Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mt. Horeb
A family in faith, reaching out to share God's love with all people
ELC’s Brighid Monahan departed today, March 15th, with the group from the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin for their visit to our companion synod in India. Please keep Brighid and the entire group in your prayers as they travel and encounter our a new culture and meet with brothers and sisters in Christ.
This Sunday, March 10th, from 8:00 – 10:30 a.m., the Youth and Family ministry of ELC will be serving a pancake breakfast in the fellowship hall. All funds raised will be used to help defray the costs of our own Brighid Monahan’s mission trip to India with the South Central Synod of Wisconsin coming up later this month.
Stop by for a delicious breakfast, or if you don’t have time to eat, it’s a great time to drop off a donation as well.
Jesus’ parable prods us to consider who we listen to, and who we notice as we go through our daily decisions.
Worship this weekend
Saturday — 5:00 p.m. Worship in Chapel
Sunday — 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship
9:30 a.m. Sunday School, Adult Class and fellowship time
10:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship
Parable: A Rich Man Ignores Lazarus
March 10, 2013
Luke 16:19-31
Key Verse: “[Abraham] said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:31
Time: 27-30 C.E.
Since Last Week: Jesus continued to teach in parables. These parables and teachings indicated that people’s hearts would be measured by faithfulness, and that faithfulness would be rewarded. However, since it is impossible for people to get into heaven by their good works, God would have to open heaven to them another way.
Background: Luke regularly indicated that Jesus was the fulfillment of Hebrew scripture and prophetic voices. In this parable, a rich man refused to heed scripture and the voices, which required him to care for those in need.
Community: Whose voices are you listening to? Whose voices are draining? Whose voices are life-giving? Whose voices could you listen to this week?
At Home: How often are you tempted to believe that your sins are keeping you from heaven or that your good deeds are securing a place for you there? If good works are not the way to salvation, then what is? What, if anything, is required of you?
Read This Week:
Monday: Sayings of Jesus, Luke 17:1-10
Tuesday: Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers, Luke 17:11-19
Wednesday: The Coming of the Kingdom, Luke 17:20-37
Thursday: The Widow and the Unjust Judge, Luke 18:1-8
Friday: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Luke 18:9-17
Saturday: The Rich Ruler, Luke 18:18-30
Next Week: Jesus Welcomes Sinners Like Zacchaeus, Luke 18:31-19:10
Because of the forecast snowstorm for tomorrow, the parenting seminar scheduled for Tuesday, March 5th has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 19th at 6:30 p.m.
Heather Douglas and Jennifer Ebbott will offer a Becoming a Love and Logic Parent® introductory class on Tuesday March 19th, 2012 in the St. Olaf room of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mt. Horeb.
The Becoming a Love and Logic Parent®curriculum was developed by Jim Fay, Charles Fay, Ph.D., and Foster W. Cline, M.D., of the Love and Logic Institute, Inc., in Golden, Colorado. Heather is an independent facilitator of the Becoming a Love and Logic Parent®curriculum.
The Church’s Spiritual Growth and Fellowship Committee is sponsoring these sessions.
On Easter morning we will read these words from Luke 24:5. The women in the story have gone back to the tomb to perform the traditional burial rituals, thinking that Jesus’ life was just a thing of the past. Now after having heard the end of the story for so many years you’d think we’d begin to behave differently, but some days it seems that we are still behaving as if Jesus’ life is just a piece of the past, a story written many years ago with no impact on our lives today.
Perhaps we fall into the habit of simply doing what is traditional, revisiting old scenes from our own past and expecting nothing different in the future. Perhaps, despite knowing that endless pursuit of money, pleasure, power, and status are ultimately dead ends, we keep wasting our lives chasing things that won’t last, and can’t bring life. Maybe we still are intent on honoring old dead bones and thinking that that’s all that lies ahead. Why do we spend so much time looking for the living among the dead?
The Easter story does not end with that question, but with a declaration: “He is not here, he is risen!” (Luke 24:5) We worship and follow a living Lord, who is still at work in our world bringing healing, sight, forgiveness, and life. We can choose to wallow in the misery of our past, or listen instead to the voice that calls us out into a new day. Jesus’ life is not a thing of the past, it is our present and future hope, it is a promise that we can never be separated from the power of the one who loves us!
These weeks of Lent are a time to look where we’ve been, but not to give in to hopelessness or apathy, but instead to re-commit our lives to the one who lives at Easter, and lives today.
God’s Peace,
Pastor John Twiton
