Clifton Lutheran Church

05/31/2026

May 31st - Trinity Sunday
The Trinity is the foundational Christian belief that God has come to us in three:
God, the Father; God, the Son (Jesus); and God, the Holy Spirit. During today’s Children’s Talk, Pastor Jim used Tracey’s sweater’s zipper to explain the difficult concept of three working as one unit. The key takeaway is that God wants to be with us and wants to help, to assist, and to be our partner.
Pastor Jim’s sermon “Formula” begins by explaining how a formula is used in every Star Trek episode. It is effective because the plot can be developed in a myriad of directions. Our church is formulaic in that it follows a predictable pattern. There are yearly constraints: the Birth of Christ, the Teachings of Christ, and Christ’s Resurrection, which leads to the larger story. Having an understanding of the Trinity is helpful as we read scripture and plan our lives. It is Jesus who saves us, not the formula. In this formula of life, there is an invitation, and we find ourselves set free to be the work of God in the world.
*As always, listen to Pastor Jim’s entire sermon for the whole story.

05/31/2026

Todays Service:

Come and Join!

05/30/2026

05/28/2026

The Haven Project in Lynn was chosen as one of the Endowment Committee’s recipients for 2026. This amazing organization is a safe haven for homeless individuals between the ages of 17-21 and provides them with housing, food, clothing, personal supplies, job internships, counseling, and anything else to support them physically and emotionally to see that they grow into functioning members of the community. Chair of the Endowment Committee Mark Hebeisen and Chair of Stewardship Barbara Dillingham visited their “Land of a Thousand Hills” Coffee Shop in Lynn to deliver the check to Meghan Collins and Angelica Perez Baez and they received an extensive tour of the Haven Project. Mark and Barbara were blown away by the thoroughness of this organization. Meghan and Angelica will visit Clifton Lutheran Church on Sunday, June 7th, to share their story and thank all involved.

05/25/2026

May 24 Pentecost 🕊️Memorial Day 🇺🇸
Pentecost and Memorial Day align. Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles fulfilling Jesus’ promise to send a comforter to empower His followers. Memorial Day is a reminder to mourn the people who gave so much to our country.
Pastor Jim shared a story about recently being stuck in a soap filled car wash only minutes before Thomas and Ellie were to get off the bus from school. He was in a panic because he was afraid that he’d be a “no show” for his children. They’d be alone. In his panic he thought “this is how God feels about humans.” It is the Holy Spirit that is our comforter filled with God’s love whose desire is to never leave us alone, to feel abandoned.
Pastor went on to discuss forgiveness. If we receive forgiveness, we must be willing to forgive those who have sinned against us.
Today, on Pentecost, we are brought together in community and held together in community to celebrate the powerful acts of loving kindness of God’s love for us.
As always, listen to Pastor Jim’s full sermon for the full story. 🕊️

05/24/2026

The Day of Pentecost!

Hope you're wearing red as you watch this!

05/18/2026

May 17 Sunday of the Ascension
Sermon: Reputation
Follow sermon: Blessing of the Animals

Today was the last day of Sunday School, so Pastor Jim and the children reminisced about some of the fun times they’ve shared and thanked Kara for all of her time and hard work. They also promised to get together over the summer for some warm weather fun.

Reputation is the public perception of a person or group based on past behavior, character, and integrity. And Glory, is reputation that is won through valor.
How your pastor is viewed by the community is the way the church is viewed. In a town as small as Marblehead, one’s reputation is a kind of currency. Everyone knows everyone, so what you do, or don’t do, matters.
Pastor Jim gave three examples of people who don’t hold him in high esteem.
1. A former Marblehead Superintendent, who had handled a racial issue poorly. Students wanted Pastor Jim to help and have input, but she told Pastor that his help wasn’t needed. Pastor Jim did not take NO for an answer. He stayed.
2. A Ministerial Association member chose to try to “get stuff” from the group rather than be supportive and work with the group, and showed poor behavior, so he was asked to leave.
3. A Social Justice media person with a toxic personality verbally attacked members of Pastor’s community, so he told her he could no longer partner with her.
All three of these people acted poorly and Pastor Jim stood his ground because he has good character and integrity.
Pastor went on to list the groups of people who hold him in high esteem: the Jewish Community, the Manna Project, the Racial Justice Team, educators, first responders, his colleagues, and his own congregation.
The Ascension is the completion of Christ’s earthly work, allowing Him to rise up and send the Holy Spirit to empower the church and its people.
Pastor Jim gives the Holy Spirit all of the credit for his acts of valor and glory. He has struggled when doing things that are dangerous, scary, or uncomfortable. His mind says, “Don’t do it,” but the Holy Spirit always brought him through it.
Christ’s first moment of glory is when he was “raised” upon the cross. He was yelled at and humiliated, but at the same time this moment of humiliation was His moment of glory. Christ’s Ascension “rising” into the clouds is our glory, too. With his death we get to rise in assent with him. He leaves us with the glory of eternal life. We are all loved and glorious in God’s eyes.

05/17/2026

Today's Worship:

Glory to God!

05/10/2026

May 10th, 6th Sunday of Easter
Pastor Jim and the children discussed the beautiful yard work done by church volunteers yesterday and the purpose of flowers on Mother’s Day. Pastor feels that flowers are “hard work” so they represent the hard work that mothers do all year long and are then given to bless them.
Today’s gospel, without naming it, was about the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Nicene Creed, created at The First Council of Nicaea, describes the Trinity: key beliefs Christians say why they do things the way they do, why they value things the way they value them, and why they behave the way they behave. Pastor Jim’s sermon was about the difficulty Christians have with the Trinity. God, the Father, people agree is the creator of all; Jesus, the Son, came to live among the people; and the Holy Spirit is the invisible one that never leaves us. It is the third person, the invisible one, that gives people pause. Today, people want to know why the world appears to be broken and are looking to religion for answers. But, it is the Trinity that is the idea of oneness. It is an invitation to community and to be in relationship with one another. Church is viewed as a sanctuary, so when people become involved in a crisis, they should look for neighbors and community and fellowship. This is the same way that God, in three persons, looks at us in our sorrow and pain, yet chooses to be with us to comfort and to lead us in the right direction.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!