The appointed readings for Divine Service in September trace what a life already touched by mercy looks like from the inside: gratitude, trust, hope that reaches past the grave, and humility before God. Each Sunday answers the same quiet question a little differently: now that God has shown us mercy we did not earn, what does it look like to live inside that mercy every day? See ‘The Month Ahead’ for September in this newsletter for a preview of the coming month.

Pastor McClean was released from Mt. Sinai Hospital several weeks ago and has moved to Beachwood Assisted Living in Catonsville. Unfortunately, he was hospitalized again this past week at St. Agnes Hospital. At this time we do not have any additional information, but please continue to keep him in your prayers.

The Sunday Bible class is concluding its study of selected readings from ‘Series A’ of the three-year lectionary at the end of August. Next month, we will take up a study of “The Blood of the Lamb: Understanding the Levitical Sacrificial System.” In this study we will learn that words familiar to us in the Divine Service such as “shed for you for the remission of sins” and “Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world” were originally given to Israel as we find in the book of Leviticus, and that the apostles wrote the pages of the New Testament assuming their readers knew that history. Please join us September 13, 20, and 27 at 9:45 AM to learn about this critical history of the church. There will be no Bible Study on September 6.

Mark your calendars now for Family Day and the 96^th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Lutheran Church of Our Saviour on October 4. Divine Service is at 11:00 AM. We will have with us as preacher and celebrant the Rev. Lucas Witt, Executive Director of the Lutheran Mission Society Compassion Place. Pastor Witt is a great friend to Our Saviour and we look forward to welcoming him and his family. We will of course have our traditional luncheon following the service. Be on the lookout for more information in the near future.

We are continuing to pursue the Specific Ministry Pastor program for our candidate, Scott Jones. Unfortunately, admission for this fall has proved to be impossible due to the lateness of our application and class size limitations. We have received updated application materials and are proceeding apace to get the application submitted at the earliest opportunity for admission in the fall of 2027. In the meantime, we have been fortunate to have our pulpit filled every Sunday with strong and faithful preachers who have given generously of their time so we may receive God’s precious gifts in His Divine Service and will continue to strive to have that each and every Sunday.

There is one more Free Flea market for 2026, on September 12, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Please see Judy Volkman for details or to volunteer to help.

We continue to remember in prayer Pastor McClean, Bridget Bauman, James Bauman, Albert Bell, Christopher Bell, Bertha Buchanan, Dana Carmichael, Elizabeth Coats, Timothy Doswell, Quilla Downs, Frank Ford, Iris Ford, Sean Fortune, Lynne Funck, Sherry James; Gloria Jones, Byron Masterson, Beth McClean, Julia Silver, Robert Siperek Jr., Lawrence Smallwood, Paul Swank, George Volkman, Gary Watson, Marvalisa, Sierra, Jonathan, and Steven Gibson.

See you in church!

In Christ and on behalf of the Church Council,
Paul Techau, Council President

The Month Ahead: September, 2026

Services and Their Readings

The Season: Trinity XIV–XVII: Living in God’s Mercy

September carries the Church through four Sundays that trace what a life already touched by mercy looks like from the inside: gratitude, trust, hope that reaches past the grave, and humility before God. A healed leper turns back to say thank you, a widow’s jar of flour never runs empty, another widow watches her only son called back from death at the city gate, and dinner guests learn that only God decides who is exalted and who is brought low. Each Sunday answers the same quiet question a little differently: now that God has shown us mercy we did not earn, what does it look like to live inside that mercy every day?

September 6  Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity

Proverbs 4:10–23  •  Galatians 5:16–24  •  Luke 17:11–19
As Jesus travels along the border between Samaria and Galilee, ten men crippled by leprosy call out to Him from a distance, the only place their disease allows them to stand. Jesus sends them to the priests, and as they go, they are healed, every one of them. Only one turns back, and he is a Samaritan, a foreigner, falling at Jesus’ feet to give thanks. Jesus asks where the other nine have gone, then tells the grateful man that his faith has saved him. Paul’s letter to the Galatians shows what that saved life looks like from the inside: not a chaotic list of sins we manage to avoid, but a single, unified fruit that the Holy Spirit grows in us, love, joy, peace, and the rest, springing up wherever faith clings to Christ alone.

September 13  Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

1 Kings 17:8–16  •  Galatians 5:25–6:10  •  Matthew 6:24–34
During a famine that has left her gathering the last sticks for a final meal, a widow in pagan territory is asked by the prophet Elijah for bread she does not have to spare. She obeys anyway, and her jar of flour and jug of oil do not run dry until the rains finally return. Jesus points His hearers to that same trustworthy God when He tells them not to be anxious about food or clothing: if the Father feeds the birds and clothes the grass of the field, He will surely care for those made in His own image. Paul closes with a practical push: because we do not know how much time remains, we should never grow weary of doing good to everyone, and especially to the household of faith.

September 20  Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

1 Kings 17:17–24  •  Ephesians 3:13–21  •  Luke 7:11–17
The same widow of Zarephath who trusted Elijah for her daily bread now watches her only son die, and in her grief she asks the prophet whether he has come only to bring her sin to judgment. Elijah carries the boy to his own room and pleads with the Lord for his life, and the boy breathes again. Years later, outside the village of Nain, Jesus meets another widow burying her only son, and where Elijah could only pray, Jesus simply speaks: “Young man, I say to you, arise.” The boy sits up, and the crowd, trembling, confesses that God has visited His people. Paul’s soaring prayer for the Ephesians asks that very God to root and ground us in a love that reaches farther than we can measure, filling us with nothing less than the fullness of God Himself.

September 27  Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

Proverbs 25:6–14  •  Ephesians 4:1–6  •  Luke 14:1–11
Long before Jesus ever sat down for a meal, Solomon warned his son never to seize the place of honor at the king’s table, since it is far better to be invited up than to be publicly sent down. Jesus brings that old proverb to life at a Sabbath dinner, watching the guests jockey for the best seats before He tells them plainly: take the lowest place, for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. It is God, not the other guests, who decides where each of us finally belongs. Paul begs the Ephesians to walk out that same humility in ordinary life, bearing patiently with one another in love, eager to guard the unity the Holy Spirit has already given the whole Church: one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all.