Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

06/02/2026

Join us in praying for St. John in Meade, a sister congregation in our circuit.

05/31/2026

A word from the LCMS Office of Witness and Outreach: Jesus stated so clearly that anyone who does not believe in the name of God’s One and Only Son, Jesus, will be eternally condemned. This truth makes our work of outreach and mission critical. Without faith in Jesus, there is no salvation. This truth gives us a sense of urgency to get the message out. Who can you share this truth with today? Our Triune God loves the world so much, loves you and everyone you will cast your eyes upon, that He doesn’t want a single soul to be left out and perish.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from the One Who loves you with unending love, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
While many people love John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” it is set amidst other wonderful verses. We should hear the whole of verses 14-17: 14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
We see the love of God on display from all three persons of the Holy Trinity, as we celebrate this day of Trinity Sunday. We have confessed the longer creed, the Athanasian Creed, which begins to unpack how the three persons of the Godhead are distinct from one another, yet always act in one accord to humanity: out of great love for you. We also see this same thing displayed in the Apostles’ and the Nicene Creed, but neither of them was confessed this day.
While we usually attribute creation to the Father, salvation to the Son, and the ongoing work of the Spirit in our midst, all three persons do these aspects. The Son and the Spirit were there during creation, the Father sends the Son, and the Holy Ghost delivers the salvation to you, and the Father and the Son are actively working to bring more people to trust in Christ’s death for them.
While we cannot separate the three persons of the Trinity, we do celebrate the unity of God as our Triune God acts in one accord to save sinners. This has always been on display throughout the entirety of the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, we see the work of our thrice-holy God at work in the world as He seeks to save sinners.
We hear Jesus compare Himself, the Son of Man, to the serpent in the wilderness, “that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” Whenever we hear of serpents, we need to think back to that ancient serpent who strove into the garden to tempt the woman who had been made. The devil came to deceive humanity, to get them to fall into sin, death, and hell. We see in the fall of Adam what would continue to happen to all of God’s people, for all belong to Him, as the serpent seemingly conquers as he brings death to life.
Before Adam fell into sin’s slavery, there was life and life abundant. There was no death. There was no decay. There was no pestilence. There was no famine. There was nothing but good. Yet, since the fall, these things seemingly reign as death has invaded God’s good order. That crafty and clever serpent spoke falsehood, and death has been the result of mankind’s fall into captivity.
This is why the Son of Man must come down. He steps forth from His lofty throne, takes on flesh as He is the Babe of Bethlehem, as He comes to suffer for sinful man. He takes in His body the punishment that our sins deserve. He comes to be lifted up, just as Moses lifted up the serpent on the bronze pole in the wilderness. He comes to undo the consequences of death’s sting as He is lifted up for all the world to see.
If we look at Him as He is crucified for us, as we rightly should, we would see His arms held wide, showing how much He loves us. As far as the east is from the west, such is His love shown as His arms point to the left and the right before the nail was thrust into His hands and His feet.
We also see the love of the Father in giving His only begotten Son. We see that the Father does not hold back the Son, but, instead, sends Him into the world, not to condemn, but to save all of Adam’s race from Adam’s transgression of God’s holy Law.
And we see the Spirit at work, delivering the unending gifts, just as He delivers the unending love of God, to humanity. As Adam brought death and mortality, Jesus came down from heaven to bring life to death and to make the mortal immortal. These are some of the gifts that the Holy Ghost gives as He came down from heaven, bestowing such gifts to mankind.
While death reigned, it seemed to hold sway over all creation. And the Lord of Life steps forth to go into death to undo that chief enemy of our mortal race. As C.S. Lewis says in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, “When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Stone Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.”
The guilt of man has been undone through the willing sacrifice of the Son of Man as He is lifted up. All those who cling to Him, to His cross, and to His Body broken and His Blood given, receive the gifts that the Spirit gives as He bestows forgiveness, life, and salvation. It is as if an angel went to the altar, took out a burning coal with tongs, and touched your lips, just as he did for Isaiah, as your guilt is taken away and your sins atoned.
While we currently know only in part, we shall fully know as God will welcome us into heaven. Jesus will descend to carry us to our heavenly home. He has journeyed back to sit at the right hand of Power as He reigns alongside His Father and the Holy Ghost once more. He has promised that He will bring us to the joys of eternal life, where we will sit with Him at His Feast, which has no end.
That is the joy for us this day, and all of our days. That is the joy that is unending. That is the joy that Jesus gives to those who have been washed with the water and the Spirit. That is the joy as we are begotten from above, adopted into God’s family, and made partakers of the Feast of the “Holy, holy, holy Lord of hosts.” That is your joy now, and always. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.

05/31/2026

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are happy to have you join us today for our service at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Liberal, KS. Our hymns, service, and bulletin are covered under broadcast license .
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2023 Concordia Publishing House.

05/30/2026

A quick update: We are opening up our VBS to Pre-K children as well.

