We have much to celebrate this week as we recall the great themes that lead to the reformation of the church, and we witness the affirmation of faith that seventeen of our young people will make at their confirmation.  We are all challenged to respond to God’s call to ministry and mission in our own lives as well.

Worship this week:

Saturday  — 5:00 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday — 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship

9:30 a.m. Sunday School and adult class

10:30 a.m. Contemporary worship with Confirmation

Devotions for this week:

Sharing Enough                                                           October 24-25, 2015

       I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. —- Philippians 4:11b-13

What does “contentment” feel like? This is a difficult question in our current culture. When surveys have asked “How much is enough?” responses have consistently been “Twenty percent more than I have now.” If that is true, how do we break the endless circle that this leads us toward—it is always “twenty percent more.” We are told over and over every day—“You don’t have enough…What you have is fragile and could be gone at any         moment…You have to go get more!” These messages come from a world focused on scarcity. In this setting how do we understand our relationship with God? God is creator—we are God’s creatures. How do we live in relationship with our creator? Martin Luther reminds us in his explanation of the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed “that God has created me and all that exists…God daily and abundantly provides…all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life…out of pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of mine at all!” It is in this relationship that we recognize that God has abundantly provided us with all that we need. If we focus on the scarcity, we never have enough. When we focus on God’s abundant blessings, there is more than we can ever imagine.

Narrative Lectionary readings for the week:

Sunday, 2 Samuel 5:1-5; 6:1-5, David Anointed King

Monday, Psalm 150, Praise Psalm

Tuesday, 2 Samuel 5:6-16, Jerusalem, the Capital of a Kingdom United

Wednesday, 2 Samuel 6:6-11, The Ark Comes to Jerusalem

Thursday, 2 Samuel 6:12-23, The Ark Comes to Jerusalem

Friday, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, God’s Covenant with David

Saturday, 2 Samuel 7:18-29, David’s Prayer

From Ruth and Naomi, to the disciples, and today, the hallmark of faithful living has been acting together in love. God’s love is shown to the world by the way we care for one another.

Worship with Holy Communion this week:

Saturday – 5:00 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday – 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship

9:30 a.m. – Sunday School and Adult Class

10:30 a.m. – Contemporary Worship

Acting Together                                                       October 17-18, 2015

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. –John 13:34-35

    This commandment is about community. It is about the common good. It is about our living as disciples of Jesus. He commands that we follow him                                                                                                                                                     together. He commands us to love one another. These are strange and foreign words in a culture that worships individualism. It is an odd concept in an economy that is based on the premise that the one who dies with the most “things” wins. It is hard to comprehend this commandment in a time where we all seek something more—more house, more car, more status, more power, more “stuff.” In this drive for “more” we find ourselves isolated and feeling alone. We fear our neighbor, we build higher fences and security systems, we live in fear of losing what we have accumulated. Jesus commands us to love one another—he calls us into relationships, he calls us into his community. His command is to love one another “as he has loved us!” In this community we move into relationship with Jesus and one another. This truly is a radical command—in our culture of individualism, none of us has enough. We all are driven to get more. But in this community of Jesus’ disciples, we begin to see that God provides us with more than enough!

Narrative Lectionary readings for the week:

Sunday, Ruth 1:1-17, Ruth

Monday, Ruth 1:18-22, Ruth and Naomi

Tuesday, Ruth 2:1-13, Ruth Meets Boaz

Wednesday, Ruth 2:14-23, Ruth Meets Boaz

Thursday, Ruth 3:1-18, Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

Friday, Ruth 4:1-12, The Marriage of Ruth and Boaz

Saturday, Ruth 4:13-22, The Genealogy of David

How do the three (Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz) rely on each other to get what they need? Tell a story of someone in your community that has done something risky for a greater good? How did it turn out?

 

 

Facing the storms of life can cause us to take a new look at what we hold as important. God’s Word asks us to consider who we trust, and where we focus our lives.

