Worship

Where’s the cross?

/ The Pastor

A few weeks ago my wife and I were chatting with some friends about Holy Week.  We were sharing what our respective congregations were planning.  Here…we share Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worships with Belmont Lutheran Church (the small county congregation I serve).  We each take one of those services and then flip the following year.  This year we worship at Belmont on Maundy Thursday and at Salem for Good Friday.

As I was sharing this I was talking about this old rugged cross that a couple Salem guys made a few years back.  It stands about 6 feet tall and made from two nice-sized tree branches.  They did a very nice job and it’s perfect for Good Friday worship.  As soon as I mentioned this I froze.  You see…on Ash Wednesday we put a larger cross in Salem’s narthex (we decorate this cross with palm branches and lilies for Easter Sunday).  There is a crown of thorns on top and it is draped with a purple cloth.  It greets people as they enter the narthex to remind then of Lent and of Jesus’ suffering and death.

Well…the cross was not there in the narthex.  I forgot to put it out 😦

How could I possibly forget the cross?  My wife was quick to remind me that our custodian always put it out…but here’s the thing…that person is no longer our custodian due to a stroke he suffered last June.  I always took for granted that Dave would have the cross out and ready to go for Ash Wednesday and Lent.  But that doesn’t absolve me for forgetting that cross.

I mean…think about it.  Lent is a time for us to remember why Jesus suffered and died on the cross.  We are to remember our mortality and sin.  We are to remember that from dust we came and to dust we shall return.  We are to remember that without the cross we are condemned to hell.  The cross is the focus…and I forgot that narthex cross.  But here’s another thing…no one else noticed either (or at least they didn’t say anything to me).  I am not sure what bothers me more:  Me forgetting or no one saying anything about it.

So the solution was  to put it up for Palm Sunday (which we did); marking the beginning of Holy Week.  The purple cloth on that cross will be replaced on Maundy Thursday with a black one.  The cross will then be put outside for Good Friday to REMIND people of what Jesus did for us.  And…the cross will be “decorated” with palm branches and lilies to remind us of the joy that comes through the cross.

Now…when I walk through the narthex I feel a little more complete…with the reality of the cross staring at me.  I hope that when Easter is done that I won’t need a large cross in the narthex to remind me of what Jesus did FOR YOU and FOR ME.

May you have a blessed Holy Week and a very happy Easter!

Praise be to God!

-edh-

Pack rat hunting

/ The Pastor

I did something yesterday in worship that I had never attempted before…

…I preached the sermon from my Kindle.

I knew I was able to send Word documents to my Kindle for reading later but it never occurred to me to send my sermons to this piece of technology.  I have always been fairly low tech in worship but now I am finding myself moving into the realm of high tech (if you want to call preaching from a Kindle “high tech”).  I do have friends that preach off iPads and laptops (laptop seems too cumbersome to me and I haven’t justified the plunge to an iPad yet).  I know that there are pros and cons to preaching from technology, but I am liking the pro side of this so far.

One of the reasons I made this move to try preaching from my Kindle was a realization.  Behind my desk and to my left sits a file cabinet.   The top drawer is filled with old sermon manuscripts.  I have 5 years worth of sermons sitting in there waiting…but waiting for what?  In my nearly seven years here at Salem (I haven’t put 2010 or 2011 sermons in that file) I have never once opened that drawer to look for an old sermon.    If I have been curious about a previous sermon I have always looked it up on my computer (but even that doesn’t happen that often.  Every sermon I preach is a fresh sermon…never recycled).

So I started asking my self…why am I keeping all these printed sermons?
Why am I wasting all this paper; printing sermons off every week?
What is preventing me from throwing all those old sermons in the recycling box?
Maybe I am keeping them for some selfish reason.
Maybe I am keeping them because they really aren’t my sermons; they belong to God so what right do I have to throw them out.
Or…maybe it’s simply the pack rat in me coming out in force.

I am thinking it is the “pack rat” reason 🙂

But still…it almost seems sacrilegious to throw a sermon in the recycling bin.  I guess I could reason that they are being reused in God’s creation; doing some good by saving some trees.  That works…I like that.

In any case…whether I fully make the plunge and preach each week from my piece of technology (whatever that turns out to be) or use a combination of high tech and low tech I am thinking I am going to start recycling in my office sermon drawer at some point, but not quite yet.  I still need to go pack rat hunting.

-edh-

Lent re-thought

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I am excited about Lent this year…not to say that I haven’t been any other year, but this year is going to be different.

At the Belmont Lutheran Church (the small county congregation I also serve) annual meeting on Sunday we decided to try something new for Lent.  For our Wednesday Lenten services we have been averaging around 10 per week.  So for a while now I have been pondering the future of these services.
–Do I need to re-think what we do on Wednesdays?
–Do we need to change the time of the worship?
–Do we need to change the location (share a service with Salem in town)?
–Or what?

Well…on Sunday I offered an idea that I heard from our Methodist friends down the street.  Instead of Wednesday evening Lenten services what about having home cottage meetings on Tuesday nights?

