And BTW - HE IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Luke 4: 1 - 13
4Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’ 4Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’
5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ 8Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.” ’
9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you”,
11and
“On their hands they will bear youup,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
12Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

And Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one

The reason I have “The Evil One” in your bulletin tonight is simple: the New Testament is written in Greek, and this word which we translate at EVIL can mean just evil or the one that does evil. We are used to hearing deliver us from evil because along the way translators had to make a choice, and deliver us from evil became a tradition. I don’t think that “Delver us from Evil” is wrong – but I think it is important to understand that maybe, just maybe our Lord Jesus was using a word that can have a double meaning. We know there is evil in the world, we know there are people who do evil in this world, we also know that there is The Evil One – the one that we hear our Lord Jesus Christ defeated in the desert. Here in this prayer, we are asking our Lord God to protect us from all of them. To make sure than evil, those who do evil, and the devil himself will not be able to afflict us. We are asking for God’s protection and that his hand will stay over us and keep us from harm.

So we start tonight with our Lord Jesus in the wilderness. He has been there for 40 days, he hasn’t been eating, he has been out there just him and God. Remember this is right after his baptism, right before he is starting his active ministry which will lead him to the cross. There in the desert Satan shows up, this in itself should show us something – Satan would not take the time to tempt if it wasn’t important. Satan tries from the very beginning to get Jesus off track – to turn him from the plan which God has for him. Because if Satan can get Jesus to stumble that will mean that Satan will win. If there is no mission for Jesus there will be no cross. If there is no cross there will be no defeat of Satan and evil and death. Strategically this is pretty smart of Satan, he is trying to save his evil self – knowing that if he cannot – the Lord of heaven and earth will defeat him forever.

And how does evil, how does Satan try and tempt our Lord. The same way evil tries to tempt us. It tries to get us to rationalize, to turn from our principles, to take this one little step – knowing that if we compromise just one little bit it will be easier for us to get started down the slippery slope towards our destruction.

Think about what Satan is saying. Jesus is hungry – surely it won’t hurt anything to make a little bread and get Jesus to serve himself right? The problem is that Jesus Christ didn’t come to serve himself, he came to carry out the will of God and to serve this world, to give and sacrifice himself for our sake, not to use his power to feed himself in the desert.

Listening to the devil would make Jesus compromise and turn from what he was meant to do – which was to save us not himself.

Then the devil promises Jesus all the kingdoms of the world all Jesus would have to do it worship Satan. First of all, Jesus is no fool. Jesus is the Lord of the Heavenly Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom. Why would Jesus trade his place in heaven, for an earthly kingdom which is passing away. That is a lesson to us everybody. Jesus is showing and reminding us that what we receive in him is much more than the things this world calls riches. In Christ, in him and in his Kingdom we receive eternal life. All too often we are tempted to bow down to this world – thinking it is what will give us safety – when our true and only safety and life is in our Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then we hear Satan challenge Jesus to prove who he is, throwing himself off the temple and saying that God will protect him. But we know that Jesus didn’t come here to be protected, he came here to die. Jesus doesn’t have to prove who he is the full demonstration of his power will come on the cross – and with this Jesus Christ our Lord says – “Do not put your Lord to the Test” which I think is a warning to Satan as much as a reminder to us.
Jesus has defeated the devil and has cast evil out. And you might hear than and say “Well Good Job for Jesus”. It is great that Jesus can defeat the devil but what about me. I get tempted, I am tried, I am attacked by sin and evil desires, what am I supposed to do about it.

Well that would be a fitting argument if you were alone. If you had to face evil and temptation all by yourself – you could argue what does this story about Jesus have to do with me. But the reality is that Jesus Christ is with you. The same Jesus who demonstrated to us in the desert that the devil has no power over him is with you. The same Jesus who died on the cross, and in that defeated evil, and sin, and death forever – that same Jesus Son of God and Son of Man is with you ALL THE TIME.

WHEN YOU STRUGGLE WITH SIN – IT ISN’T JUST YOU THAT IS IN THE FIGHT. God Almighty is in the struggle with you, Jesus Christ is standing beside you, the Holy Spirit is walking with you and guiding you. You are not alone – because your Lord and Savior is with you and never abandons you.

You see when we say Deliver us from Evil and the Evil One – we are claiming what the Lord is trying to do in our lives. Jesus stands with us. I am not alone. I can only be delivered, if someone is there to take me through, get me past and help me stand up against the temptations of evil – and that someone is Jesus who is with me and never lets me Go. That someone is the one who in the desert and on the cross proved who the real power is – it is the one who came to us – Jesus Christ Our Lord

We have had a journey this Lenten Season as we have walked through the Prayer which Jesus Taught us.
We claimed that Our Father is the one who is in heaven, and his is the one who makes us children of God.

We prayed for his Kingdom, that this world would be what it is destined to be – the place where God rules and God reigns and evil and sin and death are destroyed forever

We thanked our Lord that he gives us our daily bread, that he is our source of life and he is the one that carries and get us through our trials.

We recognized that as we are sinners we are in desperate need of God to forgive us our sins, and that our Heavenly Father does this when we turn to him.

And we celebrate that Jesus Christ the ultimate Lord of all is our shield against the evils of this world. That Jesus walks with us and helps us turn from darkness and turn towards his light

This is a prayer that calls us to ask for God’s grace and mercy, but also, celebrates what our Lord and Savior does for us.

Thanks Be To God.

Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

As we have gone through these petitions of Lord’s prayer, I hope that you have noticed that as much as our Lord Jesus is teaching how to turn to and ask our Heavenly Father for that which we need – the prayer it self is a teaching tool. It both tells us what to do – but also reminds us and teaches us both who we are and who our Father in heaven is.

What we hear in this petition tonight is that we are people who are in need of forgiveness, that we are forgiven by our Heavenly Father when we turn to him – and like wise we are called to be people who forgive.

Let me take these in parts here: First we are in need of forgiveness. I read an article in the New York Times today by David Brooks. He was responding to the shock people have over Sgt. Robert Bales massacre of 16 people in Afghanistan. Brooks – to my surprise – takes the position that the problem is sin. That we all have the propensity for both great good and at the same time astonishing evil. He is repeating the churches position of the last 2000 years. Basically his point was that – this Marine Sgt, wasn’t a monster – he was an ordinarily good man – who fell into sin and evil – and all of us are capable of that. I loved the article I sent Mr. Brooks and email telling him how much I enjoyed it.

But what fascinated me about the article was the reader responses on the webpage. People were vehement that David Brooks was crazy. We are not like that guy. I would never do that, he is a monster. Or if you get to the heart of what all these people were really saying “I’m a better person than that murderer is”. These were heated responses – over 300 of them – all denying that they could ever do something like that. I will share with you that in my years of doing counseling – I have often noted that when something gets a fiery response – you are usually near the mark.

He is absolutely right. We are sinners. We did not massacre those people – but we have to understand – It is but by the grace of God that we don’t. It is only God’s grace that keeps us and this entire world from turning into a pack of wild animals that are ready to devour each other. Sin is rampant and alive and the only antidote for it – the only thing that can push back the darkness is the light and power of God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

David Brooks article only missed the mark a little bit. Instead of saying that the problem was sin. He should have said the problem is sin – and most of the people in this world don’t even realize how close that darkness is to them. They don’t realize how much they need the healing power of Jesus. They don’t understand that they are lost with their eyes closed in the darkness, unless they are forgiven by the mercy of God – the only one who can bring the light because he is the light.

So the first part of this petition is saying – “God Forgive Us Our Trespasses” is helping us to remember that we need forgiveness. We need the only one who can make us whole to act and to move and to clean our lives and to SAVE US. If you don’t know you are a sinner, you don’t know you need to be forgiven, if you don’t know you need to be forgiven you don’t know you need to be saved, if you don’t know you need to be saved – then the devil is chuckling and loving the blinders that are over your eyes.

When we call out for our Father to Save us we are calling out to God saying that we need you. Father we can’t do it on our own. I am dead without you Great and Powerful God and Lord Jesus who has done so much to save me. And I need you Jesus Christ to wash me in your precious blood, to keep me in your grace, to hold me – I need you to do it Jesus – because I cannot and will not do it without you. Because I am a slave to sin and only you free me. Please Jesus Christ – Forgive Me of my sins – Make me Clean – Make me Whole.

When we call out for forgiveness we are calling out and claiming – and be reassured that life has come to us that we are forgiven.

The second part of this petition “As we forgiven those who trespass/who sin against us”. This does not mean Lord only forgive us as we forgive others. It means that you forgive me Lord God, Heavenly Father – I know that. You have made me clean you wash my sins away. Therefore – I have no business holding on to my grudges, my hurts, the ways that I might have been offended. I don’t get the prerogative to hold evil over people.

I don’t get that prerogative because you have not held my evil against me. It doesn’t matter what anyone has done to me. This is a big statement everyone but it is true. IT MATTERS NOT WHAT EVIL HAS BEEN DONE TO ME – WHAT OFFENSE HAS BEEN DONE. If you have been really hurt this might be a hard thing to hear. But no matter how someone has sinned against you – God has taken more abuse from you, from this world, from this creation he came to save that tried to brutally kill him. God has seen worse evil at our hands than we will ever see at the hands of others.

Therefore – as hard as it may be – we are called to be people of forgiveness. As the crucified Jesus he prayed for those for God’s forgiveness on those who drove the nails in his hands and spit at him. Jesus forgives – we are called to forgive too.

If that sounds hard – remember that as we are called to forgive and to be people of forgiveness – Christ is with us. The Holy Spirit is with us. Christ is helping us to understand that as we become people who forgive – that what we are really doing is commending these people – even our enemies – into his hands. We are realizing when we forgive that Jesus will make it right. Maybe not in this world, but in the next. When we forgive – we are letting go of the evil – we are letting Jesus be in control.

That might stir some things up for some of you. But just know that to forgive is not to forget. To forgive is not to tolerate evil. To forgive is to recognize evil for what it is – it is sin and brokenness. And there is only one cure – Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are called to him, to trust in him. To seek mercy from him – and to show mercy – because of him
Thanks Be to God.

When Jesus Christ teaches us in our Lord’s Prayer to ask our heavenly father to give us “Our Daily Bread”, you understand that he isn’t just saying food. Jesus isn’t just saying give us, a loaf of baked dough so we don’t starve. When we ask our Heavenly Father for our Daily Bread, we are asking God in heaven to give us what we need. We could almost hear this petition of the Lord’s prayer as saying, “Father, Please give me what I need for this day”. I am not just asking for food! We are asking our Father to give us what we need for this day – AND (underline and bold this next part)
WE ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT ALL THAT WE NEED AND ALL THAT SUSTAINS US IN THIS LIFE – COMES FROM AND IS A GIFT FROM GOD.

Hear that again – All that we NEED and all that sustains us in this life – Comes from and is a gift from God. What we need in this life – we have. We have what we need in this life. How do I know – you have what you need in this life? Because if you didn’t you wouldn’t be here. You would be dead. You are here, you are kept here, you are kept in this life – because your heavenly Father has given you what you need. That has kept you going, that has kept you alive. God has given you this life – and provides for you what you need to survive in this life. Thanks be to God.

Notice please that Jesus doesn’t teach us to pray. Heavenly Father – Give us today our daily 20 room house on the golf course. Nor does he teach us to pray – Give us this day our Corvette with a Sheetz gas card to be able to put fuel in that thing. Nor does Jesus teach us to pray – Lord – Give us What we want – do you know how disasterous it would be if God did that.

No Jesus teaches us to pray to and to ask God for our Daily Bread. That means what we need to get through this day. Notice too everyone, when we ask God for our Daily Bread, it is leaving it to God to decide and to know just exactly what it is that we need.

So when it comes down too it, this petition is really about putting our faith, hope, and trust in our Lord. We ask our Lord for what we need, and we trust that God Almighty, our Father, knows what we need and that God will give it to us.

Now another thing we should remember about this. God doesn’t give us what we need because we ask. I am pretty sure that most of us, if not all of us, don’t wake up every morning and say the Lord’s prayer and ask for our Daily Bread. Of course not. Some of you may – but most of us don’t. I try to, but I mess that one up too. But whether I ask or not – God provides me what I need each and every day.

God gives me what I need, not because I ask, but because God is good and is my Heavenly Father and looks out for me and looks out for you beloved Children of God.

When you were a child, and the snow started coming down here in Central Pennsylvania, and you couldn’t wait you wanted to get out there and start sledding and having a good time. You might have grabbed a coat, but forget the boots, the heavy pants, the wool hat. You didn’t care. But what happened? Mama happened, Daddy Happened. You were not going out in that snow without your winter clothes on , and gloves, and a scarf and a hat. You didn’t care – because you were 6. But your mother and father who loved you were going to make sure that you had what you need. And if your earthly mother and father can love you enough to make sure you are taken care of (usually in spite of yourself) how much more will and does your Heavenly Father provide for you –
God gives us Everything. God provides without end. Not always what we want – but WHAT WE NEED. THANKFULLY GOD GIVES US WHAT WE NEED EVEN WHEN WE MAY NOT KNOW WHAT WE NEED.

So what this prayer is doing, is allowing us to remember. Remember what God does for us. That you have a Heavenly Father who is the source of your life and all that you have and all that you are. That God has created you, formed you in his own image, and gives you himself – time and time again. So Jesus telling us to ask our Father for our Daily Bread is in the end a way for us to be reminded where our Life is. Our Life is in God. Our Life is in our Creator – Our Life is in and from the one who gives us our Daily Bread. To him and for him we can say –
Thanks Be to God
Amen

As I was looking around (and I found some rather nice things and resources which I picked up) I was looking at all of the t-shirts and bumper stickers and other things they had which identifies the wearer (or car driver) as a Christian. What I noticed was that all the shirts said things like “I’m a Christian”, or “I have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb,” or “Jesus is my Homeboy.” These are just the general, generic and popular Christian t-shirts that you see everywhere.

