I hope 2009 is going well for you so far.
There are two things wrong with getting a fresh start each January 1. First is that you have to wait an entire year in between, and second, it might not seem like a fresh start. Can you really put the past behind you? Even if you're in school and have begun (or will begin) a new semester, can you really put the past behind you?
The good news is that our Savior offers us a fresh start every day! Since Christ died to take away our sin, all the junk of our lives is really gone in God's eyes. It might not seem like it to us, but we need to learn to see ourselves from God's perspective. He makes us new in Christ and gives us a fresh start! (See 2 Corinthians 5:17.)
Questions to think about:
1. What is something from your past that you'd like to forget about?
2. How does Christ's death on the cross make a difference?
3. Now that you have a fresh start, what would you like to strive for?
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Portals of Prayer for the New Year
from the January 2009 “Herald”
What a great way to start the new year! Forget your typical resolutions, and just pick up this little Portals of Prayer booklet once a day. A copy is being sent to every household in the congregation for 2009.
The beauty of this devotional is that you can use it a little or a lot, because the name Portals of Prayer is very accurate: It is a daily “portal,” or gateway. It’s easy to do the minimum, which is to read each day’s Bible verse (printed at the top of the page), followed by the brief devotion and short prayer. But if you want to step through the portal, you can do more: There is a suggested reading that you can look up in your Bible, perhaps a few paragraphs long. There are additional prayers given for each day of the week and for special needs and observances. There’s even a brief order of service that could be used for a family or small-group devotion.
Don’t feel that you have to use every resource every day, but these resources are there when you need them. If you keep the booklet within easy reach in a common area of your home, then you can easily keep up with the rest of the members of our congregation, who will be going through this booklet together in 2009. (It is a quarterly publication, so you’ll receive a new issue every three months.) Expect to hear references to the devotions in sermons and Bible studies to reinforce the themes and to underscore that we are doing this together; it will be a common, shared experience.
Expect also to have a renewed and increased appreciation for the Word of God, especially if this is your first foray into daily devotions. A common saying for church signs goes, “Seven days without prayer makes one weak.” Overly punny, perhaps, but it’s a good thought. Instead of going Sunday to Sunday, enter the portals of prayer and the Word of God on a daily basis, and have a great 2009!
On the Web. These two web sites will give the current day's devotion only; there is no way to browse past or future devotions.
What a great way to start the new year! Forget your typical resolutions, and just pick up this little Portals of Prayer booklet once a day. A copy is being sent to every household in the congregation for 2009.
The beauty of this devotional is that you can use it a little or a lot, because the name Portals of Prayer is very accurate: It is a daily “portal,” or gateway. It’s easy to do the minimum, which is to read each day’s Bible verse (printed at the top of the page), followed by the brief devotion and short prayer. But if you want to step through the portal, you can do more: There is a suggested reading that you can look up in your Bible, perhaps a few paragraphs long. There are additional prayers given for each day of the week and for special needs and observances. There’s even a brief order of service that could be used for a family or small-group devotion.
Don’t feel that you have to use every resource every day, but these resources are there when you need them. If you keep the booklet within easy reach in a common area of your home, then you can easily keep up with the rest of the members of our congregation, who will be going through this booklet together in 2009. (It is a quarterly publication, so you’ll receive a new issue every three months.) Expect to hear references to the devotions in sermons and Bible studies to reinforce the themes and to underscore that we are doing this together; it will be a common, shared experience.
Expect also to have a renewed and increased appreciation for the Word of God, especially if this is your first foray into daily devotions. A common saying for church signs goes, “Seven days without prayer makes one weak.” Overly punny, perhaps, but it’s a good thought. Instead of going Sunday to Sunday, enter the portals of prayer and the Word of God on a daily basis, and have a great 2009!
On the Web. These two web sites will give the current day's devotion only; there is no way to browse past or future devotions.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Merry Christmas!
I recently sent the following message to my young adult and high school friends on facebook and thought it was worth posting to the blog:
For me, music ranks very high on the list of favorites. I recently put a bunch of Christmas music on my MP3 player. (I also discovered that if you choose to Play All just before stepping into the shower without also selecting Shuffle, alphabetical order will dictate that you hear five different versions of “Angels We Have Heard on High” in a row!)
