ADVENT

This Sunday and Monday mark the first weekend in Advent — the four weeks before Christmas. Advent starts the church calendar with a season of preparation and anticipation. Advent is a time we prepare for the coming of the Messiah.   


We reflect on where we are in our spiritual journey and define those areas of our lives that could use some clean-up. An apt analogy is the way we go about preparing our homes for Christmas. Romans 13:11 tells us to wake up, for the time is drawing near; it is here and now. Spend some time this Advent doing a little soul-searching, and take an inventory of your spiritual life. What is keeping you from having a closer relationship with God?  Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing!

O Lord, search me and know me; show me the ways I can draw closer to you. Help me to increase my faith, love, and devotion to you. Amen

Who Do You Say I Am?

Cornerstone or stumbling block? It’s all in how you look at Jesus. Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith. It is in how you react to Him. Is he the Son of God, or simply a very good man who was a great teacher and philosopher? Who do you say He is?

People who believe in their heart of hearts that Jesus is the Son of God have Jesus as the cornerstone of their lives, and by following his teachings live lives that are based on solid ground…living not for themselves alone but watching out for others and for the common good. When hardships come, they can withstand the storms of life knowing that Jesus walks with them, and at the end, will take them home to be with Him forever. 

To people who don’t believe, Jesus is a stumbling block over which they will trip and fall. They believe that it’s enough to be a good person; that it’s unnecessary to surrender their lives to God’s will, that they can get to heaven under their own power.

They will meet that fate that has been planned for them. [1Peter 2:8b] Through Jesus Christ, God has called us out of darkness into wonderful light, and is building us, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. [1Peter 2:5] Praise the One who breaks the darkness!

Precious Jesus, be with us this day. Increase our faith in you and help us to trust you in all things, for you are the living cornerstone. Amen.

How Did He Do That?

Jesus fed more than five thousand people using the five loaves of bread and two fishes the apostles had with them.   This miracle is repeated many times in churches throughout the world. People bring their offerings to the church, and the church then uses them to nurture souls, educate the young, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, comfort the afflicted.  

What would have happened if the disciples had refused, and told Jesus they were not going to share because the food they had was barely enough to feed just them?  All those people would have gone hungry.   We bring our offerings in thanksgiving for all that God has done for us. By offering a portion of our resources, we are able step outside ourselves and touch the lives of others.  


Ebenezer Scrooge from Dickens’ Christmas Carol was a character who cared only for his own bottom line.  We’re all familiar with how well that worked for him.  God doesn’t want us to be like Scrooge. God wants us to have a heart for others. If you are someone who is Scrooge-like when it comes to giving to God’s work, perhaps this is the year to turn things around. This Sunday we consecrate our promises of giving to our church. Why not step outside yourself and pledge to make a difference in the life of the church and the lives of others?

Gracious God, give me the courage to do what you’ve called  me to do, and help me do so with a willing and joyful heart.  Amen.

What Does God Require?

Everything we have comes from God and God wants us to respond with thanksgiving; God wants us to respond with praise; God wants us to respond with good works, and God wants us to respond with inward devotion.  We are called to be active members of the body of Christ, but we are also called to be a part of the soul of the body as well. 

Micah, the prophet, tells the Israelites that good works without a good heart means nothing to God.  God wants the inward sacrifice as well as the outward one.  Micah tells us that God wants us to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”  [Micah 6:8]  Combining those three things as well as living in a giving, and caring way is a recipe for a truly successful life: a life that is pleasing to God.

As Lutherans, we believe that we cannot earn our salvation, that it is a gift of grace freely given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus.  However, just because it is ours to claim, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t respond to this gift by sharing of our time, talent and resources, and nurturing our inner spirituality.  It is time well spent.

Gracious God, we are grateful for all of the blessings you’ve given us.  Help us to respond with willing and joyful hearts. Amen

To Everything There is a Season

Living in Minnesota, we get to experience four completely distinct seasons.   As one season gives way to the next, the landscape changes and the way we experience life changes.  There are seasons in our lives as well: infancy, childhood, youth, adulthood, middle age, and old age.  Through all the chances and changes of life, as believers, we are comforted by knowing that God walks with us through it all.

The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter three tells us that there is a season and a time for every matter (purpose) under heaven.  Read this chapter and realize that every life has the destiny for good times and for bad times:  “a time to be born, a time to die; a time to dance, a time to mourn; a time of love, a time of hate; a time of war, a time of peace….”   When we experience loss and hardship, we ask God, “Why is this happening to me?” And the response comes back, “To everything there is a season.”  We don’t know for sure if God has predetermined our lives, but we do know that “all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.” [ Romans 8:28]   so no matter what trials you are going through, know that God is there with you, through it all, and be comforted by the love, grace and mercy that is God.  

Holy God, stay by me this day and every day, through the good and through the bad, and help me to trust in you completely for all things.  Amen

Jonah and the Whale

The story of Jonah and the whale is probably one of the best known stories in the Bible.  God asked Jonah to do something and Jonah didn’t want to do it.  Jonah tried to escape from God and you know how well that went.  In the end Jonah did what God wanted and behold…it was good all around. When God speaks to us, it is in our best interest to listen and obey.

How do you listen to God’s voice?  How do you know that it’s God speaking to you?  The only way to listen to what anyone has to say is to be quiet and give that person your full attention.  The best way to do that is through daily devotion because the most common way God speaks to us through the Word. As you read, something in the reading will touch your heart.  That is the Holy Spirit bringing something to your attention that you need to hear. It might not happen every time, but it will happen often enough. After you’ve read, spend some time reflecting on the message.  In your prayer time, take some time to be silent…to listen.  God also speaks to us through music, through the beauty of nature, through the love of family and friends. How do you know what you experience is from God?  The message will be full of  grace, love, light and truth.

Gracious God, help me to spend time with you each day, and help me to listen to what you are saying to me. Amen.

Courage

We live in frightening times.  Not since the Great Depression has our economic situation been so perilous.  Terrorists threaten our country and almost every other country on earth, and it seems as though we are in the midst of a holy war.  God calls for us to be strong and courageous; trusting God in all things. The Bible is full of examples of people in dire straits, people who trusted in God and persevered.

When we are faced with uncertainty, it is important to turn to God’s Word for promises of reassurance. There we can find words of hope and comfort. We can find peace for our troubled hearts. God promises to walk in front of us, beside us, and behind us as we journey through life. We are not to bury our heads in the sand, but we are to move forward, confident our ultimate companion is with us. 

There is no promise that we will not encounter hardship, no promise of easy passage, only the simple promise that God knows us; that God has a plan for our life; that God loves us and that nothing we do can separate us from that love.

Gracious God, help me to feel your presence in my life. Help me to draw closer to you and to trust in you in all things. Amen