Joy Lutheran Church Ocala, Florida

I started Sunday School when I was four years old.  I’ve had a lot of time to think about religious question, some of which I’m still coping. In next few blogs I’m going to share some of my life-long ponderings . The first question is, “why did Jesus have to die?”

My church had a Good Friday service for Children so thinking about the death of Jesus was inescapable. As far as I could tell, Jesus was a really nice guy. Why would His Father God let him die? What did he do wrong?  The only thing I could think of was in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” I wasn’t sure what “this cup” meant, but maybe God was mad because Jesus didn’t want to drink it. I knew from experience parents got upset if you didn’t drink your milk, for example.

It was years later that it was explained that Jesus died to pay for our sins, but frankly that didn’t make much sense to me. The idea behind substitutionary atonement is that sin deserves death. God being loving doesn’t want us to die, but being righteous, someone had to pay the price of sin. So Jesus dies in our place. If that explanation works for you, you should probably stop reading here. God bless you. If you’re not entirely satisfied with that explanation, come back next week to see where I went with this pondering.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

I have a lot of friends. Or, at least, that’s what my social media accounts tell me. I would
not recognize most of them by voice or by face, since I haven’t seen them, or spoken to
them, in a long time. Many of them have passed by my neck of the woods over the years,
without giving a thought to reaching out and seeing if I’m around to get together. I admit
to the same; sometimes I feel “too busy”, sometimes I didn’t know that a friend lived near
where I was traveling, and sometimes it just didn’t occur to me. So much for being friends!
And this goes for family as well. My only interaction with some of my friends and my family
is by email or text. Again: no face, no voice, no conversation. Just words on a screen.
Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. If the one falls, the other
will help the fallen one. – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a

How wonderful it would be to greet these people face-to-face, or even voice-to-voice!
Whether they’re long-lost family members or old friends, there’s so much more of a
connection when conversation happens in real-time. Compare your reaction when you
receive a message from one of them, vs. when they call you and speak to you directly;
reading an email vs. meeting them over coffee. I want to see them in person. I want to
hear everything they have to say. I want to ask questions, get answers, and share what’s
on my mind.

That’s how God feels about us! Sometimes our conversations with Him can be superficial.
We’re not really in the moment, just sending up a few scripted words every now and then,
and not really waiting around for a response. What if we took the time to do it right,
putting away our distractions and having a genuine conversation? Wouldn’t that be a
wonderful change? Wouldn’t it be great to be friends with Him, and not just “friends”?
Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it
remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. – John 15:4

So we branches must remain connected to the vine. Our friends and our family are also
branches on that vine, and we must remain connected with them as well. So I ask you:
think of a family member or friend you haven’t spoken with in a long time, and reach out.
And do the same with the Lord. He’d love to spend some quality time with you! We pray:
Lord, You traveled to visit your friends Mary and Martha in person. Help us remember that
the loved ones in our lives deserve our presence, and we theirs. Help us remember that
You also deserve our undivided attention. Break down the walls that we build, which
isolate us from each other, and from You. Unite us again as one Body: Yours. AMEN

Submitted by a friend in Connecticut.

That’s right. Here in the Sunshine State there is a Peace River. As a youngster, our family camped and canoed. The second-most beautiful river in FL is the Peace, in my opinion. First is the Juniper, which flows from the springs of the same name in the nearby Ocala National Forest. Quiet, serene, navigable twists and turns with the occasional rapids. No speedboats. 

This week in the church year we move from the Magi at Jesus’ cradle to the River Jordan, where our Lord and countless others received the baptism of repentance (not that Jesus needed it). Our spirits are filled with The Spirit when we come to the waters of the river. One of my favorite anthems our choir at Joy does was just sung a couple of Sundays ago. It is an old spiritual, “Come To the Water”. The dynamics – soft, medium loud, medium soft, big and full – make it so moving for the soul. The poetic words of Scripture, notably in the Psalms, sing of the justice that flows like streams (last Sunday’s Psalmody).

