As we enter the sacred season of Lent, we invite you to join us at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church for a time of reflection, worship, and celebration. Lent is a season of repentance and renewal, preparing our hearts for the joy of Easter. Each week, we gather to reflect on Christ’s journey to […]
Good Friday: John 12:32-33: When the I Am is Lifted Up
May 2, 2019 by
The nails pierce, thorns stab, and blood feeds the ground. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin, its poison, is the Law. For what God commands from us requires perfection, but promises life to all who do what He demands. For those who can’t, one finds only death since God’s Law […]
Good Friday, The Centurion: This Man, Jesus, is the Son of God!
April 14, 2017 by
The day is dark on a Friday so long ago. The life drains from an unusual man as He goes to His gloomy end. Is He not supposed to be the One, prophesied by Scripture? Yes, but we find Him too powerless to save Himself. The injustice of corrupt leaders and what is expedient for […]
Good Friday: Into Your Hands…
March 25, 2016 by
It is the end. Jesus now prays, “Father, into Your hands I entrust my spirit.” You may find it surprising: Jesus did not originate that prayer. In our Lord’s day, thousands prayed the same prayer every day. For it was the common bedtime prayer for the Jews of the first century. Today, our bedtime prayer […]
Good Friday Sermon: It All Came Down to This
April 3, 2015 by
Comparing the Old Covenant with the New, the book of Hebrews tells us: Unlike the [Jewish] high priests, Jesus doesn’t need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his sins, and then for the sins of the people. No, he did this, once for all, when he sacrificed himself. [Hebrews 7:27] It all came […]
Good Friday Sermon: Isaiah 53:3-7
April 18, 2014 by
We live in a market-driven, entertainment-fixated world. Shallow, entertaining sound-bites have replaced deep reflection. And in such a world, Good Friday is not merely a misstep but a different dance altogether: God’s dance of death to give us life. Nothing is entertaining about the cross. Drawing a smiley face on the cross does not change […]
Isaiah 52:13-53:12: Meditating on the Crucifix
March 29, 2013 by
As Lutherans, we have a long and noble tradition of meditating on the crucifixion of Christ. For example, Luther invited people to use the crucifix as a way to help them meditate on Christ’s crucifixion. Part of that tradition is our services on Good Friday. In the 12th century, a monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote […]
Holy Week
March 20, 2013 by
Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, March 24th. On Thursday, we will have a Maundy Thursday service, using a Lord’s Supper liturgy from the oldest liturgies in the New Testament Church. On Friday, we will remember our Lord’s death and the salvation He worked through that. Services times are: Palm Sunday: 9:30 AM Maundy Thursday: […]
Holy Week at Shepherd of the Hills
March 29, 2012 by
April 1st begins Holy Week. Our Holy Week services start with our Palm-Sunday service, which is at our regular Divine-Service time of 9:30 AM. The sermon text will be based on the Old Testament reading from Zechariah 9:9-10. On Thursday, April 5th, is our Maundy Thursday service at 7:00 PM, which will focus on the epicenter […]
Good Friday: John 19:31-37
April 22, 2011 by
Tonight, our Lenten journey ends. It ends, just as Jesus said it would end. Several times, Jesus said that He was going to Jerusalem, where many would mock and ridicule Him. His own people would hand Him over to the Gentiles to be beaten and crucified. He was going to Jerusalem to die. Yet, more […]
