Jesus

Up and down

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I have an up and down week coming up.

Tomorrow is Sunday (so that is naturally an up).  At the country congregation I serve (Belmont Lutheran Church) we are celebrating the sacrament of Holy Baptism.  It is one of the favorite things I get to do as a pastor.  I get stand up there with the family and sponsors sharing what baptism means; encouraging them to follow through with their baptismal promises and then pour water on the baby’s head in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  It is a wonderful time and one I truly cherish and look forward to.

Also tomorrow I am continuing my sermon series in the Old Testament with the story of Abraham (but I am only preaching that sermon at Belmont…more on that in a bit).  The story I am focusing on is chapter 22; when God commands Abraham to sacrifice is son, his only son, the one whom he loves.  I know, I know…it seems strange to preach such a text on a baptism Sunday but the sermon focus was planned long before the baptism and the baptism was planned without any thought to the sermon focus.  But I think God brought both of these events together for his glory.  I am excited to see how all of this plays out together.

At Salem (instead of the sermon on Abraham) we are hearing a faith story from a saint of the congregation.  David had a stroke back in June of 2010 and has traveled a difficult road.  I have always known him to be a man of faith but the stories I have heard him tell me have given me goose bumps.  Finally…back in December…I asked David to share these stories with others and he agreed.  So tomorrow I am going to “interview” David as he shares his incredible journey.  The only down side is that we won’t have time to hear all his stories.  I guess people will just have to go and visit David to hear more…which he won’t mind.

Now the down part.

On Tuesday I am burying a saint of this congregation who died on Thursday night.  When Cindy went in for surgery back in November we expected her back in town in 5 to 7 days…that never happened.  She never got off the ventilator.  After a long battle her body finally began to shut down before she went home to meet her (and our) Lord.  This is going to be a hard funeral for many  but I know Cindy and she is going to want to truth of the Gospel proclaimed…so that is what I am going to do.  Funerals are bitter sweet for me; I mourn the loss of the deceased and mourn with the family, but I also get to proclaim the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus in the midst of mourning (and to some who probably haven’t heard).  I don’t look forward to people dying but I look forward to God using me during these times.

So its going to be an up and down week for me but I know that God will be glorified in all of this.  I know that God will use me to proclaim the Good News of Jesus.  I know that God will not leave us.  And I know that God will continue to sustain us.

Up or down…God is faithful.  How can we not praise him for that?

-edh-

All things new

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

Last night we watched the movie “The Passion of the Christ”.  I have seen this movie about 5 times or so…and each time something else grabs me.  Granted…it is a hard movie to watch.  The flogging scene and the crucifixion scene gets harder and harder to watch each time, but I force my way through those scenes because it shows me how much Jesus loves me and how serious he was about his mission.

But what grabbed me this year?  It came during the scene when Jesus was carrying his cross through the streets.  At one particular moment he fell down and Mary came running through the crowd to Jesus (as a flashback scene shows she did when Jesus fell down as a child).  When Mary got to Jesus she spoke something to him and Jesus responds, “…today I make all things new“.  I got goose bumps as I thought of what Jesus truly did for us.  Wow!

All things new…indeed.  Praise be to God!

What does it mean to you to hear Jesus say “I make all things new”?

-edh-

We’re free!

/ The Pastor

We finally got a path out of the church parking lot and I got my car dug out.  I was starting to get cabin fever being stuck at the house for a couple days.  The only bummer part of this whole thing is that even though we are free they are still not advising travel to Sioux Falls.  My wife and I were hoping to make it to Sioux Falls today to celebrate Christmas with her side of the family.  Everyone is there except for Connie and I.  We are holding out hope now that we will make it there tomorrow after worship.

So even though this snow storm (which I have named “Winter Storm Eric”…I have always wanted a storm named after me) has changed our plans significantly… I am looking at the bright side of things.  Instead of celebrating Christmas over the course of a couple days, running around like a chicken with its head cut off, we get to have a few little celebrations over the course of a week…taking our time to savor the moments.  And isn’t that what we are supposed to do anyway?

So I have one more day to be kind of stuck and then we are off…to celebrate some more…and remember again and again why we have a season such as this.  God sent love to earth in Jesus Christ…the best Christmas gift of all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-edh-

Christmas Storm

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Wow…it is Christmas afternoon and it is still snowing.  We did have Christmas Eve worship last night at Salem Lutheran Church.  Attendance was down a bit (not surprising) but I was still pleasantly surprised with the turnout.  Christmas Day worship at Belmont was postponed until Sunday.  Hopefully they can dig out in time to have worship then.

