Did you survive or celebrate Christmas?

It was the night before Christmas ... I am writing this post just one hour before all of our Christmas Eve services (4p, 7p, 9p, and 11p). I caught myself thinking, phew, I will have survived another Christmas. All the gifts and groceries has been purchased, the house has been cleaned, the Christmas tree and decorations are up, family is visiting, plans and arrangements have been made, hospital visits have been made, service details have been double-checked, the church has been cleaned, some 70 required volunteers have been recruited and trained; choirs, musicians, and vocalists have practiced, furnishings in the church have been changed; candles are ready for Silent Night (our singing tradition); bulletins are printed and ready, the sermon is ready, etc. Is this what Christmas has become? Just a series of events and preparations to be made? It is so easy to lose focus on reality.

This noon, one of our dear members, Susan, died after a bout with cancer. As I write, my thoughts and prayers are with this family. What will keep this day, Dec. 24th, Christmas Eve - A celebration of Christ's birth and proclamation of good news and life, instead of a day remembered for death?

Suddenly, the values of life are once again in sharp focus. How precious is life and the people we hold dear in our hearts. How precious is the proclamation by the angels, "To you a Savior is born, Christ, the Lord!" There is Life in the midst of Death. Light in the midst of Darkness. Joy in the midst of Sorrow. Gain in the midst Loss. Victory in the midst of Defeat. A Gift in the midst of Gifts. A Love in the midst of Love.

The apostle Paul wrote, "I don't want you to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep in Christ, lest you grieve like those with no hope." Because of God's gift of his son, Jesus Christ, the Lord, we have hope, a future, and a secure promise of forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

December 24th is the day the Lord invited his daughter, Susan, to spend Christmas with him, to celebrate the gift of life everlasting. Thank you, God, for this tremendous gift of life and hope!

- Pastor Jeff

Christmas Food Traditions

What are your Christmas food traditions?

As a pastor, our family, has had to adapt our Christmas Eve family traditions to the life and schedule of Good Shepherd, since we hold Christmas Eve services at 4p, 7p, 9p, and 11p. My wife brings either a stew or fondue in a crock-pot at 5:30p -- something quick between services. Some years we have cheese (bread, vegetables), chocolate (strawberries, bananas), and oil fondues (meats, chicken).

We usually get home around 1:30a on Christmas Day and enjoy a quiet moment in the living room, reflecting on the day's events, while sipping hot tea and/or a glass of wine in front of the Christmas Tree lit with lights.

Our Christmas Brunch, this year, will be Russian Bliny with an assortment of condiments (sour cream, cottage cheese, fruit preserves), black tea with lemon, Mediterranean egg omelets with rice, onions, capers, olives, garlic and sausage sauteed in olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkled with grated feta and goat cheeses, cranberry sparklers, orange juice, and yogurt kefir with pears. Then, we will take a long walk with our dogs along the Jordan Parkway Trail, regardless of the weather conditions, to Gardner Village and look at the elf displays.

What is your food tradition? Post a response!

- Pastor Jeff

Advent 3 -- What Should We Do?

Texts: Zephaniah 3:14-20, Isaiah 12:2-6, Philippians 4:4-7, Luke 3:7-18

In the season of Advent, we historically recall the fulfillment of the prophetic texts in the birth of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah and Christ, who would save people from their sins. Today, these same texts have a double-meaning as we await their ultimate fulfillment when Christ returns to establish his kingdom in a new heaven and new earth.

Together these texts communicate together a wonderful message:

• I, the Lord, your God, am with you and take great delight in you
• I, the Lord your God, am mighty to save and will rescue you
• The Lord is my strength and my song, my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid
• We should bear fruit that befits repentance and turning to the Lord
• Therefore, we will rejoice! In everything we present our requests to God.

Pastor Bill Moberly, Director of East European Mission Network (EEMN), spoke on the great opportunity to network Lutherans in former Soviet Union Republics. During the great purge of the Bolshevik Revolution, Stalin ordered the closing of all Lutheran Churches and either killed or deported thousands of Lutherans to hard labor camps where many eventually died. At the time of the purge, the Lutheran church was the next largest Christian denomination in all of Russia -- second only to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Nearly two generations of faith were lost under Communist rule. Today's children living in Russia had no parents or grandparents that read the Bible to them, tell them the stories of the people of faith.

Through EEMN and indigenous believers, many English Language Friendship Camps are offered to the community, using the Bible as the primary textbook. The camps run Monday - Friday, 7a - 4p, one week at a time. The main requirements for American teachers is that they 1) love the Lord, 2) love the people, and 3) speak English. All teachers stay with host families within walking distance of the schools.

