Joy Lutheran Church Ocala, Florida

It seems we spend a lot of time in our lives fretting over the issues around us and within ourselves. We complain about them, worry about them and dwell on them, making our selves miserable. There are some people who seek out others and share their problems,  asking for advice which they may or may not heed. Many seek out therapists to help them sort through issues and find answers. All of those things are acceptable ways of dealing with what is bothering us, but certainly not the only ways.

I recently read an excerpt about a mother who told her child that God had a phone number and it was Jeremiah 33:3. It read “Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you know not.”

We have a perfect and easy way to deal with the problems in our lives. I say “perfect” because it comes from God’s unconditional love for us which is perfect.  It is “easy” because it is right in our hearts and minds and can be dialed up any time of the day or night.  You never get a busy signal either.

If you haven’t done this already, it might be time to try another path to deal with your problems. In Jeremiah, we are told to just present our concerns to the perfect “problem solver”, our Lord. Cry out to Him and tell Him what’s in your heart. Ask Him to show you the way forward, the things you don’t know.  He’s never failed you and He’s not about to start now. Thanks be to God!

Patty

Originally posted in February 2018, updated and edited for March 2025 by Terri.

No matter how many times I turn my will over to God, I find myself taking it back again. And I struggle. I struggle with simple things like cooking and doing the dishes. I struggle with tasks that I have committed to completing. I struggle with faith and doubt. I struggle with God. 

The term “reached the end of my rope” may describe that feeling of frustration that finally causes me to give up the struggle and surrender. However, I want to do this act of submission only once. Not every day. Not every hour. Not every minute. 

Yet, I have found that surrendering means that I will have to surrender frequently. This makes this act more automatic and a part of me. I can laugh about it. I have learned from experience that the act of surrender works. God is always there. 

The act of surrender to God is one of courage and bravery. It demonstrates the strength of practiced faith. It says, “I love you, Lord, and I trust that You will hold me in Your hands and guide my actions.” 

And, God says back to me and to you, “I love you more than the sun and stars! I love you unconditionally.” 

Still true today. This afternoon, I had an encounter with a big black snake. It was on the windowsill in my kitchen! I was all alone and wanted to be sure to keep my eye on the snake until someone came to my rescue. I climbed up to the kitchen counter and watched and prayed. Nothing is beyond God’s help. 

I was not afraid of physical harm from the fella, but you must admit that it is discomforting to be surprised by the unknown crawler in the middle of the night. God calmed my fears and brought me to a place where I could rationally help with guiding the snake out the door alive and well. Thank you, dear Lord, for the lessons that are learned every day. And for the love that is given constantly and unconditionally. 

Terri 

The word “Lent” comes from an Old English word meaning “lengthening” referring to the lengthening of daylight hours that takes place in spring. The impressions of Lent in my early memory, however, are of darkness. It was dark going to church for the evening services. Dark in the church with no light streaming through the stained glass. Dark even when we had filmstrips in the parish hall as Lenten instruction.

My whole impression of the passion story is of darkness–at the Last Supper, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the trial before the High Priest and especially the darkness that covers the land between Noon and three during Jesus’ crucifixion. Darkness seems to be the right image for Lent.

There is a scene in Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” where Scrooge tries to force down the cap of the Ghost of Christmas Past in order to shut out his light. That’s what people tried to do when the Light of the World came to us. They didn’t want to receive him or even listen to him. It’s still happening. The Lord’s message of love, compassion, forgiveness, and service doesn’t always go over well. Just watch what happens when one person takes a parking space somebody else decided was theirs. Sometimes, sadly, it’s even “Christians” trying to extinguish the Light.

Lent is a time of repentance, a time to turn away from the darkness of selfishness, hate, anger, violence–all the negative things that blind us. All are called to Christ.  Let his light shine, and we shall be saved.

Read Psalm 80:19  and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

That is not a pleasant-sounding word. We think of grease or some other tough stain on our clothing that can only be “Shout”-ed out. When we need to do a background check for a job which invariably includes that embarrassing, debasing fingerprinting. When they take your thumb and roll it across the ink because you’re, like, two years old and can’t be trusted to do it right yourself.

Or, the smudge of ash on the forehead, reminding us that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. Would you believe some people have the audacity to complain if it’s not a perfectly shaped cross? Too much? Too little? Too runny? Too caked on? I tell you, the pressure a pastor is under….. It is intended to be a humbling moment.

Like all other instances of church and worship, you can always opt out. “See you at Easter.” “Don’t need all the doom, gloom and guilt of Lent, thank you very much.” Strangely, Ash Wednesday is one of the few times in worship that I feel the closest to God, and to my brothers and sisters in Christ. Maybe that shouldn’t feel strange, but perfectly natural. We are all the same – smudged by the cross. Convicted in our sin. Sharing our common, fallen human-ness. We are all on the same page. We all start with the cleansing water of baptism on our foreheads, that same anointing seal of the promised Holy Spirit. I think of how even the Holy Father (the Pope) will on Ash Wednesday bear the smudge of brokenness. We cannot escape our condition. But the Good News is that neither can we escape, or be separated, from the One who always loves us unconditionally.

Pastor Art, Previously posted on Ash Wednesday 2018

When ideas fail me and I need a subject, I can always turn to music. It’s the one thing I know best. I love to sing and listen to music; it is the constant in my life. Certain songs, no matter how often I’ve heard them, give me goose bumps. I’m told there is physiological support for why this is so. Even certain keys, scales, or modes can do this to me. Some call them “earworms” – they get stuck in your head.