With the bumper stickers again they had things on them like, “I love Jesus,” and my favorite, “TRY JESUS – if you don’t like him the Devil will always take you back”. You get the idea.

What I realized looking at these were that in the t-shirts, the bumper stickers, the window decals, and all the things that you could buy there – they all talked about what Jesus had done for me. No problem, Jesus has done everything for me, died on the cross for me, saves me from eternal death – we should proclaim these things to the world.

BUT – you know what I didn’t see? I didn’t see anything no t-shirts, bumper stickers, or window decals that said “JESUS LOVES YOU”. It is important for me to claim what Christ has done for me. That is my salvation. But you know what. I don’t think too many people (other than myself and maybe my dear sweet Mother and some of my dearly departed pastors) care too much about my salvation. That Jesus has saved me is great for me – but is it really good news for other people?

The good news, and what we are called to proclaim to the world is that JESUS CHRIST LOVES THEM. THAT GOD ALMIGHTY LOVES THEM.

It is good that Jesus loves me as an individual. But witness and mission is only good if I am saying to people that Jesus has done this for me AND THEREFORE HE CAN DO IT FOR YOU.

Do you get what I am trying to say? I think that all too many times when we buy “Christian” stuff it is celebrating that we are Christians. That we are in the club. That we are part of the redeemed. But that doesn’t say a whole lot to the rest of the world that is suffering and lost in darkness and is in desperate, desperate need of Jesus Christ.

Think about it. If you were outside the church and you saw a bunch of people wearing shirts that told you that they were Christians what does that do? Does that make you want to say “Hey I want to be one of those?” Probably not! It most likely would make you think there is a group over there, and I am not a part of it.

But what if you saw a group of people wearing shirts that simply said “JESUS LOVES YOU”. Well that is a different thing all together. Because the message of that shirt or bumper sticker is no longer about the person wearing it. But it is a message to the world that there is someone who cares about them. It says that there is a Jesus, and he loves you. Who is you? You who are reading this.

The point: is that if we could have messages that proclaim the good news that there is a great God in heaven who became incarnate in Jesus Christ, and he controls all that is – and he will be victorious and bring about his kingdom where sin and evil and death will end AND that same Jesus knows you and loves you and wants you (whoever you are and whatever you have done and no matter how bad you think you are) in his life. If we can tell people that, then we are starting to change the world.

So when I checked out at the local Christian book store, I asked the lady at the register if they had anything that said “Jesus Loves You”.

She said “No, but what a good idea!”

Who knows, maybe we have started a revolution. So friends in this life, maybe we can remember that what we are called to do is to share the love of Jesus. Yes it is important that you are a Christian. But it is as, and maybe more important, to let other know that Jesus Christ who loves you – loves them. Just some thoughts for today.

May God bless you and keep you. Now I have to write our Lenten Midweek Homily
In Christ
Pr. Mike

Thy Kingdom Come- Thy Will Be Done – On earth as it is in heaven

We want the Kingdom to come. You may not know that, but you do. You want God and his Kingdom to come. You want it to be here on earth as it is in heaven. The only reason we wouldn’t is because we don’t understand what the Kingdom Coming really means, or we just really like our sinning and don’t want to stop. For most of us, any apprehension we have is because we don’t get why it is so important. Remember if it wasn’t important, and good for you, and what you need, - Then Jesus Christ would have never taught us to pray for and ask our Heavenly Father for his Kingdom.

So first of all let us be clear – when we pray for the Kingdom we are asking for God to come down here. We want God to take up residence, bring the New Jerusalem, set up his throne and make things right. We are telling our Heavenly Father that we are tired of living in this sinful world and we want God to do what he promised he was going to do – to come down here – get rid of evil, restore his creation – take away the bad and allow us to live in his good forever and ever AMEN.

When we pray for the Kingdom we are asking for God to end the suffering of this world, and to restore this broken creation to what we are supposed to be. Truthfully we are calling on our Heavenly Father and our God to restore this entire world to the state that we first new in EDEN – a time and place when we walked and lived in full communion with our Heavenly Father and we spoke with him Face to face.

Come on Down Lord – Heal Us – Make US Whole. End the Evil and cause us to live forever in your Good. That is what it means when we say we want the Kingdom to Come. We Want God’s Life here and now. We want to know that all that plagues us, attacks us, and tries to destroy us is taken away – and we want to dwell in the house of our Lord and Heavenly Father – Forever.

The problem is that when we hear of the kingdom, there are always these prophecies of things being shaken up. Jesus tells us here in Matthew that in that day the sun will not give its light and the stars will fall. That is fairly tame compared to the Old Testament prophets who talk about the moon turning to blood, and God coming in cloud and fire, and the elements being burned away. It is dramatic stuff. It gets your attention. And it may sound a little bit scary. What is all this darkened sun, and moon of blood and consuming fire all about?

Well, what I think is going on here – is that God is trying to get us to understand that when the Kingdom does finally come – it is really going to shake things up. These dramatic events are happening because everything that the world thinks it is – will change – FOR GOOD – when God’s Kingdom comes once and for all into this world.

Meaning that things are going to be shaken up, because when the Kingdom comes it will no longer be the world as WE THINK IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE – BUT THE WORLD AS GOD INTENDS IT TO BE – THE WORLD AS IT WAS INTENDED TO BE.

And all of these ways that the prophets talk about the Kingdom – are ways that they are saying that the power of God coming once and for all into this world is going to shake this reality to its very foundations and going to show the true foundation which is our God who made heaven and earth. What we see here is a Sun that is so humbled in the sight of it’s Lord and maker that it is darkened as it bows down before its God and Creator – we hear of the stars that fall from heaven, as they fall down at the feet of their Master Jesus Christ – we see that not only us – but all of creation bends its knee and confesses that there is only one God in heaven and that he has arrived – when the Kingdom comes.
And So we Pray – come on down Father, bring it on Jesus, change this world and restore us to what we are supposed to be. When we pray for the Kingdom we are praying for all of creation. That God will one day put it to right, that God will take away our pain, that God will heal this world, and that for all people, all creation, all that dwells in heaven and earth will no longer turn from God – but will be whole and complete in the arms of their heavenly Father. When we pray for the Kingdom – we are praying that God will unleash all that Heaven and the Kingdom are – Here upon this earth – and upon all that dwell in this creation. It really is a big idea.

But in the end – we are just asking God to fulfill his promise. You see when we pray for the Kingdom, we are only asking God to complete what he has promised through the prophets, what he brought near to us when he came in Jesus Christ, and what he showed John would be the end in the Book of Revelation. When we pray for the Kingdom we are only asking God to do what God says is going to happen. Not may happen, not might happen – but what WILL BE. When we pray for the Kingdom we don’t pray if, we pray for WHEN. We pray that God will both bring his eternal reign here – and that he will remind us that no matter what – this is what is going to happen. God is coming. The kingdom is Coming. For this we pray – Thanks be to God!

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by they name…

Our Lord’s prayer starts with a claim that the God who made heaven and earth is not just our Lord, our Master and our Creator, but the one who we know and turn to as FATHER. I don’t know if you have ever thought of what a strange thing that is, and how unique that is. No one else even tries to call God – Father. This is unique to Christians.

Why might it be an odd thing? Because when we are talking about our Lord and our God we are talking about the one who made heaven and earth. This is the one who is, more than, all that is. If you took all of creation, all that ever was and ever will be, and put it all together, God is more, so much more than all of that. God is all power, all might, all glory and more than that – God is the source of absolutely everything. God is unlimited, infinite, beyond comprehension, all power, all glory, all everything.

And what are we? We are limited, we are finite, we are limited, we live these short lives and are die. Against the backdrop of eternity – which is where God is just getting started – we are just a blip. Who are we compared to the Great One who made heaven and earth.

We , as insignificant as we might be compared to the one who is all and in all, are ones that this God has claimed and made his own. We are children of God – because God has made it so. In what God has done, we see that we matter to this God. In both the testimony of Holy Scripture we are given witness that this God does in fact care for us, and cherishes us, and wants you and me to be a part of his life.

Though it may defy our logic, though it may seem almost too good to be true, this same God who made heaven and earth, who made you and me and all that are in it. This same God loves you so much that he would not be apart from you and your life. We can call the Great One – Father – because that is who God has revealed himself to be. The one who cares for us, the one who loves us, the one who guides us, God is the Father that we need, the Father and Lord who has claimed us and who will never let us go.

And the specific reason that we call God, Father, is that that Jesus called the creator of heaven and earth Father. We are shown by the Savior of the world that our right relationship with the Lord of all is not one of slavish servitude, bowing and scraping before the powerful one (though God deserves our total and utter praise and eternal thanksgiving). But in Jesus we are shown that the relationship God wants from us is one of a Father and his children.

What that means is that God wants to be a part of our lives. God wants to be the one we turn to for strength and guidance. God desires to be the Father that you need, in the tough and difficult times in this life. God wants to rejoice with you. Most of all – what it seems to be that the Bible is telling us – is that God wants to love us, and heal us, and make us whole – and through that – God wants us to love and heal and reach out to and care for others in this world.
And remember – this isn’t because your Heavenly Father needs anything from you. Our Heavenly Father is complete and One. There is nothing you can add. God doesn’t love you because God needs love in return. God doesn’t make you a part of the mission of saving and healing the world because he needs you and I to do it.

Your Heavenly Father loves you and is in your life – not because he needs you are me – but because we so desperately need him. We need God. God is the way and the truth. He has revealed this truth to us when he came to us in the flesh in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Like a good Father, you Heavenly Father held nothing of himself back to ensure your safety and that you might inherit the good things of life. Your heavenly Father would not let you wallow in sin and death, he would not let death have eternal hold over you. Your heavenly Father knew that you needed him, even when you were blind to his presence. Your Heavenly Father did all to save you for death, even taking on the worst this world could throw at him and never backed off because God came to us in Jesus Christ for the purpose of claiming you, and saving you, and letting you and I know that the great one is the Father that you have and the Father that you need.

That is why when we begin this prayer – we begin by claiming who we are talking to. We are talking to our Father. Our true Father. The one who gave us life, the one who never abandons us, the one who is faithful no matter what. We call on the name of the most high God who has revealed himself to be our loving Father who promises to always be with us. Our Father in Heaven – and Hallowed (or Holy) is his name.

We are children of this heavenly Father. We are the ones who have been claimed by God’s action, we are the ones who Jesus has died for, and for whom he rose again. Your Father has come to you, because he loves you and spares nothing to save you and keep you with him forever. When we consider that grace and goodness, and that this Great and Powerful God loves us – then maybe we can understand why Father is the only way we can describe this one who has given us all and loved us so.
Amen

So remember everybody the great God of all is your Father.  He has claimed you and he loves you.  And all that God does, all that our Heavenly Father does, is work work to call you to him, to get us to turn to him, and to call us every day and every moment deeper into his life and light.  Because?  Because it is what we need.

In Christ

Pr. Mike

Jan. 25th
The Conversion of St. Paul

January 25th is the day the church commemorates the conversion of St. Paul, which is recorded in Acts Ch. 9. This day also marks the end of the Christian Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which begins on the 18th when we commemorate the Confession of St. Peter.

Why do we celebrate the Conversion of Paul? First and foremost we can consider that the Pharisee Saul who we know as St. Paul, was the one who most clearly , and copiously, explained to us what it meant that this Lord Jesus Christ had come into the world. It is through Paul, and I believe through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Revelation of Jesus Christ which Paul received throughout his life, that we are told what the life, death, and resurrection means. We are told through Paul what happens to us through our Baptism, we learn from Paul that we are given a new life when we are claimed by Jesus Christ. The Gospels tell us what Jesus Christ did. Paul is the person who helped us understand what all that Jesus did meant and means for us.

Also we remember that Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul’s mission was to the people who were not of the House of Israel and were not Children of Abraham. That means that Paul’s mission and work was to us. Most of us are not and were not Jewish. But Christ showed Paul that this life of Jesus was not just for those who always were God’s people (and always will be). But that this life of Christ is one which all are welcomed to and that all people regardless of where they are from, what their background is, or who their family is – all are welcome to this life of Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus called and chose Paul, for this mission of letting us understand that the life of Christ and the Church of Jesus calls to all people. It is because Jesus Christ used Paul that you and I can call ourselves Christians today. Paul was also the one who helped us to understand that it was in this baptism that we are literally grafted into the promised that God originally made to Abraham. Paul is the one who helps us see that Christ has made us and made us part of the eternal covenant that God made to Israel.

Paul is an important person. We celebrate what he did after his conversion, but I believe that the story of his conversion itself is full of the good news of Jesus Christ for us. Because knowing what, and who, Paul became we can see the great miracle of what Jesus did in calling to follow.

The miraculous thing about Paul is that he was not, nor did he have any interest in being a Christian before Jesus Christ showed up. I’ve said this is sermons when talking about Paul, that the Pharisee Saul was the bad guy. According to Acts 9, Saul receives letters to go to Damascus for the purpose of arresting any followers of Christ, and to try and stamp out any sparks of Christianity there.

Paul tells us of his life in as a Pharisee that he was responsible for dragging people from their homes, putting Christians in chains, and supporting the authorities in their decisions to put Christians to death for blasphemy. Before Jesus shows up, Paul was really on the other side he was the guy trying to destroy and to break down – to stomp out the first shoots of the new church trying to root in this soil of the Holy Land.

When Jesus shows up all of that changes. We hear in Acts that Paul is struck blind by the glory of the Lord. Jesus shows him the truth, that he is the way and the truth and the light. Paul is literally blind and sits in darkness for three days and neither eats or drinks. What we can take from this is that this Revelation for Jesus so shook Paul that he was simply blown out of the water (as it were). Everything that Paul had ever believed, ever followed, ever known was simply turned upside down and on its head once he met the living Lord Jesus Christ.

