We spend a lot of time rushing around getting ready for Christmas. Shopping, wrapping, tree decorating, baking, cooking, going to parties and family gatherings, more shopping, more wrapping, more… . It’s exhausting just thinking about it. And it’s just as busy in the church!
A lot of extra planning and effort goes into getting ready for this very special time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—the baby born in a humble manger—God coming down to us, becoming human and living among us in the ordinary rhythm of life.
And as we rush around getting ready for this big event, it’s easy to focus only on Jesus’ birth, (the event that has already happened) but forget about his promised second coming, when he will return, the world as we know it will end, and he will establish his kingdom (the event that has not happened yet). And this 'already, but not yet,' in-between time is where we live, going about our daily lives, busy with all the things we busy ourselves with.
But in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus warns that at times just like these, when people are busy with the ordinary rhythm of life, when the world is busy with all its business, Jesus will come again. Interestingly, it was like this when Jesus came the first time: people were just going about their usual rhythm of life when he was born. God came down into the world that first Christmas. And only a few people even noticed.
But when he comes again, Jesus warns, it won’t be quiet and peaceful like the first time. There will be fire, lightning and fear. The world as we know it will come to an end. And he tells us that when we see these signs, we should LOOK UP. Because in the midst of everything in our world spinning out of control—the end of life as we know it—Jesus comes back down to us and creates a new and different world, a new and different life—for us.
But I don’t think his coming again is something reserved only for the end of time. Because I believe that Jesus comes down to us in the here and now, when we least expect it, when the rhythm of ordinary life is broken and life seems turned upside down by things like a diagnosis of cancer, the death of a spouse or child, a divorce, the loss of a longtime secure job, closing of a family business, foreclosure of a house or family farm, the economic recession, reduced retirement funds, concern with global warming, or even the anxiety created in the church about rostering pastors living in committed same gender relationships.
In times when the rhythm of our lives is broken, when our world is shaken and it feels like everything is coming apart, Jesus invites us to LOOK UP! Look up and see him coming down to us—right here, and right now—to walk with us, carry us in his arms, and give us new life—with him and in him.
As we busy ourselves making all our preparations for Christmas, please take time to consider the wonder of a God who loves us so much that he has come, continues to come and is coming again to make all things new.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us. Isaiah 9:6a
Rejoicing with you,
Pastor Roy+
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Filled with the Holy Spirit
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Acts 2:1-6
The day of Pentecost is one of great excitement for the church because it is the day Jesus’ twelve apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit. And it is the day they begin to preach the gospel to all people, in their native languages. They proclaimed Christ crucified, risen and ascended into heaven—in order that people can be restored to a right relationship with God
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." Acts 2:38-39
The ‘Good News’ of Jesus Christ, the promise of the resurrection, is for everyone—and those who are, are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ are charged to go and proclaim the Gospel, so that, all people come to believe, have their sins forgiven and are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit!’
When we are gathered, ‘all together in one place,’ at worship, we intentionally step into the presence of the living God and become ‘filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Gathered together in Christian fellowship, around God’s Word and Sacrament, we receive affirmation of our calling and receive the gifts of God’s amazing grace. We are nourished and strengthened in faith and, ‘filled with the Holy Spirit,’ we are then sent back out into the world to love as God loves—as changed people—as disciples of Jesus Christ.
To be ‘filled with the Holy Spirit,’ is transformational. God intends for it to change us—in ways that are apparent to others. When we truly encounter God—we can’t help but be changed.
But whether one actually does encounter God in worship, is up to each individual. We can be ‘filled with the Holy Spirit,’ or we can resist what God is trying to do in us.
