My Life and Let It Be
LSB 783
Verse 4 (Read Mark 12:41-44)
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect and use every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

The practice of tithing (giving one tenth to the Lord’s work) has left a false impression for some people. They assume that, if they give one tenth, the rest is theirs to do with as they please. In fact, it all belongs to God. He entrusts what we have into our care to be stewards of His blessings. We bring the first-fruits for the work of His kingdom through our congregations. But the rest is to be used to His glory and for the welfare of those He entrusts into our care (family, neighbors). How we use all our gifts is an expression of our faith; thanks to God for all His blessings.
Among the many gifts God has given us is our ability to reason, to think. We are to use these abilities to His glory as well. Our chief stewardship of our intellect is as a servant of God’s Word. We do not use our mental abilities to add to, or subtract from, the Biblical text. Instead, we use this gift to understand what God has revealed, to continue to read and study it, and then to communicate the truth to others. Through such use of our reason, God grants and promotes His grace in us and through us. Many in our society believe that Christianity is only believed by the simple minded. But we know our faith to be the revelation of the wisdom that comes from the mind of God. To use our intellect in the study and application of God’s Word is to have, live, and impart the Wisdom from on high.

Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect and use every pow’r as Thou shalt choose. Amen.

06/16/2026

Expressions of Faith
Take My Life and Let It Be
LSB 783
Verse 3 (Read Psalm 98)
Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King;
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

My mom had the voice of an angel. She sang constantly. Whatever she was doing, her singing filled our house with hymns and anthems, sung to the praise of the One who had given her such a beautiful voice. She once talked to me about the gift of her voice. She reminded me that God had given me a voice to sing with; a gift. She went on to say that she had given her voice to Him who gave it to her, and not only had no regrets, but thought her life was wondrous because she had the privilege to sing His praise. May God grant us all such stewardship, spending our lives poured out in singing the wondrous hymns that adorn our lives.
The content of our singing and talking is essential. We are messengers of God in this world. We pray that God would make the content on our lips the content of our faith. Whether singing, or speaking, we are called to communicate the wondrous content of forgiveness, grace, peace, love, and life given through our Savior Jesus Christ. We have Good News!

Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King;
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee. Amen.

06/15/2026

Expressions of Faith
Take My Life and Let It Be
LSB 783
Verse 2 (Read Isaiah 52:7-10)
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

I am both handed. I do some things with one and some things with the other; and nothing very well with either one. Regularly writing with my right hand, and eating with my left, I am reminded of the gift they both are. It is east to take our hands for granted, but what a wondrous gift they are! We do so much with them each day without thinking about how what we are doing is even possible. In thanks to God for our hands, we offer them for His service. We are stewards of these gifts as we make things that help people, as we cook food for our loved ones, as we hold steady those who are feeble, and as we lift those who are down. Whatever our hands can do, we offer in thanks to the One whose hands were pierced for our redemption.
So also with our feet. We are given feet that walk, run, balance, and sense. We use our feet to bring blessings to others. We walk by faith in the One who has assured our destination. We stand on the confession of Him who died and rose, that we might stand before His throne in heaven. We use them to carry the message of salvation to those who need to hear it, and to carry with the Gospel the food and clothing needed by so many among us. We use our feet in thanks for Him whose feet were pierced so that we might move, walk, and live in the love of Him who walked this earth as our Savior.

Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee. Amen.

06/14/2026

Expressions of Faith
Take My Life and Let It Be
LSB 783
Verse 1 (Read Psalm 90)
Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

What do I owe God for His blessings? Everything. Many consider their lives their own and live them accordingly. In our sins, we often act the same way. But our lives are not our own. We were created by our gracious God who blessed us with the gift of life. We were brought to faith by God’s grace, enabling us to see our lives, and our lives of faith, as gifts from Him. The fruitfulness of the earth, that the world ascribes to mother nature, we know to be from Father God. He grants blessings, then calls us to be stewards of those blessings.
Such stewardship is the subject of this hymn. In thanks for His blessings, we offer back to Him that which He gave us in the first place. We offer Him all that we are, knowing that we were created by Him, and redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. He fills our moments and days with His grace. That grace brings us joys beyond comprehension, and soothes our grief and sorrow. In thanks, we offer Him our praise. That praise is in our songs and liturgy. That praise is also in our love for Him expressed in our love for others. We pray in this hymn/prayer that He would let ceaseless praise flow from us at all times. Our lives and calling are not simply to respond to God’s commands, but to love Him with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. Such lives are lives of thanksgiving, lovingly thanking God for His love by how we love. So we praise, in love, care, compassion; in life.

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise. Amen.

06/13/2026

Expressions of Faith
Abide With Me
LSB 878
Verse 6 (Read Psalm 16)
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

One of my family’s favorite places to go is Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We are always excited to go, anticipating getting there as we pass certain places along the way. Near the end of the journey is Pidgeon Forge Tennessee. From there we go into Gatlinburg, after which is the entrance to the Park. It is necessary, from our house, to go through these places on the way to our destination.
We are on the road to heaven. In order to get there, we must journey through much in life. But essential to this journey are two locations. We must go through the cross of Jesus to get where we are going. There is no other way to get there than through the grace of God given to us in Jesus’ death for our sins. Sin barred the way to God, but that way is now open by Jesus taking our sins away. Our journey of faith goes to the cross. We have crosses around our necks, on our walls, and in our sanctuaries to remind us of this necessary location in our journey. We pass from the cross through the empty tomb, reminded that Jesus is risen, and that our resurrection is certain. Passing through those two essential stops, we will reach our destination on the day of resurrection. So we continue on our journey, with the sign of the cross before us, and the words “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” ringing in our ears. Knowing, by faith, our sure destination, we pray . . .

