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Lord teach us HOW to Pray: Give us this day our daily bread LENT 4 Mar 18

2012-03-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today we look at the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer "Give us this day our daily bread." As we go through this series "Lord teach us HOW to pray" I am hoping we will use each of these petitions as a jumping off point for us to go deeper in prayer. It is fascinating to me that only one petition out of the seven deals with our physical or bodily needs. Why is it that when we pray, at least when I pray, it tends to be a want and need list? Yet for Jesus, HIS prayer would only include this one short petition in regards to this.

I guess it makes me feel guilty to see how much time I spend in this gift of prayer asking for things rather than praising and adoring the God who loves us so much and to whom we belong. As we ponder this, think about your worldly relationships. If all you spend time talking about to your spouse, children, friends, even acquaintances, is your wants and needs, do you think they will want to spend time with you? Our Lord loves us and we are his people and ever since Pentecost we are his people who dwell in his presence and through whom his presence comes to our dark world. We are salt and light to the world. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore we have the privilege of calling God "abba father!" Why is it that we would spend so much time in prayer asking for things rather than talking to the God who so desperately wants to have a relationship with us? So much so that HE sent HIS Son to die for you and me!

We will look at the way Jesus did not worry about HIS physical needs. We know he told the disciples in the Sermon on the Mount not to worry about what we should eat or what we should wear:
Matthew 6: ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Do Not Worry

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]? ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus would set this example when he is followed by thousands and then simply tells Philip to feed them in our Gospel lesson from John 6:
⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.⁷ Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages^[a] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” ⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
¹² When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” ¹³ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Jesus rebukes the winds and waves, sleeps through storms, pays the temple tax with money from fish, takes care of the wedding wine with water etc.... It is not a huge deal, the things that cause us anxiety, to our LORD. Martin Luther in a pamphlet entitled "Luther's quiet time" told his barber that he spent 3 to 4 hours every morning in prayer, more if he had a busy day! When asked how he prayed he said he used the ACTS prayer model which means Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Adoration, confession and thanksgiving are all relationship oriented. The Supplications are the requests and they are at the end. Our Lord wants us to be in a great relationship with him, sharing our hearts and minds as well as our desires and needs.

May we be a people who understand the privilege of prayer. May we be a people of the promise and the people of the presence who understand the power of prayer. May we be a people who live by faith and know that the Lord is good and his steadfast love endures forever and as in our Old Testament reading from Psalm 145: The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.^[c] ¹⁴ The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. ¹⁶ You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. This is a Psalm, as is the High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Acts 4 and Aaron's prayer in Lev 16 that are models of HOW TO PRAY for us. We are a praying people. Jesus, Peter, Paul, Luther etc.. all exemplified the importance of prayer. Please join me in praying during this Lenten Season to help us know that we BELONG and WE BELIEVE THE LORD HAS OUR BACK AND THAT WE CAN BECOME LIKE HIM KNOWING WE ARE CHOSEN AND THAT WE ARE LIGHT AND SALT TO A DESPERATE AND DARK WORLD!

Please pray for the anointing and POURING OUT of the HOLY SPIRIT as we worship both at EMU and ALIVE! in Lenawee County!! I want us all to walk with Adoration, Confession and thanksgiving on our lips only spending a short time with Supplications and being still and knowing the our Lord knows what we need and trusting that HE WILL PROVIDE!

The Fourth Petition From Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation Questions and Bible References:
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean?
God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil
people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to
receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread? Daily bread includes everything that has to do with
the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house,
home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children,
devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace,
health, selfcontrol, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
219. Why do we pray to God for daily bread?
We pray to God for daily bread, which includes everything that has to do with the
support and needs of the body, because Christ wants us to
A. realize that our entire life and that of everyone else depends on God;
766 Ps. 145:15-16 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You
open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
767 Matt. 5:45 He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous
and the unrighteous.
768 Acts 17:28 In Him we live and move and have our being.
769 James 4:15 You ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
B. receive all our physical blessings with thanks giving;
770 Ps. 106:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
771 Eph. 5:19-20 Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the
Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
772 1 Tim. 4:4-5 Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with
thanks giving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
C. look to God for physical as well as spiritual blessings.
773 Ps. 91:15 He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver
him and honor him.
774 Matt. 6:33 Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to
you as well.
775 Luke 7:3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to
come and heal his servant.
Bible narratives: Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). Jesus healed 10 lepers (Luke
17:11-19).
220. How does God provide our daily bread?
He makes the earth fruitful and blesses us with the ability to work for the things we need.
776 Ps. 104:14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-bringing forth
food from the earth.
777 2 Thess. 3:10-12 Even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work,
he shall not eat." We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are
busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and
earn the bread they eat.
221. What does God want us to do for those who are unable to work for daily food?
God does not want us to be selfish but to share with those who are unable to work and to include them in our prayers for daily bread.
778 1 Tim. 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family,
he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
779 Heb. 13:16 Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is
pleased.
780 1 John 3:17-18 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no
pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or
tongue but with actions and in truth.
222. Why does Jesus have us say "this day" and "daily"?
These words teach us not to be greedy or wasteful or to worry about the future but to
live contentedly in the confidence that the Lord will give us what we need.
781 Prov. 30:8-9 Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I
may have too much and disown You and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or I may become poor and
steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
782 Matt. 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.
783 John 6:12 When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, "Gather the pieces
that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
784 1 Tim. 6:8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
785 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
Bible narrative: The parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:15-21).

The parable of the rich fool tells us that we should not worry or store up treasures on earth but as Jesus goes on to say in Luke 12:22-34 that we are more precious than the lilies or ravens.

I can't wait to see what the Lord is doing and will do as HIS People and HIS Church pray!

Love in Christ,
Pastor

Lord Teach us HOW to pray: Lent 2: The Second Petition "Thy Kingdom Come"

2012-03-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we continue this season of Prayer and Reflection during "Spring" which is what the word "Lent" means. We know that "The Meaning of the Word "Lent" The word Lent comes from Anglo Saxon times which means spring. In Latin, Lent is quadragesima which means forty days."

We also recognize that we give up something in Lent because we then replace that time, to prepare food or whatever we gave up, with time devoted to the Lord, Prayer and Reflection on HIS Word. I shared on Ash Wednesday that the Eucharist was stopped during the week in the Season of Lent, and still is in the Orthodox Church (http://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the/lenten-fasting) I have been using the "Seeking God for our City" devotion during these 40 Days of Prayer. This week we looked at the Lord's desire to revive the arts in a way to honor him. I think it is so important to revive and reclaim these gifts for the Lord!

Tomorrow we will look at the second petition of the series "Lord teach us HOW to pray: The Lord's Prayer" We looked at how the disciples were asking Jesus in Luke 11:1 " ¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” We examine the desire the Disciples, and we, have to pray as well as HOW to pray modeled by our Lord and given to us as the OUR FATHER or LORD'S PRAYER in Matthew 6. We will hear about God's Kingdom from Psalm 103 where it is promised and then the fulfillment when Jesus calls his disciples in Mark 1:14-20
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.

Martin Luther explained the Second Petition in the Small Catechism as:
The Second Petition: Thy kingdom come.
What does this mean? The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we
pray in this petition that it may come to us also.
How does God's kingdom come? God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in
eternity.
212. What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is His ruling as king over the whole universe (kingdom of power), the church on earth (kingdom of grace), and the church and angels in heaven (kingdom of glory).
Psalm103:19 The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.
(Kingdom of power) John 3:5 Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." (Kingdom of grace) 2 Tim. 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Kingdom of glory)
213. For what do we pray in the Second Petition?
We do not pray that God's kingdom of power would come, because that is already present everywhere, but we ask God to
A. give us His Holy Spirit so that we believe His Word and lead godly lives as members of His kingdom of grace; Mark 1:15 "The time has come," He said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the
good news!" Rom. 14:17 The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Col. 1:13-14 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
B. bring many others into His kingdom of grace;
Matt. 9:38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.
2 Thess. 3:1 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and
be honored, just as it was with you.
C. use us to extend His kingdom of grace;
Acts 4:29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your word with
great boldness. 1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
D. hasten the coming of His kingdom of glory.
Phil. 3:20 Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Rev. 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus.
214. How can we be certain that the kingdom of God comes?
The Lord guarantees that His means of grace establish and sustain His kingdom.
Is. 55:11 My word ... will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Bible narrative: The parable of the growing seed (Mark 4:26-29).

Tomorrow we will celebrate the truth of KINGDOM being here and near! We will rejoice in the gift of David and Beth Marshall becoming Commissioned Family Life Ministry Workers in the LCMS! We hear Rev. Galan Walther from our Michigan District of LCMS sharing with us at both EMU Services. We will celebrate the truth of this petition being answered by our amazing LORD.

Please join us to worship and pray,

Love in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Pastor Bryan

The Season of Prayer and Reflection Lent 1 Feb 26, 2012

2012-02-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

On Ash Wednesday we began our 40 days of prayer for the City. Today we celebrate our first Sunday in Lent, which is not in the 40 days of Lent, because Sundays are not counted since we remember the Resurrection on this day. We are focusing our Sermon Series for Lent on "Prayer" specifically the petitions of the Lord's Prayer as a model for HOW we are to pray. In Matthew 6, our Gospel for Ash Wednesday Jesus continues where we left off by sharing HOW we should pray:
⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, ¹⁰ your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us today our daily bread. ¹² Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.^[a]’ (*Jesus goes on to speak on fasting, seeking and asking which makes sense in this wonderful Sermon on the Mount.)
In the other Gospel, Luke 11: ¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” ² He said to them, “When you pray, say" it is because the Disciples want to pray as John's disciples did.

Either way when we see the Disciples in our Gospel lesson today, Matthew 26:36-44

Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” When He came back, He again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So He left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

The disciples get an example of HOW to pray with passion and not just the words. In our second lesson from Acts 4:23-31 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. They did what Your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness. Stretch out Your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. We can see that they have been taught well and not only understand HOW to approach God but HOW to pray!

Today we are going to look at the Introduction and First Petition of the Lord's Prayer from Luther's Small Catechism:

III. The Lord's Prayer

As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household.

Our Father who art in heaven.

What does this mean?--Answer.
God would thereby [with this little introduction] tenderly urge us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may ask Him confidently with all assurance, as dear children ask their dear father.

The First Petition.

Hallowed be Thy name.

What does this mean?--Answer.

How is this done?--Answer.
When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven. But he that teaches and lives otherwise than God's Word teaches profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly Father.

We are so thankful that the Lord Jesus modeled prayer for us in our Gospel, and the Apostles modeled prayer in Acts 4 and then in our Old Testament we see Abraham approaching God about the situation in Sodom and we can see Abraham understood the importance of knowing WHO we are in relation to OUR FATHER and HOW we should pray!

Today we will be celebrating the New Life that God is giving to Cameron Barker in Holy Baptism and therefore the relationship we have with the Father is really evident when we see the Water and the Word used to claim Cameron as the Lord's own and we will join in celebrating as Jesus explained in Luke 15: ³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Today we celebrate and rejoice that we are God's Children, redeemed by Christ's blood and chosen in the Covenant of Baptism! I look forward to celebrating why we start our prayers with Adoration of the name of our God and our relationship with this Holy and Almighty God, our creator, in Christ when we can call him OUR FATHER or ABBA! Awesome way to start our season of prayer and reflection.

See you tomorrow.

Love in Christ,
Pastor

Kingdom 701: Kingdom Transformation on Transfiguration Sunday Feb 19/12

2012-02-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we celebrate the end of the Epiphany Season with the Sunday of the Transfiguration. We hear the amazing truth of our Lord TRANSFIGURING before his closest disciples, as well as Moses and Elijah. This is truly a great ending to the study that we have been following. As we began the "Kingdom of Heaven" Series with the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday and the words of God saying to HIS SON: "This is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased!" we hear the book end to this amazing ministry of Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration. We hear in Matthew 17: After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, I will put up three shelters—one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
This Sunday we close the series with the words of God again, as the cloud envelopes them, he says: "This is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased! Listen to him!" What do we hear in these proclamations of God the father, exactly the same, but with these very important words added: "Listen to HIM!" The exhortation is what we take away as we have studied who we are as Kingdom People, Children of the KING, A Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation, A people belonging to GOD! We know we belong, we know we have been called, we know we have the authority over demons, disease, death and nature because Jesus does, we know we have authority and are SENT to be his apostles, as well as disciples! We know that the Lord wants us to do even greater things than he did (John 14) we know that we live out the Authority and Power as we share the secrets of the kingdom (Matthew 13). It is in the final words of Matthew 7 that make the words of God on the Mt. of Transfiguration so important. The truth of the Trinity at the Baptism of our Lord, the ripping of the heavens in Mark's account, the picture here on the mount of the discussion of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and the CROSS in Luke's account, harken back to Jesus' words at the end of his Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 7: ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” ²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
"Listen to HIM!" is what Jesus is referring to when he states that we are wise when we hear his words and put them into practice. Last Sunday we heard in Matthew 13: ¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” ¹¹ He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹² Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.¹⁴ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. ¹⁵ For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’^{[Isaiah 6:9-10]}
¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
May we be amazed by the story of our LORD "turning inside out" on the Mt of Transfiguration and may we like Peter want to stay there but my prayer is that we will hear and see, listen and understand....
The KINGDOM is HERE and NEAR may we walk in Christ's Authority and Power as we live out the truth of who we are and what we are called to do! I hope we walk in the Power of the Holy Spirit and maybe we will be blessed as Elisha, when he saw Elijah taken up in the chariot, to be given a double portion (2 Kings 2) so that we can really do what the Lord asks of us trusting is HIS POWER! It is a great reminder that we are called to be "R12" Followers of Jesus who do as St. Paul says in Romans 12: ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

What a great way to go into the Lenten Season of prayer and reflection. This year we are doing 40 Days of Prayer and the gift of the LORD'S PRAYER which will be our Sermon Series, as well as the evening services on Wednesdays @ 7:01pm studying the Feasts of the BIBLE by a Messianic Jewish Rabbi. The Children will be having a study on the Animals of Lent. Every Wednesday we will have a pot-blessed dinner at 6:15. This WEEK: We are going to be having a pancake lunch and supper on FAT, (SHROVE) Tuesday for the Students. We are also going to have Pancakes and sausage for the meal from 5:30-6:40 on Ash Wednesday with the Service starting at 6:45pm ending at 8. We will have an Ash Wednesday Lunch Hour Service from 12:10-12:50.

May we continue to live in this Covenant with our Lord and in His Kingdom Power even as we enter this Lenten Season!

Love in Christ our Transfigured, Crucified and Risen Savior and LORD,
Pastor Bryan

601:Kingdom Power: Go Sow! Let God Grow!! Feb 12, 2012

2012-02-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hello Cross and Resurrection family!

Today we will be having a great celebration for the Dedication of our New Fellowship Hall and the New Sign out front at the EMU Site!! There will be no 12:15 Service this Sunday and the "ALIVE! Lenawee County" site will be joining us.
Pastor Roosevelt Gray will be sharing on Matthew 13 and the parable of the Sower as we continue to learn about the Kingdom and the Power to live it out. He is sharing on our planting the seed and God growing it. The Old Testament Lesson from Jeremiah 17 reminds us that we are cursed if we rely on our human strength and St. Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians in 1 Cor 3 that we plant the seeds, we help water but GOD makes it GROW! Please join us to hear a great preacher and friend of our Cross and Resurrection family!
Below is what Paul Knickelbein sent out for us to remember what is happening! See you at Church!
Pastor

From Paul: I wanted to send a quick update out to our Cross and Resurrection Family!

1) Celebration Time This Sunday - at our 10:15 service, Pastor Roosevelt Gray will lead us in celebration and dedication of our fellowship hall. Come and celebrate with us and stay for the meal afterwards!

2) True EMU Faith and Family Day Are you interested in seeing EMU play basketball? If so - there are vouchers for a ticket, hot dog and pop for only $3 on EMU's faith and family day (February 25th) on the table near Joanne's desk. Help yourself!