Understand that Paul wasn’t trying to destroy the church because he was especially sadistic or mean. He was a faithful Jew, a zealous and devoted Pharisee. To him these new Christians were heretics. People who were a threat to the true faith of Abraham. So Paul was zealously doing what he thought he should, trying to stamp out bad thought that, he believed, endangered the faith. So he pursued with ultimate fervor these people who he thought were a threat to the truth of God and who he probably thought were truly of the devil.

Then he meets Jesus. When he meets Jesus he sees that Christ is the truth that Paul thought he had been defending. Christ’s presence flips a switch in Paul, and completely turns him around. Paul thought he was working to defend the honor of the eternal Lord God. But when he meets the eternal God in Christ Jesus our Lord, he realizes that he was all wrong.

In the grace and mercy of God, Jesus sends Ananias for the purpose of baptizing this man, and welcoming Paul into the eternal life with Jesus. Jesus could have wiped Paul out, he could have caused him to fall over dead. But, instead, Jesus Christ claims the enemy and makes him the great defender of the faith.

Now that is a good story. But for you and I there is a lot of power in this conversion of St. Paul. Because, and I know some of you have heard me say this before. None of you are as bad as Paul. None of you were trying to destroy, kill, and tear down the church. Everyone of us has things we have done, every one of us has committed sins that we regret (if you don’t think that you do then you are lying to yourself). But none of us were ever as bad as Paul. But what did Jesus do with the one who was trying to kill the saints? Jesus made him a saint.

Jesus called the enemy, the broken, the lost – and put him on the right path which is the one of following Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus did that. Paul was trying to tear down, Jesus claimed him and then used Paul to build up the church for his time and for all time.

What that says to me, and what the conversion of Paul should say to all of us is – that you are never too lost for God. You are never so bad that God is ever – EVER – going to turn away from you. I don’ t care how mean and nasty you think you are – you ain’t got nothing on Paul. Or the other saints of the Bible who God claimed, turned, and used for his purpose. Like Moses who started off his life murdering and Egyptian, or Jacob who started off his life stealing his brothers birthright and lying to his old blind father, or David who God blessed and protected but then turned from God by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband Uriah killed. All of these are ones that despite their sin and their initial short comings and the way that they messed up and did very ungodly things – God used them and turned them to his purpose.

The point of Paul and all of the Bible is that God will and does forgive and turn you. So no matter what you have done – I hope that Paul can hold up to you that this life with Jesus is for you. Jesus called Paul and Christ is calling us – all of us each and every moment deeper into his life and closer to his heart. We follow by trusting him, and loving and caring for others, and letting Christ be the difference in our lives. WE get to be people who love this broken world. People who can look at things like the conversion of St. Paul and say that all things are possible with God.
Know this, that the same Jesus Christ who turned Paul around, is the same one who is with you, and loves you, and will never abandon you. The same Jesus who calls us to follow.

Feast Day of the Conversion of St. Paul
2012

I am writing this on Friday the 23rd, but let me take the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas.  I wanted to share with you this icon of the Nativity which is a fairly standard image in iconography and which works together to tell the story of the birth of Jesus.  Remember that Icons developed in an age when many could not read, and the images in them helped to tell the story of the faith and pass that faith on to the people.  The same can be said for stained glass windows, religious carvings, and the many ways that churches have been decorated through the ages.  These images which appeared in the church were not just to make the inside of the building look pretty, they were there to tell the story and help people remember all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So if you take a look at the image there are several parts of the Christmas story which you will recognize.  The center of the icon is Mary reclining after giving birth to our Lord Jesus. If we look at the icon you will see that Mary and Jesus are surrounded with all types of imagery all of which point to the reality of who Jesus Christ is and why he has come to us. 

Notice that this is no stable that our Lord is born in here. In this image we see Christ being born in a cave.  If you were ever to go to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem you would see that Jesus that it was a cave that was being used as a stable for animals.  This was common at the time because caves had a natural roofs.  Notice that the mountain or hill that surrounds the cave are rocky and craggy with almost pointy edges.  This is to remind us that Jesus came into this world which can be sharp, and hard, and can cause us pain and suffering.  If we look at the very center of the icon we will notice that the cave is the darkness which is broken by the light of Christ.  In this particular version we can see the small dot of light shining out in the darkness above the head of Jesus.  Also Jesus is wrapped in the white clothes reminding us of the purity and light that he is which breaks through the darkness of sin and death.

 If we continue to look at the image of our Lord we will notice that what can be seen as a cave, a manger, and swaddling clothes; could also be interpreted as images of a tomb, a burial vault, and bands of cloth that would be used to wrap Jesus body in and prepare him for burial.  This is not because the iconographers are trying to be morbid.  But it is to remind us that this one who is the baby in the manger, is also Christ the Lord who came to die for the sake of the world.  This is the one who would be crucified, die and be placed in the tomb.  But again as we look at this icon which points to the birth and the life of Christ - we are reminded that even through the darkness of death - Jesus shines and is the one who did rise again.  Also we are pointed to the fact that because of him - we too shall rise.

It is important also to notice that Christ is the exact center of this icon and that thereby the story seems to radiate out from him.  Or maybe it is better to say - all of the story - and all of the world is drawn into him who is the light of the world.

Now if we look at the top of the icon we see the star, whose rays are pointing down toward Jesus.  You may also notice that in the star image there seem to be several stars gathered together.  This is not saying that the Star of Bethlehem was in fact a constellation.  It is saying that all of the heavens are pointing down, or kneeling down toward the Messiah.  All of the heavens turn toward him in reverence and awe - and with that all of nature - bows before the incarnate Lord.  The one who made them to begin with.  Also notice that this beam that is coming from the star seem to be splitting the rock in two and there is not a line between Jesus who is on earth and the heavens.  That is because in Jesus Christ the veil that divides heaven and earth has been rent asunder.  Jesus came to us to bring the life of heaven to us. 

Above the manger where Jesus lay we see angels.  These have both literal and symbolic meaning.  They are the literal representation of the gospel of Luke where the angel (on the right) appears to the shepherds and says - Be not afraid for unto you the Messiah has come.  Then right after that the sky is full heavenly hosts singing a praising God in heaven.  So we have the imprint of this story here.

But symbolically we have something more and that is the neat thing about these icons, they speak on several levels.  Notice again the angel on the right above the shepherds.  This angel is standing literally between the ray from heaven and the shepherds.  If you look closely you can see the angels hand is extended and it looks almost like he is giving a blessing.  Why would he be doing this?  Because the birth of Christ is a blessing from heaven to the earth, God is blessing them with the good news of the birth of Jesus and blessing them with the fact that Christ has come. 

On the left we have three angels together.  Why three?  Well quite possibly the angels represent the three members of the Holy Trinity.  There is a famous icon by iconographer Andrei Rublev, which is called The Trinity, and it shows three angels (the three who have come to visit Abraham) sitting down for a meal.  It often occurs in iconography that the Trinity appears in this form as three angels close together. 

You might say, why is the Trinity there when we see Jesus lying in the manger - isn't Jesus a member of the Trinity?  If you had this objection I love you even more, because you are absolutely right.  Jesus is the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.  I think what is going on here is two things.  The icon is reminding us that the FULLNESS of who God is has come and all of the TRINITY has shown up in Jesus.  Also it is reminding us that even though our Lord Christ is lying in the manger - he is still the Lord of all through whom all things came into being.  He is God and nothing will ever change that.  He can be lying in the manger and controlling all of reality at the same time.  So with the presence of the three angels we are reminded that this one who has come is nothing less than the fullness of who God is that has taken on flesh and lived among us. Also notice that this image of the Trinity is on earth, God is touching earth here.  That is exactly who and what Jesus does and is.

 Now as we move to the bottom of the icon I want to point out the small trees and the two images.  The trees are there to represent the Root of Jesse's stem, and the branch of David.  You will remember that Jesus is the promised Messiah from the line of David - that is why the trees are there.

These two other images you might not be familiar with.  There is a pair of women giving a baby a bath, and there is an old man talking to a not so old man.  These images are part of stories which are not in the bible but in the early days of the church were associated with and around the nativity.  I tell them to you because they are sort of fun and you might enjoy them.

The ladies at the bottom left are supposed to be midwives or maids who come to help Mary with the birth.  Part of this story comes from what is called the Protoevangelium of James.  Isn't that a wonderful name?  It was a book from the second century which talked about the life of Mary.  As such it has an account that when Jesus was born Joseph brought in a midwife and a woman who is named Salome to assist with the birth.  After Jesus was born the two women took the baby and gave him his first bath - which we see here.  The ties to baptism should be clear, that in this story (which again is not in the Bible) that we see that the first thing that Christ does in his life in this world is he is washed clean - the link for us being that our first moments in the Christian life are when we are washed clean in the waters of baptism. 

On the other side of the frame we see these two men sitting.  The younger of the two looks distraught.  You may also the younger man has a halo whereas the older man in the coat and hat doesn't.  The sad looking man is Joseph, the protector of Jesus, the adopted father of our Lord.  What is going on here is part of another OLD story about the birth of Jesus - again not a Biblical tradition but something that was known as part of the tradition of the nativity.  (Sort of the same way that Davey Crockett was a real person - but there is also a song that he killed a bear when he was three - yeah that bear thing didn't happen but still a good story).  So here we see Joseph and the story goes that Satan came disguised as an old man.  He sees the already down trodden Joseph and starts to ask whose baby that is.  Satan is essentially turning the screw saying to Joseph, "That's not your baby," or "She's lying to you". 

The significance of this is that it reminds us that this is a remarkable thing which God has done in Christ.  A virgin little girl getting pregnant and having a baby - and by the way that baby is God in the flesh.  Yeah that is crazy and we wouldn't be able to ever expect that God would do such a thing had God not done it.  This image speaks to us then and reminds us that we can't figure out the incarnation and the great mystery of God coming to us by using our mental faculties.  Because what God has done in the incarnation so far defies expectation and explanation. 

God has done something new and amazing - God has come in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I think that is probably enough for today, if you have any questions about this icon, icons in general, or want to see up close a version of what we have been talking about here, come by my office - or send me a question through the contact address on this website. 

I pray that you have a Merry Christmas.  I pray that God will bless you and keep you.  And I hope that you will know the Peace of Christ which passes all understanding. 

And Please - Go To Church.  Jesus will be there, and maybe just maybe the Holy Spirit will speak to you and help you move closer to the heart of God.

In Christ

Pastor Mike

But I want to tell you why the devil cannot win, and the reason for that is what we have been talking about these last couple of weeks as we gather for our midweek services. The answer is a simple one. You will remember that I told you that God is the great and powerful Lord of all. God is the Creator, it is through God that all things came into being. Before there were any things before there was any creation there was God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And there was nothing else – only God.

But as you will remember God made all that is and nothing that exist would be had not God made it. That means you and I, earth and all the stars, everything in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and even the angels in heaven. The angels are created, the heavenly hosts are creatures – made by God just as you and I are. And the thing is what little we hear about the devil, Lucifer, the great Satan, the dragon – what little we hear of him and where he came from – we hear that this Devil is one who was a member of the heavenly hosts but fell away. Satan was the one who turned from God, and apparently many followed.

But the important thing for us to remember is that even the big boogie man himself, the Devil, Satan, the Lord of Lies and the master of Hell – he is a creature too. Now the devil doesn’t want you to think that. The devil wants you to think that he is some type of primordial eternal force. But that is simply not true. The devil is part of those that fell, those that were created and made by God – but turned and rebelled and went off into the darkness. Because of their anger, rejection, and their desire not to be alone in their torment – they tempt and provoke us. But no matter what – Satan is always a creature, a creation. And guess what – the created – will never and can never overcome or defeat the creator. God in his goodness and his mercy and light is what is and what will be.

Lucifer wants you to think that he has a chance and that he will rise up and therefore being mean and nasty and evil is the way to go – hey it is the way of the world right. But the truth is that the world is passing away. And all that will be left in the end will be God and those he has in his mercy and justice claimed and kept. So no – the devil can’t win.

If you want proof read the Bible. See what happens when an entire Legion, an army of devils, possesses the man at Genneserat. This legion of demons begs Jesus Christ not to throw them into the darkness. They are begging because Jesus who is the incarnation of the Creator of Heaven and Earth could just as easily have unmade those rebellious spirits and they simply would not exist. The demons flee before the power and the name of Jesus Christ – because despite how much the world and the evils that run through it and through us try to testify to their power there is only one true power in heaven and earth and that is God.

That leads us to another topic I want to reflect on tonight – what is sin. If God made heaven and earth and created us in it, what is sin and why is it in this world. God made the world right, why isn’t their just perfection.

Well the answer is quite simple. God doesn’t force you to do anything. God wants you to come to him and to love him. To be able to do that, you have to have the ability and the freedom to chose God, and to chose to follow God. That is for two reasons. One, if you make or force someone to love you, it isn’t love - it is slavery. God doesn’t want slaves or puppets, God wants children. God wants you to be in relationship with him and so God offers his life to you freely, and pours out his eternal yes and welcome of love to you. But God doesn’t make you love him.

You see the thing is, we humans were made to be in perfect and full communion with God. That is how you were made, that is how you were created. That is the reality which is reflected in the Garden of Eden Story when our first parents walked with God in the cool of the evening, talked with God and lived completely and totally WITH our Heavenly Father.

But what happened? We turned away. Temptation in the form of the serpent said, don’t listen to what God said – meaning don’t follow the way God leads you - don’t put your trust in him – you and I know better than God – eat that forbidden fruit. And that is where sin came in. The sin wasn’t that the people ate the apple, but that they thought they knew better than God, they turned away from the way that God was guiding and leading them – and followed their own hearts and desires.

What sin is then is BROKENESS. God wants us to follow him and live in perfect communion and harmony with him – but we BROKE that relationship. We turned away from God. Now instead of thinking rightly that God is the creator, the source of all life, and all that will be AS SUCH WE SHOULD FOLLOW HIM.

