Author: The Pastor

God’s vineyard

/ The Pastor

A Sunday morning prayer based on today’s Gospel text from Matthew 21:33-46 (The Parable of the Tenants):

Most gracious and loving God,

You have placed us in YOUR vineyard:
Not an actual vineyard (that would be silly).
Not a metaphor for our church building.
Not a description of our family.
Not a description of an actual place.

But rather…

You, O God, have placed us in YOUR vineyard by virtue of your saving grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We have been given knowledge of your love.
We have been offered forgiveness.
We have seen you active in our lives
We have heard your Word of truth.
We have been given life through Jesus.
We have been blessed with faith.

…and that is the fruit of YOUR vineyard.

But too often we claim that fruit as our own.
Too often we hoard it as a limited resource.
Too often we protect it as a fragile vase.
Too often we lock it up as a priceless treasure.

But the fruit of YOUR vineyard is not ours.  We have been blessed with it so we may know you AND so others may know you.  As you blessed Abraham to be a blessings to others, you have blessed us.   May we be faithful caretakers of YOUR vineyard; ready to share with ALL people.  May we keep the gates of YOUR vineyard open that ALL may know your love.  And when your Son, Jesus Christ, returns may we be found faithful.

O gracious God, we praise you for your love endures forever.  Amen.

edh -|—

Life is good…PRAISE BE TO GOD

/ The Pastor

Wow…life has been good.

We have had a great start to our youth education year (release time, confirmation and Wednesday Night Live).  All these programs have seen increased numbers along with a group of caring and committed teachers. I have seen intellectual and spiritual growth in some kids.  Always a fun thing to see.
PRAISE BE TO GOD!

I have been amazed at how God has been working through me these past few weeks in preaching.  On Sept. 4 I preached a sermon about God’s plan for us (which I said is community).  This was supposed to be a stand alone sermon but the next three weeks God has provided messages to build on that theme.  And what a ride it has been.
PRAISE BE TO GOD!

Personally…I had been dealing with an ankle injury that kept me from running for 3 weeks.  It drove me crazy to see friends running knowing that I could not.  I had to pull out of a 1oK I have enjoyed running the past 2 years.  But now my ankle is healed and I am back to running.
PRAISE BE TO GOD!

I started a weight loss program through Weight Watchers (something I did a few years back).  I want to drop about 20 pounds to get back to my ideal running weight.  Well…in just over 2 weeks I have lost 7.2 pounds.
PRAISE BE TO GOD!

It is easy to complain to God when things are not going well and easy to draw away from God when things ARE going well.  But we need to remember to praise God when thing do go well (and also praise God when things do not go well).   Whatever the case, God is good ~ for he sent Jesus to die for you and for me.
PRAISE BE TO GOD!

edh -|—

From the “mouth” of a babe

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I got to baptize Kelcie yesterday during worship.

But my story starts on Saturday when I met with Kelcie (3 months old), her family and sponsor.  We were sitting in my conference room and I was sharing with them what baptism is about.  I read Romans 6 to them and we discussed what God is doing.  I enjoy these meetings; I enjoy sharing with people what this great gift is all about.  It is a great time to share the truth of the gospel with people (some of which don’t normally come to worship).

During our time together, though, I noticed that Kelcie was staring at me as if she was listening intently to every word I was saying.  She never deviated her eyes.  It was almost wigging me out.   I half expected her to start nodding in agreement (which would have wigged me out even more). It was like she just couldn’t get enough of this Good News about…

being joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus;
this thing about the forgiveness of sins,
and becoming part of the Body of Christ and the church.

Her eyes seemed to be saying “keep going, I want to hear more“.  It was the cutest thing I have seen in a long time.

During the baptism on Sunday she continued her gaze upon me; on what I was saying and doing as if to say “This is really happening.  This is so cool.  Hurry up.”

I poured the watered on her head and she flinched (I guess the water was a little cool), but she didn’t cry.  After the blessing was pronounced, prayers were prayed and gifts given I had the privilege of carrying her up and down the aisle. And as I carried Kelcie, she laid in my arms very content.  Her eyes seemed to say “Thank you!”  But of course the proper response is “Praise be to God!”  Oh well, she’ll learn…after all she is only 3 months old 🙂

My prayer for Kelcie is that she grows to know more about this awesome God of ours; to learn more about those promises given to her on Sunday and to grow realize how to use her baptismal verbs:  Kelcie IS baptized not WAS.

Her baptism and yours is a present reality not just a past event.  Hold on to and praise God for those promises that were given and continue to remain with you.

And Praise GOD always and forever.

edh -|—

Let’s go to Nineveh

/ The Pastor

Jonah 1:1-3
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”  But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Almighty God ~ You are a loving and compassionate God; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Jonah knew this but didn’t really KNOW this.
We know this but in the same way we really don’t KNOW this.

or

Maybe it is that we really don’t want to believe this.  We want you to be compassionate and loving toward us but let’s not get too wild here.  Let’s not get too crazy or go overboard.  After all…there are people out there we would rather not see in community with us.

But your ways are not our ways.
Your plans are not our plans.
Your vision is not our vision.

Grant us faith to go where you call us to go; even if that means going to Nineveh (to those we would rather not see saved).
Grant us faith to trust your will.
Grant us faith to TRULY see your love and compassion for people.

Because if we truly think about it, we are Ninevites.  We incurred your wrath but you sent Jesus (whom we crucified).  But through faith in Jesus ~ responding to his message ~ receiving your forgiveness, you relented from the punishment due to us.  May we serve and praise you for that amazing love and compassion.