3) Red Cross Blood Drive On the podium just outside the sanctuary - a sign-up sheet is waiting for your signature! In order to have the red cross come out - they need to see that there are at least 45 people that are interested in donating blood. You are NOT committing to donating - just stating that you are interested. If you are - please sign up!

4) Meal Sign-up It is a huge blessing for students and for our congregation to be able to fellowship and enjoy a meal together between services. Starting next week, however we have some holes. Please prayerfully consider signing up to host a meal!

5) Lenten Wed Evenings Schedule Wednesday, February 22nd is Ash Wednesday. We will gather together as a family and share a pot luck meal in the fellowship hall starting at 6:15. Right at 7:00, we will move to the sanctuary for a time of worship and praise (about 15 minutes) The adults will stay in the fellowship hall and have a bible study about the feasts of the bible. Books are $8 each and we encourage you to sign up for one at Joanne's desk. The children will move back to the fellowship hall to have a study on "Let all creation Sing!" Lenten Lessons from the Animals of the Season. This should be a great family time! Please plan on attending!

6) Lent devotion books There are lent devotion books on the table for you to take home and enjoy. There are a number of different types. Find the one(s) that apply best to you or your family and take one home. (they are free for the taking!)

7) Prayers for me I covet your prayers right now... My sister's 38 day old baby girl, Eva passed away early yesterday morning. We will be leaving to be with them in Wisconsin Saturday night / Sunday morning and spending the week with them there. Please pray for the peace for my sister Carrie, her husband Christopher and their 5 boys that can only come from the Lord and knowing that Eva is up in His arms!

Thanks for being a part of our family here at Cross and Resurrection!

-Paul

Kingdom 501: Kingdom Power: Living out HIS Authority! Feb 5, 2012

2012-02-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we continue our journey through Jesus' teaching on "Kingdom." Last week we looked at "Kingdom Authority," what it meant and how Jesus showed us His authority, as the "author and perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12.) Now we enter the phase of Jesus' teaching were we see in action what we talk about in the leadership and discipleship square phase 4: "you do, I watch." This is where Jesus take his disciples (learners, following a rabbi) who are following him as he teaches by example how to know the Kingdom is at hand, near and here! Now Jesus takes these disciples "followers" and calls them forward to SEND them out: "Apostles (sent ones or messengers)!" In Matthew 10 we see Jesus calling his disciples to him in verse 1. He then gives them AUTHORITY to drive out evil spirits (demons) and heal every disease and sickness! Just as we talked about last week, the exact things that HE WAS DOING! They were being ordained, set apart, commissioned to go out and do what the author had been doing. They were to be HIS "AMBASSADORS" or HIS "Representatives!" You see in verse 2 that the word changes as Matthew lists their names from "Disciple" to "Apostle."

Matthew 10:1-20
¹ He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil^[a] spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[b] drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. ⁹ Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; ¹⁰ take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
¹¹ “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. ¹⁶ I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
¹⁷ “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

How many of us does the Lord want to call out today and send forth into all the world as his messengers or "apostles?" ALL OF US!! I think it is telling that the Lord warns them of the dangers. Gives them strict boundaries but expects them to do what he has been doing when he states in verse 7-8 "⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[b] drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." I think we should expect to have the same message because we serve the same Lord! Hebrew 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!" It is time for us, his followers, to see the Holy Spirit at work and live out the authority that we have been given in Matthew 28 and preach the message the "The Kingdom of heaven is NEAR!!"

I can't wait to see what the Lord will do as we live out the calling he has placed on our lives expecting to do what He has done! I am really hoping to see what Jesus meant when he said to Philip and the twelve in John 14: " ⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹². ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Living out HIS AUTHORITY is the power of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at work in HIS People!

May we see now, what we pray "THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!"

Love,
Pastor Bryan

*For those who were planning to come to the Lutheranism 101 class tomorrow the SuperBowl seems to be happening at the same time so it is postponed until next Sunday. The nerve of them putting it at the same time as our class:)

Kingdom 401: Kingdom Authority over Demons, Diseases, Death & Nature January 29, 2012

2012-01-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We continue our journey through the study of Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom. Last week Paul shared with us the truth of the end of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus shares how solid a foundation we have when we build our faith on His teachings. He ends his sermon by saying: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock!" (Matthew 7:24)

Today we are looking at the response of the people to the Sermon when Matthew in chapter 7 says: "²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."

Today we will look at what it means that Jesus taught with AUTHORITY and what he expects of us his children, and followers. We are going to look at what AUTHORITY means and how it is lived out in the ambassadors of Christ, namely us his disciples! We will be looking at the text from Matthew 8 and 9 as a teaching tool to what having this AUTHORITY means and how the Kingdom Authority looks in action! Today specifically in the faith of the Centurion of Matthew 8: " ⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” ⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour." May we have the faith of the centurion to understand that AUTHORITY that we have over Demons, Disease, Death and Nature!

A definition that I found on Authority: "

The meaning and origin (etymology) of the word authority.

Before considering what the Bible says about authority, let us take a look at the etymology of the word “authority”.

The English word authority comes from the Latin word auctoritas which literally meant such things as “a producing”, “production”, “invention”, “cause”. Auctoritas in its turn came from auctor which meant “producer”, “father”, “progenitor”, “creator”, “maker”, “inventor”, “founder” and so on. In the English language, the Latin words auctor and auctoritas have become corrupted to “author” and “authority”.

In short: The auctor of a matter or thing is the one who made or established it, and also, the one who originally taught something.

So, who really has authority, regarding biblical teachings and matters?

The answer was given above, actually. It is, of course, the author (Latin, auctor) of any given thing who has the authority (auctoritas) over the thing he or she has created, produced, written or invented."

We therefore as disciples of Christ have Authority to proclaim and practice what the "author" has shown us and taught us to do!

We will also be looking at Joseph as an example of the posture we should exhibit when recognizing the AUTHORITY and POWER we have as Kingdom people. For example Joseph had the gift of interpreting dreams as a child and he alienated his brothers by telling them about his dreams. This is when authority and power is motivated by pride and immaturity. It can be destructive. I think of the "name it and claim it" theology that permeates immature Christians as an example of this. We next see Joseph in jail interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh's Baker and Cup Bearer. He is learning slowly to recognize that the gift and power he has belongs to God but still throws in the "remember me when you get back" comment to try and help God out in his situation. The right posture of humility and complete surrender to God's will comes when he is brought before Pharaoh in our Old Testament lesson in Genesis 41 and says: ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Do you see the posture of humility that Joseph has learned through his trials. May we understand the gifts and power we have as people of the covenant and people of the Kingdom. May we exercise or as Jesus said "put into practice" what he has taught us to do with humility and complete surrender to our Lord's will and not to fear!

Love in Christ Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith,

Pastor Bryan

King and Kingdom 201: Kingdom Living: Identity of Righteousness January 15, 2012

2012-01-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last Sunday were started the series on King and Kingdom. Today we continue looking at "Kingdom Living: Identity of Righteousness." Last week we heard of Jesus' request to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordon and John saying he should be baptized by the Lord to which the Lord replied: "the is to fulfill all righteousness!" (Matthew 3:15) We heard of the heavens opening or "being ripped open" according to Mark's Gospel. We heard the amazing words "this is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased" spoken by the Father, as the Holy Spirit descended as a dove. It is no mistake that immediately Jesus is tempted in the desert to show that even the sinless Son of God is tempted as we are each day but does not sin. Then we see his ministry beginning with his preaching, calling of his disciples and the healing of the sick.

Today we are going to delve into the Sermon on the Mount. This is an amazing sermon! Jesus begins with the Beatitudes, as we hear a radical change in what constitutes a faithful follower of God. Jesus begins by stating in the first Beatitude of Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is so important as we are learning to understand what it means that in Christ we are clothed with righteousness and children of the King! Therefore we who are in the Kingdom, which is "at hand," "near" and "here" all at the same, are righteous because of what Christ did on Calvary through his blood shed for us and proven in the empty tomb! We are therefore identified as the righteous which can give us a sense of pride, as being heirs, priests, children of the king etc.. So in order to keep us from getting too puffed up in the idea that this forgiveness and righteousness that we receive the Lord provided these words in 1 John 1:8-9 "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!" This is an amazing gift that we as children of the king have in the identity we have been given in Christ. It makes us "light and salt" in the world (Matt 5)

The Kingdom of Heaven, as we mentioned last week, is used 33 times in Matthew and we understand that the Lord taught this as a central part of what His Kingdom coming into the world would look like as we live it out. Today we look at the words of Jesus as he taught in Matthew 5:17-20
¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
These words are powerful since they show us how the Lord will "fulfill all righteousness" as we heard last week. Matthew uses the word to fulfill OT Scripture 12 times. It is extremely important for us to know that this is the plan.

We are especially interested in the way He teaches on the Kingdom and Righteousness when He tells us that the righteousness of even the most legalistic and faithful to the law (Pharisees and the teachers of the law) will not be enough to gain us the Kingdom now, or for eternity. He wants us to understand that, as in the first Beatitude, we are to be "poor in spirit" or humble. We are called to recognize it is only by grace that we are saved and it is only by the justification of Christ's death on the cross that we get eternal life. We are sanctified and made righteous in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not be our good works. Our works are but filthy rags compared to our Holy God! So we are called to understand that we have this "identity of righteousness" as a gift and therefore we live as righteous saints, not running away from the idea of righteousness but celebrating this gift as we receive it in the Word, absolution and with all of our senses in the Lord's Supper. After we receive this gift we understand our identity and we move forward with practicing our "Kingdom Living" as it says in Matthew 6: ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Please join us tomorrow at ALIVE! Lenawee County at 11:00am, where Paul will be sharing, or at Cross and Resurrection EMU at 9am for Sunday School, 9:15 for High School and Adult Bible Study with Jim Fry teaching on King and Kingdom, 10:15 College Study, 10:15 & 12:15 Worship with lunch in between. I will be at the EMU site and look forward to worshiping with everyone!

Next week I will be going to see my new grandson "Levi" as well as my son and daughter-in-law (Tim and Meagan) in BC, my family in Calgary, Alberta and go to the Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute Board of Trustees meeting in Camrose, Alberta next weekend. Sarah and I will be back next Tuesday.

Blessings and Love in Christ our Righteousness,
Pastor Bryan

King and Kingdom 101: Identity January 8 "Baptism of our Lord"

2012-01-07T17:27:00.000-08:00

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

On January 6, we celebrated the Epiphany of our Lord and the story of the Magi worshiping the baby Jesus and presenting their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh in Matthew 2.

Today we celebrate the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry, 6 months after John's ministry started, in his 30th year at the River Jordon. This we read in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 3 when we see John ministry of preparation and baptism with water for repentance and then Jesus' Baptism in the Jordon!

This scene in Matt 3 is fascinating to us because it continues what started with the words of Simeon and Anna in Jesus' Presentation in the Temple 40 days after his birth. Continued with the Magi in Bethlehem 30 years before, then when he visited Jerusalem at age 12, then here at the Jordon. This is the inauguration or coronation of the public ministry of Jesus. As we see in Number 4:47 the age of 30 was when the Levite would begin their ministry and be ordained or set apart. This is in good order and even though John says he should be baptized by his cousin Jesus, whose sandals he is not even worthy to carry, Jesus states this is TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS! This is necessary to make sure all the prophesy of Holy Scripture is fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

The reason we are starting our study of what it "KING and KINGDOM" with the Baptism of our Lord is because of what we see in this amazing event what St. Paul means when he shares in Romans 6:4: " We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life," The truth that in Holy Baptism we are identified with Christ Jesus as heirs of the Kingdom. It is amazing that in John's ministry he is a prophet of the law, who shares the truth of sin and the need to confess sins and be baptized and cleansed. Unfortunately it is only after the amazing inauguration or Coronation of Jesus at His Baptism that we can truly understand what repentance and cleansing means. In Christ's Baptism we see heaven ripped open and the voice of God proclaiming the identity of His Son! He tells everyone that He is well pleased with Him and that He LOVES Him! This is awesome! Jesus is without sin and yet He receives absolution from God, the Father, when He says: "He is well pleased!" In this wonderful event we see a prototype of our Baptism where through Baptism, God calls us His Child, affirms His Love for us and in to the truth of the Cross and Resurrection declares: "He is well pleased." We are clothed with the Robe of Righteousness and the Crown of Beauty and the promise of Heaven. In Matthew we will study our "identity in Christ" our King and what it means to be in the Kingdom.

We pray in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom Come" now we are going to see what it means as our Lord reveals His Kingship and Kingdom. John had the privilege of baptizing with water for repentance presupposing repentance and a change of life. With the Baptism of our Lord we see the fulfillment of all righteousness, consecration by God the Father (the Trinity present as in Gen 1) the Spirit descending and anointing him, the public announcement by John of the arrival of the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world in John 1 and the recognition as John and Jesus proclaimed the coming of the "Kingdom of Heaven" used in Matthew's Gospel 33 times and the "Kingdom of God;" used 4 times. This Kingdom is the rule of God both in present reality and a future hope. This is why many are scared to talk about this Kingdom which Matthew refers to over 50 times and is a central teaching of Jesus. If you are not able to understand as stated in a book I have called "A dictionary of Christian Antiquities" by William Smith: "Hence anything that could in any sense be called a mystery by Latin Christian was referred to a 'Sacramentum' especially sacred things used in service to God" (pg. 1831) The mystery of a "Kingdom" that is hear presently but yet also near in the hope of the future of the "everlasting kingdom of heaven." is not logical or easily reasoned and therefore scary! That is why for us Sacramental Christians: who proclaim the mystery of sinner and saint at the same time, the true REAL presence of Christ in His Supper as He is at the right hand of God. Celebrating with all the saints the foretaste of the feast to come, while celebrating the Lord's Supper and the present feast in the midst of the congregation. It is truly a profound mystery how we can be heirs of everlasting life, princes and princesses of the Kingdom, yet bound with our sinful earthly existence having to wait for the eternal Kingdom to be revealed at the final judgement! In the present as Sons and Daughters of the King: endowed with the power and authority given to us in the Holy Nation, the Royal Priesthood of all believers in the Church and the power of Keys etc... yet still sinners bound by our sinfulness. This dichotomy is very frustrating to live with being Sinner and Saint simultaneously as part of the "Church Militant" and a member of the "Church Triumphant" as we confess in the Creed: "The communion of saints!"

Please stay tuned as we will be hearing more about our KING and HIS KINGDOM throughout this Epiphany season! Join us at the EMU site for Sunday School, Confirmation, High School class at 9am, Adult Study on "King and Kingdom" at 9:15am, University study at 10:15, Worship Services at 10:15 and 12:15 with Lunch in between. Join us for ALIVE! Lenawee County Services meeting every Sunday at 11am in Raisen Township south of Tecumseh.

God Bless You All as we celebrate our identity with our KING in HIS KINGDOM!

Pastor Bryan

Dec 24, 25 & Jan. 1 A VERY Merry Christmas & a Happy BLESSED New Year!!

2011-12-23T14:19:00.001-08:00

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Merry "CHRIST"mas!! We are almost at the end of the Advent Season and on Sunday we will be celebrating Christmas! I wanted to write to you all and share my heart on how much I love serving you as your pastor! I want to thank you all for your prayers and support as we come to the celebration of our Savior's birth at Bethlehem! On behalf of my family and the staff I wish to thank all of you for the amazing support you give us throughout the whole year and for your gracious gifts this Christmas! From our family to yours we wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and wherever you are this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day may the Lord richly bless you as our whole nation pauses to celebrate the greatest gift of all time JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD, EMMANUEL!

Please Remember:

DEC 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 7:00 pm AT THE EMU Site OF CROSS AND RESURRECTION.
DEC 25 Christmas Day Service 11:00 am at EMU Site (last Service of 2011! no New Year's Eve service this year)
JAN 1 New Year's Day Service 11:00 am at EMU Site, Holy Baptism for Joseph Walter Distelzweig

LOOKING FORWARD

Please watch for the new electronic sign coming out front soon! Planning for the Dedication of the New Fellowship Hall in Feb. Exciting study on "Kingdom" coming this Epiphany Season! Continued studies for all ages and experiencing the KINGDOM Power of Healing etc... in the ministries at Cross and Resurrection EMU and ALIVE! Tecumseh in 2012!