We can trust in the river of life. When we obsess and over-focus, we are not gently paddling down the Peace. We’re immersed in worldly concerns, divisiveness, and cumber. Camping and canoeing were escapism; no doubt about that. But we need to get away, to come to the waters. The river, the water of God’s unconditional love, we are fully aware. Fear is released with each stroke. Whether you canoe, kayak, enjoy the glass-bottom boat ride at Silver Springs, or drift in an inner tube, I encourage you to experience the peace and serenity of knowing Creator God’s power and unfathomable richness, as well as Abba Father’s ensuring grace.

Pastor Art

I remember so well when we turned the calendar from 1999 to 2000.  Beginning a new century was a big deal!  Now I am stunned to realize that one quarter of that century has passed us by.  Can it be?

In that “quarter” I was thrilled to enjoy five grandchildren.  Those little cuties are now adults.  Joe and I made the big move to Florida and energetically toured our new state with fascination.  Twenty-five years have brought many changes and challenges

Our Lord Jesus also watched the years progress in his earthly life. We know little of his childhood, but we can picture him growing up with Mary to guide him.  We know he began to help Joseph in the carpenter shop.   And then, about 25 years later, after his childhood, he was hung on that cross, crucified.  

For all of us, the years pass, and changes come.  Personally, we age.  Many of those we dearly loved are no longer with us.  Yet new life continues to arrive.

There is a hymn appropriate for the new year “O Christ the Same.”  Text by Timothy Dudley-Smith, b. 1926.  The first stanza is as follows:

O Christ the same, through all our story’s pages,
our loves and hopes, our failures and our fears;
eternal Lord, the king of all the ages,
unchanging still amid the passing years:
who spread the skies, and set the stars ablaze,
O Christ the same, who wrought our whole salvation,
we bring our thanks for all our yesterdays.

Lord, we thank you for your unconditional love in the years which have passed, for all our yesterdays.  And we thank you for your assurance that you will be with us in each of the days and years to come.

Judy

‘Tis the season and time in our Christmas season for the Magi to visit Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew mentions Jesus was about two years old by the time the Magi arrived.  They bore gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh. In a dream, the Magi were told not to return to Herod, so we believe they returned home by a different route. At this time, Herod sent out his decree that all male children two years of age and under should be killed. Herod felt threatened and believed the stories he had heard; the Messiah had been born!

We are so blessed, as believers, to know that Herod was unsuccessful at having Jesus slaughtered as a young child and that Jesus became known as Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. He loves us so unconditionally that believing in Him, we too, can thrive. His grace and forgiveness are gifts to us from Him.  Giving His own life that we may live in Him is a treasure. May you share the gifts from our Lord to others. ‘Tis the season, give the gift of Jesus’s Love to all.

Jill

Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Hal Borland (An American writer, journalist and naturalist)

We frequently come in contact with new things in our lives. It might be a new friend, a new house, a new car, new clothes, new movies and many other things. Sometimes they are significant but more often, they are a blip in the information that enters (and sometimes exits) our mind every day.

In Hal Borland’s quote, he tells us that our lives are just a continuation of the day before, but we are constantly gathering new information to help us navigate each day. Whether we use that information, old or new, it is up to us.

One thing we know for certain is God is a God of new beginnings. He gives us a new day every day where we can wake up and know with confidence that He will be there to help us. He gives us a new year every year to continue our lives with Him as our light to guide us. Each new day and each new year begin with His mercy and grace and each new day and new year, that mercy and grace start over.

His unconditional love shines brightly and we know His love is a constant. God is the same God yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

As we begin a new year, because of the above scripture, we know with conviction that God will never forsake us. Knowing this information should help us enter every day and every year with a sense of peace. May God give us all strength, confidence and good will in our hearts as we enter each new day and year. Thanks be to God!

Patty

Well, it is a new year! Best wishes for a new beginning. However, it is still a dark time of the year. It gets dark so quickly in the afternoon, even though it is moving toward a longer day. The mornings are dark also. Sometimes it feels like the dark is taking over at this time of the year.  

