Claimed, gathered and sent

It's hard to wait. Let's talk about this coming Sunday's gospel lesson. What are your thoughts and insights? This was sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.   Gospel: Matthew 24:36-44   [Jesus said to the disciples,] 36 “About that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had k...

This is the e-message that went out yesterday God's people at  St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  This is my first impression of the gospel reading for this coming Sunday. 26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come." Mark 4:26–29 Who doesn't like a good mystery, the kind with multiple layers of intrigue in the plot? My favorites are mystery stories that let me think I know the answer to the who dun it. Then as you progress through the story you become more or less sure of  your conclusion. You go through many twists and turns in the plot until you reach the end of the story and...that's the culprit? I certainly didn...

This is the message I shared with the people of Grace Lutheran Church, Petersburg, WV. The gospel text is Matthew 24:36-44 . How many of us have taken road trips with small children? What is the universal question all children ask? “Are we there yet?” It might as well be an eternity before they arrive at grandma and grandpa’s or whatever the destination. I don’t like to wait either. When Ray and I are on a long trip, we have our GPS on the dash and it displays our expected arrival time at our destination. I must admit that I get a certain pleasure if traffic is moving along and we’re making good time and seeing the time get earlier, even by a minute or two. This is one type of waiting, but there are other kinds that are not as pleasant. It’s not easy to wait for medical test results, especially if something is wrong. We worry and are scared of the unknown. If we can at least name it, we can begin to deal with it. It is the unknown that is so hard to handle. Early in this chapter of...