Be open to the awe and wonder, the awesomeness, and the mystery of God truly present in Word and Sacrament, the preaching, the prayers and the music. Worship, not out of a sense of obligation, but out of eagerness for an encounter with the Divine. Expect to encounter God in worship and to be changed into a disciple of Jesus Christ. Then go out into the world and spread God’s love around—and invite others to come with you to experience the Divine in worship.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. …And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42, Acts 2:47b
Pastor Roy+
The day of Pentecost is one of great excitement for the church because it is the day Jesus’ twelve apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit. And it is the day they begin to preach the gospel to all people, in their native languages. They proclaimed Christ crucified, risen and ascended into heaven—in order that people can be restored to a right relationship with God
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him." Acts 2:38-39
The ‘Good News’ of Jesus Christ, the promise of the resurrection, is for everyone—and those who are, are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ are charged to go and proclaim the Gospel, so that, all people come to believe, have their sins forgiven and are ‘filled with the Holy Spirit!’
When we are gathered, ‘all together in one place,’ at worship, we intentionally step into the presence of the living God and become ‘filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Gathered together in Christian fellowship, around God’s Word and Sacrament, we receive affirmation of our calling and receive the gifts of God’s amazing grace. We are nourished and strengthened in faith and, ‘filled with the Holy Spirit,’ we are then sent back out into the world to love as God loves—as changed people—as disciples of Jesus Christ.
To be ‘filled with the Holy Spirit,’ is transformational. God intends for it to change us—in ways that are apparent to others. When we truly encounter God—we can’t help but be changed.
But whether one actually does encounter God in worship, is up to each individual. We can be ‘filled with the Holy Spirit,’ or we can resist what God is trying to do in us.
Be open to the awe and wonder, the awesomeness, and the mystery of God truly present in Word and Sacrament, the preaching, the prayers and the music. Worship, not out of a sense of obligation, but out of eagerness for an encounter with the Divine. Expect to encounter God in worship and to be changed into a disciple of Jesus Christ. Then go out into the world and spread God’s love around—and invite others to come with you to experience the Divine in worship.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. …And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42, Acts 2:47b
Pastor Roy+
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Path to Easter is Through the Cross
During this Lenten season, we have been taking the Journey of the Stones, following Jesus to the cross. It has been a reflective, penitent journey. Each week at our Wednesday evening worship service, we were given a stone which represented the weight of our sins.
Sometimes, we can get weighed down by our sins, and be left feeling undeserving and unloved. Sometimes we can forget that Jesus bore the weight of all our sins and took them to the cross so that we could be set free from sin and death and set free to serve God and one another!
So on Wednesday evenings this Lent, at the end of each service, we were invited to lay down the weight of our sins by placing our stones at the foot of the cross. It was very moving to see so many people come forward every week and lay their stones at the foot of the ‘old rugged cross,’ trusting that Jesus would take up the weight of their sin.
The weight of sin and death! Gone!
Through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection! Gone!
Through the sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism. Gone!
Through confession and absolution! Gone!
Because of God’s great love made real for us in and through Jesus Christ and by what he did for us. Gone!
By grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Gone!
I invite you to complete the journey with us as we walk the stony path, following Jesus to the cross through Holy Week; Passion/Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter. We will follow Jesus into Jerusalem, be with him in the upper room as he washes the disciples’ feet, witness his betrayal and arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, lament as he carries his cross to Golgotha, is crucified, dies, and is buried, and we will keep watch at his tomb, waiting for what he foretold—waiting for him to rise again on the third day.
I invite you to journey with us as we follow Jesus to the cross—and beyond! Because the path to salvation, the path to being made right with God, the path to victory over sin and death—is through the cross.
There are many paths that go around the cross. But none of those paths leads to salvation, because they are not the path Jesus walked. His path led to the cross. And he called us to follow him. And so we do. All the way to the cross—through the cross—and then beyond!
There is only one path to the glory of Easter—the path that leads through the cross.
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, and take up their cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34b
On the journey with you,
Pastor Roy+
Trusting God. Following Jesus <><
Sometimes, we can get weighed down by our sins, and be left feeling undeserving and unloved. Sometimes we can forget that Jesus bore the weight of all our sins and took them to the cross so that we could be set free from sin and death and set free to serve God and one another!
So on Wednesday evenings this Lent, at the end of each service, we were invited to lay down the weight of our sins by placing our stones at the foot of the cross. It was very moving to see so many people come forward every week and lay their stones at the foot of the ‘old rugged cross,’ trusting that Jesus would take up the weight of their sin.
