Gloria Dei Lutheran Church of Long Beach

Worship for 2nd Sunday of Easter, 4/11/21 https://youtu.be/MIbwLbuldqo

John 20:19-31 It was just over a year ago that we all went inside and closed our doors. We locked ourselves in for safety because of the worst pandemic the world has seen since the Spanish Flu. Businesses closed. Jobs were lost. The economy took a nosedive. Streets were empty and cities became ghost towns as we hid away from a virus that could kill us, our friends, our familya virus that can be spread with a sneeze, a cough, or a breath.... http://thoughtsalongtheway.net/2021/04/12/take-a-breath/

Betrayed- A Maundy Thursday Meditation http://thoughtsalongtheway.net//betrayed-a-maundy-thursda/

Easter Worship https://youtu.be/HfzGjeOrOz4

Martin Luther once spent three days in a deeply gloomy mood because of something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife, Katie, came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. Who died? asked Martin. God, replied Katie. Luther rebuked her, saying, "What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die." "Well," she replied, "the way you've been acting I was sure he had!"... http://thoughtsalongtheway.net//05/he-is-going-ahead-of-us/

Good Friday https://youtu.be/nm5yq_uVzm4

Today's worship, 01/10/21, First Sunday After the Epiphany. https://youtu.be/Qdsq0frWvOs

I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Mark 1:8 Not long ago I saw a picture of a Pandemic baptism. The mother was holding up her baby while the pastor stood about eight feet away next to the font and aimed a squirt gun at the baby. So, ten points for creativity during the pandemic!... http://thoughtsalongtheway.net/2021//11/immersed-in-wonder/

Worship for the 1st Sunday of Christmas: Lessons and Carols. https://youtu.be/sJH7LiZSAMs

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Luke 2:9 (NRSV) It’s funny how you can look at something a hundred times or more and then one day someone will point out something you hadn’t noticed and the whole thing looks different to you. That happened to me last week when a colleague pointed out one simple word in Luke’s Christmas story that had always just flown right by me.... http://thoughtsalongtheway.net///26/our-down-to-earth-god/

Christmas Eve Worship https://youtu.be/2VDVWCuT42I

Worship for the 23rd Sunday After Pentecost https://youtu.be/2TFnOaV9kAw

Matthew25:1-13 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. [ 2,188 more words ] http://thoughtsalongtheway.net/2020/11/09/try-wait/

"Lord God, [on this election day] you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 317

Today's worship. All Saints Sunday, November 1, 2020. https://youtu.be/k5p4Rs3oCRA

Matthew 5:1-12 My sense of time is out of sync. With Covid messing up all our internal clocks and scrambling our routines, Summer didn’t so much fade into Fall as crash land into it. Halloween just didn’t feel like the big seasonal transition point that it has been in past years, and after seeing everyone in masks for nine months it lost a bit of its punch. [ 2,299 more words ] http://thoughtsalongtheway.net//02/saint-don-of-long-beach/

Today's Worship - Reformation Sunday - October 25, 2020 https://youtu.be/zmc_8uzmGqs,

John 8:31-36; Matthew 22:34-46 Knowing things changes you. You can’t help it. Maybe some of you recognize that line. I use it as a signature line on my emails. It comes from one of my favorite novels, The Bromeliad Trilogy, from my very favorite author, the late Sir Terry Pratchett. The novel is about of a civilization of Nomes who have lived for generations in an old-style department store, something like a Harrods or Selfridges. [ 1,821 more word ] http://thoughtsalongtheway.net//knowing-things-changes-yo/

We're conducting a brief survey regarding our Sunday morning worship schedule. If you would like to share your preferences, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RQJRC6N. Please only do so once. Thanks.

Wednesdays - 10a.m. - Everyone Welcom Join us for a new Adult Education study on ZOOM beginning October 21 as we read together Fratelli Tutti, the groundbreakin...g new encyclical from Pope Francis. Click the link below to join the study. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88649073825 Click the link below to read or download a copy of the encyclical https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88649073825

Today's Worship - October 18th, 2020 - the 20th Sunday After Pentecost https://youtu.be/dq20bVDc5nY

Matthew 22:15-22 The Pharisees went out and plotted how they could trap Jesus in what he said. 16 And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth, and show deference to no one, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 So tell us, what do you think? [ 2,335 more words ] http://thoughtsalongtheway.net/2020//19/faith-and-politics/

Today's worship service, 19th Sunday After Pentecost, 10/11/20: https://youtu.be/Z5xhC0Mu7X8

Matthew 22:1-14 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. [ 2,632 more words ] http://thoughtsalongtheway.net///the-guest-at-the-banquet/

In Acts 17:6, Paul and Silas are brought before the city authorities of Thessalonica with this accusation: These are the men who are turning the world upside down They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus. Turning the world upside down. Getting into good trouble. Acting contrary to custom and law. [ 936 more words ] http://thoughtsalongtheway.net//turn-the-world-upside-down/