Holy Trinity Ankeny

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

SEE WHAT LOVE: November 1, 2026 11/01/2026

SEE WHAT LOVE: November 1, 2026 There is a chair at the table that stays empty. There is a phone that will not stop buzzing. And we keep being told that this is the whole story. But we know whose we are. Revelation 7:9-17 | 1 John 3:1-3 | Matthew 5:1-12 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/43583359

FORTRESS OF GRACE: October 25, 2026 10/25/2026

FORTRESS OF GRACE: October 25, 2026 That we are made right before God by grace and not works, that forgiveness cannot be earned, is the central claim of the Reformation and Luther’s theology. Grace, however, is about more than just forgiveness. Grace is the central principle of life. Amidst chaos, political and economic upheaval, natural disaster and even death, grace sustains us. Amidst it all, God is our fortress and strength. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/43439994

GIVE TO GOD WHAT IS GOD’S: October 18, 2026 10/18/2026

GIVE TO GOD WHAT IS GOD’S: October 18, 2026 When the Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus with a trick question, he ends up revealing their hypocrisy and turning the tables on them. Being concerned about paying taxes to Caesar is not a central concern of life. Instead, a life of faith is about giving God what belongs to God – which is everything. He exposes this political posturing for what it is – unessential to the kingdom of God. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/43344434

THE INVITATION: October 11, 2026 10/11/2026

THE INVITATION: October 11, 2026 Some stories we wrestle with. Some wrestle with us. This one has been going round and round with us, and it ends with a closed door and a question nobody answers. We cannot walk away from it. We are not sure we want to. What do we do with this? Matthew 22:1-14 | Isaiah 25:1-9 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/43249693

THE MIND OF CHRIST: October 4, 2026 10/04/2026

THE MIND OF CHRIST: October 4, 2026 We all have a view of how the world works. We have a mindset that guides our decisions and relationships. It is often shaped by culture, family, tradition. The Apostle Paul tells us that we should have “the mind of Christ.” He demonstrates how his own life has been turned upside down by having the mindset of Jesus. It frees us. It saves us. It blesses us. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/43164793

LOOK: September 27, 2026 09/27/2026

LOOK: September 27, 2026 They asked him for his credentials. He never gave them. Not to the priests in the Temple, not to a prisoner sending word from a cell, not even to the crowd standing under a cross daring him to prove it. He answered a different way. He's still answering that way, at this table, today. Matthew 21:23-27 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/43045173

A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY: September 20, 2026 09/20/2026

A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY: September 20, 2026 We keep a ledger. Quietly, carefully. Who showed up, who's earned their place, who still owes something. Some of us keep it on others. Some of us keep it on ourselves. But grace was never good at math. Jonah 3:10-4:11| Matthew 20:1-16 | Philippians 1:21-30 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42964283

INFINITE FORGIVENESS: September 13, 2026 09/13/2026

INFINITE FORGIVENESS: September 13, 2026 When Peter asks Jesus how many times we are to forgive someone, Jesus answers, “Seventy-seven – or Seven times seventy.” What he means is, “Infinitely.” Can that be right? Is there no room in the world for “enough is enough?” Are there not some things that are unforgiveable? Apparently not. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42888740

OVERCOMING DIVISION: September 6, 2026 09/06/2026

OVERCOMING DIVISION: September 6, 2026 It is not news to say that the world and its inhabitants are divided, fragmented in a way that makes us give up hope. We just can’t help ourselves from our desire for revenge, retribution, and winning the argument. Jesus called his people, his Church, to bear witness to another way of life which restores hope, to be a light in the midst of the divided darkness. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42799900

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS: August 30, 2026 08/30/2026

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS: August 30, 2026 Jesus' invitation to “take up your cross and follow him” is the essence of the call to discipleship. What does it look like to take up the cross? Are we to be martyrs? Tortured? Imprisoned for our faith? That has happened to many, as the history of the church bears witness. For most of us, the cross comes as we choose the way of Jesus instead of the ways of the world and find friction. If you follow Jesus, the cross will find you. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42609000

