Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts on this Sunday's gospel text that I shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. What do you think? Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13 [Jesus said to the disciples:] 1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, a...

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...

It has been a long time since I posted anything. It has been a very rough few months personally and in my ministry at Bethel. Due to financial issues, the church has had to make a change in the call. It will be going from full time to half time. After much prayer and discerning, I determined that I am not supposed to be that part time pastor for these wonderful people of God. I will remain here until Jan. 31, 2015 unless I receive a new call before that date. God has certainly challenged us all and we'll see what God has in mind for all of us. Whatever it is, it will be good. For the first Sunday of Advent, I preached on Isaiah 64:1-9. Here is the sermon:   Happy New Year! That’s right. Happy New Year! Normally, we associate the first day of the year with Jan. 1, but that is for the secular calendar. The church liturgical year starts on a different date and is traditionally 4 Sundays before Christmas. This period of four weeks before Christmas is Advent, which m...

I am now officially a seminary graduate (front row, 4th from the right). Friday, May 11, 2012 my classmates and I graduated from LTSG . We have come a long way. Sometimes it seems like we just started and other times our journey seems has seemed much longer. It was an emotional day that we celebrated with family, friends, and the whole seminary community.  All academic righteousness has been fulfilled. No class projects are hanging over my head. What a relief! But it is a bittersweet relief. Since I began writing this post many weeks ago, I have been called as pastor of a small town church in the Southern Tier of New York State. I was ordained Friday night to the ministry of Word and Sacrament surrounded by family, friends, members of my congregation, and neighboring congregations. I was privileged to have some of my closest friends from seminary participate in this occasion. That too was an emotional occasion. Glad the church has boxes of Kleenex in the pews! I have...

In three days I will learn the general regional area where I will be a pastor after seminary. Today, this is what I am hearing as I wait. The first time I heard this song was at night prayer here at the LTSG campus. Here is a link to a version of "The Summons" on You Tube. Google Image