Concert This Weekend!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

It was a Christmas flash mob, but I'm thinking Hallelujah Chorus today.
Happy Easter! The tomb is empty - nothing will ever be the same. Jesus lives! Thanks be to God!

Food for Thought

Saturday: Matthew 27:57-66
What needs resurrecting in your life? What makes it hard to turn this over to God and trust that God will bring you, too, through death to new life?
Prayer: Lord God, remind us of your presence with us when we stumble, suffer, or are afraid in any way. Give us strength, courage, and peace, and help us to be an encouragement and sign of life to others. Amen.

Another Michael Card Song: "Why"

Good Friday makes me think of this song, among others.
Thanks to all the musicians and the choir for making worship so powerful tonight.

Food for Thought

Friday: Matthew 27:32-56
Q: How does Jesus' death tell the truth about our lives and world? How does it give us hope? Where do you see God still at work to redeem and preserve creation? Where do you long to see God?
Prayer: Lord God, on the cross you suffered the very depths of our human life, even to the point of death. When we see the cross, let us remember that you become one of us and endured all elements of life to show us your great love and to give us hope. Amen.

WHY?

Here's a great post about Maundy Thursday by Pastor Meta Carlson on her blog, tangled up in grace.

Blessed Good Friday.
Our worship this Holy Week continues tonight at 7pm.

The Basin and the Towel

Maundy Thursday always reminds me of this song by Michael Card.

Food for Thought

Thursday: Matthew 27:1-31
Q: Where do you see the struggle for power and the easy resort to defamation and violence in our world today? In what ways does fear poison our relationships at home and at work as well as in the larger world? What one thing would you ask God to change about your life or the world? How can you contribute to making that happen?
Prayer: Use us, Lord God, as instruments of peace in world too often broken by violence and a thirst for power. Amen.

The Cup of Forgiveness

When Jesus holds up the cup and offers what is in it as the fluid of forgiveness, he is not talking to people with a short list of minor sins. He is talking to people who will turn him in, who will scatter to the four winds at the first sign of trouble, and who will swear they never knew him. He is talking to people who should have been his best friends on earth, who will turn out not to have a loyal bone in their bodies, and he is forgiving them ahead of time.  -- Barbara Brown Taylor

You are invited. Invite your friends!

Food for thought

Wednesday: Matthew 26: 47-75
Q: What strengthens us to keep faith with those we care about? What tempts us to abandon them? Where have you felt abandoned? Where do you need the support of good friends? Who needs you?
Prayer: Lord God, protect and preserve us in this world that we might keep faith with the promises and responsibilities we have undertaken, and when we feel alone remind us that you understand and are with us. Amen.

Easter is Coming

You have to watch the whole thing...

Food for thought

Tuesday: Matthew 26:17-46
Q: What difference does the Lord's Supper make in our lives? Does the meal we share on Sunday nourish our lives in the world? If so, how? If not, how might it? When have you last seen someone who needed a tangible expression of God's love? How can you help that person realize how precious they are to God?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the gift of your own body and blood. Let that gift strengthen us in the knowledge that you love us more than anything. Amen.

Food for thought

Monday: Matthew 26:1-16
Q: Where do we see hostility and betrayal in our world? Is there anything that would be worth it to you to betray a friend? What small betrayals have we been ensnared by, and how can we make amends for them?

Prayer: Lord God, prevent us from allowing our bitterness or disappointment to lead us to harm others whether in thought or deed. Amen.

Food for thought during Holy Week

This meditation and prayer comes courtesy of Dr. David Lose from Luther Seminary.

We will post meditations and prayers for every day this week.

It is our hope that it will help you and your family have a more thoughtful and reflective Holy Week.


Palm Sunday: Matthew 21:1-11
Q: Jump from Jerusalem to 2011: What do we celebrate as having the potential to save? Celebrities, political figures, athletes, technology? What do we do when we are disappointed in our hopes?

Prayer: Lord God, keep our attention on those things that nurture life and lead us to greater fellowship with you and with each other. Amen.

Good News for Mortals

Today's God Pause devotion was pure gospel for me. I hope it is for you, as well.

Tuesday, 4/12/2011
Acts 2:24
It was impossible for Jesus to be held in death's power. Impossible. What a strong word. Death never stood a chance. There are times when it appears that death has the upper hand. We hear story upon story of death's seeming grip on the human family. Everything dies: institutions, marriages, friendships, people. Judging from appearances, we could only conclude one thing: It is impossible to defeat death. Not with Jesus. No, Jesus is the life-giver. Jesus resurrects institutions, friendships, marriages and people. It is impossible for death to conquer Jesus. Impossible.

Lord, help me see your resurrection power at work in the world. Amen.
Joel Wudel
Vice President for Seminary Relations, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

Acts 2:24 (NRSV)
24 But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.

When the government can't pass a budget...

Here's some food for thought, a post on the Lutheran Confessions blog written by ELCA pastor Clint Schnekloth.

A Lenten Prayer

We're coming up on the fourth Sunday of Lent (and it's APRIL!). How is the season treating you? In addition to "a dollar a day for forty days," my other Lenten discipline this year has been giving up game shows - my own personal fast. I know, it sounds pretty lame, and it's not like I would consider myself unhealthily "addicted" to game shows. It's just that they have a tendency to become a time-suck in my life. Here's the deal: Grant really likes to watch the nightly news. Back when Marit was born we cancelled our DirecTV, and got an antenna. We now get CBS, the CW and five (yes, five!) different PBS channels. But that's it. No ABC, no NBC, no Fox, not even the Weather Channel!! So, our network news options are limited, and we watch the CBS news at 5pm on the nights we're home and not at church or out and about. Then the local news comes on at 5:30. All good. At some point dinner gets fixed, and if inertia takes hold, the TV stays on, as background noise, if nothing else, for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Without thinking too much about it, it becomes entirely too easy for me to watch two hours of television. Well, not anymore. No game shows for me these days. It's good - Grant and I have more time to read to each other (we're reading The Message - Eugene Peterson's translation of the Bible, outloud to each other this year) and to have real conversations. It's amazing how much I can actually get done in that hour if I want to, and how a fast isn't for the sake of the thing you're giving up, but in order to feast on something else.
Are you fasting from something this year? Is it as simple as turning off the TV? Are you fasting from facebook? From a favorite food? Here's a prayer to help us expand our thoughts, and discipline, around fasting this Lent:
A Lenten Prayer
Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ indwelling in them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on trust.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; feast on nonviolence.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.
Gentle God, during this season of fasting and feasting, gift us with your presence so we can be a gift to others in carrying out your work. Amen.
William Arthur Ward (1921-1994)
(American author, educator, motivational speaker)