It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since my church’s 10th anniversary concert last year. This year’s production will focus on reaching out to people beyond the walls of our church building and the confines of our community.
I have been a part-time adjunct faculty member for the Musical Theater department at the local high school for the performing arts for the past 3 years. I work with the most talented students and staff in the district. Two years ago, I was shocked to find out that one of the students that I worked with was homeless. This news forced me to face the reality that this issue affects all of us.
It is easy to say words of faith but it is harder to live by them and to follow the greatest commandment that Jesus gave us “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
This year our church is joining forces with a local non profit that supports homeless youth because we stand united as one community to eradicate this problem that plagues our city. As the body of Christ, we have to make a difference in the lives of our children and community because no one else will. This life isn’t meant to be routine, and in the blink of an eye everything can change. But the Son of God reveals to us who we are and whose we are because He makes everything new.
It is through our faith in God, God’s word and God’s grace that we know that God so loved us all that God redefined what love is in the life, death and resurrection of His only Son. Love is sacrifice, messy and painful. But in the end love wins.
So as another year passes, I pray that we will all understand that the way in which we live our lives could be the only bible or church that the people around us will ever experience. So I pray that we will all live a life full of the joy and the hope that comes only from an authentic relationship with the Savior who gives us the gifts of His grace, mercy, forgiveness and love. Through Him all things are possible.
Tags: Christian, Christmas Makes Everything New, ELCA, Faith, God, grace, Homeless Youth, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Love wins, lutheran, Matthew 22: 36-40, Savior, Son of God
Help us to see the big picture, beyond ourselves, so that we can learn from both our joys and our sorrows. Look, it doesn’t matter where we are in this life because we’re all on the same journey towards grace and redemption. Give us the strength to “never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” (Corrie Ten Boom) This life isn’t meant to be routine, and in the blink of an eye everything can change. But because of Christ, we know who we are and whose we are.
So Lord, “revive whatever peace and love has died in us” (Christian Today) because the only one who can mend a broken heart is the One who made it. And as long as we still have breath, we can still shine the light of God out onto the darkness of this world
“Our soul is not contained within the limits of our body. Our body is contained within the limitlessness of our soul…Every possession or accomplishment will rot but what remains is our heart” (Jim Carrey) and how we affected others. It is through our faith in God, God’s word and God’s grace that we know that “in Christ, there are no goodbyes and in Christ, there is no end” (MercyMe) so let’s hold on to the only truth that we have; that God so loved us all that God redefined what love is. Love is sacrifice, messy and painful. But in the end love wins.
Tags: Christian, Christian Today, Church, Corrie Ten Boom, ELCA, Jesus Christ, Jim Carrey, Love wins, MercyMe, New Song Church, Prayer, Son of God
Advent 1
Lord of all, Your grace covers all things and You make all things new. As another year slips away, show us how to stop obsessing over things that we can’t take with us to heaven because all we leave behind is the impact that we had on the lives of others.
In the absence of so many things, we can be God’s light and love on this earth so give us the strength to push through the fear so that we can touch and change lives as Your Son did with us. The birth of the Son of God, His life, death and resurrection tells us the truth that fear cannot keep us away from the presence of God. Nothing can.
Lord, just “give us enough light to see the next step” (Vicky Beeching) for “many are the plans in a person’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21). Center us now to step back into the story of “how God so loved the world that He sent His only Son” (John 3:16) to be the eternal living truth for all generations to know that “hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can.” (Martin Luther King) and Love won over death and sin and will continue to do so forever and ever. Amen.
Tags: Advent, Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus Christ, John 3:16, lutheran, Martin Luther King Jr, Prayer, Proverbs 19:21, Son of God, Vicky Beeching
Cross at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mounds, Minnesota
Lord of all, fill our minds with Your truth
and our hearts with Your love so that
we may be bonded together by faith. Today will never come again so “tune our hearts to sing Your grace” (ELW 807), and open the doors that shut us out from experiencing the presence of God.
Help us to understand how to live by loving ourselves so that we can live in the truth that You gave us. Don’t let our challenges push us away from Your hope because “we have to be Your light” (Matthew 5:16). For there is only one foundation to build our life upon that will not falter and that is a relationship with the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the One who turns tragedy into triumph.
But we need to be His body, His hands and His feet. Our eyes can see with His compassion, our feet can walk in His righteousness and our hands can bless with His mercy. And in case we forget the truth of our salvation, let us remember that the way in which we live our lives may be the only gospel or church that the people around us will ever experience.
Tags: Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus Christ, lutheran, Matthew 5:16, Prayer, Son of God
My friend’s car decal
“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations,” (Psalm 90:1) show us how to break the habit of the typical because it’s easy for us to hide from the things that we can make a difference in. It’s hard to trust what we don’t understand. It’s easy to run from obstacles than to face them. And it’s challenging to stand up for our faith in a world that doesn’t believe.
