Hope Lutheran Church, Lynden WA - God's Work, Our Hands

Hope Lutheran Church, Lynden WA - God's Work, Our Hands Hope Lutheran Church, 900 East Grover Street in Lynden WA, founded in 1962, is a member of the ELCA thru May)
Morning Bible Study: 10:00am @ Hope (Sept.

Contemporary Worship Service (with Holy Communion): 8:30am Sunday
Traditional Worship Service (with Holy Communion): 10:00am Sunday

Evening Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday @ Hope (Sept. thru May)

Fun Bunch (Lunch & a game) Second Saturday of the month: @ 11:30am
(Sept. thru May)

Prayers for the People: 6:30 pm Thursdays

09/08/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Tuesday, September 8

Humbled
Psalm 119:65-72
Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word. (v. 67)

Humility is a virtue that is easily misunderstood. On one side lies false humility, pretending to be less than you are so others won’t think you’re proud. On the other side lies a self-denying humility, believing you have little to offer or that your gifts don’t matter. Both miss the mark.
True humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. It’s knowing who you are and embracing your gifts while remembering that it is God who has given them. Humility is using what God has entrusted to you to serve the world, recognizing that every gift is grace and every talent a calling. Being humbled is to be reminded of who and whose we are, giving all thanks and praise to the One who made us for the sake of the world.
We are humbled when we acknowledge that all we have comes from God and that we are called to use it not for our own sake but for the sake of the world. Humbly and gratefully, be who God has called you to be.

Humble me, God,
that I may serve you boldly. Amen.

09/07/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Monday, September 7

Freed to serve
1 Peter 2:11-17
As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. (v. 16)

One of Martin Luther’s great writings is called “The Freedom of a Christian.” In it Luther describes the life gifted to us in Christ. By the law we stand condemned, captive to sin. Through Christ we are freed from the law to live as God’s holy people. What do we do with this freedom?
Luther responds with a paradox. He writes that in Christ we are free—in Luther’s wording, lord of all and servant to none. We are no longer servants to the law and are freed from its demands. At the same time, our freedom calls us into a life of service. We are lord of none, servant to all. We are freed to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, doing with our freedom what Jesus did with his: love, serve, heal, and speak up for justice.
We cannot call ourselves truly free while others remain oppressed. Freedom in Christ is never self-serving; it is life-giving. We use our freedom not for ourselves, but for the sake of the world—joyfully, freely, humbly serving.

May I be free to serve, love, and heal as you did, Jesus. Amen.

09/06/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Sunday, September 6

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 18:15-20
[Jesus said,] “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” (v. 18)

I have heard it said that resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person gets sick. We may think holding on to hurt punishes someone else, but in truth, it harms only us.
Jesus offers another way. Release your resentment. Go directly to the one you’ve quarreled with and seek peace. If that fails, invite a trusted person to help. If that still doesn’t work, bring the matter to your community for guidance and restoration. And if even then healing doesn’t come, Jesus says, “Let such a one be to you as a gentile and a tax collector” (v. 17).
Before you think being treated as a tax collector or a gentile is a form of curse, remember that Jesus welcomed tax collectors and gentiles, loving them as people still learning the fullness of God’s grace. Jesus has empathy, and we are called to the same response. We care for those with whom we disagree. So set down the poison of resentment. Let compassion lead. In the end, your heart will thank you.

Jesus,
give me courage to let go of resentment. Amen.

09/05/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Saturday, September 5

Wake up!
Romans 13:8-14
It is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. (v. 11)

I’m a morning person. I’m not sure when I began popping out of bed at 4:30 a.m., but now I love savoring the long, quiet start to the day, coffee in hand, Wordle and Sudoku puzzles to be done, watching the sun rise and the world come alive. In those quiet moments, I slowly ease into what will soon be a busy day.
In Romans, Paul also calls us to wake, but his tone is far more urgent. He urges us to rise from spiritual slumber, to awaken to what Jesus is doing in the world, to the nearness of God’s reign. Paul offers not a gentle morning stretch but a trumpet call. Paul encourages us to throw off the works of night and live in the day. We are a people of the light, living as visible signs of Jesus’ great love. Shake off the night! Step into the light! Clothe yourself with Christ and be ready.
It is time for the children of God to wake up! The reign of Christ is near. Wake up! The day has come. Wake up! The time for sleep has passed. Wake up!

Jesus,
may I rise again to a new day in you. Amen.

