Trinity Lutheran Church

This week, the sanctuary is finding its voice. New spotlights on the ceiling now find Pastor Hans right at the pulpit, new speakers went in above and below the balcony, and new choir microphones hang from a system that lowers them gently into place. Even the equipment closet has a bit of history — fifty years ago it was Trinity's TV closet, right where our media ministry got its start. A shoutout to SL Technology LLC for the new lighting and sound work, and as it all comes together, the scaffolding that has carried this whole renovation is finally starting to come down.

Dr. Wentz opens worship with Chopin's Prelude in G minor. This is a brief and dramatic piece which opens with the melody in the bass. A surprising middle section in D-flat major sees the melody shift briefly to the treble. The piece ends with a brief return to the opening material.

Lisa Speece opens worship on the flute with the Menuet from L'Arlésienne by Georges Bizet. This incidental music was written for a play of the same name and then later assembled into two orchestral suites. It is one of the few of his works to find success during his lifetime.

During the Offertory, member Jacinda Motley sings Prayer by Hugo Wolf. Wolf's art songs were written towards the end of the Romantic era in classical music, and you can hear the typical lyricism of that era in the vocal melody while the accompaniment, though tonal, often clashes or delays resolution. This is epitomized in the ending, with the voice never resolving to the tonic but rather letting the piano take over and resolve the piece.

In this week's message, Pastor Hans told two stories that reframe what fairness even means. Years ago, as a hospital chaplain, he baptized a dying man who held very little back — a man who, in the world's accounting, had worked just one hour of a whole life. He paired it with the story of the thief on the cross beside Jesus, who asked only to be remembered and was told, "today you will be with me in paradise." Pastor Hans's conclusion: fairness is not the gospel — grace is. Watch the full message, Beneath the Steeple, wherever you get your podcasts.

What do we owe someone who shows up at the very last hour? In this episode, Pastor Hans tells the story of baptizing a dying man in a hospital room — a man who, in the world's accounting, had worked only one hour of a whole life — and holds it up beside Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard, where the last hired are paid exactly the same as the first. It's a challenge to anyone who has ever totaled up their own faithfulness and resented someone else's grace. Whether you've been counting Sundays for decades or you're just walking through the door, we're glad you're here.

This week's renovation reel follows one crack in the Sanctuary wall all the way through: cut out, patched, and finished with a texture mixed right into the primer so the repair blends back into the wall around it. It's easy to miss unless you know to look for it — which is exactly the point. Small, careful steps like this one are what "repaired, not replaced" looks like up close.

Andrew Smith closes worship with the Trumpet Tune from Heroic Music by Georg Philipp Telemann. "Trumpet tunes" abound in the Baroque era, and we're all familiar with those attributed to Henry Purcell and Jeremiah Clarke. Telemann did not miss out on the opportunity!

At Common Ground, everyone in the room is recovering from something — and that's exactly where healing starts. In this clip, Pastor Molly Haggerty describes how art, games, a hot shower, and a warm meal become an invitation from Christ to reconcile with the people we've been carrying in our hearts. It's a beautiful reminder of what church really looks like when we come as we are.