The weight of sin and death! Gone!
Through Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection! Gone!
Through the sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism. Gone!
Through confession and absolution! Gone!
Because of God’s great love made real for us in and through Jesus Christ and by what he did for us. Gone!
By grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Gone!
I invite you to complete the journey with us as we walk the stony path, following Jesus to the cross through Holy Week; Passion/Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil of Easter. We will follow Jesus into Jerusalem, be with him in the upper room as he washes the disciples’ feet, witness his betrayal and arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, lament as he carries his cross to Golgotha, is crucified, dies, and is buried, and we will keep watch at his tomb, waiting for what he foretold—waiting for him to rise again on the third day.
I invite you to journey with us as we follow Jesus to the cross—and beyond! Because the path to salvation, the path to being made right with God, the path to victory over sin and death—is through the cross.
There are many paths that go around the cross. But none of those paths leads to salvation, because they are not the path Jesus walked. His path led to the cross. And he called us to follow him. And so we do. All the way to the cross—through the cross—and then beyond!
There is only one path to the glory of Easter—the path that leads through the cross.
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, and take up their cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34b
On the journey with you,
Pastor Roy+
Trusting God. Following Jesus <><
Monday, March 2, 2009
Inbetween Christmas and Easter
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:9-11
It’s cold and windy. Dark when I get up and dark when I come home. I’m tired of shoveling snow and slipping on ice. The thrill of Christmas is past and the bills have arrived. The winter doldrums have descended. I just want to hurry up and get to spring and Easter! Yup, going right from Christmas trees, presents, Santa and the baby Jesus, to dyed eggs, jelly beans, The Bunny and the risen Christ, would be so much easier (and more fun) that spending this time slogging through these dark cold months of January and February—this ‘in between’ time of the church calendar called ‘Epiphany.’
Sometimes I fear that because of the post-Christmas ‘let-down,’ we can treat Epiphany like that—as an ‘in between’ time of the church year that we have to go through to get from the wondrous birth of our Lord and Savior, to his glorious resurrection. My concern is that, in our winter doldrums, we just might miss the wondrous things God is saying to us, those wondrous things God wants us to know, as we read and study the scriptures during this time of Epiphany.
The season of Epiphany is so much more than the time that fills the gap between Christmas and Lent. This year the ‘bookends’ for Epiphany, as we read through the Gospel of Mark, are the Baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration of the Lord. At both of these monumental events in the life of Jesus, ‘a voice’ comes from heaven proclaiming Jesus to be God’s Son, the Beloved.
I was taught in seminary that when a portion of the bible is ‘bracketed’ by God’s voice, one should pay particular attention to what the text within the ‘brackets’ is saying—because the message is likely to be rather significant. And in the Gospel of Mark, the text ‘between the brackets’ calls all people to come and see Jesus for themselves and to follow him. Jesus extends the invitation to come and meet him, learn from him, and follow him. And Jesus instructs his followers to ‘go and tell’ people about him, inviting them to come and see so they can meet him for themselves, learn from him, and receive his invitation to follow.
Jesus calls us to ‘fish for people’ by extending the invitation to come and meet him. To invite others is to follow Jesus. Because Jesus, ‘God’s son, the Beloved,’ wants to share the gift of salvation by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ, with EVERYONE. And he left the inviting to us—until he returns.
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Mark 9:2-7
Trusting God. Following Jesus. <><
Pastor Roy+
It’s cold and windy. Dark when I get up and dark when I come home. I’m tired of shoveling snow and slipping on ice. The thrill of Christmas is past and the bills have arrived. The winter doldrums have descended. I just want to hurry up and get to spring and Easter! Yup, going right from Christmas trees, presents, Santa and the baby Jesus, to dyed eggs, jelly beans, The Bunny and the risen Christ, would be so much easier (and more fun) that spending this time slogging through these dark cold months of January and February—this ‘in between’ time of the church calendar called ‘Epiphany.’
