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God Sightings and Hearings

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Our congregation is beginning God Sightings, which is more than a Bible study, more than a devotional. It's a means to look for ways in which God is at work in our everyday lives. The program consists of scripture reading from a one year Bible and a companion guide for journalling.  We will officially begin this study in Lent and it will continue beyond that time. Our hope is that God's people at Bethel Lutheran Church, Portville, NY, where I serve as pastor, will embrace this opportunity to engage scripture, our faith and God in a way that we have never done before. It is my conviction that if each of us does this, God will turn our lives and our church upside down. Speaking of God sightings, this Sunday's gospel on the transfiguration is a case of God sightings and hearings. Some questions came out as we talked about the text at Bible study Tuesday night. We attempted to discern what God was doing in that text, what God is saying to us personally and what God is say

...and you!

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It has been an amazing day of ministry. Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. This morning we had a great service, then I spent time with the confirmation class training them to be acolytes, communion assistants and lectors. But I think the highlight of my day came this afternoon when a group of us went to a nearby nursing home for a service of holy communion. Most of the residents were very engaged in the singing, prayer and communion. One of them didn't want to let go of my hand when we were singing. What really topped it all off for me though was when I communed another woman. When I said, "The body and blood of Christ given and shed for you" (I intincted the commununion host for the residents), she said "...and you!" We both said "Amen!" It was just an amazing connection that we had. The homily I shared with them was a shortened version of the sermon I preached at Bethel . The gospel text was Luke 3:15-17, 21-22. Here is my

What's Our Song?

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Tomorrow is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent. People are chomping at the bit to sing Christmas carols in church, but they will have to wait until Christmas eve. The gospel text is from Luke and this is what I'll be sharing with the people of God at Bethel Lutheran Church in Portville, NY.             Last Sunday afternoon a group from Bethel went caroling. We sang at several senior citizen housing sites in Olean and Portville, as well as the home of one of our members. Everyplace we went, people responded with smiles and thanks. However, there was one place that was new for this group of carolers—a group home for developmentally disabled adults. I was struck by seeing and hearing the responses of these so called disabled people. One man had a sleigh bell and rang it as we sang. Others entered into the spirit of the season as they heard familiar Christmas songs by singing along with us. I saw the power of music to move people, especially in this place. In scripture, we h

One Response to Violence

It was hard to know how what to say the Sunday following the terrible loss of life in Newtown, CT. There were no words that came, but we prayed. Many theories are floated about as to how this could happen. What do you think of this author's response? Alban - Building Up Congregations and Their Leaders

Downward Mobility

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This is the message I preached on Mark 10:35-45  at Bethel Lutheran Church in Portville, NY, where I have the prprivilege of being the pastor.      A few years ago, Monster.com had an advertising campaign featuring children saying: When I grow up, I want to file all day. I want to claw my way up to middle management…be replaced on a whim. I wanna be a yes man…yes woman…anything for a raise sir. When I grow up I want to be underappreciated…paid less for doing the same job.   (Monster.com, You Tube, 1999) From the world’s perspective, who would want to strive to be or do any of these things? It is not the American dream. How often do we hear people tell children, “You can be anything you want to be! You may even be President one day!” Our human nature causes us to want to get ahead, be successful, and have the biggest, the brightest and the best. We desire upward mobility and we want recognition! -- So did Jesus’ disciples—at least the two of them that owned up to it. After