Good morning ALC Brothers and Sisters,
What a few weeks of storms and rains we've
had! Thanks be to God for so much moisture. Is it too much? Do we
want it to slow down now? (I am actually asking since I'm learning)
Yall are in my prayers as you navigate muddy fields and puddled gardens,
downed limbs and leaky roofs/basements. May you remember the flood of
God's love given to you in the promise of Baptism, the water that both
brings death (to sin and death itself) and life. Anyone in need of
help? Anyone offering help? Many of you probably have things under
control and support systems in place, but let me know and perhaps we can
support each other as needed.
This weekend Mary Johnson, Natalie, and I will join with several hundred other Lutherans from our Nebraska Synod to worship together at the annual Synod Assembly in Kearney, share news of what God is up to around the Synod, and do business-y things like approve the Synod budget for the next year. Follow along this weekend using the link for a gathering entitled Mission:Possible! Please keep us and the whole Synod in your prayers as we play and struggle at doing God's work here in our State. Please pray for our 260+ congregations to work together to witness to Christ's love locally and across this country. In the following weeks we'll let you know what we learned and experienced.
This week we fully enter the Season after Pentecost, also called Ordinary Time in Christian tradition. This season in the church year focuses on the continuing of Christ's mission through the Holy Spirit in the formation and development of the church, Christ's body on earth. The color green dominates the season and reminds us of growth, life, and vitality. This year (for the next 6 months), we'll be reading through the early portions of the Gospel according to Luke, and Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Colossians. Here are the readings for this coming Sunday, June 2, and some questions for you to ponder together:
Luke 7:1-10
1. Jesus is stunned
by the faith of a foreigner, a Roman Centurion. When have you been
stunned by the faith of someone from a different religion or country?
2. Remember that the Romans are a loathed foreigner occupying
force in 1st Century Palestine. Jesus' action of compassion toward this
'enemy' must have contributed to the hot water he got into. What
implications might this have for your life and our life together as ALC
in Fairbury?
Galatians 1:1-12
Psalm 96
1.
More often than not, we think of "judgment" as a bad thing and it is
often a terrible thing in our culture. When this word appears in
Scripture, however, it typically refers to God "setting things to
rights." And so the people rejoice at the arrival of the LORD (as do
the seas and the fields, the sky and the whole earth) who operates with
righteousness and truth rather than self-service and corruption. In
what areas of your life do you seek God's "setting things to rights?"
I Kings 8:22-23, 41-43
1. In
what ways does the Biblical value of hospitality (powerfully formed by
the history of God's people being migrants and outsiders) toward
'foreigners' impact our/your view on the hot topic of immigration in
this country?
One important question for the church to wonder about is how we can connect our faith on Sunday to the other six days of the week. Exploring daily practices like discussing faith and blessing one another in the home, the Faith5 Event in Lincoln on Friday, June 28th seeks to equip the church in this work. Is anyone interested in representing ALC at this event and bringing home tips and tools? Information and registration for this event can be found here: http://www.nebraskasynod.org/
Summer of the Small Catechism begins this week.
Look for it in your summer newsletter and your own copy of this brief
pamphlet in your church mailbox. We'll start with one copy per
household but there are plenty more to be had if you need another copy
in your bathroom, tractor, glovebox (so inadequately named), or gym
bag. Pick up additional copies in the church office.
Lastly, for your edification and the tickling of your funny bone (perhaps)...check
out this short video exploring the Holy Trinity (remember last Sunday?)
and the various bad analogies that have missed the point regarding this
mystery we confess at the heart of our faith but which has never made
perfect sense. It's an animated piece from LutheranSatire
Christ's peace,Pastor Brian
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