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Amen.

06/12/2026

Expressions of Faith
Abide With Me
LSB 878
Verse 5 (Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-58)
I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting, where grave Thy victory?
I triumph still if Thou abide with me.

In leading a Bible Study on the last section of 1 Corinthians 15, I asked one of the men in the class to read the text, which included the above cited verses. When he was done reading, I said “thank you.” His unexpected response was to thank me for the privilege of reading those words. Amid the various distractions and uncertainty of this life is the clear promise of God. The promised resurrection is certain. Because Christ is risen, His promise to raise the dead is as sure as the fact that He lives.
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, mocks sin and death. These seemingly overpowering forces are bereft of their power because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Sin has no power over us. It has been paid for by the death of Jesus. Death cannot hold us because it did not hold Him. Jesus has turned death into the gate to eternal life in heaven. We need not fear death because we know what is behind the door. It is the fullness of joy of Jesus’ presence. The grave has no victory over us because Jesus will return to call us from the grave, perfect in body and soul. Instead of a place of death and horror, a cemetery is ground zero for the resurrection of the dead. Traditionally, Christians have been buried facing east in anticipation of the dawn of the eternal day when Christ raises the dead. What a privilege it is to read, and hear, the wondrous assurance of the resurrection. In that assurance we pray . . .

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting, where grave Thy victory?
I triumph still if Thou abide with me. Amen.

06/11/2026

Expressions of Faith
Abide With Me
LSB 878
Verse 4(Read Psalm 4)
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Change is, for the most part, a subtle thing. There are events that cause great change in our personal lives and in our world, but most change is so gradual that we barely notice it is taking place. I don’t seem much, if any, different than I did yesterday, but I am very different from thirty years ago. The time past seems short, but the days that make up that past happened in a normal passing of time. The energetic and acrobatic moments of youth give way to the task of parents trying to keep up with their kids, which in turn gives way to grandparenthood, a task characterized less by participation and more by observation. Finally, this life is reduced to the fraction of past activity still available after the ravages of mortality has taken its toll. Memories of the past seem so long ago, but the present seems to have arrived somewhat quickly.
With all the changes we encounter, there is a constant; God’s presence, grace, love, and mercy. He is not only the God of all the seasons of our lives, He is the God of every day of our lives. The Psalmist (Psalm 46) assures us that He is our “very present help in trouble.” Jesus has promised to be with us all the days to the end of the age. As we live the change, perceived or not, He is the changeless. His forgiveness is effective in all circumstances of our sinfulness. His grace is sufficient for the challenges of each time of our lives. His crucifixion and resurrection are the constants that make every moment and every season worth living. He is the God of our time and the source of the timeless eternity that awaits us by His grace. In each and every time of life we joyfully pray . . .

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me. Amen.

06/10/2026

Expressions of Faith
Abide With Me
LSB 878
Verse 3 (Read Psalm 91)
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;
Tears for all woes, a heart for ev’ry plea.
Come, friend of sinners, thus abide with me.

During the Middle Ages God was portrayed primarily as a God of judgment and wrath. Even Jesus, in His role of as judge at the last day, was seen primarily in a negative light. The presence of God was something to be feared, and only feared. This is not unlike the Old Testament period, and the time of Jesus, where the Holy of Holies in the Temple inspired awe that led to terror. We see examples of people afraid to be in Jesus’ presence when they realize who He is, because to be in God’s immediate presence meant death (see Luke 5:1-11). But as we consider their fear, we also consider Jesus’ words to them, “do not be afraid.” Jesus came to take our sins away and dress us in His righteousness. He took all that made us unworthy to be in God’s presence, and declares us righteous by grace through faith, making us worthy of the presence of God, not by our own righteousness, but being dressed in His.
What is the result? We stand in His presence in worship and are unafraid. He comes into our midst with His gifts of grace, and we receive them in joy. We are led by the Spirit to respond to His gifts with our prayers, praise, and confession of faith. We have this interaction with Him in awe of His wondrous grace, but not in terror. He comes as our Savior from sin to forgive, renew, restore, and empower. The one who has all power and authority in heaven and earth has used that power to die in our place and rise to assure us of eternity in His heavenly presence. God is worthy of our awe and respect, and we give it to Him in our expressions of faith. But that awe and respect is not terror. Thus we pray . . .

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;
Tears for all woes, a heart for ev’ry plea.
Come, friend of sinners, thus abide with me. Amen.

06/09/2026

Expressions of Faith
Abide With Me
LSB 878
Verse 2 (Read Psalm 46)
I need Thy presence ev’ry passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

What’s the weather like today? This is a question we ask before leaving the house. Do we dress for warm weather or cold, rain or shine? Will it be sunny or cloudy? We are fine as long as we have what we need to face the day.
Our lives are not unlike the weather. We face the pleasant and the unpleasant. The effects of sin and grace in our daily lives brings circumstances akin to being too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, as well as the pleasant moments of relative peace. What enables us to live prepared for the “weather” of our daily lives? The presence of God and His sustaining grace. His forgiveness warms the cold of our guilt and shame. His protection shields us from the scorching heat of Satan’s constant barrage of temptation. His love lifts us in every need and enables us to be the instruments of His love to others. He is our “very present help in times of trouble.” His righteousness is the proper clothing for each and every day. His loving presence is our joy, confidence, and peace. So we sing this simple prayer . . .

I need Thy presence ev’ry passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me. Amen

Address

3932 Mi Casa Avenue
Indianapolis, IN
46237

Telephone

+13177874464

Website

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