We think that we are the masters of our own world and our own universe. We put ourselves into the center of all things and we humans let our desires and our passions lead and guide us through this life. That is the path to destruction. Because we were not made for that. We have broken the relationship with God and we have fallen away from what we are supposed to be.

Sin is not just “Doing what you aren’t supposed to do” – but sin is a destruction of the relationship between us and God that we were created for. If we live apart from God, if we persist in our sin and don’t repent, we are simply rotting away – because God is the only one that can offer us true life. Without him all things end.

The devil would have you think – no do what you want – you have to be you, live out your passions and desires. You have to go with what you feel and look out for number one. And he is right if you want to spend eternity in the grave. He is right if you live for today because tomorrow you die.

But that is not who you are. Because despite this brokenness of sin, despite this severing of the relationship, despite the rebellion of humanity from God. God never gave up on us. God continued to reach out to us, God continued to call us back to himself, God didn’t abandon us even when all hope seemed to be lost – God was there rebuilding, restoring, and offering hope and life. And thousands of years of prophets calling for repentance, and trying to get us to turn from Sin and to turn from ourselves.

God came himself. God came to us as Jesus Christ. The God in the flesh, who lived for us, taught us, walked with us, and died for us. And the very blood of the Son of God – covers us. The sacrifice of God that says I want you back washed away the sin and rot of all of history. We see in God in Christ Jesus the One who did not give up on us – and though we were wrapped in the bonds of sin and death came and died for us – so that we might be restored to God.

Christ died for our sins, and in that that brokenness has no hold on us. We now know, no matter what the devils might say – that God has claimed us and made us his own. All we need to do is to turn to him and he pardons and forgives. God has done all of that so that you might live an eternal life with him.

Love the Lord you God with all you Heart Soul and Mind and Love your neighbor as yourself. That is what Jesus taught – because that is the way eternal life. Because God is eternal life. And he has claimed you so put your faith and hope in him – and know that all other pretenders are passing away with this world

Amen

St. Lucy was born in Syracuse in the third century.  She was a Christian but was also betrothed to be married.  However, Lucy believed that to truly follow Christ she needed to sell her possessions and give them to the poor.  So Lucy disposed of what was to be her wedding dowry, giving all she had to the poor and the needy of Syracuse.  Unfortunately this action enraged her fiance' and in an act of vengeance he revealed to authorities that she was a Christian.

 There are differing versions of what happened next, but St. Lucy was arrested and asked if she was a Christian.  She confessed that she would and she would not turn from or recant her faith.  Subsequently the stories vary on how the Roman soldiers tried to execute her.  One version is that they tried to burn her at the stake but she would not burn.  Another is that after several different attempts to kill St. Lucy, her own fiance' pulled a sword in a fit of rage and stabbed her through the throat killing her.  At her death, it is said that she was filled with a heavenly light so bright that it dwarfed the light of the sun and caused those gathered around her to fall to the ground.

So St. Lucy is seen as a symbol of one whose devotion to Christ would not falter, and who testified to this commitment to Jesus with her life.

The question then for us is, How does as 3rd century Italian saint make her way to Sweden and Norway? Santa Lucia, is often known as the Light Bringer.  There is the association with the divine light that filled her at her death, and if you consider the amount of darkness that the northern countries experience in the Winter, one can understand the attraction of this saint of Light.

The story was told to me by a Swedish Grandmother that there was once a time in Sweden when the people were starving.  Winter had grown long and the people waited in darkness.  Then on the 13th of December the people saw a light coming across the waters.  When it arrived there was a great ship filled with food, and standing in the prow of the boat was a beautiful lady who was filled with light.  She wore a white robe and a red sash.  It was Santa Lucia who came with food and comfort for the people of the cold northern lands.

Since that day, on the 13th of December, it is said that you can see the lady in the white robe who is bearing the light wandering along the shores of the lakes of Sweden, bringing light and hope to the people.Admittedly the lady who told me this story had never seen the wandering saint on dark December mornings.

But in commemoration of St. Lucy, on December 13th in Sweden and in homes who have those roots, the oldest daughter will rise early in the morning.  She will dress as Santa Lucia.  She wears a white robe in remembrance of her and our baptisms.  Around her waist there is a red sash which reminds us of martyrdom.  On her head she wears crown which has candles reminding us of the light of Santa Lucia.  (The brave use real candles, but many times electric candles are used).  Tradition is that this young girl dressed as Santa Lucia goes to all the rooms of the house bringing sweets and sticky buns to the family to remind people of both light and the gifts which come to us through following our Lord.

The commemoration of St. Lucy is part of the pre-Christmas season for many people.  What it hopes to do is remind us that the light of Christ is present in this world.  That Christ comes to us in many ways.  St. Lucy was one who witnessed to her devotion to Christ with her very life.  It is also believed that God used this same saint, somehow wrapped in the mystery of God - to bring hope to people far away from where she originally lived and walked in this world.  Santa Lucia - is a reminder to us from God that his light and his love is always active and moving in this world.  That God is reaching out to people even in to the (literally) darkest places of the world, and there is nowhere that God will not continue to shine his light into the darkness of this world and into the darkness of our lives. 

St. Lucy reminds us that God is our hope.  That God is the one who can fill the darkness, that God is with us. As we approach the celebration of Christmas, we await the commemoration of that time when God sent the true light into the world.  When light and life became flesh, and God became incarnate among us in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

St. Nicholas lived in the third and fourth centuries and was the Bishop of Myra (which is in modern day Turkey).  During his lifetime he was reputed to be a man of great piety who was known for the working of miracles.  It was said that during Nicholas' tenure as Bishop a famine broke out in Myra.  While this was going on a ship docked at the city full of grain, which was the property of the Emperor.  Bishop Nicholas asked the sailors to leave some of the grain to relieve the starving city.  The sailors were hesitant at first but relented after the Bishop promised them that God would make sure that they had the amount they needed for the Emperor.  The sailors off loaded the wheat to feed the city, and when they arrived at the royal palace they were astonished that they had their full allotment of grain for delivery.  That which had been offloaded had been miraculously replaced.  What had been taken off was enough to feed the city for two years - it was no small portion that had been left in Myra.  For this and many other miracles of healing and demonstrations of the power of the Most High, Nicholas was known by the name Nicholas Thaumatouryous (Greek) or Nicholas the Wonderworker.  

How then did this fourth century saint become associated with reindeer, and sleighs, and presents.  Well the first thing we need to know is that our modern name of Santa Clause - is simply the Dutch for Saint (SANTA) and Nicholas (CLAUS).  But the tying of St. Nicholas to presents and generosity goes back to the generosity of the Saint himself.

 The famous story of St. Nicholas is that in Myra there was a father who had three daughters.  In that time if you were going to get your daughter married (at least to a respectable person) you had to provide a wedding dowry, money that would be given to the groom to help the new family as they began their lives together.  However this poor father didn't have enough for a dowry.  So St. Nicholas feeling sorry for the man, went to the man's house at night and threw a bag of gold through the window - so that the first daughter could be married.  Traditions of the story differ as to whether St. Nicholas went back on three consecutive nights, or did this over a period of years as each daughter came of marrying age - but the story holds that St. Nicholas secretly provided this gift of a dowry so that each of the girls could be married.

One version of the story, says that the Father hid in the house on the last night so that he might see who was throwing the bags of gold into the window.  The Father caught St. Nicholas and began to thank him for his generosity in providing for his daughters.  St. Nicholas then looked at the man and told him that thanks should only go to God, for God is the provider of all good gifts.

 From this, the tradition rose in Central and Eastern Europe of leaving gifts on St. Nicholas Feast Day of Dec. 6th.  In many places around the world this day, children woke up to find that "St. Nicholas" had left a small gift in their shoe.  Usually is is something practical like a set of pencils, or an orange, or maybe a bit of candy.

So it made sense in years later when people began to more regularly make Christmas a day of gift giving, in remembrance of the great gift which God has given to us - JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD - that people would transfer the gift giver Nicholas into this day of celebration and we would have children around the world awaiting Santa Claus.

Other points of interest about St. Nicholas are that he was very likely present at the Council of Nicea and was therefore a part of the Church's affirmation of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and that Christ is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The Council of Nicea is where we got our standard confession of faith - The Nicean Creed.

I don't know how much you know about saints and how they are treated after they die.  But usually pieces of the saint's body are distributed out to many churches and sent to many places as holy relics.  Yes it is a rather grizzly and grim practice (if you really want to be shocked look into what happened to the body of St. Thomas Acquinas after his death - when it was made into relics).  But this was not the case for St. Nicholas.  Most of the remains of the saint are in one place - strangely enough that place is not Myra in Turkey but in the town of Bari, Italy.

St. Nicholas is entombed at the Basilica of St. Nicholas.  Today, 1500 yrs after his death, the bones of St. Nicholas The Wonderworker, still secrete a clear and aromatic liquid which is called myrrh by the church.  This liquid secreted by the bones of the saint is claimed to have healing properties.

So that is a little on the Saint who is the true Santa Claus.  He was devoted his life to the service of God, who gave and helped his people, and who hopefully reminds us that Christmas isn't about presents, it is about the Christ who Nicholas followed and served.

Blessings be to you Now and Always

Pr. Mike

From Geeseytown/Newry Dec. - Jan 2011 Newsletter

The Advent Season is just around the corner (and depending on when you read this may be upon us) and I wanted to take a few moments here to talk about this season, what it is about, and some of the themes that we will be encountering as we are in this season of preparation before Christmas. That is what Advent is, a season of preparation, a time when we remember that we once waited for the birth of the Messiah.

I want to point out that there is a strange tension that exists in this season. On one hand we are waiting for Christmas, for the time when we can celebrate the birth of “Sweet Little Baby Jesus Asleep in the Hay”. When we finally get to Christmas we will have all those familiar images of shepherds, and cattle that are lowing, and stars, and mangers. We will, at Christmas, have all those “Sweet” images that surround the birth of an infant and the wonderful announcement that “Christ is Born”.

But before we get there, Advent isn’t a picture of nice and sweet and comforting little scenes. Listen to the gospel texts and the voice of the prophets as we go through the next four Sundays. We hear about stars falling from heaven, we will hear about the moon turning to blood and the sun becoming as black as sack cloth, and in the middle of all of this is this wild and crazy John the Baptist wearing camel skins, eating bugs, and screaming for us to “REPENT!” because the Lord is coming.

What is going on here? These two things don’t seem to go together. Images of the stars falling and the wild man yelling at us don’t seem to go along with babies and mangers. But there is a reason for this. Because although God did this unbelievable thing of being born, of lowering himself to come into our world in a human body like we have – Jesus Christ was and always will be the one true God of all.

Jesus is one with the One and Only God, that God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Old Testament. In fact the very one who shook the top of Mt. Sinai, who divided the Red Sea, who fed the people manna in the wilderness, the one who created all that is. It is this same, this very same one who was born to a virgin girl in a little cave in Bethlehem. Our Lord and Savior is not just the “Sweet Baby Jesus”. Our Lord and Savior is that God Almighty, our incarnate heavenly Father who holds heaven and earth in the palm of his hand, and who is the very power that brought all things into being.

What Advent tells us is that this is the one who is coming. The great Ancient of Days from whom power streams forth like fire, that is who is coming. The Lord who divides the waters and whose intentions creates all that is, that is who is coming. The Lord whose very word is truth, and whose truth is like a two edge sword cutting through evil and darkness, that is who is coming. The one who is life itself, the one who is more than we know, the one who is in all things but is not limited by anything, the one before even his name the demons shriek and cower in fear, that is who is coming. Jesus Christ, Lord of Heaven and Earth, Judge of the Nations, the Gateway to Eternal Life, the one who is Eternal Life itself, he is the one who is coming. By doing so this great and powerful Lord of lord and King of kings, is rearranging and changing all expectation and turning the world and all of creation upside down and on its head.
That is why during Advent we hear these messages that point to this Lord who is coming. The Lord who was promised. The Lord who is greater and more powerful than all that can ever be and all that we can ever imagine. Jesus is coming everybody, and that changes everything.

That is exactly why we hear of the ground quaking, the heavens shaking, and we are told to repent, to turn to abandon our evil. Because the one who is all power and might – the one who is simply “GOD ALMIGHTY” is about to show up.

Advent, is therefore, about getting our attention. It is yelling at us to “WAKE UP!”, and to “PAY ATTENTION!”, because God is here.The tension of Advent then is that we have these messages telling (or yelling at us) to look for the Lord to repent and to do what we ought, because the great and powerful one is coming. But when he gets here what do we see?

When great and powerful Lord of all arrives, we see the little baby. We see that God who is all that we have said and so much more than we can imagine has come to us in a way we couldn’t have imagined. Jesus comes to us, the one who deserves all glory, laud and honor, as the one who has none of the honors that the world bestows. Jesus is born as the lowest of the low, among the poorest of the poor. Jesus is born homeless, only the breath of donkeys and cows to keep him warm, and a teenage mother to protect this little child.

That is how God comes. The amazing thing is that Advent reminds us that God, who is all that can imagine God to be, came to us not in glory but in lowliness. God who is all that is, came to us in a way that we might come to him. Not crouching because we are terrified by his power, but God lovingly invites us to come to the stable, and to look down into the manger, and to see the Savior of all.

So this Advent season, and this Christmas season, we are called to remember that it isn’t just about “Sweet Little Baby Jesus”. It is about the Great God who stands over the heavens and who controls all of creation – that is the one who comes to us. Advent reminds us that though we may want to run to the manger – this isn’t just any little baby we are dealing with. This is life itself, and life comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord – so that we might come to him.

