Pastor Ponderings
Partnership
How do you keep warm? I am writing this on a day here in Northwest Ohio where the high temperature is going to be 14 degrees. It is a fact that we humans need to protect ourselves from severely cold temperatures. We are taught to layer our clothing, wear a hat and gloves. All of these things ensure that we can live and survive in the cold. Creation at times can be cruel, and northwestern Ohio winters can be some of the cruelest. Weather patterns are a part of life, and part of God's good creation.
Jesus Christ knows no season.
Brrrrrr it is cold! January and February are famous for being cold and this year promises to be no different. It is to be said that, from April to October, we in Ohio have the best weather anywhere. We pay for it between November and March. Now is a time for blankets and fires if you are blessed to have a fireplace. Hot chocolate with marshmallows, warm drinks of tea, and other things to ward off the cold are all part of life in Northwest Ohio during these months.
Being Easter People
Happy New Year! Possibilities abound as we enter a new year living and working together for the Glory of God. I hope your holidays were merry and bright. Every year it seems God is moving us forward as He builds His Kingdom here on Earth. As we move for-ward, I am reminded of Jesus on Easter as He encounters the Apostles, "Fear Not!" He instructs them and us. Consider the radical nature of the Resurrection in the eyes of the Apostles! Jesus knows that change is difficult for humans. Resurrection was a change no one saw coming. Today we may take the reality of Easter for granted, but it had to be quite upsetting for those early believers as they encountered a resurrected and living Jesus!
December is Upon Us
December is upon us and once again we prepare with joy for the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus. How fast the time goes. We live in a fast paced over stimulated time of activity. Scarcely does one activity end and it is time to go and do something else. The holiday season leading up to Christmas adds to this pressure and stress. There are times when we barely have time to think. My question for you is this: Where is God in the midst of all this hurry and worry? Do we even, or more importantly can we even make time for God? The dark days of December are here, and the Christ child is looking for a home.
Rally Together as the People of God
September is upon us and once again we rally together as the people of God. What does it mean to rally? We see political rallies all the time nowadays on TV, but when we rally at church does it mean the same thing?
New Orleans Youth Gathering Recap
Well, I have returned from the great adventure of New Orleans. The Youth Gathering was full of the energy of young people (on our last night, our group sang all the way back to the hotel, filling the streets of New Orleans with music). I think we learned a lot about ourselves and about the state of our church. We saw and experienced things that were life sustaining and life draining. We walked the streets together with 16,000 of our brothers and sisters in Christ...
We want to know what is in it for us, with whip cream, extra nuts, and a cherry on top.
Growing up in Ohio, I remember summers being so much fun! We had paid for the nice weather with winters full of snow and ice. Summer for me was baseball and bikes, ice cream and candy, grape Kool-Aid and bologna sandwiches with chips taking the place of lettuce to give that extra crunch…
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Rain, Rain go away come again another day! I can remember being cooped up in the house during rain showers when I was a child. This little saying was what my mother taught me to say so that I could once again go outside to play. I am sure this saying has become a familiar one to us all in these days of excessive rain. Rain of course is needed, but my grass has had enough, thank you…read more
Spring!
Spring has sprung! Life has been renewed! Winter has passed us and together we move forward in the light of resurrection, love, and grace. Alleluia, Christ is risen, He is risen indeed, alleluia! The cycle of life begins again. Springtime planting will bring the autumn harvest. Life is fresh and new. God is providing for His children…click to read more
Lenten Journeys can be Powerful
"Take my yoke upon you," Jesus declares, "and I will give your rest." Rest in the Grace, sisters and brothers. Walk with me to the Cross and together let us find the empty tomb of Easter…
The Season of Lent
In February we see the beginning of Lent. Once again, this year both Calvary and Christ we be participating in a round robin preaching series with area Lutheran churches. We pastors will rotate among the congregations. The difference this year is we will be celebrating Wednesday evenings by trying a new thing, Dinner Church.
The Community of Christ
As stewards in God's creation:
We are called and BAPTIZED children of God. We know whose we are, and we know we are never alone.
We have our identity in this family. We have purpose.
We come together in WORSHIP where we gather, confess, sing, pray, and hear the Word.
We share COMMUNION together as the body of Christ. With Christ within us and with all the saints who have gone before us, we become a special community bound by the love of God.
We are COMMUNITY and we are SENT out into the world to share the love of Christ with others. We don't have to do it alone because we have each other. We share a special joy together as a sign of the Spirit and we pass it on in many different ways.
A Letter To Jesus
Dear Friends in Christ,
This month instead of writing to you I am going to write a letter to Jesus. I have attached it for your review…
The Tradition of Worship
I turned on my computer to write this article and, of course, had to make sure first and foremost that Facebook didn't have anything important happening. Wouldn't you know it, the meme on the opening screen said this: Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people. My first thought was, "That's a terrible thing to sayl" My second thought was, "What's wrong with learning from those who went before us?”…
Sunday Mornings Come Early
Sunday mornings come early. Depending on the quality and length of sleep I receive, getting up on Sundays can be interesting. Sometimes a nudge from Sandy is necessary to get me up and going. The fog begins to clear in my mind and the day in front of me begins to come into focus…
Stewarding God’s Imprint: A Theology of Worship
This whole year we have been thinking about stewardship and what it means to be given the role of stewards for God. We've looked back at Gen 1: 28-30 where God established that mankind would "have dominion" over creation and how that means that we have been asked to manage all that is needed for this world to keep going. We therefore strive to care about air, soil, and water qualities as well as the people, plants, and animals around us. In addition, we interpret that the "treasures" of time, wealth, and health are also resources given to us to manage so that all might live. That, however, is not the complete list of what God has placed in our hands—there's something subtle we often overlook.
The desert is an unforgiving place.
The desert is stark and barren and plain and simple. There is no complexity in the desert. Life is teeming in the desert even though we Ohioans might not think that anything could live there...
Holy Communion and Stewardship
Gathering for worship is unlike anything else we do. We come through the doors of our church and are greeted by a medley of emotions and sounds. Joyful smiles light up faces. Hugs are shared - usually accompanied by happy exclamations. Some people are seated around the tables in the Gathering Room sharing conversation and coffee (and sometimes donuts). Those carrying unseen burdens feel others often unknowingly reach out to give grace and share the load. Happy chatter calls us into community. Then as the bells ring, we gather together in the sanctuary while the music of the Prelude gives us time to prepare our hearts for worship and invite the Holy Spirit to be with us.
What does it look like to steward the gift of this Holy Meal?
I recently read an article, titled, "Eating with Reverence", that looked at food production from our perspective as Christians. It talked about the history of agriculture, and how all our farm land was once just "wild" land like that garden in Genesis. We know the local history of the Great Black Swamp, a wild land with rich soil. Our forefathers cleared and drained, tiled and planted, until and still within God's grace, it now sustains many…