Sometimes I fear that because of the post-Christmas ‘let-down,’ we can treat Epiphany like that—as an ‘in between’ time of the church year that we have to go through to get from the wondrous birth of our Lord and Savior, to his glorious resurrection. My concern is that, in our winter doldrums, we just might miss the wondrous things God is saying to us, those wondrous things God wants us to know, as we read and study the scriptures during this time of Epiphany.
The season of Epiphany is so much more than the time that fills the gap between Christmas and Lent. This year the ‘bookends’ for Epiphany, as we read through the Gospel of Mark, are the Baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration of the Lord. At both of these monumental events in the life of Jesus, ‘a voice’ comes from heaven proclaiming Jesus to be God’s Son, the Beloved.
I was taught in seminary that when a portion of the bible is ‘bracketed’ by God’s voice, one should pay particular attention to what the text within the ‘brackets’ is saying—because the message is likely to be rather significant. And in the Gospel of Mark, the text ‘between the brackets’ calls all people to come and see Jesus for themselves and to follow him. Jesus extends the invitation to come and meet him, learn from him, and follow him. And Jesus instructs his followers to ‘go and tell’ people about him, inviting them to come and see so they can meet him for themselves, learn from him, and receive his invitation to follow.
Jesus calls us to ‘fish for people’ by extending the invitation to come and meet him. To invite others is to follow Jesus. Because Jesus, ‘God’s son, the Beloved,’ wants to share the gift of salvation by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ, with EVERYONE. And he left the inviting to us—until he returns.
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Mark 9:2-7
Trusting God. Following Jesus. <><
Pastor Roy+
Thursday, January 8, 2009
PRAISE GOD!!! A MIRACLE of Helping Make Ministry Happen!
In December, First Lutheran found itself facing a projected $50,000 shortfall between giving and the expense of supporting the ministry and mission of the church. I wrote a note informing the people of the financial situation and asked them to prayerfully consider giving generously to reduce (or even erase) the projected shortfall. I shared my belief that giving is an act of worship and praise to our generous and loving God; that we give out of joy and thanksgiving for the many blessings we have received from God, trusting that God does and will provide for our daily needs, and; that we give in order to continue the work of ministry and mission in the world that Jesus has entrusted to us.
And I shared what our Bishop, Gary Wollersheim recently wrote about where we put our trust in the midst of an ‘economic crisis;’ “As Christians, we put our trust in God. We believe that God does and will provide for our daily needs. We recognize that compared to most of the world, even in an economic crisis, we are wealthy. And we are reminded of the words of Scripture: “to whom much is given, much shall be required”, so we respond to God’s graciousness with continued generosity.”
And then I prayed and waited to see what God would do.
And what happened is a miracle! It brought tears of joy to my eyes to see how God worked through his people to significantly reduce (and nearly erase) the projected shortfall before the end of the year! By their actions thepeople of First Lutheran have shown that they truly trust in God, even in these difficult economic times. They responded to God’s graciousness with generosity, and helped make ministry happen.
All praise and thanks to God for these wonderful, generous people!
Trusting God. Following Jesus. <><
Pastor Roy+
And I shared what our Bishop, Gary Wollersheim recently wrote about where we put our trust in the midst of an ‘economic crisis;’ “As Christians, we put our trust in God. We believe that God does and will provide for our daily needs. We recognize that compared to most of the world, even in an economic crisis, we are wealthy. And we are reminded of the words of Scripture: “to whom much is given, much shall be required”, so we respond to God’s graciousness with continued generosity.”
And then I prayed and waited to see what God would do.
And what happened is a miracle! It brought tears of joy to my eyes to see how God worked through his people to significantly reduce (and nearly erase) the projected shortfall before the end of the year! By their actions thepeople of First Lutheran have shown that they truly trust in God, even in these difficult economic times. They responded to God’s graciousness with generosity, and helped make ministry happen.
All praise and thanks to God for these wonderful, generous people!
Trusting God. Following Jesus. <><
Pastor Roy+
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