Again a huge "THANK YOU" to all of those who have been faithful in keeping their pledges to the Building Fund, as of this week we have received all but one of the pledges and many gave even more than they pledged! We even have people who did not pledge, giving to the Fund as well! We are so grateful for the many gifts of charity given through the Agape Fund, Giving Tree, special offerings etc...Well done good and faithful servants!

I know I don't have the time to thank all of you who use your gifts as volunteer staff, Council and Elders and so many others who teach, serve and bless so many in our family BUT KNOW THAT I LOVE YOUR FAITHFULNESS AND THAT OUR LORD KNOWS HOW FAITHFUL YOU ARE IN SERVICE!

SO: I know you have gotten a lot of Christmas Cards, emails etc.. But I wanted to share with you the wonderful words fulfilled by the birth of JESUS the CHRIST born in Bethlehem so long ago:

FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN, UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE UPON HIS SHOULDERS AND NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, ALMIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE! (ISAIAH 9:6)

BUT THAT IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY: "Of the increase of his government and peace THERE WILL BE NO END! He will REIGN on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM THAT TIME ON AND FOREVER! THE ZEAL OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS!" (ISAIAH 9:7) Praise the Lord, Alleluia! AMEN!!

Have a VERY Merry Christmas and a HAPPY BLESSED New Year!

Love in Jesus, the one who saves us,

Pastor Bryan

More Power! 2nd Sunday in Advent Dec 4, 2011

2011-12-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today we celebrate the truth of St. John the Baptist's words in Mark 1:1-8 specifically vs 7: "After me will come One more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie!" As we prepare for Christmas, in this Preparation season of Advent, we can be forgiven for tuning out the hype of the sales, sears: amazing one day sale, JC Penny, Kohls. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday...it is too much. I laugh at the "REGULAR" price because I wonder if things ever really cost that price? It should therefore catch our attention when someone like John, the Baptist, shows up in the second week of Advent. He is not the norm. What he eats, what he wears, what he says all stand out and his ministry is certainly "SUCCESSFUL!" Yet John understands something that also stands out: that his ministry is to prepare the way for Jesus. I think it is brilliant that Mark starts his gospel with this promise of Mal 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way 'a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" This was specifically "Elijah" or otherwise known as, "John" who understood after living, since conception, as the one who prepares the way. We remember his leaping in the womb when his mother Elizabeth was greeted by Mary in Luke 1. We remember his Ministry starting 6 months before Jesus as Numbers 4:3 states at 30 years of age. We see him serving the Lord by Baptizing him. We recognize the that even with the shock value of his clothes, eating habits, and his words, he was successful in the work of Repentance. After all it says all the people from Judea and everyone from Jerusalem.

What we learn from John is that we are all called to prepare the way for the Lord. We are called to be used to reach up, in and out in order to direct people to the Mighty One who has the Power, Love, Grace, Hope, etc... Jesus Christ. We can learn from John that as he shares in John 3:30 "He (Jesus) must become greater, I must become less!" This is consistent with the humility he showed when Jesus asked him to Baptize him, and John in Matthew 3:14 says "I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?" He states in Mark 1:7-8 today that: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I baptize you with or in water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” When he describes his position of not being worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals, in Matthew it says "carry" them, he is helping us understand the posture for us to have as we prepare for the coming of Jesus this Christmas. If we want to experience the power that our Lord wants to pour out on us His Children we can prepare our hearts and minds by repenting of pride and humbling ourselves before the Lord. Then we will understand what it means that we celebrate the truth of the one coming with more power, to lift us up, carry us through and help us to fix our eyes on the prize of HIS SALVATION won on the cross of calvary, by His precious Blood and proven in the empty tomb! More power is always my prayer and it does not come from bettering ourselves but by humbling ourselves. That's preparation!

Love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Bryan

Nov. 27, 2011 "Happy New Year 2012: Lacking Nothing!"

2011-11-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy New Year! Last week we spent time looking at all the Lord has done, is doing and will do as we ended the Church Year, A.D. 2011. Today we celebrate the First Sunday in Advent, our 4 weeks of preparation for the Nativity of our Lord, and the New Year of the Church. This Sunday we will contemplate the words of St. Paul which he shares with the followers of Jesus Christ in Corinth:

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in Him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

This is an amazing introduction to the church that St. Paul spent 18 months with, as recorded in Acts 18. He shares with them how thankful he is for them! He reminds these Christians, who live in an extremely affluent community that is 5 times the size of Athens and is extremely important because for centuries it has been the city between the ports connecting western Greece with the East, what is truly important. Corinth, this 4 miles of isthmus that when crossed saved 200 miles of sailing from East to West, is a very important city. It was also a very cosmopolitan city with the multiple temples in the market and the Acrocorinth, the hill that historically was known for the worship of many gods, for it is no mistake that one of the Greek verbs for fornicating comes from the name of Corinth. It is said that there were over 1000 prostitutes for the worship in the temple of Aphrodite. I only reference this because as I watched Black Friday with the lines, sales, etc.. pepper spray used in Walmart. I thought we have so much to be thankful for in North America. Probably the way the Corinthians thought of their place in the Empire. From a worldly perspective they had it ALL.

Yet the Apostle Paul brings them back from the contemporary perspective of the world around them, to focus them on the truth of how they should recognize what is really important. More important than the deals on Black Friday, more important than the victory of our U of M Wolverines over Ohio State (I have been waiting for this since I moved here!), more important than even the birth of my first grandson "Levi Timothy Schindel" this afternoon!!! It is hard to imagine that even as I feel so thankful I could bust, the Lord speaks and shares the most important words for us as we enter into the next year of the Church: we have been "ENRICHED" in every way and do not "LACK" any spiritual gifts! We enter into this New Year knowing what Mordecai shared with Esther, (which I read in my devotions this morning) in Esther 4: ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" This was a huge eyeopening event for Esther. We know that it helped her to do the right thing and gave Esther the opportunity to put things into perspective and appreciate God's plan!

Brothers and sisters do we know that even when we put too much emphasis on those things that seem so important to us from our human, sinful, worldly perspective; because of his love for us, the Lord is constantly calling us to repentance. Today the Lord has given us the opportunity to confess this sin and receive the grace and forgiveness won for us on the Cross of Calvary and freely given to those who belong to God. We can then recognize the privilege of serving him NOW, rejoicing in the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate that we have been enriched in every way and lack nothing as we move forward in HIS ministry. We have the gift of refocusing and prioritizing what is TRULY IMPORTANT! We know we belong to God and believe in his plan and his power because we were created for such a time as this! May we become who the Lord wants us to be and move forward with confidence and boldness knowing we lack nothing and are called to work together as the Lord directs us. St. Paul says that the Lord will keep us STRONG to the end as we eagerly wait for His return. It is fascinating to me that the Lord sent two disciples to get the colt in our Gospel Lesson in Mark 11. He understood the importance of us working together as a family to support one another and see what the Lord will DO! St. Paul reminds us that we are in fellowship with God, as well as one another. He reminds us that "God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, is faithful!" The point is God is faithful and He has called us to this moment to do what He wants to be done and He is faithful to keep us strong and enrich us with all we need! What a way to enter this New Year of the church!
May we pray: "thy kingdom come among us and your will be done on earth, among us, as it is in heaven!"

Nov. 20, 2011 Christ the King: "Those who belong to him!"

2011-11-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday and the New Year's Eve of the Church Year. It is the day to celebrate the truth of the final days! Today we celebrate and contemplate the urgency of Christ's command to be ready for the end and to share the truth with all the time we have left.

St. Paul shares what the essence of this day is in

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all.

The truth of this text is for us to CELEBRATE that we are the "firstfruits" as St. Paul says we are "those who belong to HIM!" This is why as we gather in this last Sunday we hear of the future, the victory, heaven, judgement and the destruction of Sin, Death and Satan! We look back at what the Lord has done in this last year: new fellowship hall, new small groups, new work with students and our partnership with UCO, gas buy down, many many meals, new color sign on order, 3 full time and one part time paid staff as well as great volunteer staff and so many faithful partners in the gospel! We are the priesthood of all believers and we know the our God reigns!! We look forward to the New Year of the Church and that the Lord has left us here while HE "puts everything under his feet" so that we have more opportunities to build relationships, UP, IN and OUT, knowing Christ and making him known by belonging, believing and becoming who our Lord wants us to be! I am excited to be in ministry here at Cross and Resurrection to see what the Lord has done, is doing and will do! I pray that we look forward, if the Lord doesn't return before next Sunday, to ringing in the Church Year of our Lord 2012 next Sunday!

May we never forget that the day of victory is coming soon! We will be there celebrating as Jesus states in our Gospel lesson: Matt. 25:46, how those who were hypocrites and did not belong, believe or become will receive punishment in contrast to us who belong to HIM: "the Righteous" "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Praise the Lord! Alleluia! Amen!

FREEDOM!

2011-10-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Today, we celebrate a very important event in history. The day, that started the Reformation: October 31st, 1517 when Dr. Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the Wittenburg Church door.
Today we look at a discussion between the Jews and Jesus. Jesus shares with the Jews who are following him in John 8:31-36

To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If youhold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will knowthe truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him,“We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves ofanyone. How can You say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied,“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now aslave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to itforever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

We as believers should listen very carefully to these words. Jesus shares with them the meaning of true "freedom". First he shares that when we are believers and followers we belong to him and therefore know the truth and are set Free!

It is always amazing to me that they respond the way we do. They say they are not enslaved! These people who have been enslaved by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and now Romans only to mention the big ones. These people who are born sinful and continue to sin. Jesus says they are slaves to sin! Paul in Romans 3 makes this very clear when he states "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We are all in need of forgiveness. None of us are really "free." In the United States we like to talk about "Freedom" and "Liberty." On November 11th in British countries and here we will remember the sacrifice of Veterans and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Jesus would say to us "what about the sin of putting other things before our Lord, of coveting more things we don't need, pride, other gods, etc.....?" We have liberty and freedom as believers but the COST was and is huge! Just as so many have given their lives for our political freedom so Jesus shares that we are his family and therefore through Christ we are "sons" of God and because of Christ's death and resurrection we have been set free and we are free indeed! This is TRUE FREEDOM! It is as Romans 3: states

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

This word "freely" is the greek word "dwrea"= dorea meaning free, undeserved, unpaid, GIFT! Freely given!

This is one of the founding principles of the Reformation and this is what our Lord is trying to share with the Jews who are believing in him!

Do we this day understand that our TRUE FREEDOM is the gift of grace, forgiveness, redemption and adoption as Children of God to become the people God wants us to be as we live for him? I pray that today we would boldly live as we boldly proclaim THE SON HAS SET US FREE AND WE ARE FREE INDEED!!

"Vocation not Vacation" Oct. 16, 2011

2011-10-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today we look at the introduction to St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. We hear St. Paul sharing his thankfulness for these Christians and their faithfulness:
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
² We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. ³ We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶ You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷ And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸ The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, ⁹ for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

These words are so encouraging because they remind us of the importance of living out our faith. The gift of faith given to us; leading to work, labor and endurance. We know that our relationship with God in the covenant he has made with us leads us to know who we are in Christ. This then leads to us moving forward by the power of the Holy Spirit and deep conviction, with authority and power! We are so encouraged by the example of the Thessalonians. The most important part of what we see in this triad of verse 3: "Work produced by faith, Toil or labor prompted by love and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" is the theology of "vocation," or "calling" that Martin Luther introduced during the Reformation. Before Luther only the Vocations of the church were honored. These were the works that mattered. Luther reminds us Kingdom people that our calling, no matter what it may be, is our chance to glorify God and be imitators of Paul and of the Lord! It is so important that we live out our faith, not seeing grace as a call to vacation, although rest is extremely important, but vocation: our calling to do everything to the Glory of God. Then we will work, toil and endure by His power and not ours! Our whole life is living as part of the kingdom! As we pray "your kingdom come, your will be done!"

God richly bless you as you live out your faith every day!

Pastor Bryan

Out: Are you envious of the Father's Mercy? Pentecost 14: Sept 18

2011-09-17T17:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations to Eric and Sarah Morgan on the arrival of their new daughter "Gianna" yesterday! Sarah shared that "Gianna was born Friday at 4:19pm! 7lbs 15.5 oz and 20 inches. After being at Mott's Hospital for 44 hrs we had an emergency C-section; not what we wanted or planned, but God kept her safe and she's healthy!" We are so thankful for the Lord's protection and pray for both Sarah and Eric to get rest and enjoy their first few days with Gianna!

Tomorrow is going to be a great day for us to celebrate the amazing Love of our God shown to us in Christ Jesus! I look forward to worshiping with all of you tomorrow!

At 9am we will begin with the Christian Education for all ages. At 9:15 I will lead the Adults and Parents in a really cool study by "True U" looking at the truth of the Bible as God's inspired historic book.

At 10:15 we will have a great worship time and we will be looking at the words of Isaiah, the prophet whose name means "the Lord SAVES," sharing with us how simple the message we are asked to share with the world is to share with others as we grow in our UP, IN and OUT. Isaiah 55:6-7 states the GOOD NEWS: ⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. What simple and yet powerful message! It is so hard for many to understand because they do not understand the ways and thoughts of our God: Isaiah 55:8-9 ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. We will look at the Parable of the workers to try to explain the Love and Grace that the Lord has for us and all for whom Jesus died. Check it out in Matthew 20:1-16. It is not fair and yet we belong to this wonderful God, we believe in HIS mercy and grace and want to become more like HIM each day!

At 10:30 Norma Polk will lead a study with College Students in the fellowship hall.

At 11:35 we will have the Congregational Meeting to elect our Council members and introduce to you David and Beth Marshall who are being called to Cross and Resurrection as Family Life Ministers, in partnership with the Word of God who is going to provide their salary (a very small part time salary), so that they will be part of our team. We will benefit from their work with Warriors (Middle School on Thursdays) and Mission Christ (High School on Fridays) as we encourage our young people to join in these great ministries just as we partner with University Christian Outreach for College Ministry.

We will have lunch, thanks to the Zuelligs and Chris Stauffer at 11:45. We will have the 12:15 (ish) service and then the ALIVE! Tecumseh service at 4pm.

It is going to a full day but I look forward to seeing what the Lord will do!

Just a note if you want to join me for the Lutheranism 101, proposed for Monday nights starting soon, please let me know if you wish to attend because with construction actually started we will be need to decide if we will meet on Mondays and where? Please send me an email or talk to me after services. THERE WILL BE NO STUDY THIS MONDAY.

Love in Christ Jesus our risen Lord,

Pastor

August 28, 2011 "Become: Have in Mind the things of God!"

2011-08-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Well we are back from the Lake Charlevoix and looking forward to Worship and Praise with our Church family tomorrow. Thanks to Paul and so many others who helped this week, so that we could take Bruce up on his invitation to visit Boyne City again! It was AWESOME!

This Sunday we continue our journey through Matthew 16 as we hear Jesus explain things to his disciples; after St. Peter confessed the truth of who Jesus is: "the Christ, the Son of the living God!" St. Peter was praised by Jesus and told that "upon this confession" Christ would build his church and not even the gates of hell would prevail against it! Jesus said Peter was blessed and that this "confession" came from His father in heaven.

Peter is definitely more confident as we hear him disagree with Jesus, as Jesus lays out the truth of what is going to happen to him in the near future:

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
As a matter of fact Peter is so confident that he rebukes Jesus, his friend and rabbi? Jesus then calls Peter "SATAN?" Why? While he just said he was blessed for his confession given to him by His Father in heaven. Peter is now being told that his worldly desire and his "will" is satanic and a stumbling block. This had to be really hard to hear from the person you love and respect but listen to why he is a "stumbling block" akin to "satan." It is because he does not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Wow! How many times have we done extremely good and nice things because we feel that they are the right things to do or say, yet have we asked the question: "is it God's will?" In order for us to ask this question we will prepare to look at becoming more in tune with the Word of God and what the Holy Spirit wishes us to say and do. As we continue our relationship UP (Belong), IN (Believe) and OUT (Become) we will learn to be sensitive to discerning the things of God and the WILL of God. We will look at the remaining verses of Romans 12 that explain how we can be transformed and by the renewing of our minds, have in mind the things of God. Our challenge is to let the Holy Spirit help us to be living sacrifices, motivated by love and living as R12 (Romans 12) Christians! So that we are a blessing, following the will of our Father in heaven and not a stumbling block! Isn't that our petition in the Lord's Prayer when we pray "thy will be done"?

