Welcome to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. St. Mark’s is an historic congregation of the ELCA that unconditionally welcomes all people of all ethnicities, genders, identities and backgrounds. Please join us for worship on Sundays at 8:30 or 10:30 am with inspiring music and talented musicians as we gather to grow together […]
December 11, 2024, Second Advent Midweek Prayer
In this Advent season, we await the One who says, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God, and they will be his peoples.”
December 8, 2024, Second Sunday of Advent / Lessons and Carols
Today’s “Service of Lessons and Carols” (see the “Music Notes” on page 18) is a St. Mark’s tradition reaching back into 19th century England with the singing of carols and the reading of lessons in preparation for the season of Christmas. During today’s service, may you hear again the grace of the good news expressed […]
View the Sermon (PDF)December 4, 2024, First Advent Midweek Prayer
In this Advent season, a voice in the wilderness calls out, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” joining the prophets and calling us to righteousness.
View the Sermon (PDF)December 1, 2024, First Sunday of Advent
Advent is about the “coming days.” God’s people have always lived in great expectation, but that expectation finds specific, repeated enunciation in the texts appointed for these four weeks. The ancients anticipated a “righteous branch to spring up for David.” The Thessalonians awaited “the coming of our Lord Jesus with all the saints.” Jesus’ contemporaries […]
View the Sermon (PDF)November 24, 2024, Christ the King
Even after Israel had experienced the vagaries of kings, the people still longed for a true king to set things right. He would have the king’s title of Anointed One (Messiah); he would be the “one like a human being” (Son of Man) given dominion in Daniel’s vision. Jesus is given these titles, even though […]
View the Sermon (PDF)November 17, 2024, Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
November begins with All Saints Day and ends in or near Advent, when we anticipate Christ’s coming again, It is fitting, then, that the readings today tell of the final resurrection and the end of time. In the turmoil of hope, fear, and disbelief that these predictions provoke us. Hebrews sounds a note of confident […]
View the Sermon (PDF)November 10, 2024, Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Widows are visible everywhere in today’s readings. Jesus denounces those scribes who pray impressive prayers but devour widows’ houses. He commends the poor widow who in his view gave far more than the major donors. Jesus doesn’t see her simply as an object of compassion or charity. She, like the widow of Zarephath who shares […]
View the Sermon (PDF)November 3, 2024, All Saints Sunday
All Saints celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who are the body of Christ. As November heralds the dying of the landscape in many northern regions, the readings and liturgy call us to remember all who have died in Christ and whose baptism is complete. At the Lord’s table we gather with […]
View the Sermon (PDF)October 27, 2024, Reformation Sunday
Rooted in the past and growing into the future, the church must always be reformed in order to live out the love of Christ in an ever-changing world. We celebrate the good news of God’s grace, that Jesus Christ sets us free every day to do this life-transforming work. Trusting in the freedom given to […]
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