With that, May God Bless you and Keep you this Advent and Christmas season.
In Christ
Pastor Mike

Pastor Randy Jones Writes:

Greetings to you all in the beautiful name of Jesus. I’ve been reading again so hang on to your bonnets. I saw the results of a poll in one of my journals this week that gave me pause and then confused me. The title of the poll was “God’s Role in Natural Disasters.” Here are the results for each assertion presented:

God controls everything in the world: 56% agree
Natural disasters are God’s way of testing faith: 40% agree
Natural disasters are a sign from God: 38% agree
God punishes nations for the sins of its citizens: 29% agree
(Christian Century: September 20, 2011; pg. 9)

There are two things about these numbers that bother me. First, the idea that God controls everything in the world makes me wonder why St. Paul would say that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” if God controls everything which includes humans. Second, there is a disparity in the following numbers. If 56% think God is in control, then the following two numbers should also be 56% and the last question would be unintelligible to them given my first assertion.

If God controls everything in the world, then doesn’t it make sense that everyone would be at peace and everyone would be prospering; there would be no sickness or hunger in the world. If God controls everything, then you and I were not created in the image of God and the writer of Genesis would be wrong; after all we are capable of love, we are creative, and we are able to make choices both right and wrong. Put succinctly we would be automatons. So my point here is that while God is omnipotent, God has chosen to limit his influence in this world.

That, however, does not mean that God is not here in the world with us. According to the creation accounts of Genesis it is God’s creative Spirit that has infused the cosmos with order and life. It is only by God’s presence that the creation is sustained and continues to exist. All of this despite Stephen Hawking’s position (sorry I had to say that).

As for natural disasters, we have all heard them called “acts of God.” That is an unfortunate way of speaking about things that happen as a result of this marvelously complex world on which we live. Every natural disaster is only a disaster for humans who happen to be in the way of weather, fire, or earthquakes. All of these things we call natural disasters benefit the very life of the Earth.

For instance, if lightening did not exist our atmosphere would not be breathable, floods deposit new fertile soil in low lying lands, earthquakes are the result of the shifting of the tectonic plates which allows magma to come to the surface and create new land, etc. etc. etc. Unfortunately, there are so many of us humans that we too often find ourselves in the path of these “disasters”.

Are natural disasters a sign from God? In a sense yes. They are a sign that God’s creation is still alive and well. We should thank God everyday for that fact because if these things didn’t happen then the Earth would be dead and lifeless like Mars and we would not exist.

Finally, if we are to believe that natural disasters are punishment then we have to ignore Jesus’ reference to the tower of Siloam incident in the Gospel of St. Luke. Listen to this.

At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them-do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” (St. Luke 13:1-5)

It’s pretty clear that Jesus puts the kibosh on the idea that God punishes sinners in this way.

Everyone is at the mercy of this world and its events; some caused by nature and some caused by human pride and arrogance. Jesus will not allow us to blame his Father for these things. I also want to add another reason I don’t believe God punishes us for our sins by sending natural disasters upon us. If God punished us in this way, it would mean that Jesus’ death and resurrection were for nothing and mean nothing. It would mean that Jesus’ death and resurrection didn’t free us from the eternal consequences of our sins. It would mean that we are still dead in our sins and unforgiven, and yet that forgiveness is pronounced by Jesus while he is on the cross.

I personally am not interested in questioning something that God has been clear about for almost 2000 years. I take Jesus at his word when he says, “this is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (St. Matthew 26:28)

So, my sisters and brothers, there you have it. We live on a planet that is alive, thanks be to God. God gave us a brain with which to think and learn. When we tempt disaster by building our homes on the Gulf Coast, that’s our fault not God’s because we know that a hurricane WILL come in the future. We know that tornadoes are going to touch down here in Alabama; we need to have a plan for that instance and also know that we can’t plan for every possible situation. So, we do what we can do to make sure we are safe in this world, and trust God with our lives when we die. In the meantime Jesus tells us, “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.” (St. Matthew 6:34)

What then are we to make of all this business? Well, when we say that God is love, that means God loves us enough to leave us to our own devices. Out of God’s great love for us we are given the freedom to make choices for ourselves. God told Joshua to tell the people of Israel that, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

When we say that God is love, we know that means God loves us enough to give his Son for us and to us. Jesus is our proof of God’s great love for us. When we choose Jesus’ will over our own will, we live not only today but forever. We are able to live Christ’s life today simply because we know that his life is forever, and living our Lord’s life means we live not for ourselves but for others. In this way we know the abundant life Jesus promised to us. When we know that God has given his Son to us, we can never believe that God punishes through natural events.

This world is most certainly a difficult place in which to live, but God is with us in the person of Jesus the crucified and risen Christ. Every Sunday God gives us the broken body and spilled blood of our Lord Jesus to sustain us in this life. God gives us our sisters and brothers to accompany us in our journey. Life, my brothers and sisters, is in the journey so let us live it faithfully and joyfully. Let us enjoy this life with God as we work to bring God’s shalom to this world.

May God continue to bless you and keep you always.
Shalom Pr. Randy

For more information about Pastor Randy Jones visit Messiah's website at www.nonprofitpages.com/messiah/

You wouldn’t think that a lot would be going on in October but we are getting pretty busy here at in the parish. I want to invite you to take advantage of some of the different opportunities we have for worship and study this month.

October is one of the months this year that will have five Sundays. With those we will be celebrating World Wide Communion Sunday and Lutheran World Relief Blanket Sunday on October 2nd. Our traditional Harvest Home Sunday is on October 16th, and we be doing a special push for our food banks in Claysburg and Williamsburg. Then October 30th will be Reformation Day.

In addition to this we will be having two special services this month. On Sunday October 2nd we will do our annual Blessing of the Animals. This will be held at 2pm at Geeseytown. The animal blessing is traditionally celebrated on Oct. 4th the commemoration day of St. Francis of Assissi. We move the day for the convenience of everyone. Bring your pets out for this short service on what we hope will be a not too chilly Sunday afternoon.

Then on Friday October 21st we will be doing something new. October 21st is the day which has been predicted to be the End of the World. Remember all of the billboards in April and May which marked May 21st as the end? Well when that didn’t happen the date was adjusted. So I thought it prudent to do our own little demonstration that is wasn’t the end on that day. I will be doing a service of prayer and a reading of the entire Apocalypse of John, also known as the Book of Revelation. The reason for this? Because the message of Revelation is not one of destruction, but one of the Victory of our Lord and our God! It is a story of hope and how God will reign and rule over all. It is, IN FACT, a message of God’s love, healing, and life given to the entire world. So I thought it appropriate to proclaim that message on that day, to remind us that we are held and kept by the one true God whose love and healing knows no end. The service will be at Newry Lutheran at 7pm on Friday the 21st.

Educational Opportunities abound here in the parish. Our Year Long study of the New Testament is chugging along. We are finishing up the letters of Paul and are coming around the last lap as we take this journey through God’s word. I invite all of you to come and join us. We have reached a point now where the readings are getting shorter, and I don’t ask a lot of questions. I can talk for the entire time, or you can interrupt me. We have a solid core of approx. 8 who make it each week, but this is a good opportunity to hear God’s word, dive deeply into God’s word and let it work on and work in us. I have been blessed by the opportunity to work with this project and hope that you will bless us by joining us for this study. During October we will be meeting at Newry at 6pm on Thursday nights.

We are very blessed to have a wonderful Sunday School program in both of our churches. All my thanks to Pam at Newry and to Ellen, Bill, Lisa, Heather, Katrina (and if I am forgetting you I am sorry) at Geeseytown who work with our children’s Sunday School. You are an invaluable resource for us, and a real blessing to the kids. Thank you for your service.

Our adult Sunday School at Geeseytown still continues to go strong. Thanks to Ken who usually takes the lead in that study. We are going to be looking at another resource to use after the first of the year. There is an Augsburg Fortress Bible Study which gives us weekly readings and an opportunity to engage in discussion. It is written by professors from our Lutheran Seminaries and we will be taking a look at it to see if we want to dive in with this study.

You also know that I will be teaching a short course on Revelation in October. This is part of our Synod’s program “Discovering Your Discipleship” or DYD. Traditionally these adult education courses were only offered as full day classes on weekends, and usually they involved travelling up the mountain to take them. They are being offered locally to hopefully make them more accessible. We will be meeting at Newry at 6:30pm on Sundays October 2, 9, and 16. If you are interested please show up. You can register for the course through the synod website. If you are not able to register before Sunday, show up anyway and we’ll figure it out later.

Then we do have a fellowship opportunity coming up which was a great hit last year. We will be having our Family Fun Night/Trunk or Treat on Friday night October 28th. This was a great time of fellowship and celebration and with Trick or Treating right around the corner, it is an excuse to get the kids even more candy. Come join us, if you would like please consider opening up the trunk of your car and handing out candy. Last year we also had a lot of food, and if you went away hungry it was your own fault. I am fairly sure that this will be the case again this year. So please come and join us.

So there is a lot going on. I hope you will take advantage of the opportunities which are available. In all that we do we hope that we are reminded of the great gifts that God has given us. The opportunities to worship him, the chance to study and learn from his Holy Scripture, and the chance to be thankful for others and with each other. God is good to us, and blesses us in so many ways. I pray that you will be able to celebrate with us this coming October.

May the Peace of Christ which passes all understanding be with you All.
In Christ
Pr. Mike

Members and friends if the pastor is inviting people over the internet, then I hope that will encourage all of you to bring friends and family.  And don't worry - you know us - there will be plenty of food.  There will be more than plenty of food.  Hope to see you there, hope you have a great week and God bless. - Pr. Mike

You have heard me say, time and time again, that we are the church and as such we have some duties to carry out in this world. We carry out the duties and responsibilities because God loves us. We do these things because Christ died for us to save us from the death of sin, and because Christ loves us so much that he calls us into his eternal life. In short we do not do these things ‘so that’ Christ will love us but we do them ‘because’ Christ loves us so much.

The duties and responsibilities that we have as the church are to love and serve this world. We are people who have been saved by the love of Jesus Christ poured out for us in his body and blood on the cross at Calvary. Therefore, in following him, we are called to serve and love the people of this world that are in need both in body and in spirit. We are called to love and serve the people of this world because they also are people that Jesus Christ died for, and as such, they matter to him and therefore they are to matter to us.

The question then is how are we do to that? How are we at Geeseytown and Newry supposed to best work to help this world, and to share the love and light or Christ with those around us. Well, I will tell you we do pretty well as a parish of collecting and gathering for those that need. I don’t know if it is a characteristic of smaller churches – but for some reason – I have always seen smaller congregations give to causes and organizations what seems to be proportionally more than what you would see in larger churches. I feel like a broken record sometimes going through the list of the things which you have supported in our time together here: the Claysburg Food Bank, Williamsburg Food Bank, Altoona Domestic Abuse Shelter, Operation SOS (Christmas gifts for soldiers), Lutheran World Relief efforts in Japan and Haiti, the Souper Bowl of Caring, Lutheran World Hunger Program, and the list goes on. You all are givers that is something that is good. The Bible is very clear from beginning to end. We who have are called to help those who have not, those who can are called to help those who cannot.

So we do that, and that spirit of giving is a blessing and a gift of the Holy Spirit. I know the heart that you all have for those in need. I thank God for the generosity that he works through you. I am also thankful that our ‘little’ churches can be an example of serving and loving others. Proving that you don’t have to have 500 people show up on a Sunday to be a people who God is working through in this world.

But because we are so good at giving, because we do more than some might assume possible for two ‘little churches’ – it begs a question: What else can we do? You see I think God is showing us that much is possible when he begins to work in his church. Look what he is doing here. What else might God be calling us to do?

I’m not saying that we necessarily have to solve all the world problems here at Geeseytown and Newry. But I am saying that there is no telling – or better said – there is no limit to what is possible here. We have already seen God at work in ways that might startle other people, but we know that giving and serving and gathering is just what we do.

Since we know that God is at work and moving and using our churches – why don’t we see what it is that we can do with that. I have mentioned this before in our services – but I think we are reaching a time and a place where we need to all be in prayerful discernment about what God is calling us to be. I think there is a call upon our churches. We have seen that God has given us a heart to serving and helping and giving. Why not really take a step out there and see what God will do with us?

So what I would like for you to do is to enter with me into a period of focused prayer. From now until Thanksgiving (which is right at the end of this church year) please join me in asking God what he wants for our parish.  Now I know when I say that many of you might automatically think I am looking for some type of nightly prayer vigil or some huge and dramatic gesture of prayer. I don’t want anything complicated unless the Holy Spirit moves you toward some grand and dramatic gesture. No, what I am asking you to do is join me in asking God what we should do. When you pray, remember those you love, those who need God’s mercy, those who are sick, and all those you hold in your heart. But also, please ask our Lord, what he wants for the Geeseytown and Newry Lutheran Parish. Add it on as a final petition in your prayers and your conversations with our Heavenly Father. “Lord what do you want us to do, and where can we your people be of service?”

I don’t think that it too hard. I promise you that I will pray until the end of this year specifically asking our Lord this question. I ask you to hold me to that by joining with me, and seeking God’s guidance as to where we are to go and to how we are to go there.

Then, please keep your eyes open. See if God places opportunities and ideas in your path. And the pastor would really appreciate it if you would share those revelations with him J.

I hope you will join me in this period of discernment, this could be a major moment for our churches. Because God may just let us help him to heal and save this world.

May God Bless you and Keep You,
In Christ
Pastor Mike

We are in mid-summer now and this is a time of year when I reflect of how the year has gone. The reason that I tend to do this in June/July as opposed to Dec/Jan is a simple one. We began our life together in June/July of 2009. I was ordained in June and got in here in July so it around this time of year that I think about where we are, where we have been and where I hope that we will be going (or better said) where I think the Holy Spirit might be leading us.

But it has been two years now that we have been in this ministry together and I have to say that overall things are going very well. First I have to thank all of you for being really great, warm, wonderful, and caring people. I feel very blessed to be in ministry here – with you. I believe that what I sense is what our visitors sense – you like people and you welcome them and want them to be here. That is a good thing. I would encourage us all to continue to reach out and welcome the visitor and invite them to walk with us and share in the worship of our Lord. That is something that you do pretty well – Don’t you? I think so.