So now my wife and I are enjoying the storm.  This morning Connie was shoveling and I was going to go to the fitness center.  I walked outside and looked into the church parking lot (also my driveway) and noticed that the plows have completely blocked the two entrances…we are going nowhere.  Not even our Jeeps will make it through the snow.  Our snow removal guy should be here tomorrow to clear the lot…so in the time being we are snowed in.  Luckily we have plenty of goodies left over from our Christmas open house.

We did get to talk and see Connie’s family this morning via Skype (got to love technology).  Our 4-year-old nephew was having a great time talking with us and seeing us on their computer.  It was really cute.  Hopefully we will get to Sioux Falls on Saturday or whenever South Dakota reopens.

In any case, I hope you all had and are having a very merry and blessed Christmas.  Jesus was born to us and that is an awesome reason to celebrate.  Take care and God bless.

-edh-

Christmas snow storm 2009

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

Many of you reading this blog are not here in the upper Midwest part of the United States.  Even if you are not living here you no doubt have heard something about the major snow storm that is here.  Right now we are in a lull but conditions will be deteriorating fast throughout the day (Christmas Eve); creating near blizzard conditions through Saturday (Wow…I almost sound like a meteorologist…I guess it is too much Weather Channel the past few days).  When all is said and done, we should have (here in Jackson) around 15 to 20 inches of snow (maybe more).  Four inches fell last night.  Needless to say Christmas plans have been altered around here.  Many churches have already canceled/postponed Christmas worship services and many family plans have changed.  For me personally…I feel conflicted and a little annoyed.  I love snow storms but this one is bad timing; so therefore I want to enjoy this storm but it is hard too when I know there are people trying to get places and many who can not get to family destinations.

With all that being said I ask you to pray.  I mentioned yesterday that “It WILL happen”…meaning the birth of Jesus WILL be celebrated.  My prayer is that people can still worship and celebrate even though things have changed for them.  I am also praying that people are safe.  Right now the roads are open but no travel is advised.  Those venturing out; please be careful (I am kind of hoping roads close so people are forced to stay off them).

Part of me also wonders why God would allow such a major snow storm to strike…at Christmas.  I know other people may be wondering the same thing.  Even though I can not explain this I know that God will be glorified no matter what.  So pray that people (including me) do not lose focus.  This storm is annoying…it is canceling some worship services…it is throwing a wretch in the works…but God will be glorified.  I believe (even through my concerns and questions) that God will do something amazing through and despite this storm.  Mother Nature can not stop God.

And…I will be praying that all of you have a very blessed Christmas.  I pray you bask in the hope and joy of the Christ child with wonder and love.  Worship doesn’t have to happen in a certain room, in a certain building at a certain time.  Worship is how we live our lives.  Worship and celebrate the birth of Jesus…no matter where you are or who you are with.  Give praise, honor and glory to God, always and forever, Amen.

Merry Christmas!

-edh-

Christ the King

/ The Pastor / 6 Comments

I am doing some sermon prep for this Sunday (Christ the King Sunday).  My question for you is this:

How do we speak to people about Jesus being “King” and “Lord” in a world where those two words/titles mean very little?

Our culture and context is radically different from that of Jesus’ day.  “King” and “Lord” meant something to people then.  Those titles conjured up images and definitions for them.  They understood their roles and meaning for their lives.  So how should we understand these today?

I am curious on your thoughts about this.

-edh-

“Stewardship” Sunday

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

“Stewardship is not about the church’s need to receive but rather about YOUR need to give.”

I heard the above quote at a stewardship seminar I attended a couple years ago (I may have even blogged about it but I can’t remember).  I bring this up because this coming Sunday, Nov. 8 is “Stewardship Sunday” at Salem.

“Stewardship”…Sunday…isn’t every Sunday about stewardship?

Isn’t every day about stewardship?

I mean seriously…shouldn’t we talk about stewardship as something we do everyday as a response to what God has done for us in Christ?
–Aren’t we stewards of the Gospel?
–Aren’t we stewards of our time, gifts and talents?
–Aren’t we stewards of “our” possessions?
And if we answered “yes” to all those questions (and we should) then “Stewardship Sunday” is something that needs to be done away with because “Stewardship Sunday” should happen every single day.

I also bring all this up in light of the Gospel text for this Sunday which is from Mark 12:38-44.  This is the story of the woman giving her two small copper coins (all she had) and Jesus commending her for giving out of her need (as opposed to the rich who gave out of their surplus).
–Is this text about us being better stewards?
–Is Jesus calling our attention to the fact that she felt driven to give despite her poverty; knowing God will care for
her?
–Do we use this text to highlight the church’s need to receive, our need to give, all of the above or none of the above?

