Pastoral Letter 2-21-2012

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1329894147 49 Pastoral Letter 2 21 2012

Dear Friends in Christ,

Last Thursday, February 16th, the President of the Lutheran Church MissouriSynod, Dr. Matthew Harrison, testified before the U.S. House ofRepresentatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He said he wasthere to oppose abortion-causing drugs and the mandate in the new healthcare law that would require all insurance companies to cover those drugs.President Harrison said he did not think this needed to be a partisan issueand that our Synod is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. Wepray for our Synod’s leaders as well as our nation’s leaders and we praythat God would guide us to boldly proclaim our faith and lead us to serveHim in everything we do. For more about President Harrison’s testimonybefore congress, you can read this article:

reporter.lcms.org/pages/rpage.asp?NavID=19663

On Saturday several people came to our church to spend one hour in prayer.We offered praises to our awesome God, we confessed that we do not alwaysfollow His will, we thanked Him for the blessings He gives us and we askedHim to guide and protect us. We also lifted up in prayer the variousactivities of our congregation, the people who are sick, and the leaders ofour nation. We will gather again for an hour of prayer on Saturday, March17th and you are welcome to join us.

On Sunday we remembered the Transfiguration of our Lord. I compared theministry of Moses and Elijah, who were great Old Testament prophets, withthe ministry of Jesus, who fulfilled their prophecies. Moses and Elijahwere inspired by God and did great things for God, but Jesus is the eternalSon of God whom we worship and serve with all our lives. That is why, onthe Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus did not want the apostles to beoverwhelmed by the presence of the prophets. They were going to havesomething far more important to talk about when Jesus rose from the dead.As much as we thank God for the men of old who demonstrated their faith asthey boldly served God, we only offer our worship and praise to God Himself,who provides for us our eternal salvation.

Today the Houchin Blood Mobile is here at our church collecting donations ofblood. If you are healthy and have some spare time, please consider comingto the church to donate. They will be here until 6:00 p.m.

Tonight at 6:30 we will hold our monthly Church Council meeting. We willreceive reports from our various ministries which are all active in servingthe Lord. We will also get a progress report on improving the lightingaround our facility. The Treasurer’s report for January shows that we havestarted the year with a good month of more income than expenses. We prayfor God’s continued blessings and guidance for the rest of the year.

Tomorrow we will begin the Season of Lent with our Ash Wednesday worshipservice. Lent last for 40 days to remind us of the 40 days that our Lordwas in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry. Jesus fasted duringthose 40 days and overcame temptations for us. Now, as we prepare ourselvesto remember our Lord’s suffering and death on Good Friday, it is appropriatethat we would take 40 days to remember what He went through for us.

During the Season of Lent we will hold suppers at church each Wednesday at6:00 p.m. Then, at 7:00 p.m., we will hold a special worship service. Thisyear I will be preaching a series of sermons at our Wednesday eveningservice about the parables that Jesus told during the week between PalmSunday and Good Friday. I hope you will plan to join us whenever you can onWednesdays during Lent.

At our Ash Wednesday worship service tomorrow we will also have theImposition of Ashes and the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It is an ancientcustom of the church that on Ash Wednesday worshippers would have ashesplaced upon their forehead in the sign of a cross. The ashes remind us thatour bodies were made from the dust of the ground and will someday return tothe ground. Ashes are also a symbol of our repentance and our trust inJesus as our Savior. After ashes have been placed on your forehead you willbe invited to receive Holy Communion and the assurance of God’s forgiveness.Everyone is encouraged to join us at 7:00 p.m. for this very specialservice.

This Sunday our church newsletters for March will be in the mailboxes.There are articles from our Prayer Ministry, our LWML, our Youth Groups, ourPreschool, our Sunday School, and our Fellowship Ministry. There are alsoarticles about our Mid-week worship services, our Parking Lot Sale on April21st, a new Bible study that is starting, our Food Drive, our Easter Brunchand much more. Be sure to pick up your copy of the newsletter when you areat church this Sunday.

This Sunday my sermon text will be Romans 8:31-39 where Paul wrote, “If Godis for us, who can be against us?” I will look at the great comfort wereceive from knowing that God is for us. St. Paul says that, since God isfor us, what difference does it make who is against us? We do not have tobe afraid of the evil and hardships of this world, we have God on our side.This is the message that God gave to Moses from a burning bush when Moseswas being told to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Moses did not feelcompetent for such a great task and God encouraged him with the words, “Iwill be with you.” God also encouraged His people in Isaiah 41:10 with thewords, “Do not fear, for I am with you.”

Now God is assuring us that He continues to be with us and care for us. Heis interested in our life and wants to help us and guide us. He wants us tobe protected and strengthened as we serve Him. He will support us, back usup, and take our side as we work in His kingdom. This gives us the boldnessto spread God’s Word and witness our faith. When Jesus promised that thegates of hell would not prevail against His church, He was telling us thatwe would be fighting a battle and that He would always be with us to make usvictorious.

Here are four things I learned this week:

1. The person at the police station who is sketching pictures of suspectsis called a “con artist.”2. When a man accepted a desk job in the manufacturing industry he gained20 pounds of belly fat which he now calls his, “industrial waist.”3. If you get laryngitis you are a “hoarse whisperer.”4. When a man went into a psychiatrist’s office claiming to be theInvisible Man he asked, “Have I made myself clear?”

Here is my joke for this week:

Five-year-old Johnny was spending the week-end with his grandmother. Whenthey walked to the park, Johnny’s grandmother talked about how beautifuleverything was and how great it is that God had made it all. Little Johnnythen said, “And you know what is really amazing, God made all of it withjust His left hand.” Johnny’s grandmother was surprised by this comment andasked, “Why do you think God made all of this with His left hand?” Johnnyanswered, “Oh, we learned in Sunday school that Jesus is seated on God’sright hand.”

May God bless each of you as you serve Him. I hope to see many of youtomorrow at our Ash Wednesday service.Pastor Daniel Alsop

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