Everyday Lutherans

When I was growing up, I had posters of baseball players because for years, I wanted to play baseball for the rest of my life.  I mean think about it. You get to hang out with your friends, play baseball and just have fun. That sounded like a great life to live.  Now I loved the Chicago Cubs, I know remember I was young. So when I determined that I wanted to be a baseball player, I would imitate what they did.  If they chewed Bubble gum, I wanted to chew bubblegum. They had a cool glove, I needed a cool glove. They wore high socks, I wore high socks. They ran drills, I wasn’t there yet.   Now looking back on it now as an adult, I realize how foolish it is.  But at the same time, I believed that I could do it. If I imitated that life style, I could be that.  For many of us, as we grow up, our dreams and lifestyle are challenged. We realize we will not be able to play for the major league baseball league,  we realize we will not play in the NBA, ...

Prayer - This is a basic one but also is one of the hardest things for us to do.  Whether it is personal prayer or praying with others. We often do not do this, but it is the connection that we have with God.  The way in which we share with God what is on our hearts and minds, but also to take the time to listen to what God is sharing with us.   Worship - This is similar to prayer, is so basic but often times we determine; what am I getting out of it.  However, it is not about YOU. Worship is a means of being with others. It is to be in the presence of God, but also being with others to know that we are not alone.  We are in a community. Tonight, we begin a series of conversations and reflections based on key aspects that a disciple does in order continue to strive on this journey of faith.  For many of us, we go through the motions of our faith but we need sometimes to come back to the root of meaning so that we can be encouraged, correct ourselves, and even support one another ...

Today, we hear of the rather familiar parable known as the Prodigal Son.  Now just because it is a familiar parable does not mean that we fully understand it, or that we have taken that meaning and are living out that meaning.  So today, we look at this parable once again. Within the parable, it is important to note that when the son comes and asks for his half of the inheritance, the son is truly desiring the death of his father and that his father would have no influence upon his life anymore.  The son, wanting all the wealth that would be given to him at a future date at the death of his father, is informing his dad I don’t want you in my life anymore. My life would be better without you in it. However, in a heartbreaking act, the father does give the inheritance to the son. Gathering money and wealth all so that this son could go off and live his life the way that he would want and with complete disregard for what the father had learned within his own life. Now I want yo...

Tonight as we continue our journey of Marks of Discipleship, our focus is on serving.  This is where our faith moves us to action. Words on a page and a calling by God need to also have a physical side that reinforces the messages and allows us to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.  This is one of those areas though too where you can do the work but without the head and heart involved, it is something that can be exhausting will feel more like a job rather than something that enriches your life by living out one's faith.   Now at this church, we do a lot of this and it is one of our favorite times to do be united together and help those who are in need.  Through God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday, we have been able to mobilize the whole congregation. We have realized the importance and love that day that we are able to be united, feel productive and like we made a difference in the lives of others.   When serving others, we feel better about yourself.  When se...

What do you think is the worst sin? How do you think sins are measured? For many of us, we put a value upon the sins of others. We value and place sins into a list or hierarchy in which one is worse than another.  However, when God looks upon our sins, he does not see them that way. What God sees is that we are not producing the goodness and love for which we are intended. Let’s look at the parable that Jesus shares in the scripture for today to understand this more fully.  In the parable, there are two main characters, the Master and the Gardner. The Master is God the Father and the Gardener is Jesus Christ.  Now there is one other character that we should make note of, YOU. You are the tree. We need to truly identify everyone in the parable to fully understand it.  As we look at this parable, we hear that God saw that we (the tree) were not bearing any fruit. We were not producing the love and goodness that we had been created to do.  So the Master, God the Father, tell Jesu...

This Lenten season, we are entering into a series that reminds us of the marks of Discipleship.  Now, these are outward signs and many of us know that we should be doing these things but it is my hope that we are able to go much deeper.  That we may be reminded of why they are so important. To invite and encourage you that if you have not done these things on a regular basis, please join us.  If you are doing these things, please invite others. For these foundational pieces of faith can strengthen your relationship with God and enrich the lives of others too. Tonight, our focus is on learning or study.  Now many of us when we think of that, we may think of a research paper or book report or something else that we have done in school. Before you start tuning me out and rolling your eyes.  Before you go back to the days of Mrs. Johnson standing over you looking at you with disappointment. I want you to know this: that is not the only way that we can learn. Th...

Today within the gospel, we hear of the temptation that Jesus faced right after his baptism.  Now each of the temptations is significant because they are representing the same temptations and distractions that we have in our life every single day.  They are things or ideas that can distract and actually take us away from God. However, today I want you to take note, not of the temptations themselves but the work and relationship that Jesus had before facing these temptations. Sitting down with each one of you, I could help you discover what it is that your temptation is within your own life, perhaps without you even realizing.  Yet realizing the temptation and realizing what is greater than that, is something that would change our motivation and thus keep our focus on something that is far more important.  Today, I want you to become aware of what is even greater than that temptation so that as you are facing it, you may have the tools and knowledge to overcome and even more ...