Welcome to Blessed Emmanuel Sturgis
Blessed Emmanuel is a congregation of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. We are a part of Christ's family saved by grace alone, rooted in God's love growing in faith through worship, fellowship, teaching and service as we reach out to others with the good news of Jesus.
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Sturgis, SD 57785
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605-423-5870
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Sunday Worship 10:30 am
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Adult Bible Study 9:15 am
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Sunday School 9:15 am
Our Story
Dear friends in Christ!
Psalm 84 says, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”
The congregation of Blessed Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Sturgis, South Dakota, is a family of believers who follow the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to further His kingdom and glorify His holy name. If you are visiting with us, we welcome you and thank God for you! In this directory you will meet many wonderful people who love the Lord with all their heart and soul and might (Deuteronomy 6:5) and seek to serve Him in all they say and do. As St. John says in his first epistle, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We pray that the Lord will inspire you to join our church or pray for us and our ministry, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
Unique to our congregation’s ministry is our Rally Breakfast and Dinners we serve every year during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Many people tell us that we have “the best breakfast in town.” We take pride in offering a quality product in a beautiful setting with great fellowship. It is truly a mission that Christ has given us to reach out to people from all over the United States and the world with His grace and mercy. We appreciate your support!
If you have any questions, need any help, or would like to contribute to our ministry, please speak with Pastor Hinckley or one of our members and they will be glad to assist you and pray for you. The Lord be with you!
Pastor Robert Hinckley
Ministries & Programs
Vacation Bible School
Each summer the third week in July Blessed Emmanuel hosts children 3 years and up for Vacation Bible School. Registration at 8:30 am. 9 am to noon we laugh, sing, play and most of all learn about Jesus. We serve a kid friendly lunch Monday thru Friday. Come join us if you can !
Sunday School
September thru May we have Sunday School one hour before divine worship. We explore Bible stories, do art projects, play bells for special worship services and make new friends.
Adult Bible Study
We meet each Sunday (September thru May) at
9:15 am to study the Word of God. All are welcome.
Rally Breakfast
Each year the members of Blessed Emmanuel and several of our circuit church members offer a cook-to-order meal to our Bike Rally guests' for a free will offering. From 7 am to noon for 8 days we get to know folks from every state in the union plus many countries all over the world.
Pastor Hinckley's messages on Main Street Living
Grace Deadwood/Blessed Emmanuel Sturgis April 2026 Newsletter
Holy Week Devotion
Brothers and Sisters!
I know many people think Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and it may be, but your pastor thinks that Holy Week is the best time of year. I like both the celebrations of Christmas and Easter, but there is something very special about Holy Week. You won’t understand unless you attend all the services in succession: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday. If you just show up for Easter, then you miss out on the fullness of the Gospel message. Some churches have ser-vices every day of Holy Week, in fact, some have multiple services on certain days, like Good Friday. It is a profound experience to attend all the services of Holy Week. Let us walk through them briefly here.
Palm Sunday - Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday riding a donkey while the crowds cheer Him on and hail Him as their King. That, in and of itself, has much to say to us. Is He your king? How would you greet Jesus if He were to come your way? What would you say to Him? What would you do? The people and disciples who saw Him ride into Jerusalem that day sang psalms and laid palm branches and their cloaks on the road before Him!
Maundy Thursday – This is the day in which Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His disci-ples in a large upper room in Jerusalem, and when He instituted the Lord’s Supper by taking the bread of the Passover and saying, “Take, eat, This is My Body, which is given for you, this do in remem-brance of Me” and the cup of wine saying, “Drink of it, all of you, This Cup is the New Testament in My Blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” After supper, He took a bowl of water and wrapped a towel around His waist and washed the disciples’ feet, teaching them humility and that they were to love one another as He had loved them. That night, while Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane for the Father’s will to be done, He was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver and ar-rested and taken before Caiaphas the High Priest and the Sanhedrin (Jewish High Council) and put on trial and accused of blasphemy (among other things).
Good Friday – On Friday morning, Jesus was sent to the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pi-late, and examined by him concerning His charges by the Jews. Pilate, after questioning Jesus, thought He was innocent but had Him flogged and then wanted to release Him. However, the chief priests and scribes stirred up the crowd against Him, and Pilate released Barabbas instead, and gave the order for Jesus to be crucified. So, the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head and put a purple/scarlet robe on Him and mocked Him saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then, carrying His own cross, Jesus was led to Golgotha (place of the skull), the hill outside the city walls where the Romans performed crucifixions, and there He was stripped of His clothes and nailed to the tree. Jesus was cruci-fied between two criminals or thieves (more like insurrectionists) and mocked while He hung on the cross. Darkness covered the land for three hours while He was up there. Yet, Jesus spoke seven times from the cross, and they are all amazing to consider. His final word was, “It is finished,” or “It is ac-complished”: Jesus had completed His work of atonement for our sins. When Jesus bowed His head and gave up His spirit it is said the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus is our Great High Priest and leads us through the veil of this life to heaven itself, indeed we have access to God the Father through Him. A Roman soldier pierced His side, and out came blood and water.
Easter Sunday – Early in the morning, when the sun had yet to break the horizon, several women came to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with myrrh and spices. Instead, they found the stone rolled away and angels appeared to them, announcing that Christ has risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia! And He has conquered sin and death and the power of the devil, all for us and our salvation. Much more could be said but let this be enough to encourage you in your Holy Week devotion this year!
Pastor Hinckley and family
APRIL 2026 EVENTS