We don’t deserve it ~ no one does. But according to your will, lead us as we follow you to Nineveh.

Praising you always and forever!  Amen!

edh -|—

Grant me…

/ The Pastor

Most gracious God,

Grant me the words to say this morning.
Grant me boldness to proclaim your truth.
Grant me faith to receive your grace.
Grant me patience to receive everyone in love.
Grant me a heart to see everyone as you see them.

Help me to be faithful to my calling and help me to be faithful to the Word that is placed before me today.

Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, my Rock and Redeemer.

Amen!

edh -|—

Preaching forgiveness

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

I am thinking and praying about forgiveness this week.  The text providing the backdrop is one I have always struggled with…

Matthew 18:21-35

This is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.   It deals with God forgiving us such a large debt and us not being willing to forgive the debts/sins of people in our lives.

In the parable a king’s servant amasses a debt of 10,000 Talents (a debt that the servant could not even hope to repay even though he says he will).  The king threatens to sell him and his family into slavery but after some pleading for time, the king forgives the debt.

Wow!  That is grace!

Immediately after the immensely gracious act, the servant finds a buddy of his who owes him a few dollars.  When the buddy can’t repay, the servant throws him into prison until he can repay the debt.  The king then gets word of this ungracious act; becomes angry; restores the previously forgiven debt and hands the unmerciful servant over to the jailer to be tortured until he can repay (which he won’t be able to).

Jesus then ends this teaching with “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Ouch!

I can understand this response from God.  I mean, after all, who are we to think that people hurt us more than we hurt God.  Who are we to think that our debt to God is insignificant and not important.  True ~ if God forgives such a large debt that we have incurred through sin, then we ought to forgive one another.  But how does one preach such a message ~ without attempting to tip toe around God’s Word in an effort to avoid offending people.

The other interesting tid bit in all of this is that Sunday is the 10th anniversary of 9/11 (like you didn’t know that).  I didn’t choose this text but rather it is the one “assigned” in the lectionary.  Does preaching this message of forgiveness sound insensitive on the anniversary of such a tragic event?  What preaching points would you use?

Just throwing some thoughts and questions out there for consideration.

edh -|—

Community

/ The Pastor

Matthew 18:15-20
15 “If your brother sins against you go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

Loving God…you created us to be in community ~ not just with you but with each other here on this earth.  You have created us to be an expression of the community you created between you and creation.  You created us to maintain and pursue community.  You created us to give you glory through community.

But we messed up community.

We sinned ~ and continue to sin.
We hurt our neighbors.
We create and maintain division between people.
We seek to win rather than to heal.
We take the “easy” way out rather than dealing with problems.
We REALLY treat people as “pagans and tax collectors“.

Oh how we have messed up community.

Oh gracious God; loving creator ~ we have acted contrary to your design.
Grant us your vision and heart for one another.
Grant us compassion and love for our neighbors.
Grant us patience and passion.
Grant us desire for what is better ~ community as you design.

Oh gracious and loving God…even though we messed up your creation; your community, you pursued healing and reconciliation through the cross; through Jesus Christ.  Thank you for your compassion.  May we pursue that same reconciliation in all our relationships ~ giving you all the praise and glory.  Through Jesus Christ I pray…AMEN!

edh -|—

Make music to the Lord

/ The Pastor

Psalm 92:1-5
It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2     to proclaim your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
3     to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
4     For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
5     How great are your works, O Lord,
how profound your thoughts!

Today I am heading to LifeLight; a Christian music festival in Worthing, SD (south of Sioux Falls).  It is the largest FREE, outdoor, Christian music festival in the country.  There is 100+ bands and 6 stages.  And did I mention that it is FREE?

Lot’s of great music.
Lot’s of great food.
Lot’s of great worship.

I look forward to this event every year (always Labor Day weekend).  We set up camp in front of the main stage and sit there all day.  Today (Saturday) and Sunday will be spent there (with a trip back to Jackson for Sunday morning worship).   And considering that the fall season is upon us; Wednesday Night Live, Release time and confirmation starting soon, this festival is always a great way to kick off a new program year. It seems to jump start things for me.

So as I was reading my Bible today I came across Psalm  92 which spoke about my excitement of this weekend.   But these verses are not just about the upcoming weekend, but about our lives.

Our God is an awesome God and worthy of praise and worship.

Worship is not a duty.
Worship is not something to cross off your list.
Worship is not something you HAVE to do.

Worship should be your JOY; something you GET to do ~ not something that just happens on Sunday, but part of the other 6 days of your week.

So remember to take some time and make some music unto the Lord.  Or in my case…I will make a joyful noise 🙂

Either way ~ PRAISE BE TO GOD!

-edh -|—

Your will O God

/ The Pastor

Almighty and loving God, I do not know what exactly to pray for.  I want to pray for your will to be done but I also want my will to be done.  It’s silly to say this ~ silly even to think this, but I need to be honest with myself for you already know my heart.

That is why I need to ask you to:
Strengthen my faith
Grant me wisdom
Give me patience

For you have a grand plan in place for me.
You have something special planned for me.
You are preparing me for something great.

I just know it O God ~ I just know it.

So don’t let Satan get a foothold in my life. 
Don’t let him distract me from what is important.
Don’t let him keep me from focusing my gaze on you.  For you are my life.

So here I am ~ praying to you. O God grant me what I need. And may your will be done in my life.

Amen

-edh-