The Reverend Owen Griffiths, Pastor
Faith Lutheran Church
Heading 1
4150 Woodhaven Road
Philadelphia, PA 19154
(215)-637-4210
flcphiladelphia@verizon.net
Welcome
Thank you for visiting Faith Lutheran Church online!
We are a small, family-friendly church in NE Philadelphia.
Whoever you are and wherever you are on life's journey--married or single, old or young, black or white, native-born or immigrant, gay or straight, bisexual or transgender, parent or childless, rich or poor--you are always welcome here at Faith Lutheran.
Help us out: If you missed your weekly offering, or if you just want to support the ministry of Faith or the ELCA, you can make an online donation by clicking the "GIVE!" button on the menu bar.
Our Mission
Our mission is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people through worship, education, service to our community and world, fellowship, caring, and prayer.
We would love to have you join us!
Baptisms & Weddings
Call the Pastor at (215)-637-4210
for information on how to schedule baptisms and weddings; he will be glad to work with you.
SUNDAY WORSHIP
You can enjoy VIRTUAL worship on Facebook Live every Sunday.
Go to Faith Luther on Facebook!
Just click the underlined link!
Worship Schedule
Sunday Worship
10 AM
Sunday School
10:00 AM
Mid-Week Lenten
Services
7:00 PM
Also on Facebook Live
News
Lent
As part of the discipline of Lent we encourage you to take some extra time for prayer and worship and join us for Mid-Week Lenten Devotions on Wednesday evenings at 7 PM. There will be song, prayer, scripture, and Pastor’s reflections on the “Saints of Lent” from our Lutheran worship calendar. This Wednesday, March 29, we will hear about 19th Century renewer of the church Hans Nielsen Hague and 17th Century priest and poet John Donne. If you cannot attend in person you can be part of the service on Facebook Live.
Lenten Food Drive
For the last two years we have asked you to contribute to a food drive to benefit Feast of Justice by brining non-perishable items to church on Palm Sunday. This year we are asking you to consider donating items throughout the forty days of Lent. No donation is too small and anything you can give is greatly appreciated.
Last Sunday of the Month is Donation Sunday
Our Last Sunday Special Offering for March will go to Lutheran World Relief (the “World Hunger” on your offering envelope). Since 1945 LWF saves and improves lives in the poorest parts of the world. They have been present for refugees from the war in Ukraine and to help survivors of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. They help promote sustainable, ecologically sound farming practices, they create jobs in rural areas in the US and abroad, and they are on the scene at times of humanitarian crisis. We will take our special offering for LWR on Sunday, March 26th.
Book Club
Join us for the Faith Book Club on Tuesday evening, March 28 at 6:30pm at the church. Bring your favorite snack which we can enjoy as we discuss the book Still Alice by Lisa Genova.
“What if every memory you've ever had will be erased from your mind, and you have no choice but to carry on...powerless to stop it? Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At 50 years old, she's a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she begins to grow disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life - and her relationship with her family and the world - forever. At once beautiful and terrifying, this extraordinary debut novel by Lisa Genova is a moving and vivid depiction of life with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease.”
EasterSunrise Service
Be sure to mark your calendars and tell your friends about the Ecumenical Easter Sunrise Service at the Historic Glen Foerd riverfront Estate located at 5001 Grant Avenue (Enter off State Rd. and Fitler St.). Worship begins at 6:30 AM and usually lasts about 45 minutes. We will be joined by our Episcopal, United Methodist, and Roman Catholic friends (and maybe a few others). Music will be provided by Paul Robertson (and possibly a special guest song leader). It’s an outdoor event so dress warm, bring a lawn chair, and watch the sun come up over the Delaware as we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord.
Holy Week
Holy Week Evening observances will be held at 7:00 PM. During our Maundy Thursday mass on April 6 three of our young people will receive their First Holy Communion. They are Jack Bodnick, Aiden Locke, and Peyton Achuff. Please pray for them as they enter this new stage of their Christian life.
Good Friday worship on April 7 will be the traditional Tenebrae Service of Darkness. We will hear the Pasion According to St. John read. All are encouraged to attend this sacred service.
WELCOME ! VIRTUAL WORSHIP NEWS:
If you're uncomfortable attending indoor worship during the COVID-19 pandemic, we still hope you'll continue to be involved with Faith Lutheran Church. We'll be livestreaming Sunday morning worship at 10 AM on the Faith Luther Facebook page. You can also read the texts of Pastor's sermons by clicking on the "Pastor's Blog" tab on the toolbar. Please remember, too that you can make online donations by clicking on the "GIVE!" button above.
You can also check out videos from our national church body, the ELCA, our Synod, or our congregation below.
Gospel Reading for Sunday, March 26, 2023
Lent 5
Gospel Lesson John 11:1-45
11Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” 11After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 28When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
© 2014 by Faith Lutheran Church, Philadelphia.