Welcome To Hope Lutheran Church

We are led by the Spirit to serve God and Share Christ's Love with All

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A Congregation of the Florida-Bahamas Synod.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Check out the websites from our sister churches: Living Waters and Holy Trinity

PLEASE GO TO SERMON SNIPPETS TO SEE PASTOR JEN'S FULL WORSHIP MESSAGES.

05/21/2020 (Forty days after Easter) The Ascension of our Lord

Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ at Hope Lutheran Church, Christ is risen-and today we celebrate with the church around the world that he also ascended into heaven as he had promised. On this 40 th day of the Easter season, we focus on Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of God-and we eagerly look forward to the celebration of Pentecost, which literally means the 50 th day, where the church celebrates the gift of Jesus’ promise in the form of the Holy Spirit. Ascension and Pentecost join with Christmas and Easter as being the four principle feast days of our church calendar, and while Hope does not have a tradition of celebrating Ascension on its day in the middle of the week, even in the midst of a pandemic God is working new things here at Hope! The promise of the Spirit, whose appearance we celebrate in 10 days at Pentecost, assures us that through Christ and his Spirit, we will be empowered to be the disciples we are called and baptized to be. The Holy Spirit is the gift that enlivens and stirs up our faith so that we emboldened and empowered to go out into the world to be Christ to others-doing God’s work with our hands as the Spirit leads us. We don’t just sit around gazing at heaven, wondering and waiting about when we will get there-instead, we focus on our lives in the here and now, looking for ways to serve God by loving our brothers and sisters, with the assurance that heaven is there and Jesus has prepared a place for us. We are freed to be bold and take risks in loving others because of this Spirit and this promise. But first, Jesus needed to ascend to the right hand of God, as our Creeds confess. Jesus ascended so that the Spirit could inhabit our hearts and lives and direct our deeds in Jesus’ way. In this time of year as we celebrate Ascension Day, Pentecost, and then the Sunday after Pentecost which is the Feast of the Holy Trinity, we are blessed beyond measure to turn our focus and our love to the God who is Three in One and One in Three-God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, our God who loves us so much that God willingly created us, lived among us, died for us, so that we might live with God forever-our God who wills and wants to live with us and love with us for every moment of our lives now and forever. That is sure a lot of loving!!! Happy Ascension Day, dear people of God! Today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord-and in a mere ten days, we move to Pentecost! God bless you all! Pr. Jen+

Beginning this weekend, Easter 7, May 23-24, we will have three worship opportunities for all.

***Saturday 5:30pm will be worship in the Sanctuary, practicing physical distancing with gloves, masks, and space.

***Sunday 8:30am will be spoken worship in the parking lot.

***Sunday 10am will be worship in the Sanctuary, practicing physical distancing with gloves, masks, and space.

Emails with worship and homily will continue to be shared for those who are worshiping with us at home.

Until further notice, Holy Communion will be shared in one kind for safety and health reasons. All of the gifts and benefits of Holy Communion are found in the Body of Christ.

There will be no water in the Baptismal Font for your protection.

Offering plates will NOT be passed. There is an offering plate stationed at the Font and you may share your offerings either before or after worship as you enter the Sanctuary. We thank you for your on-going generosity.

Ushers will direct seating in the Sanctuary. Masks and gloves will be worn by all. If you don’t have a mask, you will be provided with one to keep and reuse whenever you come to Hope. Gloves will be shared and then discarded when you leave to prevent spread of germs.

In the Sanctuary, please leave at least three chairs between you and someone else who is not of your household. Rows are sectioned off to provide space for all.

Sincere thanks for your cooperation. An over-abundance of caution is necessary to keep everyone safe and healthy while at the same time providing worship to our God with integrity, faith, and joy! We wear masks to protect our brothers and sisters from any illness we may be carrying out of the love to which Jesus calls us when he tells us to love another.

My love is with you and my prayers are for you-Pr. Jen+