Trinity Lutheran Church and School

11/01/2026

Saints Are Blessed in the Eternal Presence of Christ
“A great multitude … from all tribes and peoples and languages” cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Revelation 7:9-10). Faith-filled saints from every place and time with unified voices eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we, too, “shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Joined with the throng of angels and myriad saints, we shall “serve Him day and night in His temple” (Revelation 7:15). In our earthly tension vacillating between saint and sinner, faith and doubt, sacred and profane, we earnestly seek Jesus to calm our fears, comfort our spirits, and forgive our sins. The Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ, propels us forward to our eternal home, fortifying us in Word and Sacrament. In the midst of our constant struggle as believers, we need to be blessed. And so we are. The poor in spirit, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure, and the persecuted are all blessed, and we will most certainly inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:1-12).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

10/25/2026

The Son of God Has Set Us Free from Sin and Death by His Grace
“Wisdom is justified by her deeds” (Matt. 11:19), and the true wisdom of God, Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son, justifies us by His deeds. He prepares His way by the preaching of repentance, but He has suffered the violence of the Law and voluntarily handed Himself over to violent men, in order that we may eat and drink with Him in His Kingdom and “remain in the house forever” (John 8:35). He is “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 11:18–19), and He has rescued us by His grace from the slavery of sin and death. By the proclamation of His eternal Gospel “to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people” (Rev. 14:6), “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” (Rom. 3:21), “that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). And by the hearing of that Gospel of Christ Jesus, “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:25), “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, sunday, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

10/21/2026

Donuts with Dads and Friends!!

10/18/2026

We Are Recreated in the Image of God by the Cross of Christ
Plotting against Jesus, the Pharisees attempted “to entangle Him in His words” by asking about the payment of taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:15). The Lord pointed to coins required for the tax, and He answered that we should “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). But if coins bearing the image of Caesar should be rendered to him, then man—who is made in the image of God—must be rendered to the Lord. That tax is paid for us by the Lord Jesus, the image of God in the flesh, by His self-offering on the cross. And from His cross, as the Lord’s anointed, He reigns as the true Caesar over all nations “from the rising of the sun and from the west” (Isaiah 45:6). The Lord once called and anointed Cyrus “to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings” (Isaiah 45:1). Now by the preaching of the Gospel, “in power and in the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:5), foreigners from all over the world are “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

10/11/2026

Clothed in the Righteousness of Christ, We Partake of His Wedding Feast
By His cross and resurrection, the Lord has swallowed up death forever, and by His Gospel He “will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth” (Isaiah 25:8). Therefore, “let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isaiah 25:9). On the mountain of the Lord of hosts — in His Church on earth, as in the kingdom of heaven — He has made “for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine” (Isaiah 25:6). It is the royal “wedding feast” of the Son of God, “and everything is ready” (Matthew 22:1, 4). Thus, His servants are sent into the highways and byways to invite and gather as many as they find, “both good and bad,” to fill the wedding hall with guests (Matthew 22:8-10). In Holy Baptism, He clothes them all in the “wedding garment” of His own perfect righteousness (Matthew 22:11). Therefore, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God,” and “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4-6).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

10/04/2026

The True Vine Redeems the Vineyard of the LORD of Hosts
“The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel” (Isaia 5:7), which He planted “on a very fertile hill” (Isaiah 5:1). He did everything for His vineyard, not only clearing it of stones and planting it with “choice vines,” but also building the “watchtower” of His prophets and hewing out the “wine vat” of His priesthood in its midst (Isaiah 5:2). But when “He looked for it to yield grapes,” there were only “wild grapes” of bloodshed and unrighteousness (Isaiah 5:2, 7). The Lord Jesus likewise described the unfaithfulness of those who were called to care for His vineyard (Matthew 21:33-35). But in this He also describes His cross and Passion (Matthew 21:38-39), by which He has redeemed the vineyard for Himself. He is the true Vine, planted by death into the ground, and in His resurrection He brings forth “the fruits in their seasons” (Matthew 21:41). Among those good grapes of the true Vine is the apostle Paul. Once a zealous persecutor of the Church, he “suffered the loss of all things” in order to “gain Christ and be found in Him,” to “know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:8-10).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Wilfred Pieper
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, holy spirit, lord, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

09/30/2026

09/27/2026

The Cross of Christ Opens to Us the Way of Repentance to Life with God
The way of the Lord is righteous and just: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). However, because the Lord has “no pleasure in the death of anyone” (Ezekiel 18:32), He calls sinners to repentance and faith in His gracious forgiveness of sins. The man who is thus turned away from his wickedness, who henceforth lives by the grace of God, “shall surely live; he shall not die” (Ezekiel 18:28). This way of repentance has been opened for us by the cross of Christ. In the righteousness of faith and love, “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (Philippians 2:8), and He was vindicated in His resurrection from the dead. Indeed, “God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). He has given us this name in our Baptism into Christ, in whom we now “shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). He uses the authority that He has received from His Father (Matthew 21:23-27) to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, by which even “the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 21:31-32).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, sunday, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070

09/20/2026

Disciples Live in Their Vocations by Grace through Faith in Christ
Those who are sent as “laborers for His vineyard” (Matthew 20:1) depict the wide diversity of vocations to which the disciples of Christ Jesus are called. Whatever our particular stations in life may be, we are called to live and serve by faith in His promises. Our labors do not merit anything before Him, for He is already generous to one and all without partiality. In mercy, He has chosen to bear “the burden of the day and the scorching heat” on our behalf, to make us equal to Himself and to give us what belongs to Him, that is, the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 20:12-15). This way of the Lord is foolishness to the world and foreign to our thoughts, but He draws near, so that “He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6), “have compassion” and “abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). So it is that we are found in Christ Jesus, and He is honored in our bodies, “whether by life or by death” (Philippians 1:20), by “fruitful labor” (Philippians 1:22) or by suffering. It is by faith in His forgiveness that our works are “worthy of the Gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

Series: Pentecost
Preacher: Pastor Timothy Vaughan
Categories: Worship
Keywords: church, sunday, church service, pentecost, lutheran, sunday school, st. francis, saint francis, trinity lutheran
Location: Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 3812 229th Avenue NW, Saint Francis, Minnesota, 55070