What is the most important teaching of the Bible?

Pastor Ernie Lassman, Messiah Lutheran, Seattle, explains the Lutheran way of reading the Bible(hermeneutic) to his adult information class.

JOIN US FOR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS!

You are invited to join us for Christmas services:


 Christmas Eve Candlelight 5:00pm

 Christmas Eve Holy Communion(Candlelight): 11:00pm

 Christmas Day Holy Communion: 10:30am.


May the God of all mercy keep you in His Grace this Christmas and beyond.

Pastor Thomas

O Come O Come Emmanuel

An Evening of Christmas Carols!

Join us for a hearty round of Christmas carol singing and refreshments, Sunday, December 13, 7:00pm!
A freewill offering of money and non-perishable food items will be taken and donated to LUMS(Lutheran Urban Mission Society).

Christmas worries got you down? Trust in who we celebrate.

Advent Reflection: Matthew 6:25-34.

Brad Smith sat in his living room.  Images on the television danced before  him, but he wasn’t paying any attention to them.  His two children, a four year boy, Eddie, and a two year old girl, Samantha, bounced joyfully next to him, he didn’t notice them.  His wife, Beverly spoke to him from the kitchen, giving her the details of her day. He heard her, but wasn’t listening. In fact he was fairly oblivious to the goings on around him. He had shut out the external world. His mind had become fixated on a single thought, as it had been for the last ten hours. The thought was related to work. It concerned an account, and his mishandling of it, and a potential loss for his employer. His mind poured over the details, disassembled the situation, reconstructed different possibilities. Over and over again his consciousness replayed events. Lying in bed, he stared at the ceiling, imagining possibilities and outcomes, and dreading the seemingly  inevitable conclusion that he would be fired.  Brad Smith went to work the next day, sleep deprived, and riddled with anxiety. The case of Brad Smith is not that unusual. Brad Smith was caught in a cycle of worry.

            Many human beings can relate to this story of worry, because worry is a common human experience. How many people in this society can honestly say, that they have not spent any time in worry?  Very few if any.  Most people worry. And there are good reasons. At this moment  people wonder where their next meal is coming from, wait for the results of a medical test, wait for a  relative to make it through a life or death surgery. But how many cases of worry involve these serious situations? How many cases of worry do not have, at their root, some serious situation where life or limb hangs in the balance?  How many cases of worry are constructions of the human mind?

When Brad Smith returned to work after a night of lost sleep, he discovered that he had not mishandled or lost the account. His worry was based entirely on speculation. As it turned out, he had taken a disapproving word of a client, and, in his mind, had blown it out of proportion—had taken it as a sign that the client would be taking his business elsewhere. He had not lost the big account. Be he had lost something. He lost the previous evening. He had lost the opportunity to listen—truly listen to his wife. He had lost time spent with his children. He had squandered the God given gift of the present moment But Brad Smith, being Brad Smith, will go on to worry about something else, because Brad Smith has always worries about something. Brad Smith has and continues to lose out because of worry. Brad Smith is a worrier.

            When we stop to think about it, there is no end to potential worries—there is an endless list of worries to draw upon. But where does this worry lead? Our Lord answers that question with a rhetorical question, “and can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life span?” Worry leads nowhere. Worry is a stream into which all thoughts, all emotional and psychological energy flow to no end or purpose. Worry can be a source of emotional and spiritual bondage.

            Christmas can be a time of excessive worry. This worry usually revolves around pleasing people—buying the right presents, putting on the right party, serving the right meal. Anxiety rather than joy is often the motivator for the Christmas host or hostess—all of this on top of the other worries of life. And then, after Christmas, the let down, the hangover—the realization that too much money was spent, too much was eaten, too many decorations put up. Then a whole host of new worries in the new year. How many people will spend time worrying about credit card payments? Many, many, will.

            Why all of this worry? Where does this all come from? From a psychological and emotional standpoint, some experts assert that the tendency to worry is rooted in genetics, in our biological inheritance. Others argue that it is rooted in learning, and habits of mind acquired in childhood, through negative messages transmitted to children by parents, teachers, and other authority figures. There is validity in all of these assertions, most would agree.  But underneath all of this there is a spiritual dimension to worry.