I have seen a great growth in our interactions between our two congregations and I think we are working well together. When we have events people show up and participate. That is something that we want to continue. But over the last year we saw each get together, event, or joint service grow in attendance. That is really good. Not because we want numbers at these events – but because it gives us all a chance to get to know each other, to break bread together, to worship together, and to build bonds across the parish.

Both of our churches have been in joint parish relationships before, and both can remember what it was like when other congregations didn’t want to be a parish but just wanted to share a pastor. That is not the situation we are in. You don’t share me just because it is cheaper this way. We are in this joint-parish relationship because though it we are working together to collectively serve God’s people and work for the good of the communities in which we serve. So I want to encourage us to continue to build those connections and bonds. The way we do that is by getting together, working together, and worshipping together. So far that has gone well, let us keep it up.

I have mentioned it several times, in multiple sermons over this year, but I am still amazed at our parishes ability to work to serve others. I still am almost blown away at the amazing success of our Souper Bowl of Caring food drive this year. I have still not been able to find a church that gathered as much as we were able to put together, and if I do find a church I think it will be a lot larger than the two of ours put together.

That is God speaking to us everybody. It is God saying “Look what you can do!”. We don’t have to be a big church with 1000 members, we can do God’s work right here, right now and come out with amazing results. Because it is never about us just going out to try and get things done – it is the fact that the God who made heaven and earth, and the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, and the Power of the Holy Spirit are at work in, with, and through us.

It is in things like the Souper Bowl food drive, and the quilting our ladies do, and the way we can reach out to the Domestic Abuse Shelter, and the way we welcome the stranger, and all that we do that we see the great and mighty God at work in us.

I would also like to raise up something that is really wonderful thing happening in our parish. We have a lot of kids in this parish. That is great! At both Newry and Geeseytown the Sunday School are faithfully and well attended. We have five kids from the parish heading over to Camp Sequanota for full or half week programs this year. Our Vacation Bible School is lining up and if last year was any indication we should have plenty of our own and visitors participating. We have had great success this past year with our Kids Club and have had regular attendance from both churches. What really excites me is that we have four kids who will be able to start confirmation next year – two from each church. That is very exciting to me because most churches our size can’t say things like that.

I also want to raise up that we have had growth over the last 2 years. Last year we had 9 people join at Geeseytown and 1 at Newry. This year we have already had 3 join at Geeseytown and 5 at Newry. That is great everybody. That is steady growth, we are expanding and God is breathing life into our congregations.

And that is the whole point. GOD IS BREATHING LIFE INTO OUR CONGREGATIONS. God is here, God is active, God is leading. Take a look at all that God has done. It is awesome.

What we need to do is keep going, keep following our Lord Jesus, keep praying for each other, for the world, and for the church. What I also hope you can see is that as we are continuing to follow our Lord – that he really is with us. Good things are happening. That – I think – is a sign for us. A sign that anything is possible because the Lord who brought Light into being and who is the way and the truth and the light – is with us. And that makes anything possible.

May God continue to Bless you and Keep you in his Peace.
Pastor Mike

I am posting this here merely as food for thought.  What is interesting about the article, and the positions that Brooks describes, is that the psychologists recognize that humility is not a reflection of low self esteem or of necessarily thinking less of one's self.  As I read the article, they understand humility to be a state of the mind where the individual is fully aware and confident in their abilities, but they are 'other-focused'.  In short the world does not revolve around them, and they are okay with that.

I thought it a good discussion because, as Christians, we often hear our Lord's call to humility and consider it to be weakness.  That if we somehow put others before ourselves then we are shaming ourselves, and doing that which is beneath us.  We sinful humans simply don't want to humble ourselves because we think that we have to not only be but demonstrate and show our power.  Humility, we think, is the opposite of that.

But in Christ we see that the one who is truly powerful is able to humble, lower, and humiliate himself.  Jesus is the one who can lower himself and take on what the world thinks in shameful because he doesn't have anything to prove. Jesus knows that whether he is exalted or humbled that he is still God.  Therefore there is no fear or hesitance in his lowering himself.  (Maybe there is hesitation and some trepidation at having nails driven through his hands but not at humility)

 We are called to follow and humble ourselves to be people of humility, putting other first, putting Christ first.  You will remember the order that Jesus gave us when he told what was the greatest commandment.  We are to love God first, our neighbor as ourselves, and that would put us probably third or later.  We are called to love and give of ourselves, to have humility and know that we are not the center of the universe, Jesus Christ is the center of the Universe and all of Creation. 

We are also people who know that no matter what Jesus Christ is with us.  Whether we are exalted or humiliated Christ never lets us go. No matter what, we have Jesus.  Therefore we shouldn't have to worry about raising ourselves up and showing the world how good and great we are.  Because no matter what we do the Lord of Heaven and Earth is with us.  We are therefore free to love and serve and give, and humble ourselves for the sake of caring for reaching out to and loving others.

Just some thoughts for the day.  Take a look at the Brooks article I think it is pretty interesting.  

http://brooks.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/imho/ 

May God Bless you and Keep You

Pastor Mike

But as we prepared for worship on Saturday night, we looked at the clock and as you well know there was no earthquake, no rapture, no saving of the elect from a time of great suffering and torment.  As a matter of fact, at least at the time of this writing - there was no torment.  Mr. Camping was simply wrong.  He had forgotten that basic of all ideas that there is in fact only one God and the last time I checked, neither Harold Camping, nor I, nor any of us are the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  We simply can't know the mind of God.  But don't take my word for it - take out your Bible and read Mt. 24:36.  We don't know and we can't know.

 Now we may be tempted to write off Mr. Camping as strange.  But I am hesitant to do that.  Only because I really think that he believed what he was doing.  I think that he was committed to getting out the message of what he really did believe was going to happen.  In short, I think he was sincere and that his heart was in the right place.  All the money that he spent, and encouraged people to spend to get the message out on billboards, radio adds, websites, and RVs wrapped in the message of the coming day of judgment, he and his followers did this believing that they were doing you and me a favor.  They wanted us to know that Jesus was coming back - May 21, 2011 - and they wanted you and I to be prepared.

So it is hard for me to mock these people.  If anything my heart breaks for these people who were so sure of what was going to happen.  I think the families who divested themselves of their life savings trying to get out the word or advertising the May 21 date, should be pitied.  Because as misguided as we may believe them to be, they acted out of the best of intentions.  The problem is that there best intentions have left some of them financially bankrupt.  

The thing is this is not the first time something like this has happened.  Since Jesus' ascension into heaven people have been making predictions about when our Lord Jesus was coming back.  The first Christians thought that it was going to be any moment, but as time went by they started to realize that we might be in this for the long haul.  Therefore the church learned how to be faithful in the world while waiting for the eventual return of our Lord.

But that didn't stop people every now and then from gaining a following, going out into the woods and waiting for the end of time.  One of the first was a man named Montanus who in the second century gathered quite a following through his austere living and knowledge of the scriptures.  Eventually he revealed to his followers that he was in fact none other than the Holy Spirit, and he told everyone that Jesus would return on a certain date in Phrygia, a province of Asia Minor.  So Montanus gathered all his followers and waited on a mountain top on the assigned day and of course our Lord didn't come back.

Over the next 1700 years predictions of the second coming of Christ popped up ever now and then.  There was a great fear of Judgment Day as they approached the year 1000, and during the Reformation, Martin Luther himself believed that he was living in the Last Days and believed he could see the events of the Reformation displayed in the book of Revelation. 

It should be said of Luther that though he thought that he might be living in the last days he was known to say "That If I knew the end of the world were tomorrow, I would plant a tree."  Luther knew that even if the end were at hand his job as a Christian was to continue living and following his Lord Jesus.

The biggest prediction of the End of the World came in the mid 1840s from a man named William Miller.  Miller had a vision (like Camping) and Miller began to look at numbers in the Bible (like Camping) and from those numbers calculate a secret code (like Camping) that would give him the exact date of the end of the world (I think this probably sounds familiar doesn't it). 

Miller began to publicize his ideas that the end of the world would come between 1843 and 1844.  Miller lectured nationally on his calculations, printed articles, and organized a small army of followers who were devoted to spreading this message.  Miller's first date for the second coming was that Jesus would arrive by May 21, 1844.  That date passed and Miller re-examined his calculations and saw that the date should be April 18, 1844.  This date also passed.

Finally Miller realizing the miscalculation he had been making announced that the actual final date would be October 22, 1844.  He was sure of this, there was absolutely no way that Jesus would not arrive on this day.  So many of Miller's followers sold all they had, gave away all they could to the poor, and headed to Miller's farm to await our Lord Jesus Christ. 

When October 23rd, 1844 arrived many people were bankrupt.  The incident is known by historians as "The Great Disappointment." 

The book Ecclesiasties reminds us that "There is nothing new under the son."It has all been done before.  I find it interesting that Camping has now adjusted his date to October 21, 2011, which is very close to Miller's absolutely this is the end of the world date.

The thing is everyone.  We are always going to have people who are going to tell us that they have some secret about the end of the world, or secret knowledge about Jesus.  If you just listen to them then you will be safe.  I don't think that Mr. Camping is a wolf in sheep's clothing.  I think he is someone who may mean well but is simply in error in how he interprets scripture.

If anything my heart goes out to the man and all those who have followed him.  I hope those who have lost and given away so much in hope of the second coming being when they thought it would be, don't lose their faith over this.

Unfortunately, though this group is in fact a fringe and isolated group.  I am afraid that so many people will judge the church as a whole by the actions of these few. 

In the end I know that Jesus will come back.  I know that the Lord will bring his kingdom and all suffering and pain and evil in this world will end.  But I hope we can all remember that this will happen in God's time and not in ours. 

What we are to do is follow Jesus here and now.  Don't worry about the end of the world to come.  Worry about how we are following Christ.  Worry about what we are to do and how we are to do what Jesus did.  Jesus loved us, sacrificed himself for us, and came so that all people might no him.  The question we need to ask ourselves then is not when he is coming back - but we should ask ourselves how we are to give and serve and love and help in this world now.  That is how we follow Jesus.  That same Jesus is with us - now.  We don't have to wait for the second coming, because our Savior has promised that he IS with us even until the end of the age.

That was probably too long for a blog entry but - what are you going to do?

I pray that God will bless you and keep you, and that you will know that Christ always holds you and keeps you in the palm of his hands.

In Christ

Pr Mike

Remember we have services Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat, and (of course) Sunday.  Though I know most of you will be there Sunday, I remind you that the church celebrates the THREE DAYS of Easter, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  The three go together as they remind us of all that Christ has done for us.  So please make it a priority to make at least those three.  But may God Bless you and keep you.

Passion Sunday Reflection from April 17th

God, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who our of his own goodness made all that is seen and unseen. God gave us life. From nothing God brought us into being and formed us, man and woman in his own image breathing his very breath into us so that we would exist and live – and we would be children of God.

But we are human, and instead of following our Lord and our God, instead of staying in that perfect communion living face to face with God – we decided that our own way was better. We decided that we wanted to be like God – for it was not enough that the one who is all there is had birthed up from nothing – and that he was the truth, and the light, and all goodness – it was not enough – and we humans decided to follow our own way. Perhaps we thought that being loved so much and being so cherished by the Father meant that we need only take one step higher and we would set ourselves up as the most high.

And we who were brought into existence by the very breath of God, took that same breath and used it to curse our Creator, our Father, and Sin became the way of the day. Sin infiltrated us, Sin which is death, which is absence from God, which is rebellion – became the way we lived – turning and rebelling and thinking that we OURSELVES were God.

But our heavenly Father never stopped loving us, never gave up. He was faithful when we were faithless, he was consistent when we continually faded away, he gave and gave and gave – when all we could do was take and take – and abuse the many gifts that he had given us. Yet all this time he always welcomed, coaxed and led us back and closer to him. Not for his own sake, but for the sake of us, the rebellious children who were literally LOST and NOTHING without him.

The problem was that we had offended, we had done wrong, we had turned and rejected God – and we still continue to do the same. But God still loved, and loves us. God wanted to ensure that we would know that he loves us – that he is our God – that despite the offense, despite our wrongs, he still called us into his life.
But we stiff necked, hard hearted humans needed proof. We could not set the tables right ourselves. We can see from our point of view that there is nothing we could do – on our own – to make things right. Even If we spent eternity doing good deeds, if we gave up all we had and devoted our lives to prayer, nothing we could do on our own – nothing we could ever do would enable us to MAKE things right. The offense was too great. Humanity who was temporary had spit in the face of God who was eternal. From our point of view Hope was lost.

But – not for our Lord and our God. When we could do nothing, when we could not set the accounts right – God himself did the unthinkable. God showed up. God was born a human – God lived in a human body in the one we knew as Jesus of Nazareth. And this God and man who we call Messiah was the one who came to walk with us and teach us while at the same time still keeping the heavens in their places and guiding the atoms in their intereactions. When all hope was Lost – God came down to us. God lived with us – God took on this foolish corruptible flesh – and walked with us in Jesus our Savior and our Christ.

For our sake, this God almighty, the one who showed up in the burning bush, the one who spoke with Moses, the one who walked with us this far – for our sake this God – Jesus Christ – died for us. When we could do nothing to eliviate the burden of sin – Jesus took the sin of the world into himself. Jesus took on the punishment that should have been ours, showing us that JESUS HIMSELF has made our accounts clear. Showing us that JESUS HIMSELF – died on a cross showing you and me that God would rather sacrifice himself – than have you ever think that he would want to live without you. Jesus died on the cross for the burden and the guilt of our sin – so that today I can stand here and say to you –

LOOK TO JESUS – HE IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES YOU – IF YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO BE PUNISHED, JESUS HAS ALREADY TAKEN THE PUNISHMENT – LOOK AT THE GRACE, LOOK AT THE MERCY – WHEN YOU COULDN’T SAVE YOURSELF – JESUS SAVED YOU – THERE ARE NO BARRIERS BETWEEN YOU AND CHRIST AND YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER – THERE IS NOT ACCOUNT TO BE PAID – ONLY FORGIVENESS AND LOVE.