At first, I would probably say that traditions are not as important to me, but as I think about it, I am very big into taking pictures and video of the kids as we cut our Christmas tree out at the tree farm or open presents on Christmas morning.
When it comes to what I dislike, it’s very easy to say consumerism and materialism, but I also dislike what I would call a certain superficiality. What I mean is, why do people say, “Let’s help the needy because it’s the holidays”? Shouldn’t we be doing that year-round? If you’re only kind or generous or cheerful for one month out of the year, it strikes me as rather insincere. Still, I suppose it’s better than nothing!
But I guess that's why the birth of God in human form makes all the difference. Apart from Christ, all of the “holiday cheer” seems very empty to me — like a street of nothing but building facades constructed for a movie set. It is Jesus Christ who puts something of substance behind that facade so that we can enter into those buildings and inhabit them. Then God’s love is a way of life instead of seasonal show.
What about you? What are your thoughts?
I hope you're able to enjoy this festive season!
What's your favorite thing about Christmas? (Music? Traditions?)
What do you *dislike* most about Christmas? (Consumerism? Superficiality?) What is something specific you would do to help fix it, if you could?
How does knowing that God became a human being (and started out in a feeding trough!) make a difference?
Come by OSLC on Christmas Eve if you can! Traditional candlelight services at 8 & 11 p.m. — crazy family service at 5 p.m.
For me, music ranks very high on the list of favorites. I recently put a bunch of Christmas music on my MP3 player. (I also discovered that if you choose to Play All just before stepping into the shower without also selecting Shuffle, alphabetical order will dictate that you hear five different versions of “Angels We Have Heard on High” in a row!)
At first, I would probably say that traditions are not as important to me, but as I think about it, I am very big into taking pictures and video of the kids as we cut our Christmas tree out at the tree farm or open presents on Christmas morning.
When it comes to what I dislike, it’s very easy to say consumerism and materialism, but I also dislike what I would call a certain superficiality. What I mean is, why do people say, “Let’s help the needy because it’s the holidays”? Shouldn’t we be doing that year-round? If you’re only kind or generous or cheerful for one month out of the year, it strikes me as rather insincere. Still, I suppose it’s better than nothing!
But I guess that's why the birth of God in human form makes all the difference. Apart from Christ, all of the “holiday cheer” seems very empty to me — like a street of nothing but building facades constructed for a movie set. It is Jesus Christ who puts something of substance behind that facade so that we can enter into those buildings and inhabit them. Then God’s love is a way of life instead of seasonal show.
What about you? What are your thoughts?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Nothing Merry about “Chris-mess”?
from the December 2008 “Herald”
Chris is having a bad year:
It is because of this mess, however, that Jesus came to earth in the first place. Into a world of pain and suffering, of sin and injustice, Christ came to bear our transgressions and give us the hope of eternal life. Even if your name isn’t Christopher or Christine, your name is “Christian,” and Jesus came for you, to take your “Chris-mess” and turn it around.
On December 25, you might see some visible “mess” that is a result of Christmas, such as piles of wrapping paper torn from presents or stacks of dirty dishes from a big holiday meal. “Such a mess!” you might say. But remember that Jesus is not responsible for the mess; instead, He is the one who can take all the“Chris-messes” of your life and clean them up, just as you are washed clean in Baptism. The festival of Jesus’ birth reminds us that He came on a rescue mission that would not end before He had died on the cross and risen to life, so that we could live life in Him! So have a Merry Christmas, Christian!
Chris is having a bad year:
“It’s bad enough that gas prices were so high, and it was harder than ever to cover all my expenses and pay the bills, but on top of that, my boss has been hassling me about something that wasn’t even my fault. Now there’s also family trouble, and I’m caught in the middle once again. It seems there’s no end. With the holidays coming up, that’s just one more source of stress. There’s nothing merry about Christmas, because my life is just one big ‘Chris-mess’!”Whether you picture Chris as a man or woman might depend on how much you identify this individual with yourself or someone close to you. In fact, there is no single person named Chris whose life is described above, but his or her experiences are representative of all of us. Maybe you don’t relate to everything Chris said, or maybe you have different troubles like health concerns or marital struggles, but each of us has our own “mess” that we won’t be able to avoid, even as we try to celebrate the holidays.