A Navy Bandmaster of mine once said, “music either sings or it dances”. I believe that is mostly true. A waltz is a style of music and a dance. A ballad definitely sings. When it comes to music and hymn selection in our congregation, the musicians and I get together and consider possibilities. We even make a game out of it, seeing if we each come up with the same suggestion. It’s collaborative, which is important for all who attend Joy to know! No one calls all the shots. There are certain songs and hymns that are more suitable as gathering or sending music, so it’s also about the words. The Hymn of the Day after the sermon is meant to reflect the main biblical text or theme.

 What is the right music for your life? I think most of us would answer “uplifting”. It is comfort and balm for the soul.  It is feeling, subconscious communication that may or may not be Spirit-infused. The right music is as varied as our moods and emotions. Like the inability to explain how or why prayer works, it just is. We can all be thankful for those who create music that moves us in singing or dancing. Because God loves unconditionally, all that matters is safely stored for us, and our self responds. We don’t need to be more analytical than that.

Pastor Art

In just two days, we gather to observe Ash Wednesday.  We’ll humbly bow to receive the ashes upon our foreheads.  We’ll be reminded that from ashes we come and to ashes we return.  God created Adam from the dust of the earth, thus the reference to the phrase “from Ashes we come.” At our death our bodies will be returned to the earth, “to ashes we return.” Lent, our most penitential season, gives us forty days to ponder our unworthiness and our Savior’s love for us.

I sometimes find that music helps me to “think on these things.”  Perhaps you do too.  Today I offer a new Lenten hymn titled Forty Days. The chorus carries the message beautifully:

From ashes we came
To ashes we return
Blessed by the name of the Lord.

I pray that each of will be guided through these forty days, guided to humbly confess our sin, and graciously to praise our God for his goodness to us.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Judy

We just returned from a 4-hour drive on an interstate highway. As is the norm on most major highways, there were areas where there were slight delays, areas where we were guided into two lanes instead of four and times where the road issues caused interference with a not so smooth ride. All of these hazards were expected, as repairs are needed on many major roadways, at any given time.

Do you ever feel as if you have interference or obstructions on your pathway to God?  Do you try to offer God your praise and thanksgiving but get interrupted, or distracted as “life” and the events of your day interfere? Though the break of your connection to God may be frustrating to you, know that God’s connection to you has NEVER stopped.  He is not frustrated or distracted; He is pleased with your efforts.  The world we live in as humans, is filled with obstacles, and interference. Satan throws all kinds of obstructions in our way. Continue your forward moving efforts at reaching God, knowing HE is always listening, always aware of you and NEVER leaves you. If you get distracted, BREATHE.  Gather your thoughts, resettle your mind and resume your connection to God. He is patiently waiting, and loving you unconditionally.

Don’t allow the interferences to your prayer-life and the destructive debris the devil throws at you to stop your efforts. Make your connection with God your priority, with the comfort and peace that He is all powerful, omnipotent, and waiting for YOU!

Jill

This is a blog I posted three years ago, but the message is just as true today.  It is very timely and appropriate.  This message comes from Pope Francis, and it gives all of us something to contemplate as we enter the season of Lent.

Do You Want To Fast?

Fast from hurting words and say kind words.

Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.

Fast from anger and be filled with patience.

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.

Fast from worries and have trust in God.

Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.

Fast from pressures and be prayerful.

Fast from bitterness and fill your hearts with joy.

Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.

Fast from grudges and be reconciled.

Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.

                                                In the words of Pope Francis

As we read these words, we might think about making them a way to live our lives, not only for Lent but for all of our days.  Remember that God loves us unconditionally and this is the way He instructs us to live.  We would be a contented people and the world would be a more joyful place to live if we followed this message.  Thanks be to God! 

Patty

TGIF – that’s what we called it in in the “working world.” 

In the world of retirement, perhaps Friday is just one more day.  But now, as I open my eyes every morning, I thank God for a new day, another day that He has granted me.  When did each day become precious?  For me I think it happened when I came to realize that the days of my life were not limitless, and that there were far more of them behind me than in front of me.  For many of us of a certain age, that’s just plain reality.  Does that make each day more treasured, perhaps.

“I come before you today
And there’s just one thing that I want to say
Thank you Lord, thank you Lord.”
by Don Moen

Value the day!   It is a gift.  Thank the Lord for the blessing of each new day.  I hope you’ll enjoy the quiet reminder in the lyrics of another gospel song, “Thank You Lord,” recorded in 2013.  

Praise and thank Him for His unconditional love that comes anew to us each and every morning.

Judy

About 20 years ago Popular Mechanics had some forensic scientists develop a portrait of Jesus. This is what they came up with.

The Portrait of Jesus

About 20 years ago Popular Mechanics had some forensic scientists develop a portrait of Jesus. This is what they came up with.

https://s.hdnux.com/photos/42/60/02/9109666/5/0x960.webp

They don’t claim this is exactly what Jesus looked like, but it is supposed to represent a first century Galilean Jewish man around age 30. I posted the picture on a forum I follow and got a nasty response from another pastor that the picture looked like a cave man and couldn’t be at all what Jesus looked like. I think the truth of the matter was he was disturbed that Jesus was shown looking like a typical man from the Middle East rather than a European.

The Bible doesn’t describe Jesus, but one of the Suffering Servant Songs from Isaiah which Christians have long believed refer to Jesus says: “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).

The reaction to the depiction of Jesus goes deeper. So often people would like to create Jesus in our own image. He would favor the things we like and oppose those things we don’t like. For example, most people would favor the Jesus who commands us to love God. But the Jesus who tells us to love our enemies can be a problem for many.

So, who is the Jesus we follow? We need to grasp the real Jesus, the Jesus revealed in Scripture to be true disciples.

Read Matthew 16:13-16 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne