A week from today (Friday) it will be Christmas Eve. What will you be doing that day?

All the planning of the worship staff and pastors will be complete and we will be ready to celebrate Christmas together as a church family.

For some, there is a danger of being too busy. Rushing to finish this and that in order to achieve the perfect Christmas. 

For others, it will be quiet. Too quiet. The loneliness is deafening and a pining for Christmases past. 

Or maybe you are somewhere in between?

Whatever you may or may not be doing, remember “the reason for the season.” Take some time to connect with God. 

Make time for Jesus. Whether you come to church or worship online, carve out a moment for God.

I am reminded of what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth…

As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 

For Isaiah says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” 

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. 2Corinthians 6:1-2

Let’s not take God’s love for granted. Christmas is the reminder that salvation has arrived in the person of Jesus.

God’s favor rests upon his children. We should celebrate that.

Make the time.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8a

Merry Christmas!

Pr. Ben

Advent is a time of waiting. Waiting for Christmas and waiting for Christ’s return.

I am really good at waiting… because I have no choice in the matter! Honestly, I am not a patient wait-er. 

Over the past two years, I’ve ordered a lot more stuff online than I ever did in the past. I find it easier to have stuff delivered to the front door than going out and hunting it down in a store. 

Once the order is complete, I often get a shopping confirmation with a tracking number. I proceed to track that order several times a day until the package ends up on my welcome mat. Like I said, I am not patient when waiting- but I am good at it! 

Life doesn’t stop when we wait for stuff, nor should we sit around waiting for Jesus to return. There is too much that needs fixing or help! The best way to wait is to show our love for God by loving our neighbor.

The love and kindness we receive from Jesus should overflow to the community around us.

Remember what King David wrote in the 23^rd Psalm, “You prepare a table before me 
in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

King David reminds us that there will be times in our lives that will be less than ideal, if not unpleasant. (Who wants to eat at a table full of your enemies?!?) Even when bad things happen, we are reminded in Psalm 23:5 that we are still chosen children of God (you anoint my head with oil) AND we have more than enough (my cup overflows). 

Let us not waste that which overflows our cup! Love is not a finite quantity! There is always enough love to go around.

While we wait for Christmas and Christ’s return… let’s not wait impatiently, we have too much loving to do.

Love often looks like:

• Peanut Butter for Lutheran Social Services
• Turkey or mashed potatoes for our senior food program
• Wrapped children’s gifts for Angel Tree
• Free quilts given to veterans at the VA hospital
• A Christmas Card to someone who lives alone.

God bless you,
Pr. Ben

For the past two weeks I have been sharing our core values at Community Lutheran Church.

Some might think, “Big deal. More words for the website.”

Others might be wondering, “What about those other words we use? Words like: Real People, Inclusive God, Radical Grace and Inspired Growth.” Are those going away?

Yet a few more might be thinking, “What do we even need core values for?”

What I have been sharing with you is way more than words on a website! And no, what we believe about ourselves, and God has not changed. We still believe that we are REAL PEOPLE who follow an INCLUSIVE GOD who gives RADICAL GRACE and puts us on a path of INSPIRED GROWTH. 

We literally spent time defining ourselves. We can now state who we are without ambiguity. 

We are and we strive to be:

Loving
Caring
Compassionate
Joyful
Friendly
Fun

These are benchmarks for us! We can do a heart check at any time! Just ask yourself the question, “Am I being…” and fill in the blank with any or all of those words above. 

We all need self-evaluation occasionally… even me.

However, the most exciting thing for me in all the data the congregation provided me was that you told me very specifically what INSPIRED GROWTH looks like at Community Lutheran Church. I didn’t ask for that, but you offered it up anyway! 

So far we have talked about the importance of:

Embracing WELCOME

Community in WORSHIP

Seek to LEARN

And there are two more we will cover in worship this weekend! (I don’t want to let the proverbial cat out of the bag!)

Each one of these practices will help us mature as Christians which in turn will help us grow as a church. 

Soon, our staff will gather to talk about each of these practices and define them even more. 

We now have a roadmap that tells us where (and who) we are and we have clear directions towards our destination! 

A person may plot out their course, but it is the Lord who directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

It is an exciting time to be at CLC!

Show up this weekend and discover our last two practices that will complete our pathway of growth!

God bless,
Pr. Ben

Self-Reflection is good. It is helpful. Growth follows reflection. 

Self-reflection and self-awareness go hand in hand. 

In the 5^th century, an ancient Greek playwright by the name of Aeschylus first wrote these words, “Know thyself.”

If you know yourself, you will know what makes you mad, sad, and so on. This is good advice.

Even as Christians, it is helpful, on occasion to look inward. We can look inward for a whole host of reasons. 

Maybe it is time to make some changes in your life. Jesus talked about that. 

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5

Jesus is talking about getting your own house in order before worrying about someone else’s life. That takes reflection. 

The Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 586BC and Jeremiah the prophet wrote the book Lamentations in the midst of this tragedy. In the 3^rd chapter of this book he wrote…

Let us examine our ways and test them and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40

More self-reflection. 

Is there something that needs to change in your life? Do know why you do certain things? It is good to take time to look inside yourself and even ask some questions. Jeremiah even reminded us to test our actions. Do our actions reflect our intentions?

We recently did this as a congregation! I asked everyone to reflect on our core values as a church and with a little work, we know what is most important at Community Lutheran Church!

Starting this weekend, I will share with you what we discovered. I hope you make time to worship with us over the next several weeks to hear what we hold dear.

God bless,
Pr. Ben