It is because of this mess, however, that Jesus came to earth in the first place. Into a world of pain and suffering, of sin and injustice, Christ came to bear our transgressions and give us the hope of eternal life. Even if your name isn’t Christopher or Christine, your name is “Christian,” and Jesus came for you, to take your “Chris-mess” and turn it around.
On December 25, you might see some visible “mess” that is a result of Christmas, such as piles of wrapping paper torn from presents or stacks of dirty dishes from a big holiday meal. “Such a mess!” you might say. But remember that Jesus is not responsible for the mess; instead, He is the one who can take all the“Chris-messes” of your life and clean them up, just as you are washed clean in Baptism. The festival of Jesus’ birth reminds us that He came on a rescue mission that would not end before He had died on the cross and risen to life, so that we could live life in Him! So have a Merry Christmas, Christian!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
You Call That Support?
Can you "support" something without making a commitment? This thought occurred when I saw a Facebook newsfeed item that a friend of mine had joined a certain "cause." This cause has 2,306,274 members as of this morning and has raised a total of $28,825.
Now I don't want to disparage other, non-financial ways of supporting a cause, which could include raising awareness by word of mouth, volunteer efforts, and even prayer. But for more than 2 million people to have raised less than 30 thousand dollars means that each supporter contributed an average of 1.25 cents. Or the same amount would have been raised if 99% of the members of the cause contributed nothing, and the remaining 1% contributed a whopping $1.25.
I also understand that a lot of people on Facebook are in high school or college and maybe don't have a lot of extra money, but if you really care about something, couldn't you go without a soda for one day and contribute $1.50? Or skip going to the movie theater and donate the $8.50 to this cause? If each member contributed only ten dollars, there would be a total of $23 million raised. If each member contributed only one dollar, it would still be almost one hundred times what it is now.
Thanksgiving is this week, and I know something about giving to charitable causes. In order to meet the annual budget of our congregation, we need offerings of nearly $7,000 per week, which comes to about $30 for every man, woman, and child in attendance. Most people don't give nearly that much — which I can understand, because everybody's situation is unique — but that means that a small percentage of church members are contributing much more than their "fair share," and for that, I am thankful.
You don't have to put $30 in the offering plate when you're at church on Sunday, but I hope that when you consider all that the Lord has given to you, you'll give more than 1.25 cents.
Now I don't want to disparage other, non-financial ways of supporting a cause, which could include raising awareness by word of mouth, volunteer efforts, and even prayer. But for more than 2 million people to have raised less than 30 thousand dollars means that each supporter contributed an average of 1.25 cents. Or the same amount would have been raised if 99% of the members of the cause contributed nothing, and the remaining 1% contributed a whopping $1.25.
I also understand that a lot of people on Facebook are in high school or college and maybe don't have a lot of extra money, but if you really care about something, couldn't you go without a soda for one day and contribute $1.50? Or skip going to the movie theater and donate the $8.50 to this cause? If each member contributed only ten dollars, there would be a total of $23 million raised. If each member contributed only one dollar, it would still be almost one hundred times what it is now.
Thanksgiving is this week, and I know something about giving to charitable causes. In order to meet the annual budget of our congregation, we need offerings of nearly $7,000 per week, which comes to about $30 for every man, woman, and child in attendance. Most people don't give nearly that much — which I can understand, because everybody's situation is unique — but that means that a small percentage of church members are contributing much more than their "fair share," and for that, I am thankful.
You don't have to put $30 in the offering plate when you're at church on Sunday, but I hope that when you consider all that the Lord has given to you, you'll give more than 1.25 cents.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
What Is God's Name?
This is a great question that was raised after my sermon on the Second Commandment, which forbids misusing God's name. But what is God's name?
We can call God "God," which is using a common noun as a proper name, just as you can call your parents "Father" and "Mother" — though most people probably say "Dad" and "Mom." Similarly, I am often called "Pastor" because I'm a pastor, and doctors are often called "Doctor." Such a "name" is sufficient when we know who we're talking about.