For more information, go visit EEMN on their website.

- Pastor Jeff

Daily Prayer

For All the Saints: A Prayer Book For and By the Church

During this season of Advent, one of my daily devotional practices is to read from the "For All the Saints: A Prayer Book For and By the Church" (1994). It is a compilation of daily scripture readings based upon the two-year daily lectionary as found in the Lutheran Book of Worship. "For All the Saints" is a four-volume set and includes: 1) Orders for daily prayer (e.g., morning and evening prayer and prayer at the close of the day), 2) Scripture readings, 3) The Psalms, 4) Opening and Closing Prayers, 5) Meditations, and 6) Luther's Small Catechism.

With the daily scripture readings (Old Testament, Epistle Reading, and Gospel), I am reading through The Psalms and The Book of Proverbs in 30 days. I like to read aloud at a certain place in the house, next to a window looking outside. Oddly enough, my dog (a golden retriever named "Chewie") loves to keep me company when I read aloud.

I personalize the psalms to myself. Through their reading, I have rediscovered the heart of Christ, the heart of David, and my own.

It has really helped me to stay focused on Christ throughout this commercial season of the holidays. I highly recommend the practice. It is a great way to develop your listening ear to the word of God.

Blessings,

-- Pastor Jeff

Advent 2 -- Christmas Decorations or Mucking Boots?

Texts: Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 1:68-79, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6

I love the season of Advent. It is the beginning of the church calendar. It starts with the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, the savior of his people. It is a time of anticipation and joy as we await the birth of the Savior of the world.

Advent has a double meaning. It not only historically reviews the prophecies and the actual birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Luke 2), but it also awaits Christ's second coming (Luke 21, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11).

Advent, too, is a time when "all hell breaks loose" in the lives of many people. As the days grow shorter, people become more depressed. Relationships are stressed by anger, fear, bitterness, infidelity, betrayal, lust, and covetousness. It is the season of suicide threats, job layoffs, financial difficulties, extra-marital affairs, drunkenness, greed, and overall depression.

The challenge to the church is whether we ignore all this and stay focused on happy, nostalgic feelings of good cheer, or, if love compels us to get the mucking boots, gloves, and shovels and enter messy stalls of people's lives and start cleaning and working toward health, vitality, and life.

Chaplain Michael Pearson from Good News Prison & Jail Ministries invited us to go into the jails this winter and proclaim good news, to "shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide them into the path of peace" (Luke 1:79). Nine people volunteered during the services to the call to go call upon those in jail (Matthew 25).

It's a good thing that when "all hell does break loose," to know that the gates of hell will not be able to withstand the good news of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18). His light shines in even the most darkest times and places of our lives with divine love and mercy.

- Pastor Jeff

Foster Transitional Housing Giving Hope To Teens

Foster Transitional Housing Giving Hope To Teens

A tiny primer on Advent

My sermon on the first Sunday of Advent (November 29) called us to understand ourselves as people who live with a deep sense that the Lord is coming. I suggested this has been the attitude of faithful people since the earliest days. Clear back in Genesis 3:15 we can hear a promise that a savior will come who will crush the serpent’s head. People wait all through the Old Testament. Significant moments of expectation gather around Deuteronomy 18:15, II Samuel 7:13-14, Jeremiah 33:14-16 and Luke 21:25-36. I didn’t mention the deep pools of expectation that form around Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 37, Hebrews 11 and another half dozen texts. :) Many of these prophecies are fulfilled in the ministry and death of Jesus. His resurrection shows us they will be fulfilled with even greater intensity at his second coming.

Advent is all about the promise of Jesus’ return. We prepare for Jesus’ second coming by remembering his first coming. The nation wasn’t ready. They didn’t recognize their king. We are not much different from them! Will we do any better? Only with God’s help! Watch and pray for God’s Holy Spirit to keep you faithful!

The Apostle Paul makes much of this especially practical for us in I Thessalonians 3:12-13. He talks about our call to love one another and to the hope that God will keep us blameless. A few years later Paul wrote the beautiful words in I Corinthians 1:8-9. Ten years later he dictated the Philippians 1:6. Paul’s confidence was in God’s faithfulness! We can join him in eager confidence that God will use us in these in-between times. Let us see each other in expectation of his return! I could mention how this functions in II Corinthians 5:16-17, but I’ll save it for a later sermon & blog.

Please feel free to email your comments and questions!

Pastor James