Claimed, gathered and sent

"Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints" (Eph 6:18 NRS). As a second year student, I am among those who have been blessed by the prayers of the faithful people of Zion Lutheran Church.  Shortly after my classmates and I began our seminary journey we heard that these folks would like to pray for us. We each have a specific person who has been praying for each of us over the nearly two years we've been here. Last year they came to visit us here at the seminary and today we had the opportunity to visit and worship with them. It was such a blessing. My prayer partner was unable to join the group that visited us last year. Today I had the privilege of meeting her and thanking her for her prayers. It makes such a difference to know their support and faithfulness as they carry our needs to God. Today, as we gathered together we were refreshed and nourished in...

RI has experienced the worst flooding in over 100 years. We have friends and family there and would appreciate your prayers. Yesterday, the governor declared a state of emergency. The situation is very desperate. Thank you.

For quite a while, the site where I will be doing my internship has been in the works. Today, I heard officially that it's a definite GO. This is the beautiful area where I will be spending my internship year, beginning this summer. It is the town of Petersburg, WV. There are no major cities near there at all. Due west is the Grant County Airport and beyond that is the Monongahela National Forest. Wait till you see the picture with the article. It' absolutely breathtaking. I will be working with Pr. Larry Cantu, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Petersburg. I am very excited about the site and about Pr. Cantu being my supervisor. Every other site and pastor I saw and interviewed with had one or maybe two things about them that interested me. This site and pastor have multiple things that excite and energize me in ministry. When I read the profile to Ray he could hardly believe it and kept saying it had my name written all over it. It was like this was custom designed for me....

Some of you may or may not be familiar with Taize and its music. In the ELW there are a number of Taize hymns. They are simple, repetitive, and powerful. The other night we were watching a show on ABC called "Flash Forward." The story line is that there was a worldwide blackout for around 2 minutes. In that time, people saw glimpses of their future. Now everyone is trying to put together the pieces and figure things out. As we were watching, in the background the hymn, "Stay with Me, Abide with Me" from Taize was being played and sung. That just blew us away. A character has emerged in the show whose life has been changed in such a way that he is telling people about God and Jesus. It was quite a powerful episode. The part with the hymn is toward the very beginning after they recap what happened previously. Here's the link: http://abc.go.com/watch/flashforward/235637/254571/revelation-zero-part-1 I'd be interested in seeing what you think.

This is where my meanderings took me in the sermon I preached yesterday: Lent calls us to reflect—to reflect upon our lives, on Christ, on our relationships with God and neighbor. We may be satisfied with our lives as they are…or we may find that something is missing, that we are thirsty, hungry, and needy. This was the case for the people of Israel. They had been in exile in Babylon, far from home, feeling far from God—thirsty, hungry, and needy. That is the setting of this morning’s passage from Isaiah. God calls out, “ … everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa 55:1 NRS). This theme introduces our first lesson. Is God talking about physical or spiritual food here? The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” That is for everyone— for God’s ancient people and for us. As I was finishing this sermon yesterday, a ...

Tomorrow I'm supplying for a friend. I'll be preaching on the first lesson, Isaiah 55:1-9 , which has been deeply meaningful for me. The sermon is still just in my mind, but this morning, working on other assignments, I was listening to internet radio and the following song came on: Whether the hunger and thirst are physical or spiritual, it can be a scary place to be in. And yet God keeps on calling us to come to the feast, to not be afraid. Those are just some of the thoughts that are swirling through my head as I prepare to proclaim God's Word of plenteous food and drink for God's people. When it has come together and been preached, I'll post it.

I posted this article on Facebook yesterday and got some great feedback from fellow seminarians and recent grads. What do those of you think who are pastors and lay people in the churches? Features February 23, 2010 Enough about me There is no 'I' in preach by William Brosend The combination is toxic, a perfect homiletical storm. A recent seminary graduate comes to her first parish, moving halfway across the country with her fiancé soon to follow. Sermon after sermon includes a story about a seminary classmate, about how much she loves the place where she used to live and how different "home" is from her new community and, inevitably, about how her wedding plans remind her of something in the epistle. In another pulpit, a preacher approaching retirement has disc...