I wonder if I need to do something different this year and totally throw people off.  Maybe I need to just rename this Sunday to “Turkey Dinner Sunday” because after all that is what we are also doing on Sunday.

Do you have a “Stewardship” Sunday?

-edh-

Awesome worship (explained)

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

O.K…time to share with you what happened at worship on Sunday.

I said that worship was awesome on Sunday.  Two things contributed to that:  (1) My wife and her team of singers lead worship with the guitars (with me playing as well…which I really enjoy); and (2) continue reading below…

…The Gospel text was from John 6:1-14 (The Feeding of the 5000).  This is one of my favorite miracle stories (next to the Resurrection of course).  I talked about the miracle as something that the people (the 5000 present) did not really get.  I mean…after they had eaten and realized what happened they thought Jesus was the prophet who had come into the world.  They probably likened him to Elisha who fed 100 in 2 Kings 4 (the OT text on Sunday).  In any case they wanted to take Jesus and make him king by force, but that is not what Jesus came to do.  They missed the point…they did not get who Jesus really was.

From that I moved to talking about Holy Communion…another great meal that we a lot of times miss.  We come forward for Holy Communion in a ritualistic kind of way and totally blow off the words that are being spoken.  I mean think about it…Holy Communion is about the death and resurrection of Jesus and the promise of the forgiveness of sins, but how many times do you REALLY really think about that when you receive the bread and the wine?  I urged the people on Sunday to think about this.

Then I went on to say:
“When you come here to Salem on the 1st or 2nd Sunday of the month you expect to receive Holy Communion.  You know that Holy Communion happens towards the end of the worship service.  You know the liturgy and how to respond.  Well…I am going to throw you off guard today.  It may be the 4th Sunday of the month but we are going to celebrate Holy Communion right now.  I did not get permission from the altar guild, the worship/music committee, the deacons or the church council.  We are just going to do it.”
I did not use the “normal” liturgy…actually I didn’t use any liturgy.  I went on to invite people to come forward whenever they felt ready to encounter a miracle.  I urged them to listen to the words “The Body of Christ broken FOR YOU…the Blood of Christ shed FOR YOU“.  I urged the people to listen to these words and hear the miracle…the forgiveness of your sins.  I invited them to pray before hand and confess if they would like and then come forward.  There was going to be nothing that was ritualistic about this celebration of Holy Communion.

Everyone came forward (except for one person) to partake in this miracle.  And after the worship I got so many comments from people who were very appreciative of what happened in worship (Praise be to God!).  I think people liked it because Holy Communion was not ritualistic.  Maybe some people were hearing for the first time the miracle of this sacrament…I don’t know…but what I do know is that is was powerful for me (and for my wife who was helping serve communion and obviously for a number of others).

Worship was awesome on Sunday.  And all I can say to summarize it is:  “PRAISE  BE TO GOD!”

-edh-

The greatest miracle

/ The Pastor

I really want to tell you right now what I am doing for my sermon tomorrow, but I won’t.  I know there are a number of Salem/Belmont people who read this and I don’t want to spoil anything.

So why am I even teasing you with something I am not going to share now?  Well…part of it is to give you a heads up on what I am going to write about on Tuesday (I am taking a comp day Monday so I probably won’t post that day, but who knows).

The other part of the reason I am teasing you is that I am really excited about this.  I am still not sure how things will go tomorrow, but God is in control.  My hope is that God is glorified and that hearts are opened (not by my power but by the power of the Holy Spirit) through the greatest miracle of all.

May God be praised tomorrow and always.

-edh-

Encountering a miracle

/ The Pastor

In John chapter 6 a miracle takes place…

…Jesus feeds 5000 men with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

After everyone ate, people realized that something amazing happened, but didn’t truly know what happened (they wanted to forcibly make Jesus their king).

During Holy Communion do we truly pay attention to what is taking place or do we see Holy Communion only as some ritual that happens once/twice a month (or however often)?

Do we comprehend that a miracle take place?

Do we truly understand that we are getting a tangible, physical reminder that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins (The Body of Christ broken FOR YOU…The Blood of Christ shed FOR YOU)?

Or do we simple walk up front during worship to receive some bread/stale wafer and some wine/grape juice and feel that we have done what we are supposed to do on this particular Sunday of the month.

In Holy Communion a miracle happens.

Praise be to God!

-edh-