Claimed, gathered and sent

Last night I had the privilege of leading and preaching at a Thanksgiving eve service at Zion Lutheran Church, Baker, WV. It was the first time in many years this church has had a Thanksgiving service. This is the message I shared with them: The text is John 6:25-35.             Some of us have memories of wonderful family gatherings at Thanksgiving, like you would see in a Norman Rockwell picture. Among the memories, may be that of going around the table with everyone saying what they are thankful for. It’s a lovely tradition. Those are not among my memories of Thanksgiving growing up, however. My family was not religious and didn’t go to church. It wasn’t even much of a special day when I was a child, except that we ate different food. As we gather around our tables tomorrow, what are we looking forward to? What makes Thanksgiving special for us? Is it for the special food that we so rarely have—pumpkin pie, turkey, homema...

This is the message I preached this morning at Zion Lutheran Church, Baker, WV. Text: Col 1:11-20 Being a part of our household can be quite an adventure and you just never know where it may lead. Those who know me well know I am not the most graceful or coordinated person. Inanimate objects in our home also suffer the consequences of getting bumped, knocked over, dropped, and sometimes broken. We keep a good supply of duct tape, glue, and other adhesives in stock. Things can be repaired or replaced. Super Glue is a wonderful invention. But what about our hearts, our emotions, our families, our church? It is not so easy to fix them. Super Glue is fine for things, but what about OUR brokenness? We all have circumstances we encounter in life. Sometimes it just becomes too much and we feel hopeless. And we wonder where God is in all of it. It just isn’t supposed to happen like that. Parents lose a child. A long marriage dissolves in the pain of divorce. The poet William Butler Yeats ex...

Embracing the Universe Living a spiritual life makes our little, fearful hearts as wide as the universe, because the Spirit of Jesus dwelling within us embraces the whole of creation. Jesus is the Word, through whom the universe has been created. As Paul says: "In him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible - all things were created through him and for him - in him all things hold together" (Collosians 1:16-17). Therefore when Jesus lives within us through his Spirit, our hearts embrace not only all people but all of creation. Love casts out all fear and gathers in all that belongs to God. Prayer, which is breathing with the Spirit of Jesus, leads us to this immense knowledge. Share your thoughts on this reflection. These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey. Join our online book discussion of Reaching Out . Starts November 22nd. Visit HenriNo...

We had a full day today at Grace. Because of Pr. Larry's involvement last week at another church, we remembered the saints today. That was a the beginning of the service. Each one that had someone they had lost within the last year came forward and lit one of the candles that were on a small table in front of the altar. Today, for the first time, we had a blessing of hunters. This is something I learned about last year at Bender's Lutheran Church in Biglerville, PA. Pr. Susan McCarthy wrote it and instituted it in that congregation. So, seeing how much it means to the people of Bender's, we thought we would initiate it here as well. An addition to the liturgy was small cards with a prayer and the church's name, location, and date to be carried along while hunting. The cards can also be shared with other hunters. Something I learned recently from one of our hunters is that there is an organization, Hunters for the Hungry, which enables hunters to share their bounty w...

This really struck a chord with me today as I read/prayed it. May you be blessed as well. A Place for Prayer: Receiving THIS Day Google Image

I came across this just now and find Joan Chittester brings a powerful perspective on the issue. The Meaning of Our Memories Memory is one of the most powerful functions of the human mind. It is also one of life’s most determining ones. What goes on in memory has a great deal to do with what goes on in us all our lives. Memory is a wild horse, unbridled, riderless, maverick. It takes us often where we would not go, or takes us back over and over again to where we cannot stay, however much we wish we could. So, it leaves us always in one state or the other, one place or the other, leaves us either pining or confused, leaves us in either case in a world unfinished in us. It is the unfinishedness that is the price we pay for growing always older. The young hear memory in the voice of their elders and, delighted by these voices from the past or bored by them, too often miss the content behind the content. Memory is not about what went on in the past. It is about what ...

This is the sermon I preached yesterday at Grace Lutheran Church, Petersburg, WV, my internship site It seems like it was apropos considering what some of the folks are going through. God is faithful. The gospel reading was Luke 20:27-38.             The Gospel of Luke continues to challenge us. Wed. morning as the pastors’ group gathered for text study, we discussed what we thought it might be like in the afterlife. What are we expecting? It was certainly different from what Jesus’ challengers anticipated. One member’s response was, “I just want some answers. I want to ask questions.” Maybe you feel the same way. The Sadducees had questions as well. Though their example seems extreme, it appears innocent enough, but we need to understand a bit of the cultural and religious dynamics of the groups Jesus encountered. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were generally at odds with each other. The Sadducees only believed in the writte...