December Newsletter Article (Bethany Lutheran Church, Cushing, MN; Faith Lutheran Church, Staples, MN) O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence… – Isaiah 64:1
When our children were small we always had some sort of Lego/Duplo (or their generic cousins) in the house for building things, and a game we would play would be called “Baby Godzilla.” I would try and build the tallest tower I could with the blocks, then Liesl or Josiah would come and knock it down, and they would laugh and laugh, and I would have to do it all over again (Hopefully fast enough before they stomped it down in the midst of construction.). If you remember having a two-year-old, you know the destruction they can wage without having a tower be built, so it became something therapeutic for all of us. I got to build something, and they got to destroy. We all won.
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In one of my churches that I serve as an Interim Associate Pastor, we have begun a 7 week study on Vocation, the doctrine of service given to us by God. Each week we will have a video posted from the class of the lesson and discussion, along with the PowerPoint presentation, and I hope you will be enlivened to see the places where God has hidden himself to hand you his grace.
This week we look at the Old Testament, and specifically the Ten Commandments. We delve into the Small Catechism and try to learn how Martin Luther taught vocation through his teaching on the basics of Christianity. ![]()
In one of my churches that I serve as an Interim Associate Pastor, we have begun a 7 week study on Vocation, the doctrine of service given to us by God. Each week we will have a video posted from the class of the lesson and discussion, along with the PowerPoint presentation, and I hope you will be enlivened to see the places where God has hidden himself to hand you his grace.
This week is all about the "first things" to be said, or prolegomena. We look at some definitions and talk about some of the problems that cause us to blind to how vocation works, and especially how God works through it. Sermon for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 25:1-13 (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Ezekiel 11:17-20; 1 Kings 19:1-8 ; Romans 5:3-8) Ok. I get it. We are upset today, or yesterday, or always. All because of politics and power. All for the wrong reasons. All because we have bought into a lie. For instance, just like 4 years ago, we have set ourselves up to get upset because the person who might win the popular vote for president may not win the election for president. I get it. The electoral college, at first glance seems unfair. However, it has been the way of things in this country for 200 years. Why do we just now get upset with it? Why not get upset with our political candidates who don't actually try to win the hearts and minds of all Americans, but instead bank on just winning the ones in the bubbles they like? We don't because we want to blame the system, because our "gal/guy" could never be at fault for playing a game with this country and it's people.
November 2020 Church Newsletter Article “Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” – Luke 18:14
How’s your COVID list going? You know what I mean. The internal list you have of all the things you cannot do right now?! That list may have things on it like vacation, or going to concerts. Your favorite restaurant closed so add that one. Festivals are done. No Vikings game on your schedule this year. Youth sports have been put on the backburner. Even worse, mom or dad, grandma or grandpa, are lonely. They are sitting in that care center we helped them get into because they were in need of that extra care we could not provide, but we can’t see them, hug them, kiss them, or eat with them without a babysitter and dressing up like nuclear fallout is on the way. |
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