In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, the word el means "god" generally, and the plural form is elohim, "gods." Either word can be used of the one true God, the God of Israel; the singular is used most often in compound words (like Bethel or Joel), while the plural is used with same effect as our use of a capital letter.
However, there is also a proper name for the one true God in Hebrew, just as your father and your mother have proper names, as do pastors and doctors. In most English Bibles it is translated as "Lord" (usually "LORD", in all caps or small caps), but the American Standard Bible chose to translate it as "Jehovah," which Jehovah Witnesses insist is God's only true name. Modern scholars will render it as "Yahweh," for which a little explanation is in order.
The name is four Hebrew letters, all consonants. First is yodh, which sounds like an English Y but was often represented in Roman letters as J (which also sounds like English Y when used in Latin or German). Next comes he, which is a straightforward H. Third is waw, sometimes called vav; this letter makes either a W sound or a V sound, depending on who you talk to. The last letter is another he. So you could write the four letters JHVH or YHWH (or JHWH or YHVH, but no one ever does these last two combinations).
When Jewish scholars decided to start putting little dots above and below the consonants of Hebrew to represent the vowels (about one thousand years ago), they did something a little tricky. By this time, pious Jews no longer pronounced YHWH, probably out of reverence and out of fear of misusing the divine name; instead, they said Adonai, which means "Lord." So the scholars put the vowel dots for Adonai on the consonants for YHWH as a sign to the reader to say "Adonai" instead of pronouncing YHWH.
In Hebrew, this combination of consonants and vowels is meaningless, but when you use JHVH along with these vowels (the first "a" can also be represented "e", and the "i" is actually a consonant) it comes out as Jehovah. However, our best guess at reconstructing the original vowels to use with YHWH gives us Yahweh. (A shortened form of this name is found in many Hebrew names as well as in "Hallelujah," where the J is pronounced like Y, and which means "Praise the LORD!")
Some people think that even Yahweh is not God's real name. In Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses, "I am who I am." And He tells Moses to tell the Israelites, "'I am' has sent me to you." The name Yahweh is closely related to the Hebrew word that means, "He is." In other words, God says, "I am," and we say, "He is," but His real name remains unknown.
But God does reveal His name, and it is for our salvation. As Joel 2:32 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." This is God's revealed name. Most importantly, God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, whose name means "the LORD saves" and is the name which is above every name. Not only can we say that "Jesus is Lord" but also Jesus is the LORD, God in human flesh; He is Immanuel, "God with us." We should not misuse God's name, but He has given us His name to use for His divine purposes.
Advanced Note: Jesus is the Greek form of the Aramaic Yeshua, which in turn comes from Hebrew Joshua, which in full form is written Yehoshua. The Yeho- part is the YH of YHWH, and the -shua part means salvation.
We can call God "God," which is using a common noun as a proper name, just as you can call your parents "Father" and "Mother" — though most people probably say "Dad" and "Mom." Similarly, I am often called "Pastor" because I'm a pastor, and doctors are often called "Doctor." Such a "name" is sufficient when we know who we're talking about.
In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, the word el means "god" generally, and the plural form is elohim, "gods." Either word can be used of the one true God, the God of Israel; the singular is used most often in compound words (like Bethel or Joel), while the plural is used with same effect as our use of a capital letter.
However, there is also a proper name for the one true God in Hebrew, just as your father and your mother have proper names, as do pastors and doctors. In most English Bibles it is translated as "Lord" (usually "LORD", in all caps or small caps), but the American Standard Bible chose to translate it as "Jehovah," which Jehovah Witnesses insist is God's only true name. Modern scholars will render it as "Yahweh," for which a little explanation is in order.
The name is four Hebrew letters, all consonants. First is yodh, which sounds like an English Y but was often represented in Roman letters as J (which also sounds like English Y when used in Latin or German). Next comes he, which is a straightforward H. Third is waw, sometimes called vav; this letter makes either a W sound or a V sound, depending on who you talk to. The last letter is another he. So you could write the four letters JHVH or YHWH (or JHWH or YHVH, but no one ever does these last two combinations).