Are you intrigued…then allow me to elaborate…

What Belmont decided to do is meet in someone’s home on Tuesdays during Lent at 6:30pm.  We will gather together in a circle and have a time of worship/devotions (I am not sure how this will look yet).  The bulk of the time will be devoted to some teaching.  I envision this to be a cross between a sermon and a Bible study.  I will do the majority of the teaching but allow for questions, feedback or discussion.  People can come and just sit and listen or get involved…it’s up to them.  After we are done there will be some refreshments and fellowship time.  The thinking is that this will be a more intimate setting and thus more attractive to people.

I am not sure what the topic will be; whether I will do a series in a particular book of the Bible, some aspect of Jesus life or whatever.  The idea was suggested that I use the topic from the Lenten small group that I will be leading called “The Seven Wonders of God’s Word” from Augsburg Fortress.  That idea intrigues me so I am going to explore that as well.

So I am excited about this new thing we are about to do (I will post updates here during Lent).  I am not sure how it will be received.  My hope is that the home we meet in won’t be big enough, but we’ll see what happens.  But in the end we need to remember that where 2 or 3 are gathered there is Jesus right there in the midst of them.  So either way we will praise God.

-edh-

By the grace of God

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

I have been a pastor for just over 6 1/2 years now (hard to believe sometimes).  During that span I have never woken up on a Sunday morning feeling sick (knock on wood).  I have woken up tired after getting to bed late the night before or just not sleeping well, but I have never been sick on a Sunday morning…until yesterday.

When I went to bed on Saturday night my stomach wasn’t feeling that great but I figured I would sleep it off.  As the night wore on I wasn’t getting better.  I wasn’t feeling nauseated but I was still in the bathroom a few times (I won’t elaborate on that).  After a very long night my alarm went off at 5:30am.  I was shot.  I had absolutely no energy.  I laid in bed and prayed, “God…I have no energy.  There is no way that I will get through this morning on my own power.  I feel like crap.  Please grant me the energy I need to lead these two worship services this morning.  I need you.”

After some arguing with myself I finally rolled out of bed.  My programmable coffee maker was doing its job so I made a bee line for the kitchen for a cup of coffee.  I couldn’t drink it…believe it or not the coffee just didn’t taste good.  You know something is wrong with me when I can’t drink coffee.  I got ready and headed over to the church.  I got into the pulpit and ran through my sermon.  I could feel the lack of energy in the sermon and I prayed again that God would give me the energy that I needed so that God’s Word would be preached despite Satan’s best efforts to keep me from doing so.

At about 7:30am I went back to the house and laid down on the couch (I need to leave for Belmont Lutheran Church by 8am).  I tried not to fall asleep because I knew I might not wake up until it was too late.  I laid there in a fog and prayed some more.  I finally got up at 7:50am.  My stomach was feeling a little better and I had a little more energy (but still not 100%).  My wife was concerned about me driving the 8 miles out to Belmont but I assured her I would be fine.

Worship at Belmont began at 8:30am and I was feeling good.  Not once during the worship service did I think about not feeling well.  My energy seemed to return and I preached the sermon with my normal energy and passion (at least that is what it felt like to me).  Worship at Salem was at 10:15 and I was still going strong.  Salem’s annual meeting followed worship and then our famous potluck.  I got home after 12noon and was out like a light by 12:30pm for a 2 hour nap.

So my streak continues…by the grace of God.  There is no way I could have survived Sunday without God by my side.  I know that if I were sick enough that I couldn’t go, someone would have stepped up and worship would have still happened.  But on Sunday God wanted me there and so it happened ~ by the grace of God.

-edh-

Where 20 or 30 are gathered

/ The Pastor

I just received a copy of this book.  Last summer I attended a summer collegium at Virginia Theological Seminary on leadership in small congregations.  I saw this book on the website and thought it looked interesting.

The country congregation I serve (Belmont Lutheran Church) has a membership of 58 with about 15 to 20 in worship per Sunday.  There are certain things we can not do out there because of our size but there are certain things we can do because of our size.   For starters…worship is more intimate.  When I am preaching it feels like I am leading a small group. If someone is not able to be at worship to perform an assigned task, someone else quickly fills in.  It’s like a family that compensates for any void that happens to exist.  Coffee fellowship after worship feels like a family meal.  When there is a funeral everyone shows up to help minister to the grieving family.

The continuing challenge is to encourage Belmont that they have an important mission in the Body of Christ.  The other challenge is keeping worship fresh and engaging.  These past couple years I have seen plenty of evidence that Belmont also wants to keep things fresh; not wanting to get stuck in a rut.  As a pastor that is very encouraging.

I am looking forward to reading what these authors have to say about worship in small congregations.

-edh-

Going home

/ The Pastor

I have a Celebration of New Life service (a.k.a funeral) on Tuesday.  One the the scripture texts that the family choose is 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 5:8.  But the part that has caught my attention are verses 6 – 8 from chapter 5 which read as follows:  “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  We live by faith, and not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Notice the two phrases that I have highlighted above.   Paul is not saying that while we are living in this body we are away from the Lord.  On the contrary…our Lord is with us 24/7.  But if we consider these bodies our “home” then we not living by faith but rather by sight.  And if that be the case, then one is indeed “away from the Lord“.