But “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Phillipians 4:13) because “our mission isn’t to compete, but to complete” (Tony Gaskin) the purpose that God has destined for us. So let us not do what we think we should do, but let us do what we have to do in order to truly love our neighbor as ourselves. “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18) for “if we continue in God’s word, we are truly God’s disciples; and we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free.” (John 8: 31-32)
Tags: 1 John 3:18, bible, Christian, Church, ELCA, Jesus Christ, John 8: 31-32, lutheran, Phillipians 4:13, Prayer, Psalm 90:1, Son of God, Tony Gaskin
Painting inside St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mounds, Minnesota
Almighty God, “You are the Lord and You will never change.” (Malachi 3:6) In this shell of a body, is a dream that can unite all people. The dream of a better world where everyone will know the love of God, so don’t let anything take away that dream.
And when the gravity of our situations work against us and holds us down, let hope stare us in the face and keep us in God’s light. For You are not afraid of our storms, and our faith rests not upon who we are but in who Christ is, in His life, and in what He continues to do for all of us so “that we can know truth, and that truth will set us free.” (John 8:32)
“In any given moment we have two options; to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” (Abraham Maslow) So “may the light of God illumine the heart of our soul. May the flame of Christ kindle us to love. May the fire of the Holy Spirit free us to live this day, tonight and forever.” (Celtic Benediction)
Tags: Abraham Maslow, Celtic Benediction, Church, ELCA, Jesus Christ, John 8:32, lutheran, Malachi 3:6, Prayer, Son of God
St. James Lutheran Church in Crystal Minnesota
Lord, every good gift comes from You. “Direct our footsteps according to Your word, and let no sin rule over us.” (Psalm 119: 133) Push us out into the world of the living and push life back into us. Let our faith be bigger than our fears, so that we can represent You and glorify You in all that we do, because we only get this one life to make a difference.
Because of You, we are strong enough to carry each other through the long twisted turns of life. So take our faith to another level. A level of doing, and not just empty words, because what we allow is what will continue but “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17) to do all that God has planned for us.
“In the blink of an eye everything can change…Life is short” (Zig Ziglar) so let us truly live it. Because “when we leave this earth, we can take with us nothing that we have received (and) only (carry) what we have given: (so let us continue to give) a heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.” (St. Francis of Assisi)
Tags: 2 Corinthians 3:17, bible, Christian, ELCA, God, Jesus Christ, lutheran, Prayer, Psalm 119: 133, St. Francis of Assisi, Zig Ziglar
Hear us now O Great Redeemer, and “clothe us in your compassion, kindness, humility and patience.” (Collossians 3:12), “Turn away our eyes from our own vanity and revive us in your ways” (Psalm 119:37).
We’re just ordinary people, flawed and prone to sin, but You see us as no one else does. You understand our potential. So as these battles rage on in all of us, we pray that You would reign in us and remind us that “nothing can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38), that “You have been with us since the beginning” (John 1:1) and that You will always be, Emmanuel, God with us.
When words fail “hope will not be silent” (Harvey Milk). For it is “By faith (that) we began, by hope (that) we continue, and by revelation (in which) we shall obtain the whole (truth of God)” (Martin Luther). For “if there is anything in us, it is not our own; it is a gift of God…that it is entirely a debt (that we) owe to love…and must serve others with it, not ourselves” (Martin Luther).
Tags: Christ, Christian, Collossians 3:12, ELCA, Harvey Milk, Jesus, John 1:1, lutheran, Martin Luther, Prayer, Psalm 119:37, Redeemer, Romans 8:38
All Saints Episcopal, Las Vegas, NV
Lord of all, calm our hearts and minds. Don’t let us doubt You, and don’t let fear rule or feed our thoughts. Interrupt our lives, when we forget the miracle of each breath that You give us, so that we can face these obstacles and not cower or retreat back into the false security of what once was.
Let us let go of our egos and move forward, by faith, into the promise of God so that we can feed the hungry, heal the sick, and be as one body united by the unwavering love of our Creator.
Because of You, our story has been rewritten. So let us dare to know You, to be more like You, to be quick to forgive and slow to anger. Don’t let our own insecurities inhibit ourselves from ministering God’s grace and doing what is right in the eyes of God. We may not “understand the mystery of grace…but grace meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” (Anne Lamott).
Tags: Anne Lamott, bible, Christ, Christian, Church, ELCA, forgiveness, God, grace, Jesus, Prayer
Thank You for awakening us in to a new day that we have never seen. Surrounded by chaos, we enter into Your presence with praise as You enter our circumstances with the power of hope. Remind us, that no matter what pit we have dug ourselves into or that others have left us in, that the love of God is deeper still and envelops us throughout the good days and the bad. For “the will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us. “ (Billy Graham) And not matter where we are, “we can never go where God is not.” (Toby Mac)
Through our faith we have a purpose, and because of Jesus Christ we have been appointed to stand by others as God stands by us. So let our words and actions not harm each other. Let our prayers and thoughts uplift one another to build God’s kingdom here on earth, as it is in heaven, so that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, friend and advocate for all of us.
Tags: as it is in heaven, bible, billy graham, Christian, Church, ELCA, Gospel, Jesus Christ, kingdom of god, Prayer, toby mac
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