Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Christ is risen! Imagine the power in those words of promise.
When the disciples first heard Jesus speak of his death and resurrection, "they kept the matter to themselves" (Mark 9:10). But the news is too good to keep to ourselves. The life of Jesus Christ has been unleashed into the world.
Video message
Because Christ is risen, you can embrace life's complexities and uncertainties with a living, daring confidence in God's grace. The risen Christ goes ahead of you, meeting you in the most surprising faces and unexpected places. Christ's resurrection puts us right where God wants us to be -- in the thick of life.
Because Christ is risen, you have a word of hope. To those weary from mourning loss and fearing death, the assurance ...
Read the rest of entry »
Love is a stubborn, determined thing.—Rev Gardner Taylor
He sleeps.
He sleeps, and all creation holds its breath, resting, waiting.
The story in the beginning said that God rested on the seventh day. It became a day blessed, hallowed, set aside as a reminder and an opportunity—that there was more to life than unceasing toil, more to life than endless wrangling and competition, more to life than what could be seen or described in an equation. There is something more.
Every time a gift is given, it is a testimony to that "something more." No matter how small, no matter what it is, the very act of giving is participation in the work of the Giver. God gives, be-cause God loves.
For the moment, He sleeps.
But soon He will get up, and bring to fulfillment that first promise of Creation, the promise held in the Hallowed Day. He will get up, because love is a stubborn, determined thing.
Read the rest of entry »
On Good Friday, the cup of suffering is on my mind, as is this poem from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered, and confidently waiting come what may, we know that God is with us night and morning and never fails to greet us each new day. Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented, still evil days bring burdens hard to bear. O give our frightened souls the sure salvation for which, O Lord, you taught us to prepare. And when this cup you give is filled to brimming with bitter suffering, hard to understand, we take it thankfully and without trembling, out of so good, and so beloved, a hand. Yet when again, in this same world, you give us the joy we had, the brightness of your sun, we shall remember all the days we lived through, and our whole life shall then be yours alone. Now, when your silence deeply spreads around us, O let us hear all your creation says - that heavenly song which soundlessly invades us, and all your children's highest hymns of praise.
Oh, all the ...
Read the rest of entry »
Sacrifice
"God sooooo loved the world that He gaveeeee His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
No the words are not misspelled. They're drawn out for emphasis. I‘ve been pondering sacrifice and John 3:16 keeps coming to mind. It never says the word, yet it is all about the ultimate sacrifice. I don‘t believe many of us think of our giving as sacrifice nor do most of us understand true sacrifice. This year I got a little closer to understanding.
Perhaps you or a friend‘s family has been touched by the loss of a serviceman or woman. We acknowledge their death as the ultimate sacrifice for country, for duty. As I watch flag-draped military coffins return home, I think of Abraham and Isaac. Why this child, Lord? Obedience to duty; willingness to sacrifice; something most of us really cannot comprehend.
Do you sacrifice? Occasionally we reach into our pockets and without a thought throw a couple of ...
Read the rest of entry »
How can giving be seen as an opportunity to really embrace life?
Please say this Contentment Prayer today.
Lord, help me be grateful for what I have, remember that I don‘t need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.
Have you seen how God can take a small amount and do great work through it?
The point is this: "the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work."
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
In the book selected for our Lenten study, Real Faith for Real Life, the author, Michael Foss, devotes the last chapter to the topic of "Generosity: A Reflection of God‘s Heart in our Lives." That title sounds inviting enough…except that the subtitle directly below it says, "Tithe" in bold letters. What is it about that word that evokes images of tent revivals and threats of damnation? That "tithe" word is a barrier for me and I feel myself tensing up even as I type it. In these days of so much economic uncertainty, how can anyone write with authority about tithing – giving away 10% of our incomes?
In real life, I tend to see two main types of responses to our cul-ture of 24-hour streaming bad news:
Save as much money as possible for ourselves and our families. We invest in stocks, bonds, and FDIC-insured savings accounts, or stuff our hard-earned cash in a mattress or bags in the freezer. We try to construct as big and strong a safety net as possible.
Another tact is to "live ...
Read the rest of entry »
Do you agree with the idea that the present weakness of church is, in part, due to the lack of consistent generosity in its members?
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food ...
Read the rest of entry »
Church Relationships – What a Joy!
As a child I grew up in a nurturing, faith-oriented household. My parents were (and still are) of strong faith and they certainly led by example. However, we were not a family that attended church regularly and as a young person I always had a wistful feeling about that and wondered just what it would be like to be a member of a church. I certainly thought that it looked like fun!
As I grew into adulthood I realized that my faith was just as strong as my parents faith was, but I knew that I wanted to tweak things a bit and become an actual member and participant in a church community. My husband Karsten and I began to visit churches after we were married and realized after several visits that CTK would be a wonderful fit Karsten had grown up in the Lutheran faith and he had a strong awareness about what we were to expect. I quickly realized that CTK was a "comfortable" place and that I could have a strong relationship with this church.
I was baptiz ...
Read the rest of entry »
How have you discovered the joy of being part of the church?
But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
"from whom the whole body, joined and knitted to-gether by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, pro-motes the body‘s growth in building itself up in love."
Ephesians 4:15-16