Little Laments

Pastor's blog

Below are the reflections and questions to guide our meditation on the laments of our lives and our opportunity to be present with others to enable their stories of lament. The reading will be Psalm 42. The psalm begins with a familiar verse: “As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” This longing for God’s presence is picked up in ELW Hymn 331: “As the deer runs to the river, parched and weary from the chase, we have come from hurt and hurry, thirsting for your healing grace.”

Holy Lament

Pastor's blog

We will gather each Wednesday morning in Lent at 10:30 AM for brief worship. The theme will be lamentations. In the Bible space is given for people to share their pain, their sorrow, their loss, the things which cut deep in their souls. The ministry of lamentation does not only call for each of us to identify and tell our own stories of lament, but also to show up for others to listen and hear their stories as well. In the midst of Lamentations is a healing God who listens, loves, and moves us toward healing and new beginnings. The first Lesson for Ash Wednesday is from the book of Joel and helps us see the connection between our suffering and lamentations and the worship of God’s people. The blog is an edited excerpt from the book “Grace All Around Us” published by Augsburg Fortress in February 2007.

Transfiguration Thoughts

Pastor's blog

In the verses preceding Mark’s Transfiguration passage, Jesus has just articulated what is arguably his most disturbing, difficult teaching of all: that he must suffer, die, and rise again – and that anyone who wishes to follow him must “deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”.  The Transfiguration’s light, then, acts as a kind of reassurance for Peter, John, and James (and for the rest of us!).  It’s as if Mark is saying: We’re now making the turn toward Golgotha, and that means descending into the valley of the shadow of death.  But fear not! Keep this astonishing, mysterious mountaintop story in mind as we go. Carry it like a torch, for it can help show the way – not least because it gives us a glimpse of where all this is headed…

Year of Mark

Pastor's blog

This year of the Lectionary is the Year of Mark and most of the Gospel lessons in this season come from this Gospel. I want to share an outline of Mark with you so that you can refer to it from time to time during the coming year. The Gospel of Mark is arranged in an outline of three sections, and in each section there is a seeing miracle.

Who Do You Bring to Church with You?

Pastor's blog

In the Gospel for this coming Sunday we go to church with Jesus. “Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught..”
Besides the usual group who assembled, with the scribes who were their teachers, there was also an unexpected guest who joined them for worship. “Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.” Today we would say that the man was afflicted with a mental illness.

Dr. King’s Epiphany

Pastor's blog

During this week we will again celebrate the life and ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is especially relevant that we celebrate this modern-day prophet during the season of Epiphany. In his book, “Stride Toward Freedon,” Dr. King describes a key Epiphany of his life.

Epiphany of Our Lord

Pastor's blog

In Matthew 2 we are given the story of three seekers on a spiritual journey. Outside our doors we are confronted with societal spiritual hunger as intense as it has ever been. They “bend the knee” here and there. In the mission field outside our door the American ethos is not secular, but personal. People are seeking answers to the anxiety of our time. Successful churches understand the holes in people’s lives and fill them. The American magi are pragmatic, personal. There is no natural fit between the complexities of Lutheran theology and popular American thought. How do we translate these complexities and chisel out space for justification by grace, high Christology, law\gospel tension? We are a church somewhere between an immigrant clan and the American experience.

Lift Up Thine eyes

Pastor's blog

On Christmas Eve in the Year of our Lord 2023 we are not at peace. War and death rage on in Gaza, Ukraine, with ongoing conflict in Burma, Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Hate crimes and acts of bigotry mar our public life. Our imminent election season divides us and scares us. Our welcome of our migrant new neighbors is touched by resentment and fear. We In our country, in our world, in our lives, we are not at peace on this Christmas Eve of 2023.

If Anyone Saves a Life. . .

Pastor's blog

Like so many of you I have been distressed and heartbroken by the continued suffering in wars and conflict across the globe. I am always thinking about Ukraine, especially since some of our members look to relatives suffering there. And in this holy Advent season our hearts go toward the Holy Land and the ongoing conflict and suffering there: from a horrific terror attack, to remaining hostages, to civilian deaths in Gaza. Previously I had shared some reflections from a journal I kept in a visit to the Holy Land. Today, with Advent hope and waiting on the coming of the Prince of Peace I share verses from Jewish and Muslim scriptures and a final entry in that journal.

With Gratitude and Joy

Announcements

This past Sunday, God certainly answered the call found in the Advent Prayer of the Day: “Stir up your power, O Lord and come.” God’s power in the Holy Spirit was present as we received seven new members; as we assembled almost 200 Christmas packages with the Sunday School children for migrant children through RefugeeOne; as we shared the beginning of a lively Bible Study of the Gospel of Mark at the Adult Forum; as we gathered in a full church to experience the beautiful Candlelight liturgy; and as our worship and Candlelight services were available to members and many others through livestream technology.