Hymn Devo - Amazing Grace
March 19, 2026

How God’s Grace Awakens Faith and Calms Our Fearsv

“’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved…”



At first glance, these words seem almost contradictory. How can grace teach our hearts to fear?

But the hymn writer is naming something deeply honest about faith. Grace first awakens us, it opens our eyes and shows us the truth about our limits, our wandering, and the ways we try to carry life on our own. In that moment of clarity, we feel a kind of holy fear. 

This is not a feeling of terror or panic, but more a deep recognition.

We suddenly see how much we need God.

And yet the story does not end there.


The very same grace that awakens our hearts also comforts them. The moment we realize our need is the moment we discover that God has already moved toward us. Through the incarnation of Jesus and through Christ’s death and resurrection, God enters our reality and responds to our fear and failure, and fragility with grace.


Grace reveals our need, and then grace meets that need, and then grace carries us forward.


Today’s affirmation:
God of mercy,
thank you for the grace that awakens my heart
and the grace that calms my fears.
Let that grace hold me today and always.

365: The History of the Church Section 1 Part 1

By Unknown • June 16, 2026

365: The History of the Church Section 1

By Unknown • June 15, 2026
This devotional series explores key moments in church history, divided into thematic and historical sections with several parts. It is a long and winding story that began on Pentecost and continues to be written by us and by the Holy Spirit today. SECTION 1 – The Church of the Holy Spirit The church began with breath.  A violent wind filled an upper room and scattered ordinary people into the world with extraordinary news. From that first Pentecost morning, the Spirit has been the church’s constant companion, guiding, correcting, and surprising us through twenty centuries of imperfect faithfulness. The devotions in this section explore pivotal moments when the Spirit moved through imperfect people to shape the church’s story. From Paul’s dramatic conversion to the Council of Jerusalem’s radical inclusion, we see the same God who breathed life into the first disciples still breathing life into us today. We are part of this continuing story; inheritors of a wind that refuses to be contained. Nate Preisinger Bethany Lutheran Church Sent with SubsplashUnsubscribe from all emails

365: Third Sunday after Pentecost

By Unknown • June 14, 2026
Click to watch video Today is the Third Sunday after PentecostWe encourage you to join in for worship at Bethany this weekend either in person or through our livestream.   For an additional devotional reflection, we invite you to watch this reflection from Pastors Gary and Nate on the Feast Day of Peter and Paul last year.Peter the humble fisherman. Paul the privileged Roman citizen. Two wildly different origin stories, yet both were rescued, transformed, and called by God to lead the early Church. Pastors Nate Preisinger and Gary Sandberg reflect on the shared feast day of Saints Peter and Paul and what their lives teach us about grace, redemption, and purpose. Through shame and denial, pride and persecution, God rescued Peter and Paul, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of the Gospel. And that same story of rescue continues today. In baptism, in forgiveness, in community, we are rescued too. 365 Daily Devotional Bethany Lutheran Church Sent with SubsplashUnsubscribe from all emails
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