Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the message I preached at Bethany Village yesterday. I preached it 4 times in slightly different ways. This was the last one I preached at evening vespers. 7:00 Vespers Sermon How do you imagine God to be? What do you see when you pray? We all have different images of God we see in prayer, which are especially meaningful to us. I used to live in the Holy Land . From my window, I could watch a young shepherd with his sheep and goats. He loved and cared for them. He even played soccer with one of the goats. For me, the image of the Lord as my shepherd in Psalm 23 or Jesus ’ declaration in John 10, “I am the good shepherd,” are very rich and meaningful. Perhaps when you’re lonely or fearful, it is God almighty, the creator God who is your comfort, your protector. Our hymns and songs are full of pictures of God. God walks and talks with us IN THE GARDEN or maybe you see Jesus as the Lover of your soul. Someone living by the sea will have different images that ar...

I am now in week 2 of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) in a retirement community that ranges from independent living to skilled nursing. there is an area called Memory Support. These dear people have dementia or Alzheimer's. With these children of God, it is about being with them in the moment. A Bible study for independent retirees looks very different than one for memory support and yet even in an incapacitated state, connections are being made. From their past, they can connect with scripture, old hymns, and the Lord's Prayer. In pondering about the various experiences I am having, I thought of a song we've sung a few times that calls us to self-sacrificing service for God and God's people. Here are the words: The Summons 1. Will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you don't know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown in you and you in me? 2. Will you l...

Yesterday was my first day of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) at Bethany Village . This is an experience I have been looking forward to. I have heard wonderful things about this place and its CPE program and supervisor. It was an exhausting first day however. Daily devotions and announcements are part of the morning routine at Bethany and this morning it's my turn to do the devotional part. This is what I'll be sharing with Bethany's residents this morning. Praying According to God’s Will It can be hard and frustrating to know how to pray for yourself or someone else. We know we should pray, we may want to pray, but find ourselves at a loss for words. We cannot pray correctly. As crazy as this may sound, our inability to pray according to God’s will is good news. Hear these words from Scripture: 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And Go...

My son and his fiancée were determined to have a secular wedding ceremony in Las Vegas. The phrase that kept going through my mind was, "Bidden or not bidden, God is present." God is with us whether we realize it or not. And of course we kept praying for them. They are a wonderful couple who are very good for each other. We are thrilled to have Marisa in our family. The setting was beautiful: an outdoor patio area with plants around. It was evening and there was a nice breeze. The groom's father and best man told us that when they met with the minister (yes, minister, not justice of the peace) they found out he's a Lutheran minister. Hmm, isn't that interesting? The ceremony used the traditional vows. The minister spoke seriously to Christian and Marisa, charging them that they were in this for the long haul...as long as they lived. He did not use the word God , but certainly gave them godly counsel in the ceremony. God was there...bidden or not bidden. God was th...

Given the following scenario, what would your answer be? Is this a valid question? One of the members of your church comes into your office one afternoon with a question about the Holy Spirit. She attended church with a friend on Sunday, and there was lots of talk about the Spirit, and lots of energy in the worship. “Pastor,” she said, “I never hear about the Holy Spirit in the Lutheran Church—it seems like we spend all of our time talking about God the Father and Jesus. What does the Holy Spirit do, anyway?” Explain the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and life of a Christian. Guilty as charged! Migliore writes that often the church has been suspicious of movements that have stressed the power of the Holy Spirit. I even experienced some of that from a member of my candidacy committee because of past involvement with the charismatic movement. As mentioned in a recent lecture, the Holy Spirit is the “least understood” [1] person of the Trinity. By...