Please continue to pray for what the Lord wants you to share during the worship time, after the distribution of the Lord's Supper. This is the time to pray and to share what the Lord is putting on our hearts for us and HIS church!

Remember this is "move in" weekend at EMU so let's make a great first impression for the new students.

See you all tomorrow.

Love in Christ Jesus our Risen Lord and Savior,

Pastor

Believe: GREAT faith! August 14, 2011 9th Sunday after Pentecost

2011-08-13T11:38:00.001-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am writing this after just experiencing the wonderful wedding ceremony of Mr. Matt and Mrs. Brenna Behnke here at Cross and Res! Tomorrow we will be experiencing the amazing love of God in Christ Jesus our risen Lord as we look at the faith of the Canaanite women in Matthew 15 where Jesus comments on her "GREAT faith." I think we can learn a lot from her posture in approaching our Lord, her persistence and her humble request of Jesus. At first Jesus seems uncaring, even unkind, as he ignores her. When the disciples ask to send her away, Jesus explains that his mission is ONLY to the lost sheep of Israel, yet because of her persistence and her faith, Jesus grants her request.

As children belonging to God, do we approach God with pride of position and almost demand things? I think I have been guilty at times, because of our consumer culture, to almost give a shopping list to our Lord and demand that "IF YOU Truly love me then....." I believe if we understood what this lady understood, the heart of our God, then we would humbly ask with expectation not because we deserve it but because of God's mercy, grace and love!

Please pray for GREAT faith! Please pray for the newly married couples Josh and Sarah Brudi, last week, (thanks again for all your prayers and support it went really well!,) as well as Matt and Brenna Behnke today! Please keep Rachael Kleimola and her family in your prayers as she is in hospice care! Please keep Joann Woodward and her family in your prayers as she recovers from a very difficult and stressful surgery!

See you tomorrow! It is going to be an awesome praise and worship time! I can't wait to worship our AWESOME LORD! Please remember to bring God sightings, or the Word at the end of the Worship after Communion.

Love in Christ,

August 7, 2011 "Believe: How do you learn?" Pentecost 8

2011-08-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Just had a moment, while everyone is doing hair and getting ready all around me, to write a quick reminder and a big "Thank You!" to everyone who has been praying for me and my family in preparation for Sarah and Josh's wedding at 1pm! We are so blessed to have a great "extended" family in Cross and Resurrection! I hope if you are in the area and forgot that you can join us at St. Luke Lutheran Church for this joyous occasion!!

Tomorrow we are going to hear about Peter getting out of the boat and quickly realizing the fleeting nature of faith or belief when confronted with the storms of life! The text for the message is from Romans 10 where St. Paul tells us that faith comes through the Word! I look forward to sharing this wonderful teaching on "learning styles" with everyone who is here tomorrow at the 10:15 Service. Johannes is back, Thad Polk will continue his study on the St. Paul's letters at the 12:15 service and Paul Knickelbein is going to be in Tecumseh since we are have family over in the afternoon.

Also please check out the announcement that Paul puts up on the website www.crossandres.org under newsletters. You will notice that we are being blessed with multiple babies in our church family. A shower is coming up this week.

Since I truly believe that we are a church "family" I want to invite anyone who able to join us on Monday, yes in 2 days:) at our home 7382 Fosdick Rd Saline for a baby shower for our first grandchild. My wife, having only a million things to do, realized that Meagan and Tim will probably not be back in Michigan until Easter at the earliest. So with our family here for the wedding and with a quick invite to our extended family she is hosting a baby shower at 7pm on Monday. Please don't feel bad if you can not attend, this is short notice and there is so much going on! I just wanted to make sure to invite our whole family!

Love in Christ, our risen Lord and Savior,
Pastor Bryan

July 31 Pentecost 7: Believe: Telling the TRUTH?!

2011-07-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tomorrow we continue on our journey through St. Paul's letter to the Church meeting in Rome. At the beginning of chapter 9, St. Paul struggles with the challenge of telling the truth, out of love, for people who do not wish to hear it. He is lamenting over the unbelief of his Jewish brethren. He states:
¹ I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, ⁴ the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

I remember a movie a few years back titled "A Few Good Men" when Tom Cruise, a JAG officer, is asking the Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson) in charge of the United States military base in Cuba, about his behavior. He demands to hear the truth while the Colonel states "you can't handle the truth!" (check it out, if you can handle the anger and language, @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hGvQtumNAY )

I think in some ways, with all of the "relative truth" and "political correctness" in our society we want to believe that we can't handle the truth and look the other way when the opportunity to share the Truth of Christ comes our way. I know in my own life I have had opportunities to share, as St. Paul is doing with his fellow Jewish family, relatives and friends, and instead of sharing the truth; even if it caused me "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" I have changed the subject! I have noticed that the Holy Spirit has grown the desire in me to find the "person of peace" who is open to the truth and share it. Jesus told his disciples, as he sent them out with the TRUTH, to find these people in Matthew 10:¹¹ “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.

Tomorrow we will look at the importance of telling the truth in love and looking for the "person of peace" so that we can bring truth to the nations!

It is true for us that with the Debt Limit Crisis and politics in general, truth seems to be a matter of perspective. Truth seems to depends on who asks the question, the words used and the context and way it is asked. We are fortunate that the Lord Jesus has given us HIS WORD to keep us grounded on the TRUTH as the Jesus' Disciples said when challenged with the idea of Jesus as the "Bread of Life" in John 6:⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” May we believe and know the TRUTH and the Holy one of God each day and tell the truth! Jesus also prayed in HIS high priestly prayer on the night HE was betrayed in John 17:¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

See you tomorrow as we worship the HOLY ONE OF GOD!

Reminder we will have the time of sharing each week following the worship after the Lord's Supper! Please ask the Lord if HE has something for you to share. Check the announcements on our website at www.crossandres.org.

Please remember all of our Church family is invited to our daughter Sarah's wedding next Saturday at St. Luke Lutheran Church at 1:00pm. If you have missed the invitation, please join us for this wonderful celebration of the gift of marriage between Josh and Sarah!

Love in Christ,
Pastor Bryan

July 24, 2011 "Belong: More than Conquerors!" Pentecost 6

2011-07-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tomorrow we will share in the worship of our amazing Lord and hear the Word of God from Matthew's gospel and Romans 8. In Romans 8, St. Paul writes: "³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." These words are often heard at Christian Funerals. This is a very comforting passage of Holy Scripture for us each day!

Earlier in Romans 8 we hear "²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. The point of this is not that God automatically predestines some for heaven and some for hell through election (as our calvinist brothers and sisters believe) but that as Jesus said in John 12:32 "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He, God in Christ, will draw everyone to himself. Does this mean therefore everyone has to go to heaven? No, it means that our Lord, through the Holy Spirit draws, calls, gathers, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies! We hear this in Luther's explanation to the 3rd Article of the Apostles' Creed:

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.

If people do not respond to the call then they are not justified, even though Christ died for all sins, once and for all! But God is faithful and will call, justify, glorify those who receive this free gift of grace! St. Paul wants us to know who we are when we receive the gifts that the Lord offers to us, as the Creed states: our adoption as children of God, our redemption in Christ and Sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what makes us more than conquerors and what makes Satan tremble when we live by the Spirit and know to whom we belong and what it means.

We are going to change a few things in worship tomorrow. Because we love to hear from the Word of God, prophecies and testimonies, sharing what the Lord has done and is doing, we are going to add a sharing time in the service each week. We are going to begin with our worship and prayer time as we normally do. We have the Gospel reading and then Children's message. We will read the text from Romans 8 which I will share from. After the Sermon we will share the peace and then confess our sins and enter into the Lord's supper. We will have the Lord's Supper and while we offer prayers during the worship time following the distribution, while we pray for people, healing etc... we will also offer time after the worship for people to share at the microphone at the side. An Elder will stand on the pulpit side at the front and everyone who wishes to share may come up and we will have sharing time every week. This will allow us to have "God-sightings" and other sharing on a regular basis! The Elders will be responsible for assisting the people who feel led to share by helping them in keeping good order and time. The Elder's and I believe this will facilitate an even greater appreciation for what we know the Lord is doing in the midst of his family here at Cross and Resurrection!

I look forward to worship tomorrow, giving our Lord all praise and honor!

Love in Christ Jesus our Risen Lord and Savior,

Pastor Bryan

July 17, 2011 "One TRULY Sent: Belong as Children of God"

2011-07-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This Sunday is the 5th Sunday after Pentecost, in this "teaching season" of the church year. This week we continue to look at what it means to "be one truly sent by God" specifically looking at Romans 8 where St. Paul states in verse 19: "the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." This refers to the end of time but we as "Children of God" are able to share what has been revealed to us in Holy Scripture. We therefore are talking about what it means to be the "Children of God" revealing to the world what our Lord has done, is doing and will do. Our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 44:8 where Isaiah quotes the God of the universe saying to us: "Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” We have the privilege of being His witnesses. The Gospel lesson are the very words of Jesus when he declares in Matthew 13:43 "then the righteous (us) will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear!" We are going to make the sermon time a "God-sighting" time. I am asking everyone to prayerfully consider as you have experienced God, as His child, over the last few months doing amazing things that you would feel comfortable sharing with us. My sermon will be short and we will have the time to share! Also we are going to move the prayers to after Holy Communion, during our worship time to experience the intimacy of the "real presence" of Christ and pray, praise and give thanks during this time of worship. We are hoping to set up a training time to have more prophetic words in worship and this will better facilitate this experience of the Holy Spirit moving in the midst of Christ's body, the Children of God, in worship together. Holy communion is an "altar call" of sorts when we come to the Lord to know with all of our senses the forgiveness of sins and the power to live as Children of God!
See you on tomorrow!

Thanks in advance to those who help lead the worship and serve every week! If you want to share on Sunday please let me know!

Love in Christ,
Pastor

July 10th, 2011: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost "Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ"

2011-07-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

This week we continue our journey of discovery into what it means "being one truly sent" which we first heard from the prophet Jeremiah. We will hear from Isaiah 55 about the power of God's Word as it is goes forth! We will hear Jesus sharing in the Matthew 13 about the seeds and the soil, those who received the Word. We will be looking specifically at our identity as ones who are truly sent in Romans 8. In Romans 8 St. Paul tells us of the importance in living by the Spirit and knowing we are Children of God and "heirs!" It is important to understand the way the Roman world looked at adoption and being heirs! Tomorrow we will look at the tremendous gift it was to be an "heir!" It also came with responsibilities especially if your "Co-Heir" was Christ!

Let us understand who we are as Children of God in Christ Jesus and recognize the privilege, power and responsibility we have a free people and slaves to righteousness. It is awesome to know to whom we belong and relationship our Lord wants to have with us!

June 26, 2011 "One who is truly sent by the Lord!"

2011-06-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we celebrate the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost. We are focusing on Jeremiah 28:9 where Jeremiah states: "But the prophet who prophecies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true!" With predictions of the end of the world a little over a month ago, changed now to November??, it is understandable that people like myself who want to see prophecy alive and well in the 21st Century church cringe at these false prophets!

Jeremiah had a real difficult task, telling people the truth when the false prophets were telling them what only what they wanted to hear. Why is it that people think that telling the truth has to be negative. If we look at history the truth could have been a great help to the people in Jerusalem. They may not have rebelled against Babylon again and ended up with everything destroyed in 586 BC. I am not a fan of "positive thinking" which overlooks the truth, but I am a great fan of "thinking positive" which takes into account the truth of what is happening but remembers that the Lord is king and we serve him!

May the world have less false prophets who tell people what they want to hear and more prophets like Jeremiah who reluctantly told people the truth, sometimes in dramatic fashion, to point them to repentance, life with God and freedom in the truth of redemption!

May we all honor God first and let everything else fall into the right place in our life! May we look at the world with truth as our perspective and Christ as our lens!

May we all be one who is truly sent!

June 12, 2011 Pentecost Sunday & Confirmation Celebration

2011-06-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tomorrow is Pentecost!! I can't wait to see what our God, through his Holy Spirit, will do! Tomorrow is also Confirmation and we rejoice with the Angela Knickelbein and her family, as well as Randall Schliebe and his family on this very special day!

Pentecost is the special festival, 50 days after the Resurrection, 10 days after the Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God. In the Hebrew history of Exodus 19, Pentecost, the festival of weeks, harvest or firstfruits is 50 days after the great Sabbath of Passover. The first Pentecost is 50 days after the Sabbath because it is 7 Sabbaths after the first day following Passover. This is the the giving of the Law! It is the time in Exodus 32:38 we see 3000 rebel against Moses and God and at Pentecost we see 3000 given the Holy Spirit.

This is a great day and I expect wonderful things. Confirmation is the affirming of the gifts given to us in Baptism. It is the public confession of what happened in our Baptism. Last Sunday our newest son: Bryan Emanuel Noah was given the gift of faith, eternal life and the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism. When he was Baptized, as we were, he received the Holy Spirit like the Apostles received the Holy Spirit in John 20:20-23 "¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Even though they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Resurrection, the day of Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit has them! We pray over our Confirmands and ask that the Holy Spirit gets a hold of their whole life and that they live for him each day!!

Please join us to partake in this great and awesome celebration! We will be praying over Angela and Randall, as well as asking the Holy Spirit to manifest his presence and gifts among us, his family!

If you are away you will find the announcements @ www.crossandres.org

Also a note: We will have the 12:15 service again starting next Sunday! Many talked to me, following Matthew 18, sharing their concern that this is unique service and so we will continue it through the summer.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bryan

June 5, 2011 The 7th Sunday of Easter

2011-06-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This Sunday we rejoice in joining with our High School group of youth as they lead the Worship Service!

At the beginning of the 10:15 Service we look forward to the Lord bringing Bryan Emanuel Noah Schindel (Ben) into his family through Holy Baptism! Please plan to join us for great cheesecake following the Service.

For the months of June, July and August we are NOT going to have a 12:15 Worship Service. I personally will miss this amazing time of worship but we hope everyone who is around, and not at the lake etc, will attend the 10:15 Service! It is important even when it so nice out to spend time in Worship and partake of the Lord's Supper.

Check out crossandres.org for the Announcements for those who are away! I am asking everyone to pray for Paul Knickelbein, Drew Maybee, Johannes Stauffer, Jeff and Marsha Comella who are in London and Sheffield England this week. Please pray for safe travel and a great immersion experience as they join other believers in seeing what the Lord is doing and reaching people with message of his salvation, love and power in a very secular culture! Sheffield has been blessed by having an exciting renewal of the Acts church in a former blue collar mining and milling area that has transformed to a multi-cultural, high tech and university area. Sounds familiar to where the Lord has placed us, so I am very thankful that when these 5 return on the 10th we will have had 12 people immersed in what the Lord is doing and asking what the Lord has in store for us in the future!

NEXT Sunday we rejoice in having Angela Knickelbein and Randall Schliebe affirming what the Lord did in them during their Baptism and being Confirmed into the Church. Yesterday we celebrated Ascension Day and so we are counting down the 10 days that our Lord Jesus told his disciples to wait for the Power that he would give them. Next Sunday it is Pentecost so please join us to experience the Holy Spirit and His Power!

Love in Christ our Risen Lord and Savior,

Pastor Bryan

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate and remember the sacrifice of those who gave their lives for our freedom! We are excited at Cross and Res. to be able to acknowledge our VETERANS! We do this on Veteran's Day on November 11 and we remember specifically the fallen on Memorial Day.

