Claimed, gathered and sent

Today I led worship and preached at nearby Zion Lutheran Church in Baker, WV. The text I preached from is Isaiah 49:8-16 .             I have two grown children. Though it now seems like a blur, I sometimes think about their early months of life. Everyone knows people who have such good babies . They don’t cry much, they just seem so happy. They sleep at night. I know those kinds of babies exist, but I didn’t have them.   My firstborn, Sarah cried for the first 6 months of her life. She would be fed, dry, and seemingly have all her needs met…yet she would cry and cry and cry. After a while, I cried too. The only way to settle her down was to walk her. I walked and walked and walked. I felt like I would never sleep ever again or eat another meal in peace. Yet as my daughter, I wanted to do everything in my power to take care of her and let her know how much I cared about her.              In our reading from Isaiah, we see God as a loving, caring, providing parent. I have to admit

Jan from RevGalBlogPals wrote this: There is a dramatic and surprising venue for Spiritual Formation/Sunday School classes at my church: Each week a different person teaches about a "word" that expresses his/her passion or interest. The first week someone spoke about "hospitality" with abundant treats on her mother and grandmother's china arrayed on tables. Other words have been "connectivity," "Trinity," "money," and "dreams." No one knows which person will be teaching until the class convenes. I am teaching this Sunday and plan to talk about " stirrings ." For this Friday Five, please list five words that identify your passions, spirituality, and/or life. Describe as much or as little as you wish. 1. faithfulness --When I get discouraged, all I have to do is look back at God's continual faithfulness throughout my life and the lives of so many. This stirs up within me a desire to be a faithful

This impressed me today as I read it. God is so faithful through all the days of our lives. At the end of his life, this was Luther's declaration: ON THIS DAY... ...in 1546 Luther died in his birth town of Eisleben. In order that his opponents couldn't say he recanted, Luther was asked this final question: 'Doctor Martin, honored father, do you die in the faith in Christ and in the teachings that you have preached in his name?' Luther's answer and final word was 'Yes.' Old Lutheran May the same be true for each of us. Google Image

I had the privilege of preaching at my internship site, Grace Lutheran Church in Petersburg, WV. The text was the gospel reading Matthew 5:21-37.             Relationships. They can be so wonderfully nurturing, so helpful to get us through difficult times in life. Whether they are friends or family. There are people that I’ve had as friends for years. We don’t see each other often, talk often, and yet when we’re together…we pick up right where we left off. They’re the kind of friends you can laugh and cry with.             I have one long time friend like that. Her name is Pat—she laughed with me and cried with me. When my Mom was dying and I was far away overseas, she visited her in the hospital when I couldn’t. Mom died 3 weeks before I returned to the States. Pat mourned with me. When I struggled with readjusting to life in the States, Pat walked with me. And we still pick up where we left off whenever we talk.             Other relationships aren’t as forgiving. It seems like

We had a service of Holy Communion yesterday at the Grant County Nursing Home. Pr. Cantu asked me to do the homily and this is what I shared with the residents. Have any of you ever experienced a power failure? You scramble around the house to get the candles, lanterns, and flashlights. It can be pretty scary. In the 1980s, I lived in Bethlehem in the Holy Land. Sometimes the electricity would go out. We didn’t always know how long it would be out for—20 minutes, a couple of hours or even days.  When it is pitch dark, even the smallest bit of flickering light from a candle can have an impact. I can think of numerous times when I cooked by candlelight, ate by candlelight, and did dishes by candlelight. We even read or played board games by candlelight. If enough candles are gathered together, you’d be surprised how much light they can give. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a b

Fellow seminarian Annabelle wrote this. How do you identify with these words? Transformative Moments « A Plethora of Ponderings

This past Sunday, I led worship and preached at Zion Lutheran Church, Baker, WV. The text I used is 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.             Earlier this week, I was at a synod continuing education conference at Deep Creek. It was good to see everyone and to make new acquaintances and the educational presentations were great. Then we had our closing service with holy communion Tues. afternoon. This is something I always enjoy. The service we used was different. It was from the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that had been used by the churches in Jerusalem. That has a very meaningful connection for me. I served as a missionary in nearby Bethlehem for 6 ½ years in the 1980s. I worshipped at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. I know how meaningful the fellowship is between the churches. Before I knew it, the tears were flowing. I am still connected as part of the body of Christ to those people and that place. It is a time of my life and a relationship that I will forever be