THE SENTENCE YOU DIDN'T WRITE: August 23, 2026 08/23/2026

THE SENTENCE YOU DIDN'T WRITE: August 23, 2026 We have been finishing that sentence our whole lives. I am… and somebody else usually filled in the blank first. But there is an older word about who we are, spoken before anyone else got a vote. And it turns out, Jesus is still speaking it. Matthew 16:13-20 | Isaiah 51:1-6 | Romans 12:1-8 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42524615

CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE: August 16, 2026 08/16/2026

CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE: August 16, 2026 When a Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter his response seems, to us, rude. Rude Jesus? Not really. The story shows us that the promise of God in Isaiah 56 has come true – all nations will be drawn to God. The story also shows us that crumbs from the table of grace are more than enough. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42452000

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID: August 9, 2026 08/09/2026

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID: August 9, 2026 The women we encounter in scripture provide a powerful witness to God’s love and mercy. From Miriam to Mary, Hannah to Ruth, the women are empowered by God to preach, teach, proclaim, and praise. Pastor Paul Witmer, Lead Pastor of Women at the Well, a congregation in the Mitchellville Women’s Correction Center, is our guest preacher and mission partner. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42366780

ALL YOU CAN. ALL YOU HAVE. - August 2, 2026 08/02/2026

ALL YOU CAN. ALL YOU HAVE. - August 2, 2026 When Jesus sees the thousands waiting for him, he has compassion on them. The disciples see a problem. The people need to go home to eat. Jesus tells the twelve, “You give them something to eat.” All they have is five loaves and two fish. It ends up being more than enough. Twelve baskets of leftovers remain after all are full. Perhaps Jesus gives us the same command when we see the overwhelming problems of the world and all the suffering. “You give them what they need.” We are called to do all we can with all we have, in this place at this time. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42290710

NOTHING SEPARATES: July 26, 2026 07/26/2026

NOTHING SEPARATES: July 26, 2026 Something in you has been asking whether this, whatever this is for you right now, might finally be too much. Too far gone. Beyond reach. Paul already asked that question, on our behalf, and searched the whole universe for an answer. Romans 8:26-39 | Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 | 1 Kings 3:5-12 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42216185

WHEAT AND WEEDS: July 19, 2026 07/19/2026

WHEAT AND WEEDS: July 19, 2026 What shall we do about the presence of evil in the world? Jesus’ parable of the “wheat and weeds” gives us an answer. We can’t really tell the difference between the two, so good and evil must grow up alongside each other. God will sort out the two in God’s good time. That is hard news for us when we want to judge others. It is good news when we are being judged. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42143005

ALREADY HOME: July 12, 2026 07/12/2026

ALREADY HOME: July 12, 2026 We keep asking the same question, just in fancier clothes: Am I enough? We measure. We compare. We keep score against the person in the next pew. But Paul isn't answering that question. He's ending it. Romans 8:1-11 | Isaiah 55:10-13 | Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/42047965

A NATION OF PEACE AND HUMILITY: July 5, 2026 07/05/2026

A NATION OF PEACE AND HUMILITY: July 5, 2026 As the nation observes the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence we are called to give thanks and to tell the truth. We are called to live into a vision established not by our own patriotism, but the vision of the reign of God revealed in Christ. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41965795

THE YOKE: June 28, 2026 06/27/2026

THE YOKE: June 28, 2026 There is a kind of hope that makes everything worse. We have all offered it. Most of us have needed it. There is another kind. It doesn't promise the weight will lift. But it will not leave you alone in it. Jeremiah 28:5–9 | Matthew 10:40–42 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41849075

DEAD TO SIN. ALIVE TO GOD. June 21, 2026 06/21/2026

DEAD TO SIN. ALIVE TO GOD. June 21, 2026 A core belief of our congregation is “God's love is not earned but is a free gift to broken people.” The question is, does God’s love revealed in Christ leave us broken? Paul says, “By no means!” To be baptized, to be a disciple of Jesus, is to leave the old life, the brokenness, behind and embrace a new life, even if it is hard to change. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41714990