With the arrival of our 3rd Son: Bryan Emanuel Noah Schindel, otherwise known as BEN, last Sunday night at 11:48 brought a time of rest and reflection to our home as we have enjoyed this last week bonding with the "little B!" Boys time will never be the same for Jeremiah and me:)

This Sunday we have the pleasure of hearing from a true Missionary:
We welcome Rev. J. Lawrence Jayapalan, who is preaching today. He is from India and works with Bethania. This will be great and I think we will grow to appreciate how the Lord is at work all around the world as well as here at Cross and Res.

Next Sunday we will have the youth lead the worship service and I will be bringing BEN into our Church Family through the waters of Holy Baptism.

May 15, 2011 4th Sunday of Easter: the Voice of the Shepherd!

2011-05-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2011 4th Sunday of Easter: the Voice of the Shepherd!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tomorrow is going to be a great Celebration of God's Grace! It is the 4th Sunday of Easter and we are blessed to have Pastor David Andrus and others sharing with us the ministry to the blind and seeing impaired.

Pastor Andrus will be sharing the children's message and sermon. Aaron Weaver will be sharing his gift of music.

We will have an exceptional "Connection and Growth" time at 8:50. Jim Fry shares the next installment in the Covenant Study in the Sanctuary and Pastor Andrus shares with anyone who is interested on Lutheran Blind Missions http://www.blindmission.org/ in the Fire Side area. Childcare is provided. Sunday School is happening as usual.

We will also have a guest sharing about a mission to Jordon coming up with Antioch ministries.

Don't forget that we are recognizing our Graduates tomorrow!

After the 10:15 Service we will be having a BBQ lunch and during the 12:15 Service time we will have the Groundbreaking ceremony for the new Fellowship Hall addition! Please join us for the lunch, bring a dish to pass, the church will provide the meat and buns!

What a great and glorious day this will be! Christ has Risen! He has risen indeed!! Alleluia!!

Pastor Andrus will speaking on the "Voice of the Shepherd" from John 10:

Jesus said: "The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Love in Christ our RISEN Lord and Savior,

Pastor Bryan

May 8, 2011 Third Sunday of Easter & Mother's Day

2011-05-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

The New Covenant of Transforming Power!

Today we conclude our sermon series on Covenant. It seems appropriate to end with the realization of what the "New Covenant" really means to us who are living in it, by celebrating the special places mother's have in the nurture and faith of children.

St. Paul celebrated Mother's and grandmother's in 2 Timothy 1:
¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ² To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ³ I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

St. Paul recognized the special place of encouragement and nurture given by Mother's. Today we look at the Gospel from St. Luke 24 where Jesus appears to the men on the road to Emmaus:
²⁵ He (Jesus) said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Today we want to have our eyes opened to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit who is given to us in Holy Baptism and "who calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith" (Luther's Explanation of Third Article of Apostles' Creed in Small Catechism) We are called to live a life of faith and sanctification and therefore as Romans 12:
¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I believe this is the desire of every parent, but especially our heavenly father's will, that we experience the transformational power of the New Covenant and His Holy Spirit in our lives each day. The Holy Spirit is the encourager and nurturer in the Old Testament and New Testament let us experience this transformation today. THEN OUR HEARTS WILL BE BURNING!

Texts to look up for more information Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 29, Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 11, 2 Corinthians 3, Romans 8, Galatians chapter 3-5 and Hebrew 12:18- the end of chapter 13. Check them out.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! CHRIST HAS RISEN! HE HAS RISEN INDEED HALLELUJAH!!

May 1, 2011 Covenant of Marriage & a TRULY ROYAL WEDDING

2011-04-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

On Friday, over a million people crowded London streets to see the Royal Wedding. It was called the wedding of the century? Over 2 billion people were said to have watched it!? I thought it was pretty interesting that the future King of England, Canada, Australia.....etc... was actually followed around and mobbed by other countries most especially the United States of America?? I thought it was interesting to hear people speculate about why things were done a certain way. For example: why was President Obama not invited? Why did he wear the "Red Coat"?...etc. Growing up with the monarchy and having been commissioned in the Canadian Armed Forces I appreciate the pomp and circumstance but this was not even a state wedding. Although William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are someday going to be the King and Queen, the heir apparent is still Prince Charles the Prince of Wales. For this reason it is not a state wedding, just a royal wedding. I also thought that the USA had problems with "Red Coats" yet William wore this color, not as an afront to the people across the pond, but because he is a Colonel in the Irish Guard, which is his highest rank in his Military service at this point. But the fairytale of a commoner, albeit a rich commoner, marrying THE future King is pretty exciting for many worldwide.

Today we look at the truth of the Covenant the Lord has made with us HIS people. In 1 Peter 2:9-10 the Lord says through Paul:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So we should pay attention to Royal Weddings but ours is with the Lord. Christ used marriage to explain the relationship he has with His Church in Ephesians 5
²² Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Or in Revelations 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready".

This is not only in the NEW Covenant. God in the Old Covenant used the marriage relationship to express His relationship with His people.

Isaiah 54:5 "For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth."
Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion."
Hosea 2:19-20 "I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD."

He really wants this relationship with us and that is why Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our redemption and the empty tomb we celebrated on Sunday proved God cut the covenant with us through Christ's Blood.

God is not pleased when we do not appreciate the love and relationship HE has done everything in order to establish. He speaks quite clearly about how important this Covenant is to HIM in Malachi 2:13-16: Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring^. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.
Or in the Gospel of St. Matthew 19:3-6 "Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

It is a reminder of Genesis 15 where Yahweh "cut the covenant" with Abram even while Abram was sleeping! Now it is time for us to appreciate the relationship and covenant HE has made with us and walk in the oneness of the marriage covenant with our LORD! "One flesh" is the biblical language of Marriage. In the Royal Wedding on Friday it was interesting that William said everything I am and have is yours to Kate. I think that is soooo important for us to appreciate in our relationship with the God of the universe that we "Yaddah," "know" in Hebrew, the intimacy that our God wants to have with us in Christ and that His love is everlasting and more amazing than we will ever truly understand. I know in the Lutheran Church we do not have Marriage as a sacrament (latin for mystery) because it does not offer the forgiveness of sins, although there is a lot of forgiveness in marriage all around:) but I think we should always appreciate the intimacy of being ONE! I know I love being married and the relationship I have with my wife and I know the Lord desires this to be an example of the relationship he wants with each one of us!

May we as the Royal Priests, a HOLY nation, a people belonging to God, understand the Covenant of Love the Lord has made with us! May we walk with the confidence, love and hope that comes from knowing the Lord and walking in His love, grace, mercy and power!!

Palm and the Passion Sunday on April 17, 2011

2011-04-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today (Palm Saturday) we experience a preview of Holy Week, the Passion and Resurrection for our families! It is awesome to see the children learn what this is all about, make pretzels, crafts etc...

Tomorrow (Palm or Passion Sunday,) we celebrate the experience of the Procession of Palms and Balloons remembering the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in John 12:
¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,    “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”
¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
   see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

We continue the service after processing in with palms and balloons to the song HOSANNA, with the reading of the remainder of John 12 hearing specifically of the words:
²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. ²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
   ²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”
   Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
³⁰ Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up^[g] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

The prayer we have for everyone as we enter into Holy Week, with the conclusion of our reading through the New Covenant (Testament) is that we have gained a much better understanding of the Covenants God has made with us in the Old Covenant as well as the New. Starting in Gen. 3:15, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to King David and today Jeremiah 31 looking at what GOD does in Covenant with us and how HE gave us these promises and now we prepare to see life through the NEW Covenant we have in CHRIST JESUS through our relationship with HIM and in our Baptism. That we would see, feel and hear JESUS!

I have the privilege of sharing this message at ALIVE! in Tecumseh at 4. But if you are not joining us there please remember:
On Palm Sunday, April 17th come celebrate our Lord at Hosanna! join with Christians for a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic but ONE LORD from 5:00 to 6:30 at the Michigan Theater for HOSANNA 2011! This promises to be a fantastic time!

This HOLY WEEK we celebrate the truth and celebrate Christ's giving of HIS NEW COMMAND on MAUNDY THURSDAY (Maundatem: meaning mandate) in the words of John 15: (During the Last Supper which we will celebrate on Thursday in the Passover Seder Meal at 6pm)
¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

After we celebrate the Passover Seder we will Strip the Altar as a reminder of Jesus' journey to the Garden of Gethsemane and HIS State of Humiliation.

On Friday evening at 7 we will have a Good Friday service where we leave in silence and contemplate the BLOOD of the NEW Covenant shed on the cross of Calvary!

On Holy Saturday we will not have a Vigil this Easter, due to the Pastor's health but we will spend this time in prayer!

Sunday morning we will Celebrate a late Sonrise Service at 7:45am with Easter Breakfast from 8:15-10:15 with Resurrection DAY Service happening at 10:30! There will be no Christian Education Hour on Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday. (There will be NO 12:15 Service this year.) We are going to Celebrate "Living life through the perspective of the NEW Covenant and the Cross and Empty Tomb" It will be awesome!

Please pray for the Palm Saturday celebration, Holy Week Services, as well as the students finishing up at EMU, Washtenaw Community College, Concordia University and U of M.

Please keep the Saturday after Easter (April 30) to join us in Spring cleaning at the Church. The Saturday after Easter, April 30th, we will have a Spring Cleanup Day inside and outside the building. We will start around 9:00 and have a cookout at noon. Bring your tools, rags and cleaners and lets make our Lord's House look extra nice!

On Sunday, May 1 we will have a shortened 12:15 Service with Worship, Prayer and Testimonies then there will be the BLESSING of BIKES with a BBQ and Fellowship time at 1:10.

May God richly bless you all as we prepare for HOLY WEEK and look forward to what the Lord will do and how HE will change our lives!

Pastor Bryan

Third Sunday in Lent March 27, 2011 Abraham Covenant "Name Change, Heart Change, Game Changer"

2011-03-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Tomorrow is the Third Sunday in Lent. As we strive to celebrate this reflective season of Lent I want to encourage you all in the continuation of your reading through the New Testament! If you are doing the Gospel and Letter portions each day, which is what I am doing, you are finishing Luke 5 and Ephesians 6 today. I hope in the next few weeks to have people share what the Lord has been revealing during this Lenten discipline.

Tomorrow we will have JIM FRY LEADING THE COVENANT AND KINGDOM STUDY that was on Wednesday, following the Lenten Service. It will start in the sanctuary at 8:50am and THERE WILL BE CHILDCARE PROVIDED! We want everyone to take in this class to better understand where we as a church family are journeying to Share Christ: BELONG, BELIEVE, BECOME!

Tomorrow we continue with our Series on Covenant and Kingdom looking at the Covenant God initiates with Abram/Abraham. This is a unique covenant in that we see Abraham receiving a remarkable gift of the "Royal Land Grant (unconditional) Covenant" in Gen 15 where God does it all! Then in Gen 17 a restating of this Covenant with a Name change, a Sign (Circumcision/heart change) and then a game changer which is the promise of land and multitudes of descendants! The difference here is that in Gen 17 God gives Abraham and his descendants an "out" if they do not want the blessings. Don't be circumcised and then you will void the covenant. This is unique and in Old Testament, of which I studied as my major in my BTS and MDiv, and is called a Suzerain-vassal where there is an act of love and total consecration to the King, ie: circumcision of the heart as God will later explain.

Tomorrow please join us for the AWARDS CEREMONY FOR THIS UPWARDS SEASON at 4pm at the EMU Convocation Center. Our own Abbie Stauffer will be sharing her remarkable gift of music from 3:30-4 so arrive early! It is free and the presenter is awesome!! She will be worshiping the Lord with us tomorrow morning! Please come and bring friends!!
As I have spent most of the week in bed wrestling with the multiple viruses that I received, I want to thank those who have faithfully continued to serve in the many ministries happening at C&R! Special thanks to Paul for taking over on Wednesday and for those who help with Ladies Bible Class, Wednesday meal, small groups, college outreach and Covenant and Kingdom. Thanks to all those who helped out with the Soaking Prayer time on Thursday, I really wish I could have been there! Thanks to Jim and Marsha for coming to pray with me and for all your prayers!

This Thursday at 11am there will be a Funeral Service for Stephen Masch, son of Gary and Betty Masch. I will be leading the Service Liturgy and Pastor Ron Zehnder will be preaching. The service will be at St. Luke with a lunch following. Contact Joanne at the office if you wish to help or find out more information. Please keep the Masch family in your prayers during this time. Stephen passed away in North Carolina from a automobile accident and this has been a long two weeks for Gary, Betty, Mike, Laura, Bethany as they said "goodbye" to their son and brother. They look forward to celebrating the gift of everlasting life that we have in Christ on Thursday! Gary also has been recovering from surgery.

Next week my Discussion Huddle on Thursday will not be happening but anyone who desires can join me and my daughters at Winter Jam 2011 at the EMU Convocation Center from 6-9 for only $10 you get great Christian Entertainment! Come early, last year people were turned away! check out Winter Jam on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=112630005468913

Please remember to pick up the parking pass tomorrow for Wednesday so you can park in EMU parking and join us for the Dinner @ 6 :15 and our continuing study @ 7 on "Sometimes a great defensive is the best offense!" a study of the armor of God in Ephesians 6 this week: FEET fitted with readiness! Remember that the small group, College group and Covenant & Kingdom study is on right after the half-hour Lenten service Childcare is provided for the Study.

Tomorrow and Monday please take advantage of the Answers in Genesis workshop at St. Paul's Lutheran School. Answers in Genesis Conference: Not Ashamed Sunday, March 27 & Monday, March 28 St. Paul Lutheran School (495 Earhart Rd) Dr. Terry Mortenson from Answers in Genesis will address: Sunday evening 7 PM Genesis: Key to Evangelism Today 8:15 PM Noah's Flood: Washing Away Millions of Years Monday evening 7 PM Origin of Species: Was Darwin Right? 8:15 PM Ape-men: The Grand Illusion No cost & no RSVP necessary, open to the public Questions contact 734-665-9117 or visit the AIG website for more details.

Personal note:
I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. I am feeling better and the Dr. has let me stop taking the immune suppressant drugs for the next two weeks so that I can get over these bugs. I believe the Lord has already healed me of two, so I look forward to being with you all tomorrow! Our daughter Sarah is engaged to Joshua Brudi as of last Tuesday! We are very excited as this spring and summer is filling up!

Love in Christ Jesus, our amazing Lord,

Pastor Bryan

"Exposing the motives of the heart!" 8th Sunday after Epiphany Feb 27, 2011

2011-02-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 4: ¹ This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. ² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Today we look at the words of St. Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth. He is defending the true nature and faith of the Apostle. He tells the folks in Corinth that he, Apollos and Cephas are not leaders of parties, but are servants. He also states that they are "stewards of the mysteries God has revealed" and are REQUIRED to be faithful with these. He indicates that we who have been given this trust will be judged in three ways. 1)in the court of public opinion, by the human courts or by votes in the assembly. It disturbs me that in many congregations and among many Christians they think that that if a congregation votes to do something this is equal to Scripture and thus is legitimate even though it is out of line with Holy Scripture. This is what caused the Lutheran Church I grew up in to adopt un-biblical ideas about the roles of men and women, approve of acts of homosexuality, becoming so politically correct that they have become totally irrelevant. The saying that comes to mind is: "if you stand for nothing, you fall for everything." St. Paul says he will not be judged by the congregation in Corinth or by human opinion or courts. 2) The second "court" is our conscience, St. Paul says his conscience is clear. 3) The third "court" is the righteous and holy Court of our God! This is the final judgment and therefore we who are saved by grace through faith have nothing to "fear", but we should have a sense of "awe" and "reverence" in the fact that we are going to stand before the God of the universe and He will "bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart!" I think we are called to think about the fact that Christ may return at any moment and we will be called to account. I truly believe we are saved by grace and as we live out our lives we are to remember to whom we belong. Jesus in the Gospel lesson from Matthew 6:33 in the Sermon on the Mount says: "But seek first His Kingdom and HIS Righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well!" I saw a survey this week that said "Born Again Evangelical Christians" have a higher divorce rate than atheists, 27%-21%. (probably because Atheists don't get married) 35% don't tell the truth on a regular basis etc.. from Wallbuilders Ministry. I am not saying that we are saved by works but the public is watching us and we do have a responsibility to be found faithful. The Lord tells us NOT to worry but to live out our faith and show forth His love and power and we will not fear the truth of His promise to expose the motives of the heart. For in Christ these will be forgiven and are true! I think there is tremendous freedom in knowing that the Lord, our loving savior will be our judge and that He is faithful and true! We should have great JOY as we move forward into a world that fears the public opinion rather than the final judgment, that the Lord has chosen us to be HIS body during these trying days with much trouble! I look at the way things are going in the world with teachers getting sick leaves excuses from doctors on the street corner in Madison, WI, not to be home sick, but to protest? These are the people who teach our children and next generation?! Their union president did not have a problem with this??? Deception and lies! I would be fearful of the "exposing of the motives of the heart." We know that with the Middle East in flames and the Radical Islamists working behind the scenes it would seem that the things are out of control?! Yet we take great JOY and PEACE in Jesus' Words in Matthew 6 and "do not worry about tomorrow!"