Worship this week:

Saturday – 5:00 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday – 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship

9:30 a.m. – Cross-generational education event in fellowship hall

10:30 a.m. – Contemporary Worship

Devotions for the week:

Facing the Truth                                                                     October 10-11, 2015

A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the seas, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? –Mark 4:37-41

 Why is it so hard to MAKE IT SIMPLE? We face daily a complex world of our own making. We feel pushed and pulled by forces beyond our control. And when things feel like they are out of our control, we often feel afraid. We become like the disciples in the boat with Jesus. We are afraid that we are perishing, tossed about by the “wind and the waves” in our lives. Imagine being one of the disciples in the boat. When you decide to wake Jesus up, what would you expect of him? What do you need from Jesus in the midst of the storms of your life? Can you hear Jesus’ question in the moments of calm in your life? “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”

 Narrative Lectionary readings for the week:

Sunday, Deuteronomy 5:1-21; 6:4-6, Hear, O Israel

Monday, Exodus 12:43-13:2, Directions for the Passover

Tuesday, Exodus 13:3-10, Festival of Unleavened Bread

Wednesday, Exodus 13:11-16, The Consecration of the Firstborn

Thursday, Exodus 13:17-22, Pillars of Cloud and Fire

Friday, Exodus 14:1-31, Crossing the Red Sea

Saturday, Exodus 20:1-21, The Ten Commandments

What did God want written on the hearts of the people? Why?

What traditions exist in your community that help you remember what God has done in your lives?

How do you remember God’s love on a daily basis? What rituals could you create so that remembering becomes second nature?

 

 

 

 

God’s speaks to Moses and promises deliverance, Jesus speaks to the disciples and promises God’s continuing love. How do we respond to these great promises?

Worship this week with Holy Communion:

Saturday 5:00 p.m. in the Chapel

Sunday – 8:30 a.m. Traditional Worship

9:30 a.m. – Sunday School  (No adult class this week)

10:30 a.m. – Contemporary Worship

Devotions this week:

Following Jesus                                                                     October 3-4, 2015

   Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. — Matthew 6:25-33

   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches the crowds and his disciples about their relationship with God and their discipleship in the world. In these verses, Jesus speaks about how God provides for our every need and how undue concern for our possessions can get in the way of our living as his disciples.

     These words speak to us today as we wrestle with the daily realities of our lives. We often find ourselves over-scheduled, over-extended, and over-drawn. Our lives are cluttered with too many commitments, too many possessions. We can be consumed by it all—we wonder “Will I have enough?” We fear not wearing the right clothes, not driving the right car, not having the latest electronic toy, not living in the right house. Too often our things define who we are.

     Jesus comes to us in the midst of our fears and announces—“Do not worry! God has provided for all of your needs!” What does it mean for us to live in relationship with Jesus? How might our daily discipleship help us to live more simply, trusting in God’s abundance?

 Narrative Lectionary readings for this week:

Sunday, Exodus 1:8-14 [15-2:10]; 3:1-10, Moses and God’s Name

Monday, Exodus 7:14-8:15, First Two Plagues

Tuesday, Exodus 8:16-32, Two More Plagues

Wednesday, Exodus 9:1-12, Two More Plagues

Thursday, Exodus 9:13-10:20, Two More Plagues

Friday, Exodus 10:21-11:10, 12:29-32, Final Plagues

Saturday, Exodus 12:33-42, The Exodus from Rameses to Succoth

How did the people of Israel follow God from slavery to deliverance? What were some of the promises God made to the Israelites throughout their journey?

 

Regularly throughout the Bible, an encounter with God ends with the renaming of God’s followers. Today’s story is no exception. Jacob’s new name, Israel, lifts up the struggle Jacob endured. Perhaps our struggles help shape who we become as well.

Worship this week: 

Saturday – 5:00 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday – 8:30 a.m. traditional worship

9:30 a.m. Sunday School and Adult class

10:30 a.m.  contemporary worship

Devotions for this week:

Jacob Wrestles God     Genesis 32:22-30     September 26-27, 2015

Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:26b-28)

Jacob is one of the patriarchs of the origin stories. He is the grandson of Abraham, the third generation of a family line that was the fulfillment of God’s promises – blessed to be a blessing. Like his forebears, he had some doubt about the promises, and took matters into his own hands. That didn’t go so well. He left home under the threat of a very angry twin brother, to make his own way in the world. Today’s scripture shows us Jacob as a grown man with a family, as he prepares to go home again.

Read – Sunday, Genesis 32:22-30, Jacob Wrestles God

Monday, Genesis 32:3-21, Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau

Tuesday, Genesis 33:1-20, Jacob and Esau Meet

Wednesday, Genesis 37:1-11, Jacob’s Son, Joseph

Thursday, Genesis 37:12-36, Joseph is Sold by His Brothers

Friday, Genesis 41:37-57, Joseph’s Rise to Power

Saturday, Genesis 46:1-27, Joseph Brings the Israelites to Egypt

• How do God’s people end up settling in Egypt?
• In what ways is your community blessed? In what ways do God’s blessings seem like a struggle?
• When have you wrestled with God? When have you wrestled with your understanding of God?

Bless: May God walk with you in your struggles and joys. Amen.