05/30/2026

The Holy Trinity
May 31, 2026
Worship Service with communion will be held at 10:30 am. The service will be streamed as usual. New/notes and the bulletin can be found at the following link

05/26/2026

05/24/2026

A word from the LCMS Office of Witness and Outreach: Today is the birthday of the church — yes, you as the church, not a steeple or building. Jesus told His disciples in advance that, after His resurrection and ascension, He would send the Holy Spirit to teach them and help them remember all that He had said to them. We have that same Spirit who changed timid disciples into bold witnesses. By the Spirit’s power, we are sanctified and empowered. Read God’s Word knowing that the Holy Spirit is teaching and equipping you to be His witness. Through the Spirit’s power, we are called to share the story of Jesus working mightily in our lives.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from the One Who promises to send forth the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who will teach and bring to remembrance all that He said, your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
There is something about a movie that sticks with you long after you first watch it. It could be the lesson that you took from the movie. It could be the way that a certain actor or actress played their part. But, usually, it’s a chief song, if not the entire soundtrack, I’m looking at you Guardians of the Galaxy. One of the songs that I am reminded of today, from the lessons, is the movie Coco, with “Remember Me” being front and center in my mind. After all, this is what the Holy Spirit does, as God can use most things to teach us the lessons that we should have already learned, as He can bring positivity out of Disney and Pixar movies to a Disney despiser.
It is also important that we remember what the Holy Ghost does as He brings us from confusion to remembrance. This is why we need to remember that all the accomplishments of mankind are as nothing before the Lord if we do not receive instruction, edification, and wisdom from Him.
Sinful humanity has always desired to have its names remembered, yet we often do so from a misguided perspective. Instead, God wants to bring to remembrance what He has done for us. Yet man cannot leave well enough alone and desires to “make a name for ourselves” instead of God granting us His Name, which is above every name, as He marks us as ones redeemed in the Name of His beloved Son.
Yet there are many who desire to sow confusion in the hearts and minds of God’s saints. There are many voices speaking with whatever word the devil tries to use to get us to doubt God’s promise. God gave man a command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, yet the devil desires to turn that word around, mocks it, says that there is overpopulation, and creates in man a desire not to go too far from home.
While there are many homebodies, those who don’t really want to move beyond 50 miles from the place where they were born, this is not the only thing that I have to say. It is not so much about moving away from home; it is about the proclamation of the Word of the Lord that is at play.
Those who dwelt in the land of Shinar desired not to continue going to the ends of the earth with God’s message of salvation for mankind. They didn’t want to heed His Word, so they desired to make a kingdom for themselves, and a name for themselves, and not heed the call given to Adam and Eve initially or to Noah and his family after they successfully survived the flood, with the Lord closing the ark and guiding their ways.
Because the sinfulness of man was on full display, the Lord came down in great power and confused their languages, thus making them speak over the face of the earth as they withdrew from one another because they could no longer understand one another.
This is what happens, in a smaller way, when we desire to use lingo, buzzwords, key phrases, and newspeak, as some people will understand what we are trying to convey, but not all people. “These young whippersnappers” speak differently, have different manners, and are different than those who came well before them. Yet we should not look down at them, nor should we discount everything they do, as each generation should desire to learn from those who came before them, even if they might not like everything their parents do because parents aren’t hip, cool, or whatever the buzzword is: lit.
For as different as languages can be, and they are quite different, God desires to bring order in the midst of chaos and confusion. This is what transpired on the Day of Pentecost as the Holy Ghost came down from heaven.
As the Holy Ghost came down from heaven, He came to bring to remembrance the things that Jesus proclaimed, as well as bringing order in the midst of chaos and confusion. If you’ve been to a larger metropolitan area or a populated airport, you can hear the chaos and confusion as different languages are spoken, people scream and talk over one another, and tempers are short because of the chaos.
There were “in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.” There were many different people with many different languages that were spoken on that day. While the majority of the people could speak Koine Greek, as that was the language of commerce and the common man, yet the different peoples would default to their mother tongue when in proximity to those who shared their language.
The Holy Spirit came down as tongues of fire to bring different languages from the tongues of the Apostles and the close witnesses of everything that transpired. They spoke with great power, the power of God, as He gave them utterance to proclaim the mighty acts of God which had transpired shortly before this day.
The Holy Spirit proclaimed to those things that had transpired within the recent memory of those gathered. Not all those who came together were from faraway places, and they could hear what transpired as Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried, then showed Himself alive by many proofs in those forty days in which He walked and talked, taught and praught to those who meant much to Him.
This is what the Holy Ghost is doing in each generation as He comes to bring to your remembrance the things that Jesus did for you. You weren’t there to originally hear Jesus proclaim from His lips the sayings, yet you have the things that were written down for your instruction as Jesus continues to breathe out His peace upon each generation as we look to Him for the Holy Ghost to be with us in our days. He still brings to you the saving message of Christ and Him crucified, resurrected, and ascended. He still brings additional children to the heavenly Father.
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.

05/24/2026

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are happy to have you join us today for our service at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Liberal, KS. Our hymns, service, and bulletin are covered under broadcast license 110002148. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2026 Concordia Publishing House.

05/22/2026

Day of Pentecost
May 24, 2026
Worship will be held at 10:30 am. The service will be live streamed as usual. News/notes and the bulletin can be found at the following linkhttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z5S3HDMakYw-655xyfo9svzgl6ahC-fj?usp=sharing

05/21/2026

From Pastor Toombs:
It seems that phishing is on the rise again, so I want to remind you. I won’t reach out as I’m “too busy and need a gift card for someone.” If you get one of those emails, straight to SPAM. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200 in gift cards for me.