Demonstation of the Spirit's Power! 5th Sunday after Epiphany Feb. 6, 2011

2011-02-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 2: "When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."

Today, we look at the truth of St. Paul's words in his 1st letter to the Church in Corinth where he explains how we are to be "Salt and Light," as we hear in the Gospel lesson. I love to hear what Paul shares about how he preached the good news in Corinth. He says, "I did not preach with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power." This is what I so long for, with a passion, to see this happen in our 21st Century church as in the 1st century church! Paul says that we will be much less effective if we just use words! His challenge is for us to model his behavior and rely on the Holy Scriptures and the promises the Lord makes to us in John 14:11-13

¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

This is what we hold on to as we share the good news from our HEART and not just our mind "so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." May it be so among us!

"PRIDEXTOMY" Boasting in foolishness? 4th Sunday after Epiphany, January 30, 2011

2011-01-29T12:59:00.000-08:00

The 4th Sunday after Epiphany, January 30, 2011: "Pridextomy!" Boasting in foolishness?
This week we will study St. Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth. The 1st chapter introduces St. Paul's purpose for writing. In the first part of this chapter verses 1-17 he really shows how foolish it is to see the Body of Christ, His Church, divided. He then goes on in the lesson for verses 18-31 to show how foolish our message is to the world. The Cross: a "stumbling block" to the Jews who were waiting for the amazing Messiah that would come to conquer and bring in a great age of victory to the Jewish nation over Rome and every other nation. A perfect time of peace and prosperity. They did not see the "suffering servant" of Isaiah as a picture of the Messiah.The Cross: "foolishness" to the Gentiles. People who look at the world by the level of wisdom, strength and money etc..They can't understand how people could see victory in this despicable gross torture of the crucifixion? So Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reminds us that our God's foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom. His weakness stronger than man's strength. This is from God's words to Isaiah in

Isaiah 55:8-9(New International Version, ©2011)

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

May we understand that we have nothing in which to boast! I get so tired of churches and christians who make Baptism which is totally God's work as in Genesis 15 when He makes the first Covenant with Abram, be about the amount of water or what we say and/or do! We can see in 1 Corinthians 1 that St. Paul is helping us to have a "pridextomy" so that we may in humility confess: "It is all about God, as is everything we do!" So "Therefore it is written: 'Let the one who boasts boast in the LORD'" 1 Cor 1:31
Tomorrow we will receive all that we boast about from our LORD, HIS presence, HIS promise, HIS power, HIS Supper! Praise that Lord and GLORY (boast) in HIM!

The Final Life Shape #8: The Octagon: the 8 "P's" of Mission

2011-01-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Life Shape # 8 The Octagon: The 8 “P’s” of MISSION

The octagon has an evangelistic meaning: “evangelism” the sharing of GOOD NEWS will take on a new perspective as one learns to discover the Person of Peace and how the process works from God’s perspective.

The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road. “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. –Luke 10:1-6

The destiny of the church is directly tied to how passionate she remains to her mission. We are to participate in Jesus’ command to go into all the world and make disciples according to the model Jesus has given. In the gospels we see Christ evangelizing, but He did not look like most people do it today.

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” –Mark 10:17-25

In the story of the rich young ruler, Mark tells us that Jesus genuinely loved him, but He also let him walk away. Michael Simpson in Permission Evangelism has an interesting point… Why did He not try harder to win this man that at first seemed so eager? Jesus could have discussed with him the area of riches that kept him from Jesus. Jesus did not run after him because He already knew the man’s heart. Jesus knew and let him walk. Jesus never ran after anyone, but made Himself available to those who were willing to seek the way to God, the truth about God, and the life found in God.

In John 4:35, Jesus tells His disciples to look up for the harvest is plentiful. Disciples through the ages have made the mistake of thinking that if they just work harder that harvest will come sooner. Look back at the circle and find a kairos moment, then go through the steps of observation, reflection and discussion to find out where the harvest is. Find that place where the greatest level of receptivity is present and spend your time there. Sounds a lot like Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God, to find out where God is working and join Him there.

Person of Peace – Finding the Open Person, or the Gatekeeper:

As the disciple enters a house, the Person of Peace is the one who is prepared to hear the message of the kingdom and the King. Our prayer needs to be that God would bring across our path the Person of Peace. No amount of coercion on our part can make someone a Person of Peace. This is the job of the Holy Spirit; He alone prepares the heart for the message of Christ.

The Third Article of the Creed in Luther’s Small Catechism Of Sanctification.
I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy Christian (catholic, meaning universal) Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
What does this mean?-- I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
Paul found the Person of Peace in Acts 16. Unable to go to Asia or Bithynia, they heard the Macedonian call toward Philippi. While there he found Lydia, the dealer in purple cloth, who turned out to be a gatekeeper to many others in the area. While in the Philippian jail, the jailer became a Person of Peace and his whole household, probably including children and infants, were baptized. This is someone whom God has prepared for that specific time. We can’t force the door open, but we must not be distracted so that we miss the doors that are open.

These are things to keep in mind as you look for the person of peace:

Time – There are specific times and places where the harvest is ripe. Not all people of the culture are ready, keep looking. Ask God to help show us when and where the people are ready. Become involved in sowing and reaping. We are to discern the condition of each person’s soul.

Team – Our inward relationships lead to our outward ministry. We are not called to go it alone. The mission-minded church will develop a team strategy for evangelism. Paul had Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Luke and Titus.

Target – Jesus was strategic in His outreach. He knew His disciples could not be in all places at once, so they focused on the lost sheep of Israel. Concentrate on receptive peoples and not force ourselves on those not willing nor ready.

Task – How do we accomplish the task of finding the Person of Peace? The Person of Peace will 1) welcome you (if not you are to shake the dust off your feet), 2) listen to you (those listening to you are listening to Jesus), 3) serve or support you (we must allow this person of peace to do this). Start within your existing circle of influence and relationships. (sometimes those who are being drawn don’t sound welcoming at first)

Trouble – If the teacher is not welcomed, don’t expect that the students will be welcomed either. Expect trouble in our lives. It is not “if” but “when” trouble comes. Our mission into the world has not changed.

As you continue toward the mission God has called you into, keep in mind these issues:

1. Presence: Jesus is Where You Are – we are to act as Jesus would act and speak as Jesus would speak. We are Jesus “with skin on” for the people in a situation. We model Jesus in every situation. BECOME: our desire to grow in sanctification and Christ-likeness. Being Christ-like at work may help you identify the “Person of Peace” who may be speaking in a positive way while others are complaining.

2. Passing Relationships: The Sprint – these relationships are those we meet in passing, only once or twice; the gas station mechanic, the store clerk, the stranger in line at the bank, the waitress or waiter at lunch. We must realize that not all relationships lead people to profess Christ as their savior. Allow some to plant, others to water, and others to reap the harvest.

3. Permanent Relationships: The Marathon – these are family members and close friends with whom we may spend extended periods of time. It is still important not to force the gospel on this group, but we all too often leave this group out of our intentional witness. Jesus in Nazareth. (Mark 6:1-6 and Luke 4:16-30)

4. Proclamation as Identification: Many pastors have the opportunity to present the gospel at events like weddings and funerals; there are often non-believers present. This is fine as long as we understand that it will not convince anyone that is not ready to receive the message. Proclamation works to help identify the person of peace, then enter into relationship with them. LOVE YPSI, gentle words about the Kingdom being near. Wearing a cross and sharing the gospel if necessary, use words.

5. Power: Feeling the Presence: Jesus often used the power of God to produce what we see as miracles to find the Person of Peace. Praying for the sick and seeing a miraculous healing may reveal a Person of Peace, whether the one prayed for or simply someone watching. Our God is an awesome God. He will do things to create awe in those who have yet to commit their hearts to him. Luke 4 Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law and then in verse 40: “Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.” We want to be a healing place and we believe and expect it! Talk with people and add Jesus to the conversation. John Wimber: Power Evangelism and Power Healing.

6. Perception: Feeling the Temperature – we must be spiritually sensitive to situations and circumstances. After relational encounters, ask the temperature of the people in this setting. What may be the signs that someone is interested in learning something about the spiritual realm or about eternity? We should pray for more of the gift of discernment for us and those who are around us in ministry.

7. Preparation: Moving People Along the Scale of growth– this is like cultivating soil and planting seeds in advance of the harvest. Our words may help turn someone else’s soil, then someone else will come to water or harvest. We must learn to identify the role of pre-evangelism, the events that help move someone toward a positive response to the Holy Spirit drawing them to Christ.

8. Person of Peace: the final “P” is the Person of Peace. On the symbol it is the Place ready to receive the KEY. Christ is the KEY! The Church is given the Office of the Keys. This is the way Jesus taught us to live and share our faith in the one task we are given in Matthew 28:18 “to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES.” This is the person who the Holy Spirit is working on and who is waiting for us to “Be” Christ’s ambassadors and witnesses in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Tecumseh, Lenawee County, Michigan and the World. It is not dependent on us, but the Lord is asking us to walk through our life with our eyes open and our ears listening to the Spirit as he reveals to us the Person of Peace.

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE OF PEACE IN YOUR LIFE??

January 16: VITAL SIGNS OF BEING ALIVE! LIFESHAPE #7 HEPTAGON

2011-01-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

LIFESHAPE #7 HEPTAGON: ALIVE! VITAL SIGNS to a Vital life and healthy church

God’s people are a living organism subject to the same principles of growth that apply to all living things. MRS GREN can help us grow a healthy faith walk and a healthy church; practicing the principles of a vital life. WE ARE CALLED TO BE FULLY ALIVE!

You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. — 1 Peter 2:4-5:

Christian health, as well as Church health and growth are all about life, the body being an organism rather than an organization. Many churches put the cart before the horse by building facilities and programs before they have adequately taken care of the needs of the people. The cart will not get things moving, the horse will. We need to feed and care for the horse, but instead much of our energy goes into the cart (and the horse ends up too weak to pull the cart). The cart is easier to take care of; we can paint it, decorate it, show it off. Horses tend wander off or perhaps don’t respond the way we want. Ask yourself, “How good is a cart when the horse is dead?”
We deceive ourselves with the attitude, “If you build it they will come.” Every church is one generation away from extinction, and today’s generation wants to see living stones.
Meet MRS GREN: VITAL SIGNS
In England they learn these seven processes in understanding the human body. Biology has taught us there are seven characteristics that identify all living organisms. Let’s look at each one and discover spiritual truth about growth.
Movement: shows you are not dead – Movement is a response to stimuli, we see it in the animal world all the time. If out in the open, an animal will move to safety when a predator is discovered. Animals move when stimulated by an outer (danger) or inner (hunger) force. The Old Testament is full of patriarch, prophets and people on the move. At the Red Sea the people stopped moving. How easy is it to stand still (static) in what we know, regardless of how unfulfilling, rather than to move into the great unknown. Moses tells them to stand firm while God tells them to move on. God uses many ways to stimulate His people; His Word, His Spirit, persecution. The Church of Acts was first and foremost a movement: Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”Matt 28:18 “Therefore GO..
Respiration: breathing God’s breath – Breathing is not synonymous with respiration. The process is dependent upon oxygen being released into the body so it can function properly. The process is natural for most organisms, but not all. Some have bad breathing due to illness, lack of exercise, pollution, a tantrum of holding your breath. God’s breathing releases His power in our lives. Inhale His Spirit and exhale His will. God pours out His Spirit as we see in the Old Testament as the Hebrew “ruach” and the Greek “Pneuma” this is God’s visitation on HIS people. Martin Luther described his basic relationship with God as “breathing.” St. Paul probably meant this when he encouraged us to Walk in the Spirit! Galatians 5 ¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Sensitivity: the pentagon at work – The body is a unit working together. Sensitivity plays a vital role in our receptiveness to stimuli. The church needs people who are sensitive to the pains of others (pastor); sensitive to sight, foresight given by God (prophets); sensitive to the needs and hurts of others in hearing, listening, instructing (teachers); sensitive to speech, sharing the good news (evangelists); sensitive to sniffing out staleness and knowing when to move out into new areas (apostles). This is why I like being part of a “sacramental” church: we get to experience (feel) the “real” presence of Christ with ALL of our senses in His Word & Sacraments. St. Paul uses the senses when referring to our conscience which Hebrew people understand to be in our guts. For ex. without sensitivity we end up as in 1 Tim 4:2 with “seared consciences.” In Paul’s time the seat of emotion was in the intestines, which we westerners call the “heart” for ex: Phil. 1:8 “I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ” (KJV) or Philemon 20 “refresh my guts!”
Growth: the result of a healthy life – Growth is an expression of life; all living things grow. If the church stops growing; it will die. No growth is a sign of decay and death. The lesson of the semi-circle is to prune branches, to cause more growth. God brings growth, not by our efforts: 1 Cor 3:6-9 “⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”& Gal.2:19 “They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
Reproduction: creating the future – This is different from growth in that it is a multiplication of an organism. In our spiritual life God takes HIS words (the gospel) and fuses them with one who has a heart open to this good news to make a new spirit. Reproduction; one Christian becomes two. These will gather together in small groupings called a “church.” Reproduction is a sign of life. Unhealthy specimens generally don’t multiply, it is the healthy ones that carry on the species. In Europe children, teens and young adults no longer attend church because Christians in Europe have forsaken the reproduction of themselves into the next generation. In John 21 when Jesus re-commissions Peter: he tells him to “feed my lambs” showing the importance of the next generation. This is so important to the Great Commission of making disciples. All resources go to the new generation? What does this look like for us?
Excretion: a cleansed life – YUK!! Every heart builds up a collection of junk that needs to be emptied through the process of repentance and God’s discipline. 1 John 1:9 “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” or Hebrews 12:6 “because the Lord disciplines those he loves” If we don’t, it is the same as a body not ridding itself of waste it has accumulated; it will bring discomfort, disease and eventually death. The toxins are called the “root of bitterness,” according to the writer of Hebrews 12:15. We must forgive others in order to excrete the bitterness or it will make us unhealthy. In John 13 Jesus taught the importance of cleaning what is dirty. We must not embrace wickedness but excrete it to remain healthy. Matt 18, following this to the extent beyond just personal, dealing with the sin in the church!
Nutrition: the obedience diet – Living things must take in nutrients or they will die. Jesus is the bread of life, so to live we must dine on His words and Sacrament. Jesus said that His food was to do the will of the Father (John 4). We receive our adoption as Children of God through water and the Spirit, in Baptism and receive our spiritual food in God’s Word and the Lord’s Supper. To be healthy we are encouraged to remain in balance UP, IN and OUT.
The Growth Cycle of the Church: VITAL SIGNS
God designed for us to be social creatures, living in community.(extended family) Moses and Jethro had a conversation about the management of people and leadership. Once discovered what Moses was doing, Jethro replied:
“This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself. Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him. Teach them God’s decrees, and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives. But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you. If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.” –Exodus 18:17-23
As we look forward to the Ministry of Cross & Resurrection in 2011 we recognize that to be healthy in these seven areas of vitality we must diversify the leadership and equip everyone to lead and do the work of ministry. This is why we are striving to be the “visible presence” of the Kingdom of God in our community by helping people BELONG, BELIEVE, BECOME.
Jesus had a similar pattern: sending out the disciples in twos, He called a team of 12 out of the 72, there were 120 gathered at Pentecost in the midst of 3000 being saved that day. There were seven men of good reputation “Deacons” appointed to serve the widows overlooked in the daily distribution of food. Today we have the opportunity to focus on the development of clusters, the extended family sized between 20-40. We have a great opportunity at our EMU site and ALIVE! Site in Tecumseh to raise up people who carry this vision and are capable of overseeing these groups and the long-range task of building communities. It is a great time to be in MINISTRY!
As an example in our EMU Ministry: University age: “Millennials.” Who are the Millennials?
(from an article by Thom Rainer in Christianity Today)
As a reminder, the Millennials are America’s largest generation, over 78 million in number. They are slightly larger in number than the well-documented Baby Boomer generation.
The Millennials were born between 1980 and 2000, though our research included only the older portion of this generation, those born between 1980 and 1991. The study included demographic sampling that well represents the generation in total.