We can rejoice in the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, coming to us as a small baby in the dark of night. He came to bring redeeming light to us. To bring words of hope and love to us. Yes, that unconditional love that we like to talk about and cherish. To show us by his example how to live with each other in peace. 

My title references a beautiful, energetic hymn urging Jesus to shine in our lives. Treat yourself to a listen today. Sing along with the artist and feel the light fill your soul. This song needs to be sung with gusto and a big smile on your face. Just the action of singing will bring light into your life and happiness into your heart. 

God loves you unconditionally-all the time! No matter what you think or do. No matter how sad or mad you are. There is no action that you can take that will stop God from loving you. With this love comes the strengthening grace that will guide you every day. Take the grace, it is freely given and a powerful flashlight for living.   

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! Alles Gute zum neuen Jahr! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! 

Terri   

Today commemorates Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe, a Lutheran Pastor who had great influence on Lutheranism in the United States even though he never set foot here. Loehe (1808-1872) was born in  Fürth in Western Bavaria. He studied theology at the University of Erlangen. He served a number of churches before coming to Neuendettelsau, a tiny village. From this obscure backwater,  he had a tremendous impact on church and theology in Germany and around the world. Hearing of the struggle of German Lutherans in the United States, he endeavored to send some 60 pastors to the New World to minister to Lutherans there. His missionaries were influential in forming both the Missouri Synod and its seminary at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the Iowa Synod, with Wartburg Seminary at Dubuque, Iowa. Thus he influenced both the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Loehe was also a founder of a Luther Deaconess Mother House which in turn influenced the deaconess community in the U.S.

That’s the dry history of an amazing man. What impresses me was his devotion to caring for people he never met. I once had somebody upset because a congregation’s prayer chain was asked to pray for someone they didn’t know personally. For me, doing things for people you don’t know and will probably never meet is an important aspect of generosity. We care about people simply because they are human beings whether we know them or not. It is this kind of care and openess that helps the Christian church flourish.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-6  and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

We’re standing on the threshold of a new year. We wish we could see the best path through the coming months. We hope we will make the correct decisions. We want to avoid the pitfalls of our human frailty. Ah, it seems we would like 20-20 vision looking into to the future.

Well, I think that we can agree that what we have is 20-20 rearview vision. Can we use the knowledge and experiences that we acquired in the old year to form a safer, more enjoyable and productive new year?  We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that once the ball drops, we will have a new world that is not tinged with the sorrow and trials of the old one.  That is Pollyanna’s approach.

However, we have something that is so much better than wishful thinking.  We have an all-powerful God who loves us unconditionally no matter what is happening in this world.  We can control so little.  Isn’t it a comfort to turn all those worries and woes over to the Father who created us and wants only the best for us?  Believe this!  It is true. 

Acceptance is the key, combined with a little wisdom and courage, but backed by the Ultimate Source of our serenity and happiness in this world and the next.  Happy New Year!  Happy 2021!   

Terri

Adapted from January 1, 2021

Just what was the star in the East? The old charts and wisdom and folklore only take us so far with any certainty.

Why? Because we don’t know precisely when Jesus was born.  December 25^th? Highly suspect. It was Emperor Constantine’s decree that gave us the now-accepted date.

Maybe the star was a supernova, a white dwarf star that shattered and was a mind-blowing 50,000 times brighter than our sun, making it visible even in daylight for as long as a year.

As for the astrologers, those wise men three, their home countries are not significant to the story. However, that sick feeling of dread they carried with them to Bethlehem was crucial. Even though the gifts helped the family of three financially in the early going, it was the escape impetus that mattered most.

How good it is, how extra-special, to still be in the season of Christmas! Closing the chapter of 2024 in our Lord’s story, whether the A.D. (anno domine, or year of our Lord) is accurate or not, brings a breath of hope. We know that God is in charge of all things, earthly and cosmic. The unconditional love behind the grand plan is most fully felt in this holiest of seasons. May the light of a star guide you as it did the men of old.

Pastor Art