We make our last stop on “The Journey” to Jerusalem. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, we see Jesus’ commitment to drawing people close to him and a man’s faith who was stronger than all the people following Jesus in that moment.
The Journey: Jericho
Article: Peace
Columnist Deborah Mathis wrote about the time when she was at Union Station in Washington D.C. on a particularly busy day.
The first thing she remembers about that experience was the noisy hubbub of sounds. The public address announcer calling out arrivals and departures. Scores of pagers, walkie-talkies, and cell phones cried out for someone’s attention.
You could hear horns honking, machines clinking out change, and babies crying. A security guard yelled at a man who was about to enter a forbidden area. Three women stood up from their bench in order to argue with each other more loudly.
And a man in front of her was nervously pacing in a tight circle.
But then she heard someone singing:
“What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.”
Slowly a change came over the noisy crowd. The voice continued:
“O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.”
The quarreling women stopped their talking and quietly took their seats. People who’d been tense and hurried; seemed to slow and relax – and they strained to hear the voice singing the remaining verses that old hymn.
And Ms. Mathis realized she was singing along. So were the three women who had been bickering. And few others as well.
The man in front of her, who had been behaving nervously quietly said: “Nice, huh? I don’t even believe in Jesus, but that’s nice.”
I can’t help but think about the line in that wonderful hymn: O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear.
Anxieties can run high when life is challenging. Even in this moment as we see the pain and suffering in Ukraine, it weighs on us. Then add in stresses and worries of our own including making ends meet while trying to fill the gas tank as well as the people we are praying for who are struggling. That is a lot of anxiety and an absence of peace.
Last year Bruce Ewing reminded the congregation to: Stop, Breath and Listen. When life is unmanageable to the point of tears it is time stop what we are doing. Take a deep breath and listen for the voice of God.
One of the best ways to hear from God is to pray first.
So… let us pray,
Gracious God,
You know the stress and anxiety we feel because of international strife, national unrest and struggles in our own lives. We come to you in prayer because you told us you would always hear us when we call out. Give us your peace. Give us a larger portion of your Spirit and give us the strength to face the challenges that are set before us in this season of turmoil. In the strong and powerful name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God bless you,
Pr. Ben
The Journey: Across the Jordan River
We continue “The Journey” to Jerusalem. Today Jesus is across the Jordan River talking to a man who want to know how to get to heaven. There is something in this story for us too!
Characters Close to the Cross: Caiaphas
We are looking at lesser known characters surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus. In this podcast I talk about the high priest Caiaphas. In two weeks, I will chat about Judas.
The Journey: Capernaum
We begin a new series on “The Journey” to Jerusalem. Every week until Easter, the gospel of Mark tells us exactly where Jesus is on the journey to the cross. This week we are in Capernaum as Jesus talks about perils of getting into arguments and engaging in conflict.
Sneak PeAk: Status Quo
We conclude our sermon series about mountains with an amazing story about Jesus revealing his identity to three disciples. The miracle of transfiguration has much to teach us about Jesus and life itself.
Article: Last Week at Church
Last Sunday at Community Lutheran Church in Las Vegas, we conducted our annual congregational meeting. We accomplished several things at that meeting: We voted on a church budget for 2022, we discussed our ministries and we voted in two new council members.
The budget I proposed to the congregation and adopted involved some painful decisions. To match our expenses with our anticipated offering gifts we needed to eliminate four positions and move one full time employee to part-time. This is a difficult decision because people we know are losing their jobs.
The reality is that we’ve been living beyond our means. We hoped the challenges of the pandemic would come to an end. Rather than “crossing our fingers” and wishing for future financial growth, we based this year’s budget on actual giving from last year. This will serve as our baseline versus projecting any growth in giving. This is a fiscally conservative budget.
Ultimately, this is about being good stewards (managers) of the gifts entrusted to operate this church. Difficult decisions were made to make sure we are on firm financial footing in 2022. If you regularly give to CLC, Thank you.
Each person should give what they have decided in their heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
During the meeting we also heard reports from our staff. Not only that, but our annual report contained stories from many of our active ministries! Community Lutheran Church is a busy place! We give thanks for serving hearts that put faith into action.
I spent some time during the meeting talk about the hard work we did together identifying our core values in 2021. We named the most important things we do as a congregation. These core values will serve as our blueprint for ministry for years to come. What are our core values you ask? They are: Welcome, Worship, Learning, Service and Generosity. We also said that our congregation is: Loving, Caring, Compassionate, Joyful, Friendly and Fun.
It was Jesus who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13
Finally we voted to add two church council members. We affirmed these two long-standing, faithful members of our church to help guide us. This is in addition to our already strong council who passionately love and care for this church. We are in good hands with these smart, caring and compassionate people.
I’ve said this before, but we are emerging from the biggest challenge this church (and many churches) have ever faced in modern history and we are still thriving!
We did not give up, give in, or give out! Instead, we went all in!
We are doing the very thing that the author Hebrews writes about in the 12th chapter.
Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-12
I give thanks to be your pastor and I give thanks to be at Community Lutheran Church.
God bless you,
Pr. Ben
Sneak PeAk: Religious Rigidity
We continue in our sermon series on how we connect with God. Religious rigidity gets in the way of that connection. So much so we can get into ruts that we can’t get out of. Jesus frees us from our personal ruts!
Sneak PeAk: Misplaced Trust
We continue in our sermon series Sneak PeAk. Sometimes we get stuck on the foothills instead climbing up to the mountain to see things more clearly from God’s point of view and experience that “Higher Love.”
Sneak PeAk: Fear
We are in a new series called: Sneak PeAk: Vistas of God’s Grace. We are looking at the faith stories that involve mountains. In this message, we look at two greats of the Old Testament who experienced fear and negativity.