And because of all of this – because of what Jesus has done – you and I will live – we will live eternally with the one who is goodness and mercy and grace, we will live with the one who was betrayed by us – we who turned away, we who continually fall short, we who crucified him. But the great and powerful God gave ALL for us. And still does.

Therefore, let us hear the story as we begin this Holy Week of the one who bled and died so that you might never fear that you were apart from your God.

+May God Bless you this Week

Pastor Mike

You may remember back on Transfiguration Sunday I invited all of you to the discipline of Lent. That was, of course, the fancy way of saying “What you are GIVING UP for Lent”. We talked about how you don’t necessarily have to give up something, you can also take a discipline on. You might give up coffee or chocolate or you might take on daily scripture reading or volunteering for the season. These are all good things. We also laughed when I told you about the person who said to me several years ago, “Pastor, I know what I am giving up for Lent. I am giving up – EXERCISE!”

This discipline though is a way to help us remember that the things which we find so IMPORTANT in our lives aren’t necessarily as necessary as we usually think they are. That is what I want to share with you today, an experience I had this weekend with my own Lenten discipline.

I gave up eating unhealthy food. Now you will notice that this is a broad description. What is unhealthy? For one junk food, so no chips, cookies, or pastries for Lent. Also no overly fatty foods during Lent, so no hamburgers and nothing deep fried. I am also trying to be a little in league with our Orthodox brothers and sisters and I am avoiding cheese and heavy oils. That sounds like a lot – but it really isn’t that bad. I have been able to eat fairly well and the benefit is that I feel better, less tired, and pretty good overall.

Now you will also remember that Sundays are not in Lent. If you have forgotten this please take a moment to count from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. What you will find is that there are 46 days. But there are 40 days in Lent. What are the other 6 days? They are the Sundays the day of the resurrection. Sunday was the day when one could break the Lenten fast – a little. Because Lent we remember the sacrifice of Jesus – but Sunday is the day of the resurrection, even in Lent – so you get some lee way there.

But I had been good through these first couple of weeks. The first Sunday of Lent I didn’t want any bad food. But last Sunday came and it happened to be the day that my school, North Carolina, was playing in the NCAA tournament – at 12noon. So I took it as a sign from God that this meant I had to go out for lunch and support my team. (Okay, yes it was an excuse) When we go out we like to go to Fridays (this is not an endorsement). Since the game was on and since it was Sunday and since I had been so good I decided to break the Lenten fast and order something otherwise not on my Lenten diet. I got a ribs, I got a whole rack and I was exceedingly happy with them, and to top it off, a giant side of French fries.

This was not within my Lenten discipline, but it was Sunday. But oh did I pay for it. You see your body doesn’t need as much grease and fat as we usually give it. Try cutting grease and fat out of your diet for two weeks and then eating a rack of ribs and a mound of fries, your body will prove to you that you shouldn’t have done that – as mine did. Now the ribs were good, and I loved them – but afterwards I was reminded of John in Revelation when he eats the scroll that was sweet as honey in the mouth but sour in the belly. I didn’t get sick but it felt like I had eaten a bucket of concrete.

Now that is a little bit of a funny story about me but I think it is illustrative for us, as to what the Lenten discipline shows us. First it is here to help us see what we don’t need. In my case the break from the not so good food, and just eating healthier, made me not really want the bad and fatty foods that had previously been my fifth food group. There is something in that. As we dive into our discipline and as we let go of that which we don’t need, that changes us.

Now in my case it is probably that I am not going to tackle a rack of ribs for a while, and fries are out which is probably not a bad thing. But in other ways the discipline of Lent is helping us to see what isn’t important. For me specifically I can gain that God gave me a body that doesn’t need all the junk that I usually throw down my gullet. Once we get to Easter, I’ll probably stay pretty close to this eating plan I am on now.

What I am trying to get across is that I didn’t expect to ever be in a place where I would really be saying – maybe I don’t really need to eat that. But I have been changed by the experience. It may seem trivial on the outset but look what happened – it is a symbol or maybe a metaphor of how God works and is working with us always. God knows who we are, God knows what we need, God knows what we need to do and steers us in this direction. In this strange little experience I have been changed. I have seen that there are better things and this letting go of the junk food –that before had been pretty standard in my diet – has affected me in ways I never would have imagined, and done so for the better.

A strange example I know. But if nothing else take this away from the little story. God is at work. And God can and does work in mysterious ways – even through smoked rack of ribs at Fridays. Thanks be to God.

In Christ on a wet March day
+ Pastor Mike

I was forwarded this article which was written by Dr. David Lose who teaches preaching at Luther Seminary in Minneapolis, MN.  He is seen as one of the foremost scholars in the field of preaching, and more importantly his work is very, very readable and accessible.  This cannot always be said for scholars.  I commend his article to you. The article is titled The Trouble (and Blessing)of Lent.

Click here to link to the article.  For full disclosure the article is on the Huffington Post website.  I am not endorsing that site or any particular view held by it.  But Dr. Lose's article is a good reminder of what Lent means to us.  Please take the time to read and enjoy.

Pr. Mike

I have realized for the past few weeks that it was time to get another blog entry up here but the problem was one of where to begin. The last post came at the end of October, which looking back now seems to have been the time when we dropped into another gear and really took off. It has been a busy few months here at GNLC and I thought it might be good to reflect on all that has been going on. Because from my point of view there has been a lot happening.

It is fitting that the last post came on Oct. 29th, because I think that is the day we started really getting busy. If you have a chance look at the pictures from our Trunk or Treat which was that Friday night at Geeseytown. We had over 70 people come out for the event and the great thing was that after the ‘trunk-or-treating’ was done people stayed for dinner, games and fellowship. I thought it was a great night of people getting together and sharing with family. I think this will be an event that we will continue.

But that very weekend was our Reformation Sunday, followed by All Saints Sunday, and before we new it our Thanksgiving Eve Service (held this year at Newry). What has been really encouraging for me as we think about our time together is that we are seeing growth in our attendance both at our ‘regular’ Sunday services but also at our special services. Thanksgiving Eve had about 75+ people come out, which I think is always good the night before a holiday. But it wasn’t just family there were our neighbors from the community as well. What is important is that I think we all are starting to share the message of what God is doing in our little churches. We are growing and people are coming. I think the special services are places that we can see that.

I was also told that I gave several of you an unexpected surprise at the Thanksgiving Service. Some of you had heard that my High School Football coach and his family were attending the Thanksgiving Service (their son is a student at Penn State). Several of you commented how interesting it was for you to hear my southern accent come out when I started talking to them. I admit that does happen. I get a lot more y’all in my sentences - so I was glad some of you got to experience that.

I also want to highlight the work the churches did supporting Project SOS (Support our Soldiers) where we gathered Items to be sent to our Altoona National Guard Units who were serving in Bilad, Iraq over Christmas. We also had supported the Domestic Abuse Shelter this Christmas. Additionally we did our yearly collection of quilts and school kits for Lutheran World Relief. It was a busy end of the year in supporting these various ministries.

We finally got to Advent and things didn’t slow down. This year we added Advent Midweek Services. Except for the first Wednesday we had pretty bad weather, we had a good turnout for these services. We will of course have our Lenten Midweek Services which both churches have done as long as memory can recall. But I think it is especially important to do these during Advent because in these special seasons of the church year it is good and right for us to take more time to remember what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. It is another opportunity to turn to God, worship God, and in worshipping we are thanking God for the gifts which he has given, is giving, and will continue to bless us with.

By the time we got to Christmas it seemed like there was something going just about every day of the week in the parish. Our Christmas Eve Services were well attended, and again we saw many members of the community join us for both our 7 and 9pm services. I thank all of you for the hospitality you showed to our visitors. As you know that is always important. We understand that some of those people we may only ever see again on Christmas – maybe they’ll come in on Easter. But it is our job to welcome them and be glad that they are with us to celebrate and worship with us. My prayer is that if I never see them again that the experience of worshipping with us will plant a seed in their heart. That they will listen to the Holy Spirit that is leading and is guiding and is calling them, and I hope that if it isn’t with us that they will get to church somewhere. That is my prayer. But our job again is to welcome and to invite and to be hospitable and in all that we do try and point to the love of Jesus.

That got us to January and I will share with you that last year once we turned into 2010 things seemed to quiet down or at least the pace relaxed a bit with the arrival of January. But this year it doesn’t seem to be the case. That is a good thing. We have stuff going on. We hosted the conference celebration of the Epiphany at Newry on January 6th and welcomed pastors from churches around Blair County who participated in worship with us. Pr. Tim Knauss from the synod office preached and did a wonderful job. Then we were blessed by the ladies of the church who put together our Ice Cream Sundae social after the service. January kept moving as we celebrated the Baptism of our Lord, and The Conversion of St. Paul this month.

And in spite of the winter weather our year long New Testament Bible Study is continuing on. I would like to thank those who are participating in the Thursday night sessions – I know it is a lot of work and a lot of reading. But I also thank those of you who are reading along with us, even if you can’t make the Bible Study. I also thank all of you who are praying for the Bible Study. The thing is when we engage in the word of scripture it changes us. God plants seeds in us and waters them with his word and Christ gives growth. If any of us (even just one of us) is engaged regularly in the Word of God that is good for the entire parish. If two are doing that all the better, if three… well you get my point. Reading the Bible is good for us because it helps the entire church. So I am thanking you for your support and also asking you to join us, in reading reflecting and praying that the Word of God does it’s work in this parish and works on us.

That is a lot of stuff going on here at Geeseytown and Newry. Upcoming we have Kids Club events, we have a Souper Supper in February, we have the Super Bowl Challenge with Atonement Lutheran in Green Bay, though it is really late this year Ash Wednesday is around the corner, and that will set us into a new cycle of prayer, midweek services and all of that heading toward the big week of Holy Week and the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord at Easter. Come Lord Jesus, and give us the strength to do your work here until you do.

It is good to be the church. There is a lot to do.
May God Bless you and Keep You
Pr. Mike

This phrase “The Truth Will Make You Free” is pretty well distributed in our culture and in our world. The problem is that most people don’t know that this phrase comes from the mouth of and that this slogan doesn’t exist by itself. What Jesus says is”If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:31-32)NRSV

When you see the phrase in context it becomes pretty clear that the truth that we are talking about is Jesus Christ. That by continuing and abiding in his word we will be following him, we will know him, and by knowing him, Jesus, we will know the truth, and he THE TRUTH/JESUS will set us free. This passage is not some blanket charge for us to head out into the world looking for some unknown truth, this passage is Jesus telling us to turn to him and know that he is the only truth that will set us free and save us.

But this is in no way how the world deals with this phrase is it? “The Truth Will Make You Free” can be found on Libraries seeming to exclaim that if you read and learn enough you will then know the truth and will somehow be set free. Our scientific inquiry is built on the idea that if we simply are able to think enough and learn enough we will be able to probe the secrets of the universe and know the Truth of that which holds the foundations of the world together. If you remember the show ‘THE X FILES’ we were told that “The Truth is Out There”.

My point being that the way that the world usually looks at this passage, “The Truth will Make you Free” is that if we humans just work hard enough, think hard enough, are clever enough, that somehow we will discover a truth which will make us able to be the masters of our world. We hear this and we think that it means that nothing is beyond our grasp if we simply work at it and find the “truth” of the matter.

Here is the problem though. As we pointed out earlier, that is not what Jesus Christ is talking about. Jesus is saying that if you want to know what truth is – here I am. If you want to know what things are all about – look to me. If you want to know what will set you free and make you what God intends for you – I am it. This statement is not about people simply going out there on their own and rolling up their sleeves and ‘by-gum’ finding out what the truth is. The truth is right in front of them.

The problem is that the way people usually think about this passage is that it is completely opposite to what our Lord is saying. Because if I tell you to go out there and find the truth and that is what will make you free and happy, well then there you go on your own and good luck. If we take this phrase as most in the world do then we have no need for others and no need for God – because the answer is that I simply have to work things out by myself. If I just figure it all out – then I am good.

The problem is humans will never figure it out by themselves. We never will understand the truths of our salvation and our life with God. And we can also remember that since all of this world is passing away, and that since our God is the only one who is eternal – then to probe the truths of this crumbling reality can be helpful but in the end may not be as important as we believe them to be. Or to say it another way, the ‘truths’ that we find are not going to be as truthful as the TRUTH which Christ offers.

When you boil it all down humans beings love to believe that we are the masters of the world and that we can by our own power and knowledge control this world. What I would offer to you is that in the third chapter of Genesis, Adam and Eve believed that if they just at the forbidden fruit then they would know all the things that God knew, they would have all the truth of God, and they would be like God. And I would remind you that that didn’t go well for them, because there is only one God and you and I are not him.

So what I am proposing is this. That we always remember that God has given us all great gifts and abilities. God has given us inquisitive minds and the ability to explore the questions of this world. Yet that does not make us God. That does not mean that we will one day have a truth that is other than the one who is all truth.

What will happen (and maybe we might argue has begun to happen) is that as the seekers and thinkers of this world continue to climb the mountain of discovery, they will finally reach a plateau where they find the great thinkers and mystics of the church who have been waiting for them all along. Because there is only one TRUTH – and as radical as this may seem to this world. The TRUE TRUTH is really Jesus. We just have to wait for the world to figure that out.

