Pastor's Blog

At the Last Supper, the disciples ate, probably sang songs, and we know they enjoyed each other’s company with food and wine. This would be the last time they would be together as they had; as a group doing life and ministry together. After that last supper everything would change. They didn’t understand it then but they would see Jesus in a new light. His rightful light, as the God incarnate. Knowing that everything would change for them, Jesus wanted to teach them. He wants to give them one final lesson. He knows that, soon enough, each of them would become leaders. Apostles, no longer disciples, sent out to start communities and teach the world the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ final lesson to them was to stay humble. Stay humble and not fall into the traps that the world has set for people of leadership.

While it may seem that little has been shared about building the worship center for Christ South, I can assure you that much is happening behind the scenes moving the project forward.

Christ Lutheran is a very generous congregation (in case you didn’t know). Our Benevolence Committee gives away at least 12% of every dollar given to the church

Our hands and bodies were FREEZING, but the Spirit was setting things on FIRE! That’s how I would describe the middle school retreat last weekend. What an amazing bunch of youth! What passionate adult leaders! What arock-solid Youth Director! What an amazing weekend!

My daughter got a special prize this Monday when she went into school. To receive the prize all she had to do was say a predesignated word and, voila, instant winner. The word was given to all the children in the class, well their parents. If the parents had read all the way through the newsletter then they would find instructions to have the child repeat the word to the teacher the next day and receive their prize.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. -Psalm 51:10

I don’t know about you but lately my life has been a roller coaster. Last year, we had a great middle school mini retreat where 40 youth got together safely and worked in small groups to have a Bible Study, played games, and did a service project. Then, we took kids to camp. Lutheridge was a wonderful experience! We started the school year with an outdoor luau for the middle and high school youth! It was great. Things seemed to be getting “back to normal.” Then Omicron hit.

Diamonds are valuable. I don’t have to convince you of that. Like gold or silver, diamonds have intrinsic value. They are valuable because of what they are. They don’t need to be molded or crafted into another form for them to have value. We’re usually pretty good about knowing when something is intrinsically valuable just by looking at it.

This past weekend we babysat our granddaughter, Chloe. There is never a dull moment! She loves to play “Hide & Seek” and “Go” with Poppy (Mark), loves to read books and loves to laugh!

This week, my talented co-worker, my trusted colleague and one of my closest friends, Mark Glaeser, announced that it was time to retire after serving Christ Lutheran for 32 years. My heart both sank and was lifted when he took me aside in private to tell me about his decision.

As parents, our life revolves around the school calendar. Now that school is back after the Christmas break, it feels like we’re taking off again from the starting line of a race. Yet, after the first week I find myself out of breath and exhausted, ready for another break. Parenting is hard, and it wears you out. What makes it difficult for me isn’t being with my children. I actually like them – most of the time. What’s so hard is wearing the other hats that fall under the title of parent: taxi driver, chef, cleaner, teacher, doctor, coach. But the hardest job, the one that gives me the most anxiety, is scheduler.

2022. Two thousand twenty-two years since the birth of ourLord, Jesus the Christ. We gave Jesus the highest honor: we ordered the timingof all humanity around him. We used to call it B.C. and A.D., now we aresupposed to call is B.C.E. and C.E.. However you call it, that turning point isJesus.

The well-known song “Mary, Did You Know?” has been a staple of contemporary Christian Christmas music for over thirty years. The song propounds a number of questions to Mary about Christ’s birth that, while pensive, can seem rhetorical. This has led to its criticism: social media is often ripe this time of year with nay-sayers who post memes and contribute vacuous comment-section banter: “Mary knew she would birth the Messiah,” the more tactful comments retort, “the angel Gabriel told her.”

I’m not just coming back to my house. A house is a building with a couple of walls, windows and doors. When I say I am coming home, it is to a place where I belong, a placed filled with memories, a place that when I get there, I am eagerly welcomed. I’m coming home!

Really can’t we just talk to God at our homes and be done? Isn’t it in the bible somewhere that God is with us, even in our homes? And if God is with us at restaurants and golf courses and couches then why bother with going to this building every week?