The leadership factor: "What Millennials Want in their Leaders."

   1. Mentoring. This generation has great respect for those older than they are. Most of them have good relationships with their parents. They have learned from older people all their lives, and they don’t want to stop now. They want to be led and taught in their places of work, in their churches, and in their families. They particularly want to learn from couples who have had long and successful marriages. Many Millennials see such examples as heroes to emulate.
   2. Gentle spirit. This category is easier to describe by what Millennials do not want in leaders. Divisive, loud, and acrimonious persons turn them off. They loathe politicians and political pundits who scream at each other. They are leaving churches to some extent because they see many Christian leaders as negative and prone to divisiveness. They are repulsed by business leaders with harsh and autocratic spirits.
   3. Transparency and authenticity. I wish Jess and I had counted the number of times that Millennials used the word "real" to describe leaders they want to follow. As one Millennial told us, her generation "can smell phony and pretentiousness a mile away." They don’t want phony; they want authentic. They don’t want pretentious; they want transparent.
   4. Integrity. The Millennials are weary of politicians who don’t keep promises. They are tired of Christian leaders who fail basic moral standards. They are fed up with business leaders who are more concerned about personal gain than serving others. They want leaders with integrity.

Looking for a few good leaders:
The Millennial generation has much to offer. As a whole, they desire to serve others. Most of them are very family oriented. And they really want to listen and learn from others. Indeed they are looking for a few good leaders to follow. When they find them, they will follow with commitment and enthusiasm.
Are we going to be HEALTHY at see all of the marks of MRS. GREN working well at C & R? This is my prayer and hope for us! Time for us to check our VITAL SIGNS!

January 9 LIFESHAPE # 6 Hexagon for the Baptism of our Lord Sunday

2011-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we had a great service for Epiphany Eve talking about the True light revealed in Christ and reflected through us to the world. Today we will learn about our relationship with the our Lord in Prayer:

LIFESHAPE #6 THE HEXAGON: THE POWER OF PRAYER IN OUR LIFE & CHURCH:

Martin Luther taught in the Small Catechism, and by example, the importance of praying the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, as well as other prayers. Learning to pray according to the model Jesus gave us in the Lord’s Prayer will renew our personal and church’s prayer life. 80 percent of books on prayer written by introverts. Jesus helps us understand the “Shema:” Deut: 6:4-9 & 11:13-21 ( http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Torah/The_Shema/the_shema.html ) which teaches us that the relationship we have with God is like a father and his child being taught the law. We can walk with Him on the road and engage Him in conversation:
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need, 4 and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.” — Luke 11:1-4

The disciples were full-time students, learning practical faith by watching Jesus in action. We are not told to pray for everything we need for the rest of our lives, but only for today. Using the Model Prayer of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount, let us learn to pray as Jesus did.
Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. — Matthew 6:9-13
We hear in the Gospel lesson today how God the Father, ripped heaven open and spoke the truth of His relationship with Jesus Christ, His Son, and us through Baptism: “This is MY Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased!” Matthew 3:17. Knowing this special relationship we have we should learn to pray as Jesus instructed. His disciples were watching him and they wanted to learn how to pray like him. He was asked and they even said that he should teach because John taught his disciples. Jesus taught the very simple way: It is noted that Jesus’ high priestly prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed followed this pattern. JOHN 17.
The Hexagon in the Lord’s Prayer:
OUR FATHER: Our Father in Heaven – Here is an important relational concept: Father. Jesus used the Aramaic word “Abba,” meaning Daddy. This implies the intimacy we have with God. Jesus is teaching us to have this right relationship that He enjoys with the Father, which transcends physical presence. (This is eternal life, that they know You, the one true God – John 17:3)
These notes are from Luther’s Small Catechism on the Lord’s Prayer: Introduction
Our Father who art in heaven. What does this mean? God would [with this little introduction] tenderly urge us to believe that He is our true Father, and that we are His true children, so that we may ask Him confidently with all assurance, as dear children ask their dear father.
OUR FATHER’S CHARACTER: May Your Name Be Kept Holy – God is very close yet different. We offer reverence and respect to our God who is holy. We acknowledge that He is what we desire to be; we long for Christ-likeness. The second commandment in Luther’s explanation is not just misusing God’s name, but we should call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks. Isa 43:6-7 We are created to glorify and honor (hallow) God! Jesus in John 12:27-28 says: “it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify thy name!”
The First Petition. Hallowed be Thy name. What does this mean?--God's name is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may become holy among us also. How is this done?-- When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven. But he that teaches and lives otherwise than God's Word teaches profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly Father.
OUR FATHER’S KINGDOM: May Your Kingdom Come Soon. May Your Will Be Done on Earth As it is in Heaven – Our Father is not just a King, He is the King. We want His kingdom to advance in this world. We desire what You desire. (Glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began – John 17:5). Best defined: “I WANT WHAT YOU WANT DADDY!” we pray “what you’ve done in heaven to remove sin and sickness and sadness and suffering and all that other stuff—let that be seen here on earth” This is what Jesus meant when He says “the kingdom of God is at hand.” That is what we want as children of God and Cross & Res to be the “visible presence” of the Kingdom of God in our community! Kingdom and Kingship are the same and we submit to the KING of KINGS.
IN LEARNING THE HEXAGON THE SECOND & THIRD PETITION ARE COMBINED IN OUR FATHER’S KINGDOM
The Second Petition. Thy kingdom come. What does this mean?--The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also. How is this done?-When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and yonder in eternity.
The Third Petition. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What does this mean?--The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also. How is this done? When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.
OUR FATHER’S PROVISION: Give Us Today the Food We Need – Human beings are needy creatures, and we admit it; food, water, shelter, health, emotional and spiritual needs. Whatever the hunger, He provides. (Now they know that everything You have given Me comes from You – John 17:7). Manna in the desert was every day, we want a Sabbath manna, a double portion. Hear the importance of this in Proverbs 30:7-9 “…give me only my daily bread..” Our Father’s provision is abundant and He will provide for our needs. Read: Matthew 6:25-34.
The Fourth Petition. Give us this day our daily bread. What does this mean? God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all wicked men; but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. What is meant by daily bread? Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
OUR FATHER’S FORGIVENESS: Forgive Us Our Sins As We Have Forgiven Those Whose Sin is Against Us – God has given us some territory that is ours, and we often stray from the territory on to land that belongs to someone else and we incur a debt we cannot pay. When we transgress against another we are saying, “God, what You have given to me is not enough” and we must seek forgiveness. Lord, keep us from being indebted to You in withholding forgiveness from others. (I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do – John 17:4).
The Fifth Petition. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. What does this mean? We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins, nor deny such petitions on account of them; for we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray, neither have we deserved them; but that He would grant them all to us by grace; for we daily sin much, and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. So will we verily, on our part, also heartily forgive and also readily do good to those who sin against us.
OUR FATHER’S GUIDANCE: Don’t Let Us Yield to Temptation – now the prayer is dealing with our relationship with the Father, and then those around us. Here it changes to where we go out into the world with God’s message. Take us into the world to do Your work, but give us the strength to be in the world but not of the world. (Sanctify them by the truth, Your word is truth – John 17:17). This is where the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18 is important.
The Sixth Petition. And lead us not into temptation. What does this mean? God, indeed, tempts no one; but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us, nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and gain the victory.
OUR FATHER’S PROTECTION: Rescue Us From the Evil One – There is an enemy of our soul, who desires that we participate in what is evil. If we are led astray, we will actually end up in the hands of the evil one. The thief comes to kill and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life. (My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one – John 17:15).
The Seventh Petition. But deliver us from evil. What does this mean? We pray in this petition, as in a summary, that our Father in heaven would deliver us from all manner of evil, of body and soul, property and honor, and at last, when our last hour shall come, grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself into heaven.
Amen. What does this mean? That I should be certain that these petitions are acceptable to our Father in heaven and heard; for He Himself has commanded us so to pray, and has promised that He will hear us. Amen, Amen; that is, Yes, yes, it shall be so.

As we learned in the Triangle, we can couplet these so we may better remember them as UP, IN and OUT:

OUR FATHER’S CHARACTER AND KINGDOM AS UP

OUR FATHER’S PROVISION AND FORGIVENESS AS IN

OUR FATHER’S GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION AS OUT

Can you think of ways you can use this as an example of how to pray? Each of these 6 simple phrases are deep and we can spend hours, as Jesus, Martin Luther and others have in talking to our KING. I hope we will be followers who strive to live as Jesus showed us and taught us. Examples: Sticking points: As you pray through this prayer, watch and wait—anticipate that God wants to speak to you through one of these areas. As you pray you may be led to think about the huge stack of bills on your desk waiting to be paid or the person who is ill etc.. These are sticking points, pause when you feel this pull on your heart and take time to remember OUR FATHER’S PROVISION and spend time here to GROW! SO LET US PRAY!!

The Second Sunday of Christmas, January 2, 2011 "What is your Stature?"

2011-01-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52

We see this conclusion to the story of Jesus staying in Jerusalem while his parents and family head back to Nazareth. They find him in the temple after looking for three days. He submits to them and then returns to Nazareth where he grows in wisdom and stature.

Today on this Sunday after New Year's Day, the second day of the Year of our Lord 2011 we are asking ourselves "what is our stature?" Princeton Wordnet defines it as:

Definitions of 'stature'

Princeton's WordNet

1. (noun) stature
high level of respect gained by impressive development or achievement
"a man of great stature"

2. (noun) stature, height
(of a standing person) the distance from head to foot

When we think about "Stature" we may only think of someone's height, but when we look at the word here in Scripture the context suggests so much more. Humility, obedience, faithfulness, grace, all come to mind when we think of what the Holy Spirit was saying through Luke in this story of the boy Jesus at 12 years of age.
We will look at Solomon in 1 Kings 3:4-15 and his humility in asking for discernment and wisdom instead of personal wealth etc.. We look at St. Paul's words in Ephesians 1:3-14 that we are chosen, adopted, receiving a lavish gift of Grace and the Holy Spirit. When we realize who we are and to whom we belong does it effect our stature? Did this Christmas help us to better understand the love the father has for us and therefore grow our stature by His Holy Spirit? Let us grow in Christ, HIS wisdom, grace and stature today and throughout 2011.

Christmas Eve: True LIGHT=True lights! Christmas Day: The Glory of the Lord! Sunday: What do you see?

2010-12-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve: 4pm at ALIVE! in Tecumseh and 6:30 at EMU Candlelight Services
TRUE LIGHT:

Christmas Lights are an integral part of the Christmas celebration. It is true that Christmas has always focused on the Light coming into darkness and the truth of the Savior born in Bethlehem, but have you ever thought of how ironic it is that the world is confessing the Light every time they light the tree or their homes?

Tonight as we hear from the God's Word we will ponder the fulfillment of the promise of Isaiah 9 and the truth of the Angel's presence in Luke 2.

Is. 9:2-7 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, You have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

As we light the candles, light our trees, light our houses we are proclaiming the fulfillment of this promise of the true light that has appeared and that shines the truth into our world. We have the privilege of sharing Christ's light by sharing our faith and lives. True lights!

Christmas Day: The Glory of the Lord! 10:30 at EMU

Today we celebrate the truth of the GLORY of the Lord that the Shepherds experienced in the fields nearby Bethlehem that ushered in the Angel Chorus. We celebrate the truth of the Glory of the Lord that is present among HIS people through Word and Sacrament! What a glorious day to celebrate and bask in HIS Glory!

The Feast of St. Stephen Sunday: December 26th 10:15 and 4pm @ ALIVE!

What do you see? St. Stephen saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of the throne of God! In Acts 7: ⁵⁴ When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

So the question for us on this Feast of St. Stephen's Day is what do we see? On this Boxing Day in British countries and Day after Christmas, like Good King Wenceslas as in the Christmas Carol. How has the truth of Christmas affected us? What do we see?

3rd Sunday in Advent: JOY in Ministry! The Pentagon.

2010-12-08T18:36:00.001-08:00

Third Sunday of Advent: December 12, 2010

Rejoice in the Lord! Shout for JOY! Finding our place in Ministry! A JOYFUL experience.

The pentagon is a tool for enabling every believer to recognize his or her worth and how to contribute to the building up of the body of Christ.
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ… Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. –Ephesians 4:7, 11-13

