The Twin Steeples Podcast

The opening section of our hymnal contains hymns that are intended to prepare us for worship. Our hymn for this weekend, "God Himself Is Present" by Gerhard Tersteegen, is a hymn that helps us think about what worship is, a why we do it. Tersteegen reminds us that "God Himself is present" as we gather together to hear His word, receive His sacrament, and worship Him in response. What a blessing for the sinner! We join the psalmist in declaring: "Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker." (Psalm 95:1-6).

Let's not forget what worship is about. It is about God revealing Himself to sinners, and bestowing forgiveness to sinners through His Means of Grace. It is an opportunity to receive that, and then join in praising Him for the gifts He gives by grace. Apart from Him and His blessings, bestowed on us in worship, we are lost and doomed for destruction!

Thanks be to God for His salvation, and the privilege of praising His name in worship! 

 

Devotion

• Romans 8:10-17

 

Announcements

• Review
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• Upcoming
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Prayer List 

• Jim Lien
• Lynette Roehl
• Becky
• Family of Daryl Holzinger
• Mary Schweim
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• School Starts
• Mission in Pakistan

 

 

Hymn of the Day

• TLH 258 “Lord of Our Life and God of Our Salvation”

This recording is a condensed version of the sermon preached at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mankato, Minnesota on August 9, 2026. You can watch the full recording on our YouTube Channel.

 

Sermon Text: Jeremiah 7:1-11 (NKJV)

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’” 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 “Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’ 5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, 6 “if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, 7 “then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. 8 “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. 9 “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, 10 “and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 11 “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD.

 

The Dangers of Comfortable Christianity

1. Trusting in the Gift, not the Giver

2. Confessing with our Lips, not our Lives

This weekend we consider a hymn by Norwegian hymnwriter, Nicolai Grundtvig, "Built on the Rock the Church Doth Stand." This hymn echos themes from Matthew 7, 1 Peter 2 and 1 Corinthinans 6, which all describe the Christian Church, and the believer's connection to Christ and His Word. 

• Matthew 7:24-27 - “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 
• 1 Peter 2:4-6 - Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 

One of the most beautiful aspects of this hymn is the emphasis on what really makes a "church." It is not a building. It is not beauty, or size. It is the Means of Grace, where the Spirit works through the Word of God and the Sacraments to bring lost sinners into His family by grace, and keep them in the faith. This hymn emphasizes God's grace, and the Means by which the Church is created and preserved. But it also points to the importance of churches teaching the truth, and administering the Sacraments rightly. We should gather where those things are present, because where the Means of Grace are, there God is, and there His people will be. 

May this also be true in and among us! Lord, bless our gathering together around your Word and Sacrament, in Your church and with Your people. Help us to praise your name, and declare it faithfully to others!

Devotion

• Romans 8:1-9

 

Announcements

• Recap
  • VBS
  • Youth Group
  • Voters' Meeting
• Upcoming
  • Board of Elders
  • ILS Long Range Planning Session
  • Men’s Breakfast
  • Ladies’ Bible Study
  • Weekend Worship
  • Board of Education
  • Board of Property
  • Youth Group
  • School Starts

Prayer List 

• Jim Lien
• Lynette Roehl
• Becky
• Daryl Holzinger
• Marv and Mary Schweim
• Family of David Johnson
• Holly Overbeek
• Spokane Fires
• Budget
• Kentucky Preaching Station
• Mission in Bangladesh

 

Convention Review

• Committee #1: President's Report / Board of Education and Publications

 

Hymn of the Day

• TLH 384 “Oh, How Great Is Thy Compassion”