Amen and God Bless You
Pastor Mike

The following is an article written by my friend, Pastor Randy Jones, of Messiah Lutheran Church in Montgomery, AL. Pastor Randy’s article, I thought, gives interesting insight into where we are as the church at this time in the world. I enjoyed the article enough that I wanted to share it with you here. Thanks to Pastor Jones, for allowing me to share this with you.
In Christ
Pastor Mike

Rev. Randy T. Jones writes:

Recently, I was given an article from the August 13th edition of the Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Perils of ‘Wannabe Cool’ Christianity”, by Brett McCracken. Brett McCracken describes himself as a 27 year old evangelical Christian. His article is very informative, as well as very affirming for me.

The core of the article had to do with the mass exodus of young folks (especially between the ages of 18-22) from evangelical churches. Now for me there’s no big surprise here simply because many, if not most, youth cease regular worship attendance when they go off to college; face it partying takes its toll and sleep on Sunday morning is very attractive. Anyway, “Lifeway Research determined that 70% of young Protestant adults” stop going to church on a regular basis. As I said no big surprise there.

In response to this phenomenon many churches have tried many different things to either keep these young folks in church or draw them back. If you look at many of the evangelical churches today you will see what this article called “a total image overhaul.” Some churches have started meetings in theaters and bars, some have put up large projection screens, some have given their pastors complete make-overs to make them more hip (some even get $80 haircuts), some have gone so far as to embrace the internet so completely that they offer worship services on-line, etc. etc. etc. And that’s not all that’s changed.

Many of the pastors in these churches have taken to trying to be “more culturally savvy.” They quote the current cultural icons such as Lady Gaga and Stephen Colbert in their sermons in order to make their message more contextual, and sex in many of these churches has become a regular subject of sermons. “Oak Leaf Church in Gainesville, Georgia, created a website called yourgreatsexlife.com to pique the interest of young seekers.” While part of the task of preaching a sermon is making sure it is contextual, it is very easy to go too far and lose the central message of the Gospel — Jesus. Jesus is the message and he is apparently not being seen very often in these churches.

I have over the years been asked why we haven’t tried some of these things. I have always resisted simply because I don’t believe that worship on Sunday morning is about us giving God a make over. Instead it is first and foremost about God transforming us into the image of his Son, our Lord Jesus the Christ. It is about what God has done, is doing, and promises yet to do through the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is the message I was given to preach in my ordination and it is the message I will stick with until I die. St. Paul admonished St. Timothy with these words, “Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy spirit living in us.” (II Timothy 1:13-14) On occasion St. Paul got it right.

Mr. McCracken affirmed this for me when he said this in his summary: “If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it’s easy or trendy or popular. It’s because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It’s because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched — and we want an alternative. It’s not because we want more of the same.” Does that sound familiar?

My brothers and sisters this is an invitation to those of us who remain faithful to our Lord and worship him on a regular basis. This article is a wake up call to the church, to us, to tell the story of Jesus with our lives and with our lips. So, be on the look out for opportunities to remind folks that Jesus died for them and that God raised him from the dead for them. I promise you won’t get hurt. You may be rejected on occasion; you may have eyes rolled at you on occasion; you may even be called a Jesus freak on occasion. But remember what our Lord said about this, “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when the exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.” (St. Luke 6:21-22a)

Rev. Randy Jones
Messiah Lutheran Church, ELCA
Montgomery, Alabama

 We are in the middle of Vacation Bible School week here at the Geeseytown/Newry Lutheran parish and we have been having a great time. VBS this year runs from Aug. 2 – 6, and this year’s theme is “HERO HEADQUARTERS”. It has been a lot of fun and our VBS team did has done a great job of turning our fellowship hall at Geeseytown into a Super City where our heroes can gather. I can’t say enough how appreciative I am for everyone and all of the hard work they put in to making this week come together. We have great teachers and great crafts, games, snacks, and songs. We have had a lot of people come together to make this week possible and a lot of people who though they couldn’t be here for the week gave their support and donated items for VBS. It is a great week and it wouldn’t be possible without the support which all of you have given.

The main idea for this week is that this VBS program is trying to show us how we can all be heroes in our lives. The main idea being that a hero doesn’t have to be a super hero. But heroes are ordinary people who help others when they are given the opportunity. What this week is showing our kids is that all through the Bible we have examples of ordinary people who God uses to play a part in his story. We heard about the servant girl who God uses to tell the General Naaman about Elijah, and allows for Naaman to be healed. We heard about the shepherds who the angels appeared to and said Christ was born. These shepherds (whose names we never learn) visit the Christ child – and then go and tell that the Messiah is born. We learned about the Centurion whose faith in Jesus allowed him to say that if Jesus said his servant would be healed, he knew the man would be healed. We will hear about the little boy who gives his lunch of five loaves and two fish to Jesus so that our Lord could feed 5,000 people. And we will hear about the Apostle Paul’s nephew who God sends to tell the Romans of a plot against Paul’s life, and thereby saves Paul.

The important thing is that all of these people we learned about are not what we would call “Major” players in the gospels. They are individuals who are mentioned because of one thing they did, that one place where God used them in a very particular way. They were ordinary people who became heroes on that day , because God used them to be a part of his plan.

Our message to the kids is that, we too are part of God’s story. That God is using us to be heroes, to help those he wants to help, to aid and give comfort to those who need it. We are seeing that God uses ordinary people like us to do his work, God makes us heroes in this world who bring about his love to those who need it.

One way that we are helping the kids remember this is that each night they are invited to bring in a food item for our local food bank. As they bring them in, they are building what is fastly becoming a tower of food. So each day our kids are seeing how something they did is going to help others and how (when we all work together) we can do more than we might expect. The kids are collecting a tableful of food that will help people in this area. This is just one example of how the little things we do are helping to care for the world and people around us. That is what God calls us all as Christians to do. We pray that this little example can be a message that will stay with these children as they walk forward in their lives and will remind them of how our Lord is always using and guiding all of us to serve and love all that he has made.

A disclaimer here is that some of you will hear this at the Parish Picnic on July 18th. However, I wanted to give you a head start to begin thinking about this idea, or challenge that I am laying before you …

Last year, on the day of my installation in the parish, I offered you a challenge. You may remember it was called the “Pastor Mike One a Year Challenge”. The basic idea was for each person in the parish to bring one visitor between the end of August 2009 and the beginning of September 2010. We have seen some fruits of this as we have had visitors, we have gained a few new members, and we have had the opportunity to worship with friends who you have brought with you. If we want to tally the results of this challenge, we can say that we have about four people who regularly visit and worship with us at Newry, and seven who are regular visitors with us at Geeseytown. Not too bad, and let’s keep going.

So now I have another invitation for you. If we wanted to give it a name it might be the, “Pastor Mike – New Testament in a Year Challenge and Bible Study”. Maybe not as catchy a name but I think you get the general idea. This is an invitation to join in a group of members from the parish who will taking on the discipline of reading and studying the New Testament over the course of one year. The reading is not that heavy actually, it requires that we read five (5) chapters of the New Testament each week. We would then meet, most likely on Thursday evenings, to study and discuss the chapters which we had read for the week.

What I would like to ask you to do is consider joining me and whoever else feels called to participate in this discipline, of walking through the Bible over the course of the next year. I believe there would be many benefits of participating in this study. Of course the primary goal is to get us engaged in Holy Scripture. But this process would hopefully give us more a feeling of the total landscape of the New Testament, and would give us the opportunity to read and explore large sections of scripture, each week, in their context. Unfortunately too many times we only get the small sections that are the assigned reading for that particular Sunday. When this happens we can miss the greater meaning of what one of the Gospels are trying to teach us, how Paul is framing his argument, or what image the vision of Revelation is trying to present.

Ideally, I would hope that you would both read and participate in our weekly Bible study. However, if you would like to simply sign on as a reader then that is okay too. I have found, however that when we join a discussion group we are much more likely to do the reading and keep ourselves focused on the task.

So please consider this. I will introduce this idea at our Parish Picnic and if there is interest in anyone joining this project, we would most likely begin our study after Labor Day.

God bless and I hope all is well for you and yours.
In Christ,
Pastor Mike

God is the source of all things, God is the one we come from and what will be once all things have faded away. God is the beginning and the end, the source of all that is and that which will continue. From our God from the eternal one we receive all that we have – meaning our possessions, our relationships, and the gifts that we bring into this life. All things come from God.

As such our relationship with God should be our primary relationship. It is what we are reminded of by our Lord Jesus when he is asked what the greatest commandment is. He replies that we should, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind …. and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27). It is God first, everything of us should be turned and devoted to God. This is not to the exclusion of the love we have for others or the relationships we have in this world. Love of God does not hinder those relationships but only makes them better, because when we have God – our creator, the light, and the truth – at the forefront of our lives, all other things both prosper and are kept in perspective.

But the thing is we don’t keep God first. We don’t make God the primary relationship in our lives. We should but we so easily get distracted, we get turned away, other things catch our eye and cause us to forget the one who is life for us.

What causes us to turn away is - SIN. Sin is that which pulls us away from that which is primary – our relationship with God. Because what we should do in our lives is turn to God, turn to Christ, pray to the Holy Spirit and listen for where God would have us go. However our own desires, passions, feelings of what we feel like we ought to do and what WE WANT TO DO – pull us away in different directions. That is sinful. Usually this leaves us following our own will and desire rather than listening for the guidance of the one who is truth.

That is a bad thing. Who do you think makes better choices. You and I who have our few decades of experience on this earth. Or the God who made heaven and earth? Do you think that you and I are so smart that we can figure everything out so that we don’t need the one who hung the stars and who when the time is right will cause them to fall?

My answer is, unfortunately, sometimes I do think I know better. Isn’t that awful? I am wrong of course, but sometimes even I think that I can figure it out on my own. Thankfully God has taken the time to prove me wrong several times in my life. God has been gracious enough to let me see how I did on my own, and usually that meant ending up frustrated, unfulfilled, in the wrong, and generally a lot worse of had I listened to where God was leading me in the first place.

What it boils down to is that God is always leading and guiding us – so much so that we don’t always know it. Because of all that God is doing we start to think how great we are. God doesn’t (usually) rip open the clouds and reveal himself. God works subtly and whispers his presence in and around our lives. So if we allow ourselves we can fall into thinking that all that we have and accomplish is because we are so great. But in truth all that we have is only because God has allowed it to be.

What I am trying to say is that we all need to take some time and remember and reflect on what the true source of our life is. Our life is a gift from God, we are sustained by the grace of God, we are made because somewhere in his divine wisdom, God believed that it should be that way.

So when those things hop up or pop up and attempt to turn us from God, or when temptation tries to get us to fall to those things which we even know are not good for us or others. We can realize that they are what they are – they are sin. Sin which is trying to distract us from the one who is light and truth and all that is.

Think of it this way too. God is eternal, sin isn’t. When we are tempted to turn from our Lord we can remember that in turning from God we are turning from the one who is all that is. We are turning from life to nothing. If it is good for us, if it is what we need, if it is wholesome and true – God can and will be in the middle of it. Let us try in all that we do to make sure that we turn first to our Lord, loving him with all that we are – and then shaping our lives first and foremost by that relationship.

That’s the thoughts for today
God Bless You
Pr. Mike

Primarily it was written to demonstrate to the powers that be, primarily Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, that the Evangelical (Lutheran) movement of Reform was orthodox and faithful in its understanding of the apostolic faith of the church. Essentially charges of heresy had been lobbed at Luther and all of the Reformers since the movement began – the AC was to demonstrate that what the Lutherans believed was absolutely in line with the traditional teachings of the wider church.

The AC was presented in hopes of demonstrating that the Lutherans were good and faithful Christians. It would probably be accurate to say that the Lutherans believed that they were more faithful Christians – but such was the divisive nature of the time. The central tenant of the Lutheran movement was that over the centuries the church had gotten distracted from what was really important. What is really important is Jesus, and the salvation we are offered by him. However, in the middle ages the church got very much distracted by a message of personal works righteousness. This is the belief that somehow, out of our own works and good deeds we can EARN our way into heaven. It is important to note that this was never official policy within the church – however it was very prevalent in popular piety and the church did little to steer believers away from this.

The worst abuse of this was the selling of indulgences by the church to finance the completion of St. Peter’s basilica. The indulgence was a letter that one could buy, which stated that in buying this letter one’s sins were forgiven. There was no need of repentance, of confession, or of making any type of reparations - you simply bought the indulgence. This was the event that kicked off Luther’s attack on policies of the church and was the broken straw that set in motion the Reformation.

Basically the AC is was written to demonstrate that although the Lutherans had some criticism of the church’s practice, they were faithful in their beliefs and that they were hoping to bring about reform for the good of the entire church.

The AC was written as a series of 28 articles, or topics, which address the beliefs of the Lutheran movement. The first 21 address matters of faith: God, Original Sin, The Son of God, Justification by Faith etc. These present a traditional and orthodox view of faith as it would have been understood by the entire church. However articles 22-28 deal specifically with criticisms of the church, which were the primary things that the Lutherans were looking to reform and change.

As things will go in difficult times, the oppositions didn’t really listen to the first 21 but really focused on the last 7. What had been intended to be a bridge to hopefully make way for peace and concillation within the church broke out into more bickering and finger pointing.

But the AC remained the primary confession of faith for the Lutheran church. Along with these 28 articles there is a longer Apology (Explanation) which goes into more detail about the reasons behind the particular beliefs of the church.

Though Charles V, would not recognize the AC he could not do away with the Lutheran movement. He effectually ordered the German princes to recant their beliefs under pain of death. However he was not able to carry out this threat. The German princes stood united in backing the statements of the AC and presented a united political front. Part of what enabled them to do this was that at the time the German provinces had the most money, the most people, and the most soldiers in the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V needed Germany and their support because he was preparing for war with the Ottoman Turks on his eastern border. So even though Charles tried to reject this confession he had no power to enforce his wishes. The German princes said they would not recant their beliefs.

So the AC became the document that defined Lutheranism. From its presentation people who were followers of Luther’s reforms had something to point to which said, this is what we believe. It became a clear statement of Lutheran belief and stands today as a witness to faith in Jesus Christ.