Living Word Lutheran Church

Living Word Lutheran ChurchLiving Word Lutheran ChurchLiving Word Lutheran Church

901-658-3690

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901-658-3690

Living Word Lutheran Church

Living Word Lutheran ChurchLiving Word Lutheran ChurchLiving Word Lutheran Church
  • Home
  • About
  • Worship
  • Fellowship
  • Outreach
  • Calendar
  • Resources
  • Contact Us

Welcome to Living Word Lutheran Church

Welcome to Living Word Lutheran ChurchWelcome to Living Word Lutheran ChurchWelcome to Living Word Lutheran Church

Living the Word...Spreading the Word


6108 Chester Street

Arlington, TN

from the pastor

How Can I Keep From Singing?

My life flows on in endless song;

Above earth's lamentation,

I hear the sweet, tho' far-off hymn

That hails a new creation;

Thro' all the tumult and the strife

I hear the music ringing;

It finds an echo in my soul—

How can I keep from singing?


What tho' my joys and comforts die?

The Lord my Saviour liveth;

What tho' the darkness gather round?

Songs in the night he giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm

While to that refuge clinging;

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,

How can I keep from singing?


I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;

I see the blue above it;

And day by day this pathway smooths,

Since first I learned to love it,

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,

A fountain ever springing;

All things are mine since I am his—

How can I keep from singing?


This hymn, written by Baptist pastor Robert Lowry in 1869, is filled with hope and promise while recognizing the realities and difficulties of life. In that regard it is reminiscent of many of the reading we hear during the season of Easter.


Singing and shouting praise to God, while naming life’s difficult situations, is a major theme in the Psalms. In fact, for any situation you might face in life you can find something that speaks to it in the Psalms. As Ecclesiastes 1;9 reminds us, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.”


The Easter season of this liturgical year also has weekly readings from Revelation. The last book of the Bible alternates between scenes of heavenly worship and scenes of strange and terrifying things happening on earth. Do not think that John of Patmos’s vision is some kind of road map to the future; it was written to provide hope and comfort to the people living under Roman persecution in the ancient near East in the early years of the Christian movement. It is written in ways that the intended audience could understand, but authorities could not if it fell into the wrong hands.


Revelation still provides us with hope and comfort if we read it rightly. Or sing it; when I read those heavenly worship scenes I find it hard to not sing it, as many of the passages have been set to music: Handel’s Messiah( Halleluia Chorus and Worthy is the Lamb). Our liturgy is all based on biblical texts; you might have recognized the words of “This is the Feast” in one of the recent readings from Revelation.


In any situation of your life, tell yourself, “There’s a song for that. There’s a biblical passage for that.” Good stuff, bad stuff; we have access to great resources to help us celebrate, lament, pray, grieve. How can we keep from singing?

Pastor LaVonne Johnson

Join us for worship!

Join us for worship!

Join us for worship!

Please join us for worship services every Sunday morning at 11 am.  We worship in person or you may join us via Zoom.

Fellowship

Join us for worship!

Join us for worship!

As the Body of Christ we seek out, gather and support one another in our discipleship.  That's why our fellowship at Living Word Lutheran Church is so important to us.  Due to COVID-19 cases in the area,  fellowship events are currently on hold.

Outreach

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Outreach

Our church congregation actively supports the community,  recognizing others, even those very different from ourselves, as neighbors worthy of our respect, concern and compassion.  

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Outreach

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Community Resources

Community Resources

Community Resources

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Community Resources

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6108 Chester Street, Arlington, Tennessee 38002, United States

  • Contact Us

Living Word Lutheran Church

6108 Chester Street, Arlington, Tennessee 38002, United States

901-658-3690

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