WHAT CHRIST FINDS: June 14, 2026 06/14/2026

WHAT CHRIST FINDS: June 14, 2026 We are remarkably committed to carrying things alone. Even when help is available. Even when the effort costs us more than accepting it. Somewhere in all that stubborn self-sufficiency, a belief settles in so quietly we don't notice it arriving: no one is coming. Matthew 9:35–10:8 | Exodus 19:2-8a | Romans 5:1-8 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41637150

ANOTHER WORD: June 7, 2026 06/07/2026

ANOTHER WORD: June 7, 2026 The world is very good at speaking final words over us. And we have been carrying some of them for a long time. But there is someone who keeps showing up, past the booth, past the crowd, past the bedside, and he is not done speaking. That word has your name on it. Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41562820

INTO THE CHAOS: May 31, 2026 05/31/2026

INTO THE CHAOS: May 31, 2026 We have been gripping for a very long time. Managing the unformed places. Performing a certainty we do not have. Because somewhere underneath everything, we believe that chaos means God has already looked away. But that is not how this story begins. Genesis 1:1-2:4a | 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 | Matthew 28:16-20 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41481020

THE RIVER ALREADY KNOWS: May 24, 2026 05/24/2026

THE RIVER ALREADY KNOWS: May 24, 2026 We have spent a long time on the bank. Watching. Admiring. Keeping ourselves dry and in control. But there is a current underneath all of it that has been moving the whole time, and it didn't ask our permission before it started. The question Pentecost keeps asking is the one we keep not answering. John 7:37-39 | Acts 2:1-21 | 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41406125

THE HALLWAY: May 17, 2026 05/17/2026

THE HALLWAY: May 17, 2026 We are waiting. We have been waiting. For the door to open, for things to resolve, for real life to finally start again. What if we've been wrong about which room we're in? John 17:1-11 | Acts 1:6-14 | 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41323160

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD: May 10, 2026 05/10/2026

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD: May 10, 2026 We are exhausted. Not tired. Exhausted. And we cannot stop. We have been building altars about it for a very long time. And none of them are working. But there is another way. Acts 17:22-31 | John 14:15-21 | 1 Peter 3:13-22 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41237745

THE STONE WE DON'T RECOGNIZE: May 3, 2026 05/03/2026

THE STONE WE DON'T RECOGNIZE: May 3, 2026 An arrest. A sermon. A challenge. A response. The stones didn’t come from the faithless ones. Just ask Caiaphas. Acts 7:55–60 |1 Peter 2:2–10 | John 14:1–14 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41131620

NOT EVERY VOICE: April 26, 2026 04/25/2026

NOT EVERY VOICE: April 26, 2026 There are a lot of voices. And most of them sound convincing. But not every voice gives life. John 10:1-10 /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/41011470

ROAD TO NOWHERE: April 19, 2026 04/19/2026

ROAD TO NOWHERE: April 19, 2026 When two of the disciples who followed Jesus left town after the crucifixion, they took the road to Emmaus. It was a road to nowhere. Their hopes for the Messiah were broken; Jesus’ death brought grief and despair. The “powers that be” had one more crushed hope on the wheels of history. They could not even recognize Jesus when he began to walk with them on this dark road. Then, however, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them and they could see him. Hope rekindled sent them scurrying back up the road to Jerusalem on the road to somewhere. /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/40925885

STUCK: April 12, 2026 04/12/2026

STUCK: April 12, 2026 The response to Jesus’ death in John’s gospel is grief, fear, and unbelief. His followers are stuck and unable to set themselves free. The appearance of the resurrected Jesus sets them free and puts them on a new path. We are people who know about being stuck in grief, fear, and unbelief. These are hallmarks of our world. How does the resurrection set us free? /episode/index/show/htlcankeny/id/40817455

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