Devotions for Worship

In this session, Pastor Tritten talks about the controversial topic of head coverings for women, and the use of hymns and music in worship.

This sermon is based on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds in Matthew 13. Once again we see how the Kingdom of Heaven work with what seems like crazy hope and patience to bring the hope of Jesus' salvation to the world.

This sermon is on the Parable of the Sower and Jesus' explanation of the parable in Matthew 13. The parable describes the way God's Word goes out with abundant hope and ways people receive it. The parable also gives us opportunity to examine our lives for times that we receive God's Word similarly to the various landing places of the seed.

This session began with a discussion of the communion ware we use at Gloria Dei, which moved into discussion of communion practices. The session continued with a look at vestments and other liturgical clothing.

It this session, we look at what the architecture of our churches communicate and consider God's will for incorporating beauty into our worship spaces.

This sermon on Psalm 100 reminds us that God's creation and salvation are at the heart of our rejoicing and singing.

Pastor Tritten concludes our tour through the Divine Service by working our way through the Service of the Sacrament.

Pastor Tritten continues our tour through the Divine Service, working from the Gloria in Excelsis to the Service of the Sacrament.

God used His prophet Hosea (5:15-6:6) to confront His people with a sad truth: they were better at saying the right thing than doing the right thing. This is a warning for us today. However, we need to know that the "doing" God is looking for begins in our hearts and is rooted in the First Commandment - "You shall have no other gods."

This sermon for Trinity Sunday looks at the important ways God uses His names to reveal His triune nature and how we relate to each person of the Trinity while recognizing the unity of God's nature and work.

This study begins a tour of Divine Service 1 from the Lutheran Service Book. The puropse of this tour is to help us to understand the purpose, history, and Biblical foundation under the public worship of our congregation.

This sermon begins by remembering the account of Numbers 11:24-30, when God took His Spirit and put it on seventy elders of Israel to relieve Moses's burden. At the time, Moses wished that all of God's people were prophets and and that God would place His Spirit on all of them. That is what God has done. At Pentecost, God placed His Spirit on the Apostles, and now, through Baptism, He continues to...

How should a church organize its year? How should we think about the ways we order our themes and messages? Pastor Tritten talks about the history of lectionaries and how we use the calendar to remember important moments and teachings from Jesus' life and ministry.

This introductory session on Lutheran Worship looks at some of the foundational ideas behind what it means to gather for "worship" with other believers. What drives the experience and expression of worship? What are it's priorities? What is it's object, place, way, and focus? This session begins the conversation that will continue over the summer of 2026.

In 1 Peter 4:12-19 and 5:6-11, the apostle urges us to not be surprised by trials and suffering when they come our way as we follow Jesus. It might be surprising to a modern reader of Peter's letter in the United States how much Peter talks about suffering, but he also talks about the hope that we have in the face of suffering and the confidence we have because Jesus is risen from the dead.

In this sermon, Pastor Tritten explores St. Peter's message in his first epistle, 1 Peter 3:13-22, where Peter asks who will harm us for doing good. Well, the devil and world often resist Christians when we try to do good. How then should we respond?

This sermon is based on 1 Peter 2:19-25 where Peter urges Christians to endure suffering for Christ's sake. It was given on Confirmation Sunday when we ask our confirmands, "Do you intend to suffer all, even death, rather than turn away from this faith?" It's a hard word, but an important one, as we entrust ourselves into God's loving hands as we live our lives following Jesus' example trusting in...

This sermon is based on 1 Peter 2:2-10. Pastor Tritten points out that we often look to exterior and interior sources to help us to understand our identity, but both fall short. Only Jesus can create our identity internally and externally. He changes who we are to become people of the kingdom of heaven.

This sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, is part of a series on 1 Peter. Focused on 1 Peter 1:17-25, where Peter speaks of God having ransomed us, Pastor Tritten focuses on four prepositions to say we have been ransomed from, with, for, and by. Each preposition reveals another aspect of God's salvation in regard to having been ransomed.

This sermon, based on 1 Peter 1:3-9, reminds us that we are born again in Jesus’ resurrection. This new life changes your relationship with the world as you live in repentance and nourish your soul in God’s grace.

In 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul tells us that he delivered the message of Jesus' death and resurrection as of "first importance." Pastor Tritten compared that statement to the lede (lead) in a newspaper article and urged the congregation to not bury the lede. However, the world, represented by four deities, resists the work of Jesus' resurrection-powered kingdom. Those deities are Santa Muerte (Deat...

This is the Good Friday sermon. Pastor Tritten takes us back to Psalm 22 and encourages us to look to the cross, and particularly the man who died there, for our salvation.

In this sermon, Pastor Tritten talks about the Last Supper, drawing on Matthew 26:17-30, but he focuses on v. 29 where Jesus says he will not "drink again from the fruit of the vine." When does he next drink from the fruit of the vine? What does that mean for the kingdom of heaven? What does it mean for us?

This sermon is based on Isaiah 50:4-9 and focuses on the repeated line, "The Lord God helps me." The sermon looks at a couple questions. First, who is the "me" that the Lord God helps? And second, what does it mean for the Lord God to "help"?

Ezekiel 37 records the strange but famous vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. We usually think of this as a vision that God gave to Ezekiel, but in v. 11 it becomes clear this was Israel's vision of how they saw themselves and God is responding to it to pour hope and life upon those who are hopeless and dead in sin.