Pastor Galler got this view of the members and friends of the congregation gathered to receive God’s gift of forgiveness in the Divine Service on Epiphany Sunday 2013.
You could say that worship is “where it is at” at Pilgrim Lutheran Church! While other churches may place greater emphasis on what they do for God, the Bible and so the Lutheran Confessions place greater emphasis on what God does for us. He gives us the forgiveness of sins, and we respond with our thanks and praise. (We cannot offer anything to God unless we have first been reconciled and reborn!) Our desiring to receive the forgiveness of sins, grace, and righteousness from Him both allows us to go home justified (forgiven, righteous) and itself is the highest worship (showing and feeling respect and love for God) in the Gospel (see, for example, Luke 18:9-14 and the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, article IV, paragraph 310). That understanding of what worship is makes the Sunday morning Divine Service (God serving us) the most important thing at Pilgrim. Just as Jesus Christ was sacrificed for us and made alive, the forgiveness we receive in the Divine Service enables us to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship (Romans 12:1-2).
God serves us through both His Word, including sermons preaching the Word, and His Sacraments, such as Holy Communion, both set in the framework of the historic Christian liturgy and hymns. The links on this page lead you to more information about those and other topics related to worship at Pilgrim Lutheran Church.
• Word & Sacrament – God’s instruments to create and sustain faith in believers
• Historic Liturgy & Hymns – the context for God’s gift of forgiveness of sins
• Sermons –the proclamation of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
• Closed Communion – to whom the Sacrament is open at Pilgrim and why
• Weddings & Funerals – occasional special services non-members often ask about
• Willows Service – Pilgrim’s regular service at a Kilgore nursing and rehab facility
Everyone is welcome to visit our regular, weekly Sunday Divine Service and to any other services, on festivals and on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 during the seasons of Advent and Lent. (See details at right.) If you are blessed in your visit, consider joining us!
