Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Nokomis

08/26/2026

"Family Devotions, Valid Marriage, & the Wages of Sin (Matthew 20)": A podcast recommendation from Sunday's bulletin. Couldn't we all get better at family devotions, letting the word of God dwell richly in our homes? Check out this episode for some encouragement and advice on this topic and much more!

Listener questions / feedback:(479) 765-8899mailto:thecloudcast...

08/26/2026

Our Sufficiency Is from God:

We read in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 5: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”

It would be awfully foolish for us to think of anything as being from ourselves, wouldn’t it? After all, we didn’t bring a single part of this world into existence. Not only that, we didn’t even bring ourselves into existence. None of us chose to be born, much less had anything to do with bringing it about! And once we’re born, we’re not even sufficient to keep ourselves alive. We can’t even make our own hearts pump. So, if we are so insufficient for ourselves when it comes to earthly, physical things, why would we think it’s any different when it comes to spiritual things? None of us chose to be “born again,” but the new birth was given as a gift in Baptism. None of us can earn our own salvation; none of us can even do such a small thing as choose to believe! Our sufficiency is from God alone—a gift of his grace. Thanks be to God!

08/25/2026

Registration for two SID events closes this week! If you're interested in attending either the District Youth Gathering for senior high, or the District LWML convention, see the links below to register and for more information!

https://sidlcms.org/events/dyg2026/

https://www.sidlwml.org/

If you do not receive your informational convention packet, which includes the mail-in ballot, by July 30, please contact Kathy Nagel at [email protected] or text 618-973-6290. The ballots must be returned and received by August 14 to be valid.

08/25/2026

"A Hope and a Home: Proclaiming the Gospel to Today's America - Part 1": A podcast recommendation from Sunday's bulletin. This one is part of a presentation by Rev. Adam Koontz at the "Not Ashamed" conference in Tuscola, IL back in 2023, discussion spiritual problems in America today and how the church can address them. Check it out!

Dr Adam Koontz speaking at the Not Ashamed Conference sponsored by Immanuel Lutheran Church, Tuscola, Illinois in 2023 about spiritual problems in America. Visit our website - A Brief History of Power Sign up for Memento, a Lutheran devotional for men. Dr Adam Koontz - Redeemer Lutheran Church Music...

08/25/2026

Astonished Beyond Measure

We read in Mark chapter 7, verse 37: “And [the crowds] were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’”

The crowds are rightly astonished when they see Jesus give hearing to the deaf and speech to the mute. And Jesus doesn’t require years of therapy or loads of medications to do it, nor does he charge an arm and a leg. No—he makes it look easy, and it’s all free! So, the crowds are rightly astonished. And yet, it seems that they became somewhat distracted by Jesus’ healings. Because the fact is, Jesus wasn’t just a miracle-working healer. What the crowds will need to learn is that Jesus’ ultimate purpose is to be the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, bearing it in his own body to the cross. His healing miracles are truly glorious and wonderful, but they are not themselves the sacrifice for sin. So, may we be astonished beyond measure by the great love shown for us above all when Jesus laid down his life for us sinners!

08/24/2026

"LSB after 20 Years": A podcast recommendation from Sunday's bulletin. Did you know the hymnal we use in church is now 20 years old? Check out this episode for an interesting discussion with Rev. Dr. Paul Grime, who played a major role in making our hymnal see the light of day!

Dr. Paul Grime looks back on the making of Lutheran Service Book, twenty years after the project began. As the executive director overseeing the hymnal's development, Grime walks through what it took to produce a single book for a synod still split between The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Worship .....

08/24/2026

"They Might be Giants": A podcast recommendation from Sunday's bulletin. If you've ever wondered about giants in the Bible, the Nephilim, etc., this one's for you. Check it out!

In this A Word Fitly Spoken rebroadcast Rev. Willie Grills and Rev. Zelwyn Heide talk about giants in the Bible, the Nephilim, and how God grants the victory over all. Thanks to our sponsors, Ad Crucem, Memento, and Gnesio Health Pr. Willie Grills - Zion Lutheran Church Music thanks to Verny

08/24/2026

The Creator Restores His Creation

We read in Mark chapter 7, verses 32–33: “And [Jesus] took [the deaf and speech-impaired man] aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’”

In the book of Genesis, when God created Adam in the beginning, it says that God “formed man from the dust of the ground,” and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” Everything else in the world, God made simply by speaking it into existence: “Let there be light,” and there was light. But when he makes man, God gets his hands dirty. He forms and shapes Adam into his own image, and breathes his own divine breath into Adam’s nostrils. And if that’s how God made Adam in the beginning, it shouldn’t surprise us to find Jesus doing a very similar thing with this deaf and speech-impaired man. Jesus isn’t afraid to “get his hands dirty,” using his own fingers and saliva and even touching the man’s tongue to make him well again. In Jesus, the creator God has entered his creation to restore it—make it “very good” again.

08/24/2026

Excited to welcome Rev. Moore and his family into our district. May the Lord bless them and his ministry and this SID initiative!

The Southern Illinois District is pleased to announce that Rev. Jacob Moore has accepted the Call to serve our District as a Missionary Pastor in the southeastern region of our District.

Pastor Moore’s ministry is the crossroads of two of the SID’s Five Critical Initiatives: Focused Outreach Efforts and Serving Remote Congregations. The saints at Faith Lutheran Church in Eldorado and Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Golconda are excited to welcome him as their pastor. Pastor Moore and his family will be residing in Harrisburg, the largest town in Illinois without a Lutheran church, where we pray the Lord’s blessing on a future church plant.

As the protocol for this unique District-Parish partnership states:

Our Congregations (Faith & Our Redeemer) pledge to support our Pastor in his ministry to us and to the wider community in the hopes of also establishing a worshiping congregation in Harrisburg. We will pray for him, work with him, and exhibit a willing heart and a joyous flexibility in achieving this mission as the people of God!

Pastor Moore was raised in the South County area of St. Louis. His wife, Hope, is from our own SID, growing up at Zion in Litchfield. Pastor Moore is a graduate of Lutheran High School South, Southeast Missouri State, and Concordia Seminary St. Louis (2023). The Moores have been blessed with three children, and another is expected to arrive this fall.

We encourage every SID congregation to include a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing for Pastor Moore, his family, and the work of the Lord in southeastern Illinois!

In Christ,
+President Curtis

08/22/2026

Blood that Speaks Louder than Words:

We read in Genesis chapter 4, verses 8–10: “Now…Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ He said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’ And He said, ‘…The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.’”

In a jealous rage, Cain became the first murderer in human history when he slaughtered his brother Abel in the field. Like all evildoers, Cain thought that he would get away with it. That’s why he took Abel out into the field—he thought no one else would see. But what is hidden from human eyes is open to the eyes of God. Cain couldn’t silence the voice of Abel’s blood that cried out to God for vengeance. But as the book of Hebrews reminds us, the blood of Jesus “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Jesus’ blood also cries out to God, but His righteous blood cries out for mercy on us sinners. As the hymn puts it: “Abel’s blood for vengeance pleaded to the skies; but the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries.” Thanks be to God!