70 Years of Proclaiming Jesus

St John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church had the first worship service on November 4, 1956—All Saints Sunday—at the Glendale Women’s Club (still at 56^th Ave & Glenn)! This November, we’ll be celebrating 70 years of worshipping near downtown Glendale. It is a milestone worth celebrating, and I hope you’ll share about how God has worked through worship experiences to shape who you are! Email office@stjchurchaz.org with your stories and pictures!

          Worshipping God is the primary activity of any Christian congregation. Other activities will come and go. We’ve had Harvest Festivals in the past, Stephens Ministry, and small singing groups like Wings of an Eagle and Second Forty—and God worked through them in their time and place. We have Shower Ministry and Heat Respite now, but they are a response to current not eternal needs. We know from the Bible that worship will be a part of God’s community forever (see Revelation 4:8-11)!

          What is “worship”? For Lutheran Christians, it is first the primary way that God gives us the Word, Jesus. We are not saved or forgiven because we praise God so well or consistently, but only because God gives Jesus as a gift. So, the primary thing that happens in worship is we receive: God’s Word through the readings, hymns, and sermon; Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion. We all come as beggars in desperate need of salvation. So, celebrate! God gives us Jesus! God is the primary doer in worship, not us.

          As a response to God’s gift of Jesus, worship then takes on a secondary function: to praise, thank, and pray to God. Many Christians mistakenly believe this is what worship is all about: we sing, we praise God for being so good, we thank God for forgiveness and life in Christ, we pray God will provide for our immediate needs and the needs of the world. These are important responses to what God is doing in worship, but they can never be primary or we lose focus on our salvation through Christ alone. We may start to think we deserve God’s love because of our voices, our words, or our work. But these thoughts on our activity distract us from Christ’s work and may lead us to value our performance of worship more than God’s promises in Christ.

          We are blessed with fabulous musicians like Wenqi (Sat 5pm), Geert (Sun 8:30am), Tracy, Lisa, Garry, Charlie, Scott, and Chelsea (Sun 11am)! Their excellence may point to God’s excellence and give us a small taste of the transcendence of the eternal heavenly worship! But there is a risk that congregations focus on an excellent music because of how it makes us feel or the social status it conveys rather than the way it points our hearts to trust God’s promises. Trust God’s promises not the quality of any church’s music!

          As we celebrate 70 years of worshipping God in Glendale, we’re really celebrating the awesome, gracious God who wants all people to be forgiven and saved in Christ. And we’re celebrating how God has spoken that Word through people here at St John’s for 70 years—and wants each of us to participate and to invite others to respond for years to come!

Grateful to participate in God’s Word!

Pastor Peter