Strength

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, NRSV)

Where does your strength come from?

I admit I like going to the gym to walk on a treadmill or along a track, maybe to do zumba or aqua zumba, but strength training is not my thing!

I don’t like pumping up. I like doing fitness classes, step and walking, but then where does my strength come from? Now it is true walking and fitness classes do work your muscles and will build muscle over time, but is that the strength mentioned in Colossians?

We are strengthened by the fact that we know Christ and have been saved by His grace and mercy. We get our strength to live life and to see beyond the pain and sorrow because of the strength that He has and has given to us. Through the strength of Christ we will be able to endure all because He is always with us. Christ strength is sufficient for us!

Path to the Future!

BridgeAs I sit and write this newsletter article as the called pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church I have to reflect on the road that got us to this place.
I have to say us, because of Krista, Charis, Carina, Calea, Kata and Kaity. Kata and Kaity being our cats, had to move several times with us. It was not an easy road to come along. There were several times I wondered if it was the right road for me to be on. I wondered what in the world I was doing to my family. Was this the actual path we were to be walking down, or had we missed the boat, or the carriage, or the bus? We traveled a lot of roads it seems, talking to a lot of different people about ministry possibilities, but none of them seemed right. It seemed the path we were on was heading in the wrong direction. Maybe Robert Frost would say we were on the path more traveled…
I also have to say us because of all of you, the worshiping community that is St. John’s Lutheran Church. You are involved and have been traveling a road or two over this time as well. There have been many changes and struggles, but you have held tight to the faith you have in Jesus Christ and are ready for many years of ministry here in this place.
3 months ago, my family and I were preparing our house in Texas to come here to Wisconsin, continuing down the path that God had set before us. I wondered again if this was the right path for us, but we have been truly blessed to be a part of this community here at St. John’s. God knew what was going on when Jerry Wirtley was matched with St. John’s Lutheran Church. My family and I truly are blessed to be here in Little Suamico with such great people. You have blessed us from the moment our conversations have begun.
Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to the plate and helped us here at St. John’s to move forward in the ministry that God has placed before us. We still have a lot to do and I have no doubt that this body of believers will accomplish everything that God puts in front of them. We have to dig deep and work together, but nothing is impossible if we stay together in God!
So as I think of the paths and roads we have come down to get us to the place we are now at, I pause only for a moment, to say thank you, we have made it this far, yet we can not always look back, but also must look towards the future. What will our path hold for us now? I really do not know what the future holds, yet I know God brought us to St. John’s, and God will help guide through the years and paths ahead of us, as we journey through ministry together here. So let’s decide together on the path we shall take and move forward with God, stepping out on faith, even more than we have, living in the hope of our time with God. Let us take that road less traveled by and then in the end hopefully we all will hear, “welcome home, my good and faithful servant!”

simple and clear

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Acts 9:1-9, NRSV)

Sometimes I wish the signs God gave me were simple and clear, like being blinded on the road and hearing the voice of Jesus speak to me. Or a burning bush and the voice of God bellowing…

But would I follow? And maybe, just maybe, God’s signs to me are simple and clear, and I just can’t see/hear them because I’m too caught up in looking at my own sin and not able to let go to see them or hear them.

Plus if a voice came from the clouds, or from a burning unconsumed bush I would run away screaming like a little girl!

Jesus does call each of us in a simple clear way that we can understand and only we can understand. That is why Moses got a burning bush and Saul was knocked down and blinded on the Damascus road. That is what they needed. That was their 2X4!

God hits you with what you need, and yes it is always simple and clear. Just listen and tune into God and you will see the sign!

God’s acolyte

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ (Ephesians 5:8-14, NRSV)

You were once a part of the darkness, but now that you have discovered the grace of Christ in your life, you are light!

You are light and need to shine in the darkness to bring evil to light. You need to live your life so your actions preach the good news of the salvation we all have in Christ Jesus. For everything that is done in the darkness will be exposed in the light. You as the working hands and feet of God, the bearer of His light to the world are one who exposes His love to the world and exposes the works of evil and darkness happening.

Live your life as God’s acolyte! Showing for His light and love!

Word!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:1-9, NRSV)

The logos was with God and was God and everything came into being through Him…

Jesus was with us before the beginning of time in God, and He came to live among us in the flesh as the Son of Man, the Word of God. He is the living word and comes into out lives to know who we are and to help us know who God is and how we react together.

He came among us to know us and to live us, to show us how to live. He is the living word of God made flesh and we are to testify to Him and tell the world He is the true light shining in and through us.