09/04/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Friday, September 4

The way and the what
Psalm 119:33-40
Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end. (v. 33)

Skip and Carol Temte were my Sunday school teachers for years. Week after week, they gathered a handful of restless kids, me included, who could hardly sit still or stop talking. I remember their patience and, yes, their moments of frustration too.
The Temtes did more than keep us busy between 9:45 and 10:45 every Sunday. They showed up for us, teaching us the Bible with kindness and grace. They helped us explore our faith, but they also modeled the way of Jesus in their genuine care for each of us. They showed us what faith looks like in everyday life. They didn’t just teach about God; they modeled the way of God.
The psalmist sings, “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes.” The psalmist wants us to learn more than the statutes of God, but to attend to the way we live these (the what) out every day. This is the gift Skip and Carol gave me. All these years later, I still see their steady faithfulness as a reflection of the way of Jesus.

Teach us your ways, O Lord,
that we may be your people. Amen.

09/03/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Thursday, September 3

Turn and return
Ezekiel 33:7-11
Turn back, turn back from your evil ways. (v. 11)

One of the central themes of the prophets is captured in the Hebrew word t’shuv (teh-SHOOV). It means “turn,” “return,” “turn around,” or “change course.” Often translated “repentance,” t’shuv is a concept that is about more than confessing wrongs and receiving forgiveness. Repentance is about both what you are turning from and what you are turning toward. This concept is about making real change, turning from what distracts us and redirecting our heart and life toward God.
Forgiveness is not the end of the story; it’s the beginning of a new path. We are a forgiven people, washed in the waters of baptism, but we don’t stay in the pool. God calls us to live differently, to walk in ways that bring hope and healing to the world. T’shuv reminds us that faith is a continual turning, again and again, back toward love. And when we fail, God’s grace meets us there, whispering the same invitation: Turn and return, and begin again.

Spirit,
move me to repentance, to turn and return again to you. Amen.

09/02/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Wednesday, September 2

I’ve got you!
Jeremiah 17:5-18
Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. (v. 7)

I remember standing in the pool, arms outstretched. My son stood on the side of the pool, shivering in his bathing suit. He leaned over the edge, looking down at the water, then back at me, down, then back again. He wanted to know if he was safe to jump. Two things wrestled within him: fear of the water and trust in me. He wanted to leap, but could he trust that I would catch him?
We might think of trust as a noun, something we possess. Jeremiah frames trust as both a verb and a noun: We trust in the Lord, and our trust is the Lord; it is something we do and something we have. We trust the One who is trustworthy. When fear rises, we are blessed to belong to a God whose faithfulness will not fail.
As my son finally leapt from the side despite his fear, he reminded me what it means to trust. We can trust the God who, despite our fear, will be there for us. When we are called to make a leap of faith, we will be in the hands of One who will catch us.

Holy One,
thank you for catching me. Amen.

09/01/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Tuesday, September 1

Who, me?
2 Samuel 11:27b—12:15
Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” (12:7)

As the story goes, King David wanted Bathsheba, but her husband Uriah was in the way. David used every power at his disposal to get what he desired, even sending Bathsheba’s husband to die on the front lines of battle. He killed so that Bathsheba would be his. His deeds were despicable.
David seemed ignorant of his own sin. Into this story steps the prophet Nathan. When he tells David a tale of a poor man whose only companion, a lamb, was taken and killed by a rich man, David burns with anger at the injustice. Then comes the truth: David is that rich man. He used his power to take what he wanted. David’s guilt leads him to repent of his sin.
It’s easy to see the faults of others and miss our own. The temptation to point fingers runs deep. Yet the reign of God is most visible when we look inward, recognize our lack of awareness, and invite the Spirit to transform us. May we have the courage to make lasting change within ourselves.

Forgiving God,
give me courage to begin the work of justice by considering my own actions. Amen.

08/31/2026

Christ in Our Home Devotional
Monday, August 31

Weight of the world
Psalm 17
Wondrously show your steadfast love. (v. 7)

When I am overwhelmed, I find it hard to fall asleep or get back to sleep. Whatever problems I might be experiencing and whatever worries I am carrying for my family, friends, or the world, they feel especially weighty in the middle of the night. When I wake up in the morning, though, my burdens often feel lessened.
It is easy to relate to the psalmist, who appears to be praying in the night (“if you visit me by night,” v. 3) for God’s help to come in the morning. The psalmist calls confidently on God to wondrously show God’s steadfast love. This love has been made known to the writer again and again through prayers God has answered and promises God has kept.
Nighttime is a hard time to be awake and to feel alone with one’s problems. But the psalmist speaks with assurance: “You will answer me” (v. 5). We are never alone. God’s wondrous works remind us that God’s steadfast love comes in the morning.

Hope for the world,
thank you for accompanying me in the darkest of hours. Amen.

08/30/2026

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900 E Grover Street
Lynden, WA
98264

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+13603544211

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