We must change our thinking as to whom the church really belongs. Church leadership based on high control is not attractive to this emerging generation. Their journey of faith in community is not about doing church but about being the church. God does not expect you to be who you are not, but He does want you to be all that He made you to be. Remember that we have nothing to offer except what God Himself gives us. ALL YOU ARE MADE TO BE… “Buckets of Grace”
A Spiritual Gift is Not Your Ministry:
We should not look at ALL the “gift” passages as the same. Take a look at the three main “gift” passages in this way:
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. –Romans 12:3-8
Motivational (Personality) Gifts – Think of these seven gifts as your motivation in life. What are the things that bring you the most joy, things that you seem to do with certain ease and effectiveness (while other things you may do are just the opposite)? The bottom line is, “What motivates you to do the things you do in the kingdom?” The seven listed here are prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership and mercy. These are foundational. These are our motivational gifts which will be exercised through a ministry. These are “gifts” (or talents) we are born with and would exist even without a relationship with Christ or the Holy Spirit at work. The Holy Spirit enhances these gifts.
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ… Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. –Ephesians 4:7, 11-13
Ministry (office) Gifts – Each believer is given a gift, not just those with a special calling to vocational ministry. We are to take our passion, or motivation, and exercise that gift in a ministry of service. The five ministries are briefly explained in the picture above. So, we take our motivational gift and exercise it through a certain ministry. What about those controversial gifts found elsewhere in the Bible?
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. –1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Manifestation (charismata) Gifts – These gifts are manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and not just evidence of the Holy Spirit inside of the believer. They are also given at a special time for a special purpose. The Lord desires His body to experience the fullness of all He offers and desires to show His power and presence. As I follow God’s leadership in my life, I will take my motivational gift (the way I am wired, my personality talents) and exercise it through a ministry. God fills us with his Holy Spirit to carry out his ministry among HIS people.
The Fivefold Foundation for Ministry:
Here are the five ministry gifts found in Ephesians 4.
Apostle – This is from the Greek word “apostolos,” meaning “one who is sent out.” Apostles are visionary and pioneering, pushing into new territory, establishing new ministries, being innovative in kingdom work. They enjoy dreaming, doing new and challenging tasks. Paul is a good biblical example of an Apostle. Words that describe someone with this ministry role would include: excites, envisions, challenges, bridges. Apostles make good entrepreneurs and explorers.
Prophet – This describes people who hear and listen to God and the prophet foretells and forth-tells the message of God. They can step back and get a clear picture of what is happening and discover creative solutions to help develop a vision. They understand the time and what people need to do. They enjoy being alone with God, waiting and listening. In the New Testament: Anna and Simeon are examples. Many creative types-artists, writers, musicians-fit here.
Evangelist – This one brings the good news and shares the message readily. They love spending time with non-Christians. They may not be “Billy Graham” types, but they are able to gather people and make the gospel relevant to lost people. When they enter a room, others are drawn to them and somehow they make each person feel like he, or she, is the only person that matters. Acts 8: ^12-13But when Philip came to town announcing the news of God's kingdom and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ, they forgot Simon and were baptized, becoming believers right and left! Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment he was like Philip's shadow, so fascinated with all the God-signs and miracles that he wouldn't leave Philip's side. This shows us an example of Philip. Evangelists are persuasive and convincing. They make good politicians, salesmen and journalists.
Pastor – These are the shepherds of God’s people, one who cares with a tender heart. They see needs, providing comfort and encouragement. They spend a lot of time with Christians, building them up for their effective service. They can easily empathize with others and exhibit a lot of patience with those in need. They enjoy one-on-one chats and showing hospitality. They feel the burden of others’ problems and have a knack for speaking the truth in love. Someone with this ministry base is a good listener, easy to talk to and share inner feelings with because of their sensitivity. Barnabas, in his dealings with John Mark, shows a pastor’s heart. Those in the care-giving professions are good secular examples.
Teacher – The teacher holds forth the TRUTH and is excited about it. They love seeing the light-bulb go on for others. They have a knack for explain things in a way that the listener can understand. Teachers look for ways to apply truth, drawing from their own spiritual walk as well as other resources past and present. They enjoy reading and studying the BIBLE and helping others to understand it. A teacher can be just as satisfied mentoring as teaching in front of a group. Teachers make good lecturers and trainers because they enjoy inspiring and equipping others for change. Apollos is a good biblical example. Acts 18 ^24-26A man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt, and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the Scriptures. He was well-educated in the way of the Master and fiery in his enthusiasm. Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point, but he only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story.
How to Find Your Base:
The authors challenge us to take an honest look at ourselves. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? These have little to do with being the life of the party or not, but rather with how one functions and processes information. Extroverts enjoy taking things through with others as they make decisions; they can easily ad-lib. It appears that most apostles, prophets and evangelists are more extroverted. Introverts process things internally. They are refreshed and recharged by spending time alone. These are your writers, painters and composers. This is not a clear-cut way to determine one’s ministry because most of us fall somewhere in between these two extremes.
Finding Your Phase: Pioneers and Settlers:
Pioneers enjoy the stress of doing something new, reaching beyond themselves to discover new frontiers and challenges, looking for the next opportunity to explore. Settlers are committed to continuity, stability and conversation. They prefer to grow and develop plans rather than scrap what they have started and begin again. They like to see things through until the end, knowing what to expect, and are comfortable when things move along according to plans.
Both pioneers and settlers are vital; historically to the American west and presently to the church as well. Pioneers are looking beyond what they have accomplished to see what lies ahead. Without settlers, we would never keep the land and program that the pioneers have started. Pioneers move on to new territory; settlers occupy and build with deliberate efforts.
WALK IN MINISTRY:
It is easy for us to think we should be operating in all the gifts yet if we try to do all of these we will not only burn out but fail to allow others to explore and operate in their gifting and base ministry. “God does not expect you to be what you are NOT.” But he does mean for you to be a servant minister, knowing that you have nothing to offer except what God himself gives you. We are not all called to be Pastors, but we are all called to care. We are not all called to be teachers, but we are all called to hold out the TRUTH. We are all responsible for how to listen to God voice, something that comes more naturally to the prophet. We are all called to share the Good News with others, but this take all those who are not called to be evangelists out of their comfort zones. We are not all apostles, but must all learn to walk out into what God calls us to do, however uncomfortable we are.
Are you ready to operate in your gifts and even venture into the unknown? On this third Sunday of Advent the Lord invites us to Prepare the Royal Highway and walk the journey learning to move in the way he has made us and living joyfully when we are in the “Sweet-spot” of God’s will!

2nd Sunday of Advent: LEAD! LifeShape #4 Square: Leaders and Learners

2010-12-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrate the second week of Advent. It is exciting to continue to build up in our preparation for the Lord's Birthday. On Wednesday we did UP of the Triangle by Decorating the Lord's House. This Sunday we learn about the Square which teaches us how to Lead and Learn Christ's way. This Wednesday we will do the IN of celebrating the family Christmas meal together! What a wonderful time of the year! OUTLINE of Sermon:

Leaders and Learners:

The square lays out the stages every disciple or learner experiences and gives you the corresponding style of leadership.

You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. –Mark 10:42-43

The leadership of Jesus provides us with powerful tools for leading the church through the challenges of cultural change. Leadership style is not about position, but about how we relate to one another.

We are in a management-oriented society that is in need of leaders. We can manage growth, productivity and human resources, but in times of crises people do not look to managers, but to leaders.

A true leader looks like a _sheep_____ from the front and a __shepherd_ from behind.

“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men. –Mark 1:15-20

Stage one: (Jesus does not really choose these guys based on their resumes or spiritual gift inventories, but they join up ready to take on the world). When we start out on a new trail, we need a strong confident leader to show us the way.

Disciple Style D1 = Confident / Incompetent	Leadership Style L1 = Directive / Set Example
High enthusiasm High confidence Low experience Low competence	High direction High example Low consensus Low explanation

^29-32"What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. ^33-34"Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Luke 12

Stage Two: (Reality sets in when they discover they have no idea what they are doing, and they hit rock bottom. They are not having fun anymore). When a person is in a time of discouragement and despair, vision is critical. “The valley of the shadow of death”

Disciple Style D2 = Unenthusiastic / Incompetent	Leadership Style L2 = Visionary / Coach
Low enthusiasm Low confidence Low experience Low competence	High direction High discussion High example High accessibility

^11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father. ¹⁶"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. ¹⁷"But remember the root command: Love one another. John 15:12-17

Stage Three: (Jesus turns away from the crowds to spend more time with His disciples, to boost confidence based on experience). Friends have common objectives and share their lives together.

Disciple Style D3 = Growing Confidence	Leadership Style L3 = Pastoral / Consensus
Increasing enthusiasm Growing experience Intermittent confidence Growing competence	Lower direction Higher consensus High discussion High accessibility

^18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (The Message)

Stage Four: (Jesus is taken away and He has prepared them to carry on the ministry without Him, confident in partnership with them in reaching the world). Good leaders always get people to the stage where they are ready to accept delegated responsibility. “Equipping the saints for ministry”

Disciple Style D4 = The end is in sight	Leadership Style L4 = Delegation / Partnership
High enthusiasm High confidence High experience High competence	Low direction High consensus Low example High explanation

Summary of the Four Stages:

I do, you watch
I do, you help
You do, I help
You do, I watch

The commitment to Learn and Lead is essential for a healthy church on this Second Sunday of Advent, can we do this by committing to “one reaching one” and “one leading one” this year?

Words we will hear: “Mentor,” “community,”

“Accountability and growth”

“Low control, high accountability”

“Directive, Coach, Friend and Delegate”

D1, D2, D3, D4 and L1, L2, L3, L4

To read more check out Passionate Life by Mike Breen and Walt Kalstad. (Thanks to Pastors like Scott Chafee and Dr. Kent Hunter who share with us this material.)

A New Year, a New Balanced YOU!

2010-11-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

On this 1st Sunday of Advent the Church celebrates New Years! The New Year of the Church is an opportunity for us to get ahead of the world and lead.

Sermon Outline:

A New Year: A New Balanced YOU! The Triangle: Balancing our Life Relationships

Power Walking:

Micah 6: ⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Luke 6:¹² One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. ¹³ When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: ¹⁴ Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. ¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. ²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

UP means to __walk__ humbly with our God.

Abiding:

Walking:

“Not asking God to __bless___ what we are doing but go where God is __blessing__

IN means to __love______ mercy Goes with UP: Covenant with God: Lev 26: ¹² I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.

Group of _3_ : Peter, James & _James_ In is about __relationships___

What did the 9 & 72 think? We are “in Christ” Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Social Beings: Facebook and Twitter +++ Huddles, Small Groups, Clusters, Gatherings

John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Relationship is about love, encouragement, living life together. LCMS is a _Synod___ which means “walking together.” We also want to see the Acts 2:42 Church as an example: ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

OUT means to _act__justly Goes with UP & IN ….. Church in ANTIOCH

Balloon: You __receive_from God, You _share_together what God has given & and You _give_ to others what you have…..

Matthew 9:³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

The Lord desires that the Relationship we have with HIM and then with His Family, His Body the Church would be shared with the Community around us.

Fishers of men: this is the example Jesus gave…. Why is it so complicated?

Two-Dimensional Churches: (Examples of ways we can be unbalanced)

Up and Inners – lots of praise and worship, study of the Bible, and do a good job of building community; but people can come and go anonymously, and in the larger crowd people can attend without making commitments.
Up and Outers – committed to the Upward and high regard for the Bible and prayer, also concerned with reaching outside of the walls of the church, lots of outreach, strong support of missions; but the Inward is lacking, small group ministry is more duty than desire, “we” is not as important as “they.”
In and Outers – perhaps in older mainline denominations stressing incarnational ministry, with a heart for the cities, caring for the hurting and lost; prayer is more by rote rather than due to passion or personal petition, Scripture reading is part of the service format but not expounded.

Why do Christians Struggle? Balancing our Relationships:

A culture of disconnection – fractured families, disenfranchised friends, independent individuals, reality TV that allows people to experience living together by proxy.

Jesus was not worried about being fair – many pastors keep their distance from their people so as to not play favorites. Jesus had three very close friends, the inner circle. What did the other nine think of this? Apparently Jesus did not care what they thought! What did the 72 think about the 12? He did not try to be fair.

Balancing outreach: getting out of our comfort zones, finding that uncomfortable balance.

We are to live out of purpose – how can we find our personal mission in life? Practice will get you into this rhythm of walking, and walking with God is the definition of a disciple. So how will we be __balanced__ in our relationship in Church Year 2011.

Challenges and Opportunities:

Outline for Nov 21, 2010

2010-11-20T16:39:00.001-08:00

New Year’s Resolution: REMAIN! The Semi-Circle: Living in Rhythm with Life

1. Once upon a time...

2. Reality is not:_________

3. Genesis 1:28: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

4. What did God do on the day after he created Adam and Eve? ____________________

5. What was the example for them: They were to ______________ before they named the animals and worked at tending the garden.

6. We were not created to be human “doings” but human _”________”_.

7. True human beings are those who __________ in Christ and know they belong to him.

8. Satan wants us to think we have to ____________ our way to God.

9. Yet we know that Christ has done it all and that we work because we ________ to.

10. We are called like Adam and Eve to be _____________________.

11. So how? John 15:1-4 (Message) The Vine and the Branches

"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. "Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.--
12. So the Word makes us _______ and allows us to be _______by our Heavenly Father.
13. The goal is that we are fruitful and that the pruning, even when painful, will be viewed as of great ________.
14. We rest and are pruned in order to be even ____________- fruitful.
15. Evaluation: We want to be healthy and in rhythm with life, creation and our Lord. So..
a. How many days a week do you work? 6 or 7?
b. How many hours a day? 10 or more?
c. How often do you work through lunch?
d. Do you take work with you on vacation?
e. Do you answer work-related emails or voice mail after you get home at night or on weekends?
f. Have you ever canceled a vacation because you have too much work to do?
g. Do you think about work while eating with your family?
h. Do you talk about work more than family while on a date with your spouse?
We are called to be faithful, fruitful and healthy. But we are also shown by the Lord Jesus how to keep a healthy rhythm in life.
How Jesus Rested in this Rhythm of Life

Resting through extended times of retreat (Mark 1:12-13)
Regular daily times of quiet resting with the Lord (Mark 1:35-39)
Teaching the disciples to rest (Mark 6:30-32)

Other examples…

Jesus alone at the lake before teaching – Mark 2:13
Jesus withdraws with his disciples – Mark 3:7
Jesus goes to the mountainside and calls his disciples – Mark 3:13
Jesus leaves the crowds and gets into the boat – Mark 4:35
Jesus at the lake/hillside – Mark 5:1
Jesus crosses the lake to the other side – Mark 5:21
Jesus sends the disciples ahead, dismisses the crowd and goes to the mountain to pray – Mark 6:45-46

We are a church who wants to grow as a body of believer who follow Christ, listening to his word and following his example. As we come to the New Year of the Church will you REMAIN IN CHRIST and be MORE FRUITFUL? This is a God pleasing Resolution!

Last Sunday of the Church Year: Christ the King Sunday: REMAIN!

2010-11-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

This is the last Sunday of this Church Year. As we approach the New Year of the Church, do we set resolutions like the world does for New Years? I don't really appreciate resolutions but if I were to make one, it would be to learn what the Lord intended for us as His Creation. He said in Genesis 1:28 "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it..." but what does that mean? For us it means letting the Lord decide the size of our family, but I think it means MORE in that we are called to be fruitful beyond procreation. It is obvious to me that we should resolve to hear the Word and follow the example of Christ as his disciples. So we are going to learn about the Semi-Circle, Lifeshape 2 this Sunday and the importance of knowing we were designed to Rest for work rather than work to rest. Look at how God showed Adam and Eve the priorities as He modeled resting during their first Day together before they set out to be stewards of the garden. We also recognize the truth of John 15:1-4 :
¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
We are clean because of the Word, we are being pruned to be even MORE FRUITFUL but this only comes by REMAINING or ABIDING in Christ! We belong to him and therefore we are able to abide in His Rest and be pruned to be more fruitful. We go from "human doings" to "human beings" and live our life of sanctification because of our justification and relationship with the Lord. We want to grow in our faith and life as disciples because of what Christ has done and because we belong to him.
As we approach "Thanksgiving Day!" Do we count our blessings and desire, because of who we are in Christ and because of what HE has done and continues to do by His Holy Spirit, to live lives of thankfulness and praise? I hope we resolve to remain or abide in Christ so that he will remain in us and we can bear much fruit.

Pentecost 25 or Second last Sunday of the Church Year

2010-11-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Because we want to grow as disciples we are asking the question: "How is God SHAPING us?" We are going to look at "Lifeshapes" as a system for growing us as disciples. We are a church with a vision of striving “to know Christ and make Him Known” by being the “visible presence of the Kingdom of God in our community” as “a spirit-filled, sacramental, family-oriented community” holding to the motto: belong, believe, become. We will only grow if we know the amazing truth of the Forgiveness of Sins and the truth of a repentant life! We as forgiven sinners, saints made holy by the blood of Christ, living our lives together encouraging each other as we desire to grow in sanctification. This Sunday we will learn the "Circle" and the importance and significance of Kairos moments in our lives as we follow Christ's words in Mark 1:15 "The time has come! Jesus said: The Kindom of God has come near! Repent and believe the Good News!" Jesus is the fulfillment of the Kingdom and we belong to him as his children, his heirs, his ambassadors, his followers, his disciples! I love being part of a family who desire to grow in the Spirit and as Children of God. Today we will be praying for Veteran's to remember their sacrifice and service. We honor them!

All Saint's Sunday on November 7, 2010

2010-11-13T16:53:00.000-08:00

It was wonderful to celebrate the truth of the Communion of Saint's in the celebration of All Saint's Sunday. I love to ring the bell for those we remember who are with the Lord and were great examples for us. I thought it was really a cool experience to go to an Orthodox Wedding on Sunday afternoon. I know they go a little overboard with the Saint's but I think we forget that God has given us a great gift in remembering those who have departed in the faith. It is also very cool that this Sunday is right before Veteran's Day in the USA and Remembrance Day in Canada. May we not only celebrate and remember the examples of the faithful but also celebrate those who sacrificially serve for our freedom.

October 31 "Reformation Day?"

2010-10-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

Reformation Day! A day to remember the start of a movement but also a day to Worship the Lord who not only Reforms but TRANSFORMS! I think of Romans 12 and St. Paul's challenge to us not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. May we on this day remember that we are free, and as free-men and free-women we are challenged to use our freedom, won by Christ, for HIS glory. John 8: ³¹To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ³³They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants^[b] and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" ³⁴Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!

Looking forward to sharing what the Lord is doing in my life

2010-10-30T20:31:00.001-07:00

I am so excited about ministry right now. From 2005-2009 I lived in a "hellish" type experience. But I am so excited about my present Call to Cross and Resurrection and the way the Lord is working in my life and the life of the congregation!