Audio: Announcements, Readings & Sermon for Sunday, August 23, 2026

Audio: Announcements, Readings and Sermon for Sunday, August 23, 2026

Rev. Dr. Edward Grimenstein

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Bulletin for Sunday, August 23, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Sunday Bible Studies
Archive of Bulletins

8:00 a.m. - Worship Service
9:15 a.m. - Adult/Teen Bible Study: The Gospel of John
9:15 a.m. - Summer Sunday School
The 8:00 a.m. service will be LIVE STREAMED on our YouTube Channel

Old Testament Reading -- Isaiah 51:1–6 
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
For the LORD comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.” 

Epistle Reading – Romans 11:33—12:8 
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?” 

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the sixteenth chapter
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. 

Bulletin: Sunday, August 23, 2026 + This Week at Zion

Bulletin for Sunday, August 23, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Sunday Bible Studies
Archive of Bulletins

8:00 a.m. - Worship Service
9:15 a.m. - Adult/Teen Bible Study: The Gospel of John
9:15 a.m. - Summer Sunday School
The 8:00 a.m. service will be LIVE STREAMED on our YouTube Channel

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THIS WEEK AT ZION

Saturday, August 22
No Events Scheduled

Sunday, August 23
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service
9:15 a.m. — Bible Study (The Gospel of John) & Children’s Summer Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

Monday, August 24
6:00 p. - Confirmation 2nd Year

Tuesday, August 25
7:15 p.m. - Adult Choir Practice

Wednesday, August 26
2:00 p.m. - Mid-Week Worship Service
2:30 p.m. - Bible Study (1 Samuel) 30 min.
(The Worship Service will be streamed on our YouTube channel)
7:15 p.m. - Adult Instruction Class

Thursday, August 27
6:00 p.m. - Sunday School Team Meeting

Friday, August 28
No Events Scheduled

Saturday, August 29
No Events Scheduled

Sunday, August 30
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service
9:15 a.m. — Bible Study (The Gospel of John) & Children’s Summer Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

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CLICK THE UPCOMING EVENTS GRAPHIC to go directly to our UPCOMING EVENTS page

Altar Guild Members Needed

Altar Guild Members Needed 
We are looking for 2-4 new people to join Zion’s Altar Guild. Altar Guild members prepare, clean, and put away items for Holy Communion each week. At various times throughout the year they also dress our sanctuary according to the colors of the church calendar. Occasionally they may also clean and press vestments and paraments, and perform minor tasks to ensure that all is in order for the weekly worship of our congregation. 

The guild operates on a monthly rotation similar to usher teams. Each team of 2-4 altar guild members is responsible for one service ( either early or late) for their chosen month of service. 

Would you consider joining this vital ministry? No experience is necessary; however, altar guild members must be confirmed members of the church. Thank you in advance for your gifts of time, talents, and treasure in the Body of Christ! 

Women's Bible Study

Women's Bible Study
Saturday, September 12, 10:00 a.m.
Zion Fellowship Hall

Come and spend a morning in God's Word for a special one-day study titled "All Things Through Christ". 
Light breakfast items will be provided! 
RSVP to Tevia at grmnstns@live.com.

Book Synopsis:
This book provides a concise look into the essential and extensive work of Christ as Mediator and how that unfolds within the Trinity. It addresses the questions of why we need a mediator, how Christ mediates, and the blessings of having a mediator. Robert Walderman expounds upon an abundance of Scriptures dealing with the mediation of Christ. He also takes to heart the words of Charles Spurgeon, who said, "He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own," and supports his ideas with a compilation of insightful quotes from a host of outstanding theologians and scholars. Theologians from the past, such as John Calvin, William Perkins, John Owen, and Charles Spurgeon, as well as more contemporary authors, such as R. C. Sproul and John Piper. In addition, the author weaves throughout the book his own thought-provoking insights, personal experiences, and helpful illustrations to create a readable introduction to the topic, which can also be used as an everyday devotional or study.
Link to book on Amazon

LWML Vision Statement

Photo sharpened with the aid of Adobe Firefly (AI).

LWML Vision Statement 
The LWML, the primary group for LCMS women, is the place where every woman in welcomed and encouraged to use her unique God-given gifts as she supports missions and serves the Lord with gladness. 

Visit our LWML Quarterly Newsletter page

VIDEO: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 - Complete Service

Bulletin for Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Sunday Bible Studies
Archive of Bulletins

2:00 p.m. - Worship Service
2:30 p.m. - Bible Study: I Samuel
This service will be LIVE STREAMED on our YouTube Channel

Audio: Readings & Sermon for Wednesday, August 19, 2026

AUDIO: Readings & Sermon for Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Rev. Dr. Edward Grimenstein

Download

Bulletin for Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Sunday Bible Studies
Archive of Bulletins

2:00 p.m. - Worship Service
2:30 p.m. - Bible Study: I Samuel
This service will be LIVE STREAMED on our YouTube Channel

First Reading – 2 Samuel 11:1-27 
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 

So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” 

So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”

When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. 

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 

So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come. 

The Ten Commandments 
What is the seventh commandment?
You shall not steal.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.