Trinity Lutheran Church and School

09/06/2026

Living as Humble Little Children of the Father
True greatness is not self-sufficient strength, but humility like that of a little child. The greatness of childlike faith receives all good things as gracious gifts from our Father in heaven. Apart from such faith, “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” but whoever is humbled like a little child will be “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3–4). Though in our sin we deserve to be “drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6), we have instead been drowned (“buried”) with Christ in Baptism and then raised to the new, humble life of a child of God. The Lord sends His watchman to warn us with a word from His mouth, in order that we may not die in our iniquity but be turned from our pride and selfishness to live (Ezek. 33:7–9). Thus, we live in humility and faith before God as well as in love for our neighbor, which “is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10). In the reverent fear of God, we do no harm to our neighbor, but we “pay to all what is owed to them” (Rom. 13:7) and we “owe no one anything, except to love each other” (Rom. 13:8).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, sunday, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

08/30/2026

The Glory of God Is the Passion and Cross of Christ Jesus
After St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Lord “began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21). Upon hearing this “theology of the cross,” Simon Peter stumbled into a satanic “theology of glory.” But the glory of God is revealed in the Passion and cross of His incarnate Son. The faithful prophets, such as Jeremiah, suffered persecution and rejection in anticipation of Jesus’ cross. Yet the Lord did not abandon them; He remembered them, and He was with them to deliver them (Jeremiah 15:15–20). By His cross, Jesus has redeemed the world, and in His resurrection, He has vindicated all who trust in Him. Thus, the Christian life is a discipleship of self-sacrificing love. Since Christ Jesus has reconciled us to God, we “live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). By the certainty of His cross and resurrection, we “rejoice in hope,” and we are “patient in tribulation” and “constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

08/23/2026

The Lord Jesus Christ Is the Son of the Living God
Jesus asked His disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). The question is also put to us: Who do you say that He is? Flesh and blood do not reveal this to us, but by the ministry of the Gospel, the Father in heaven reveals His Son to us on earth, who has become flesh and suffered death for our salvation. Thus, we believe and confess that He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). As He died for our transgressions and was raised for our justification, He looses us from all our sins and preserves our life within His Church, against which even “the gates of hell shall not prevail” (Matthew 16:18–19). His salvation is forever, and His righteousness “will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 51:6). He comforts us with the Gospel in His Church, so that “joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song” (Isaiah 51:3). Therefore, “according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3), we also offer ourselves “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1) through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

08/21/2026

08/16/2026

The Church Lives Under the Cross of Christ and Prays in the Hope of His Mercy
By her persistent prayer that Jesus would have mercy and help her (Matthew 15:22, 24), and even in the face of His initial silence and apparent rejection (Matthew 15:23–26), the Canaanite woman boldly confessed her faith in Him (Matthew 15:27–28). Her beautiful example encourages us to cling to the words and promises of the Gospel, even in the face of the Law that accuses and condemns us. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29), and His Law “has consigned all to disobedience” for the very purpose “that He may have mercy on all” (Romans 11:32). Hence, the woman’s faith and hope were not disappointed, but her prayers were answered in the mercy of Christ. Not only does He grant us the crumbs from His table, but He also feeds us with “the children’s bread” in the house of His Father (Matthew 15:26–27). He has brought us to His “holy mountain,” and He makes us joyful in His house, where He hears our prayers and accepts our sacrifice of praise upon the altar of His cross (Isaiah 56:7).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

08/09/2026

Christ the Crucified Comes to Save Us by the Word of Faith
The Lord Who “laid the foundation of the earth” (Job 38:4) is the Author and Giver of life who governs all things by His Word. His wisdom and power are beyond our understanding, except as He reveals Himself in the incarnate Word, Christ Jesus. He has “entered into the springs of the sea” and “walked in the recesses of the deep” (Job 38:16), and He draws near to us in mercy. We have been “a long way from the land, beaten by the waves” and tossed about by hostile winds (Matthew 14:24). In our mortality and sinful unbelief, we do not always recognize the Lord Jesus. But as we cry out in fear, He speaks tenderly to us, “Do not be afraid,” and He reaches out His hand to save us (Matthew 14:27, 31). “Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13), and now we call upon Him in faith, because we have heard “through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

08/02/2026

Lectionary Summary

Christ Jesus, the Living Bread from Heaven, Feeds the Children of God

By the Gospel of “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever” (Romans 9:5), we are “the children of God” (Romans 9:8), “not because of works but because of Him Who calls” (Romans 9:11). Therefore, “listen diligently” and “hear, that your soul may live.” By His sacrificial death in His flesh and blood, He has made “an everlasting covenant” for us. Since He now calls us to Himself, we come to Him “and eat what is good, and delight … in rich food” (Isaiah 55:2-3). He has come with divine compassion to save us from sin and death and to feed us with Himself. As our Lord Jesus once took bread, “said a blessing,” broke the loaves, “and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (Matthew 14:18-19), He also now takes bread, blesses it by His Word to be His very body, and distributes it to His Church by the hand of His called and ordained servants. Just as “they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces,” there is more than enough for His whole Church to eat and to be satisfied (Matthew 14:20).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, sunday, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070