Means Of Grace Lutheran Church

09/09/2026

This is a great opportunity for our youth to get together with other Lutherans in the area. Let Pastor know if you plan to send your kids!

09/06/2026

Means of grace Lutheran chapel has a home. 66A Lebanon ave uniontown, pa 15442. Stay tuned to see the transformation. And stay tuned for Christ to change you.

07/29/2026

If you find yourself asking why you should go or are going to church. Read this.

For years, I misunderstood what worship was all about.

I assumed that the primary reason Christians gather on Sunday morning was to serve God. We come to praise him, thank him, sing to him, pray to him, and offer him our worship. In other words, I thought the service was chiefly about what we give to God.

Then Scripture turned that idea upside down.

The primary reason we gather is not to serve God, but so that God may serve us.

In today's reading in Bible in One Year, in Psalm 50, God asks, "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?" (Ps. 50:12-13). God lacks nothing. He is not “hungry” for our offerings or praise. Everything already belongs to him.

We, however, lack everything. We need forgiveness. We need life, mercy, salvation.

And those are exactly the gifts the Father delights to give us in his Son.

Jesus himself said, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). That is the pattern of Christian worship. The risen Christ gathers his people so that he may continue serving them through his gifts. He speaks his forgiveness. He proclaims his Word. He washes through Baptism. He feeds us with his body and blood in the Lord's Supper. Through these means of grace, Christ gives us himself and all the blessings he won for us by his death and resurrection.

Only then do we respond. Our hymns, prayers, offerings, and thanksgiving are not payments rendered to God. They are grateful responses to the One who has first served us.

So the next time you gather for worship, remember why you are there. You are there because your heavenly Father delights to give. You are there because the Son of God still comes to serve his people. And you are there because the Holy Spirit continues to deliver all the gifts of Christ to needy sinners.

God gives. We receive. Then, with thankful hearts, we praise the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

06/25/2026

"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." These words from Paul often confuse people. What is the apostle getting at?

Let’s first get the context from Philippians 2:12-13 and add the Greek verbs: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out [κατεργάζομαι] your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works [ἐνεργέω] in you, both to will and to work [ἐνεργέω] for his good pleasure.” Even in English, we can see how the theme of “work” is reflected in the two Greek verbs, both from the root idea of εργον (“work”; we get our word ergonomics from this).

Second, keep in mind something that is not apparent in translation: that when Paul writes “work out your own salvation,” he is using the 2nd person plural (y’all). He is writing to the church in Philippi, not an individual believer. Contextually, he is telling the “y’all” of the church to obey in his absence, work out their salvation, do everything without grumbling, etc. (2:14ff).

Third, in the same verse in which Paul tells the church to “work out their salvation,” he reminds them that this “working” is really the work of God, for he creates both the will to act and the actual work itself so that he might be pleased with the result. As he says, “It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

In short, Paul is telling the church: be who you already are in Christ. The Father has given salvation to y’all fully and freely in Jesus. He has made you the church, the body of Christ. Now, be the church, be the saved, be those who obey the apostle. And remember, this matter is of the ultimate seriousness, for it pertains to God himself, so do this “with fear and trembling.” And remember, lest you become prideful, that when y’all do act like the saved, that it is not you but the grace of God that brings this about, for “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

To “work out your own salvation,” therefore, is to be the church, live as the church, work as the church, in which the full and free salvation of Jesus is doing its work.
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We read Philippians 2 today in Bible in One Year. https://www.1517.org/oneyear

06/06/2026

God does not forgive you BECAUSE you repent, confess, and believe.

Must you repent? Yes. Must you confess? Yes. Must you believe? Of course. But none of those are the reason you are forgiven.

Think of it this way. If you are sick, should you go to the doctor, tell him your symptoms, and fill the prescription? Of course, but none of those will bring you healing. The healing comes *because* of the medicine.

Jesus is the divine medicine. He and he alone is “the because” of our forgiveness. He is The Reason God justifies us.

There is a widespread confusion about this in the church. It’s partly based on a misunderstanding of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

This is true, of course, just as we might say, “If we go to the doctor and tell him our issues, he is responsible and qualified to heal us of our ailments.” How does he “heal” us? By giving us medicine. How does God forgive us? John tells us three verses later, “Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world’ (2:2).

But people often believe and speak as if a mannequin full of their repentance, confession, and faith is on the cross. Don't put your faith in your faith, your faith in your confession, or your faith in your repentance.

Your repentance was not crucified for you.
Your confession did not die for you.
Your faith did not rise from the grave.
Jesus, and Jesus alone, lived, died, and rose again for you.

When God the Father forgives us, he forgives us as people who repent, confess, and believe. But it is not our repentance, our confession, or our faith, that is our salvation.

Christ, and Christ alone, is our salvation. Forgiveness is based 100% upon the atoning work of Jesus Christ. His atonement is enough. His sacrifice was perfectly sincere.

His blood covers not only the sin of which you repent but also your imperfect repentance for that sin, your less-than-100%-honest confession, and your lackluster faith.

Our hope is built on nothing less—and nothing more—than Jesus’ blood and righteousness alone.

05/15/2026

05/03/2026

Sister church had a baptism and new members today. Excited to serve God to call people to Him and soon have our own new members and baptisms

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