            Worry is related to responsibility, to control. Worry is related to trust, and to mistrust. Worry is related to faith.

            Brad  Smith Smith spent so much time in worry because Brad Smith believed that he was totally in charge, and totally responsible. If things go well, it is because of what he has done; if things go badly it must be his fault. And if things go badly, and it is his fault, he will be fired, and therefore condemned. No wonder he spent so much time thinking about the matter, tossing it  around over and over again in his mind. But no amount of thinking, ruminating and reflecting, can change reality. No amount of going over the past can change the past. No amount of thinking about the future can change the future. Underneath all of this worrisome thinking lies an illusion, an illusion of control, an illusion that reality can be changed through thinking alone. Underneath Brad’s episode of worry, lay kind of an illusion of divinity—an illusion that he is ultimately in charge. The biblical narrative tells us where this illusion of divinity stems from. We read about it in Genesis. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, they bought into the illusion, the lie of their own divinity. Ever since human beings have struggled, and have distanced themselves from God be their own desire to be gods, to want to be in charge. And when we want to be in charge, we no longer trust the one who is in charge. We then assume too much responsibility, and buy into an illusion of control.

            In this evenings reading taken from Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus tells his disciples not to worry, not worry because they are not in charge. He reminds them of who is ultimately in charge, and it is God. God is ultimately in charge. Jesus reminds his disciples that the same God who cares for the birds and the lilies of the fields will look after them. Now does this mean that hardship and pain will never touch us? No it does not. Jesus speaks here not of physical reality, but of spiritual reality. Jesus speaks to our souls. He makes this clear with the pointed question, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” In chapter 28 of Matthew Jesus assures his disciples who is in charge of their souls. It is God. The same God who created them, is the same God who has redeemed them, and the same God who will sustain them. “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” All worriers, in their moments of worry, believe that they are responsible for their souls, for their worth, for their value. The good news of the gospel is that we are not responsible for determining our worth. Through baptism, God has claimed us, through faith, God justifies us, makes us right and whole. It is God who has detirmined our worth.

            So as we move through the Christmas season and the worries begin to mount, remember the heart of Christmas. Remember why it is we celebrate; remember who it is we celebrate. We celebrate the Saviour who came into the world to save us—so that we are no longer the ones responsible for our ultimate destiny. We need not feel condemned because we are not condemned. Jesus came into this world to relieve us of our worries, to alleviate our fears, to heal us at the very core of our being. God  is there even when we don’t think he is. God is there even when we worry. God loves us even as we worry. Our destiny  is in the hands of the one who has created us, has redeemed us, and sustains us. Amen.

           

          

Are You Looking for Something More?

THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS! JOIN US FOR SPECIAL HOLIDAY SERVICES!

Plan to attend our special services during the holiday season.

* Mid-week Advent services of prayer, hope, and healing: Wed, Dec 2, 9, 16, 8:00pm.

* Carol Sing-- join us for an evening of joyful singing, story and refreshment: Sunday, Dec 13: 5:00pm.

* Christmas Eve candle light service: Dec 24, 5:00pm.

* Christmas Eve Holy Communion: Dec 24, 11:00pm.

* Christmas Day Service: Dec 25, 10:30 am.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year!

Advent  marks the new year of the Christian Church. Advent is the season of anticipation, the season when Christians await the arrival of their Lord in the form of an infant. Advent is the season when we prepare for the incarnation, the moment at which Almighty God, the ground and source of all being, came to the world in human form. Contemplating the incarnation is difficult—in fact, trying to provide a definitive explanation far exceeds even the most sophisticated theological mind. But the meaning of incarnation is clear. God loved the world so much that God came into it as a person—came into the world to save each one of us from our sin, to show us the way of love and peace, to give us eternal life. During Advent we anticipate these gifts, the gifts brought about by the incarnation. It is a time to look past the darkness of this often sinful, painful, and confusing world, and forward with hope to the gifts of love and peace which God has in store for each and every one of us! It is time to look forward with hope to the ultimate gift of eternal life promised to each of us through our Baptism!

Peace,

Pastor Thomas