When Jewish scholars decided to start putting little dots above and below the consonants of Hebrew to represent the vowels (about one thousand years ago), they did something a little tricky. By this time, pious Jews no longer pronounced YHWH, probably out of reverence and out of fear of misusing the divine name; instead, they said Adonai, which means "Lord." So the scholars put the vowel dots for Adonai on the consonants for YHWH as a sign to the reader to say "Adonai" instead of pronouncing YHWH.
In Hebrew, this combination of consonants and vowels is meaningless, but when you use JHVH along with these vowels (the first "a" can also be represented "e", and the "i" is actually a consonant) it comes out as Jehovah. However, our best guess at reconstructing the original vowels to use with YHWH gives us Yahweh. (A shortened form of this name is found in many Hebrew names as well as in "Hallelujah," where the J is pronounced like Y, and which means "Praise the LORD!")
Some people think that even Yahweh is not God's real name. In Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses, "I am who I am." And He tells Moses to tell the Israelites, "'I am' has sent me to you." The name Yahweh is closely related to the Hebrew word that means, "He is." In other words, God says, "I am," and we say, "He is," but His real name remains unknown.
But God does reveal His name, and it is for our salvation. As Joel 2:32 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." This is God's revealed name. Most importantly, God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, whose name means "the LORD saves" and is the name which is above every name. Not only can we say that "Jesus is Lord" but also Jesus is the LORD, God in human flesh; He is Immanuel, "God with us." We should not misuse God's name, but He has given us His name to use for His divine purposes.
Advanced Note: Jesus is the Greek form of the Aramaic Yeshua, which in turn comes from Hebrew Joshua, which in full form is written Yehoshua. The Yeho- part is the YH of YHWH, and the -shua part means salvation.
Friday, November 7, 2008
A Pile of Rubble and the Smell of Soot...
...was all that was left of the River Church's sanctuary as I drove past earlier this week. I had decided to take the "back way" to the hospital to avoid Route 9 (those of you who live here know what I mean!), and I knew th
at I'd be passing by the site of last week's fire, but I wasn't prepared to be able to smell it, even with my car windows closed. I also didn't know that the building had come down; I had expected to see the charred shell of the building that I would pass whenever I took the back way to the hospital, but it was just gone!
I circled the block to find a place to park so that I could snap some pictures with my cell phone. There were some walls still standing -- looks like walls shared in common with the adjacent buildings. It's hard to tell in t
his photo, but you can make out the remains of one stained glass window, and for the time of day I was there, the sunlight was streaming through. Rays of hope amid so much destruction and loss?
But the real hope is the statement that you can read on their web site, betheriver.com: "Our church is not a building, it is a group of people joined together by a common love and a common purpose." That is a good thing for us all to remember. We often think of church as a building, but it is really the Body of Christ, of which we are members. Our Lutheran Confessions describe the Church as the congregation of believers gathered around God's Word and Christ's sacraments.
The members of the River Church are meeting at an alternate location, and the church goes on. They say on their web site that they have insurance, so I suppose they will build another structure. But most of all, they have their treasure in heaven, which neither moth nor rust, nor thieves, nor fire, can destroy. Thanks be to God for a faith like this. We hold them in our prayers.
at I'd be passing by the site of last week's fire, but I wasn't prepared to be able to smell it, even with my car windows closed. I also didn't know that the building had come down; I had expected to see the charred shell of the building that I would pass whenever I took the back way to the hospital, but it was just gone!I circled the block to find a place to park so that I could snap some pictures with my cell phone. There were some walls still standing -- looks like walls shared in common with the adjacent buildings. It's hard to tell in t
his photo, but you can make out the remains of one stained glass window, and for the time of day I was there, the sunlight was streaming through. Rays of hope amid so much destruction and loss?But the real hope is the statement that you can read on their web site, betheriver.com: "Our church is not a building, it is a group of people joined together by a common love and a common purpose." That is a good thing for us all to remember. We often think of church as a building, but it is really the Body of Christ, of which we are members. Our Lutheran Confessions describe the Church as the congregation of believers gathered around God's Word and Christ's sacraments.
The members of the River Church are meeting at an alternate location, and the church goes on. They say on their web site that they have insurance, so I suppose they will build another structure. But most of all, they have their treasure in heaven, which neither moth nor rust, nor thieves, nor fire, can destroy. Thanks be to God for a faith like this. We hold them in our prayers.
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