You see…our true home is not here but with the Lord.  This life is just a stopping off point not our true destination.  On the interstate of life, this is nothing more than an attraction off the interstate or a rest stop.  We are not meant to stay here but rather reach our final destination…home with the Lord.  And that destination is made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Funerals are never easy as we are caught between mourning our loved ones death and celebrating the New Life we have through Jesus Christ.  I will miss Cindy but I am also happy for her.

We live by faith, not by sight.

See you later, Cindy.

-edh-

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-

Strange sermon prep situation

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

I am experiencing a strange sermon prep situation…

I have been a pastor now for about 5 1/2 years.  Over that time I have written many sermons (not including the ones I wrote during my year of internship) for Sunday worship, funerals, weddings, holidays, Lent, etc.  I guess one could say that I feel somewhat comfortable writing a sermon (even though I have my moments when I get stressed out).

But this week I am experiencing a first.

Today is Thursday and I have three sermons to write, but the strange thing is that I am writing 2 funerals sermons at the same time.  I have a funeral tomorrow (Friday) and one on Saturday…both out at Belmont.  I was working on these yesterday a little bit and found myself confusing the two; getting the two families mixed up.  I found myself working on funeral sermon #1 and then suddenly I would think of something for funeral sermon #2 and vice versa.  And all of this is in the context of trying to prepare a sermon for Sunday.  It should not be a big deal since the basic message of the sermon is the same, but when you are speaking and ministering to a particular group of people in a particular place in a particular context…it is definitely a big deal.  I know what I want to say for each sermon…I just need to pull the messages out of my head…untangle them and put them on paper.  Easier said than done.  God help me.

I just need to focus on one thing at a time.  I need to get to my office and get the funeral bulletins ready and then write my Sunday sermon (since Thursday morning is my normal Sunday sermon prep time).  After lunch I will work on funeral sermon #1 and only that one and then work on funeral sermon #2.  Hopefully I can keep everything straight.  It should be an interesting day.  And I pray nothing else happens to mess up my schedule (can you hear me chuckling).

In any case…say a prayer for me that I can stay focused and that the Good News is proclaimed.  I don’t want Satan to use this craziness to distract me from want needs to be done.

Have a great day and God bless!

-edh-

P.S.  Oh ya…and I have to try to focus on all of this while a winter snow storm is going on.  Oh well…it can never be too easy…can it 🙂

“And a child shall lead them”

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Thank you for the prayers on Sunday.  I was concerned that I would be distracted with vacation coming up and leading two completely different worship services and preaching two completely different sermons on the same morning.  But no distractions and everything went great…Praise be to God.

But here is a highlight for me from worship at Salem on Sunday.  We were praying the Lord’s Prayer when above all the other voices in the sanctuary came a voice of one my kindergarten kids;  she was praying the Lord’s Prayer as well…and with gusto…from way in the back of the sanctuary.  It put a smile on my face hearing that little voice praying and leading us….I mean how can it not.

After worship I made a comment to Olivia on how great a job she did, but her mom seemed a little embarrassed that I could hear her.  I said by no means be embarrassed…I enjoyed it immensely.  Thank you!

“…and a child shall lead them”…it’s amazing how this piece of scripture from Isaiah 11 can be so true in so many ways and in so many places.  In this particular case, Olivia lead us in the Lord’s Prayer.

Praise be to God!

-edh-

Help…prayers needed

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I normally go on vacation right after Christmas Day worship…but not this year.  This year my wife and I thought it was a wiser decision to stay through Sunday, Dec. 27 so I wouldn’t be doing sermon prep for Jan. 3 while on vacation. Makes sense but it does throw me off a little bit…hence the needed prayers.

Since our Christmas storm (a.k.a Winter Storm Eric) kept us home for a couple days my brain switched into vacation mode.  Now it is Sunday and I am trying to switch back into non-vacation mode and get ready for worship.  I have two worship services this morning; Christmas worship at Belmont and First Sunday of Christmas worship at Salem; which means two different services and two different sermons.  On a normal Sunday this would be challenging, but today…well…I need some prayers:
–Prayers that I stay focused and not look ahead to vacation starting this afternoon.  The people here deserve my best and complete attention and not just part of me.  I don’t want Satan to use this to distract me.

–I need prayers for energy.  Many pastors know that tons of energy is expended on Sunday and therefore many pastors I know (me included) take naps on Sunday afternoon.  This morning I will need some extra energy (more than my pot of coffee can give me).

So thank you, in advance, for your prayers.  I know I joke about needing my coffee in the morning to keep me going but I do know that my (and our) true source of energy and strength comes from God alone.  So I pray that YOU have a very blessed day and that you may continue to know and experience the love of God in Jesus Christ our Savior.

Take care and God bless!

-edh-

P.S.  If Winter Storm Eric wasn’t enough this past week…we got another inch plus last night.  What a mess for a Sunday morning.