To Life!

Pastor’s Ponderings:

Throughout May we observe the season of Easter. On the very last day of May we mark the end of Easter with the birthday of the Church - Pentecost. Easter marks for us the renewal of life, new birth, new growth, new beginnings, the prospect of new promises. Winter cold recedes with longer days, warmer weather, and gentle rains; calving and lambing are completed, new calves, lambs, and colts scamper about, the grass is greening as our brown hills turn green again - new hope abounds with the arrival of spring.

Throughout Easter we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb; the tomb is empty, sin and death no more have dominion over us. The power of God reigns. We proclaim this when we say as a congregation: “Alleluia! Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!” Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have the promise of new life, new birth, new growth, new beginnings; we have the promise of life eternal in the realm of God.

This past month we have seen expressions of God’s power, and Jesus’ promises to us. We baptized four children at Easter: Greta and Gunnar Smith, Dawson Lester, and Morgan Gates. Eight children received their first communion at Easter: Dawson and Rebecka Lester, Zacc and Mikol Degele, Trevor and Morgan Gates, Rae Lynne Barnett, and Johannes Chandler. This is God’s promise to us of new beginnings, new growth, new life in our church. Yet we also had two funerals: Bud Heinrich and Susan Askins. We hear God’s promise to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; we will be resurrected on the last day; Jesus will call us home to join in the heavenly feast with the communion of saints and share in the glory of God. These are the promises we believe and hold dear, for Bud and for Susan, and for us who remain.

Through his death and resurrection Jesus calls us to new life. The tyranny of death no longer terrorizes us. Jesus liberates us to celebrate life; we live a new life through his promises to us. Easter offers us the potential to grow in Christ and live fully in Christ. This is the power of God at work in our lives - new life - today, tomorrow and forever.

Our Easter Promise

Pastor’s Ponderings:

Our Lenten journey is leading us to Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Through Lent, we contemplate our human nature, our short comings, how we sin and fall short of the glory of God. We are given time for reflection, a time to repent, a time to turn toward where Jesus leads. Were Jesus leads is the cross. To be a follower of Jesus is not only challenging but scary as well. To quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who was executed by the SS in April of 1945: “When Christ calls us, he bids us to come and die.” This is what is means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and as a disciple we are called to obey. Is this difficult and hard? Yes it is for us mortals; but with God, all things are possible. We put our reliance, our trust, our confidence, our faith in God’s promises to us through the words of Jesus Christ. Through Christ’s death on the cross our sins are forgiven, by Jesus resurrection on Easter Day we are given the promise of life eternal with Jesus in God’s heavenly realm. With the cross, Jesus takes the sin of the world upon his shoulders as he walks the Via Dolorosa on his way to Calvary and crucifixion. As he is crucified he prays to God to “forgive them for they know not what they do.” To the thief who asks Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom, Jesus replies: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” By Jesus’ blood of cross our sins are washed away, with the resurrection of Easter morning we are given the promise life eternal. This is where Lent is leading us. God’s love for us, and promises to us will unfold during the Easter Season. There is joy is this Good News for us and there is a challenge for us as well. The joy is we are redeemed, we are saved, God loves us and promises us life eternal, the challenge is our living this Good News daily. This life Jesus calls us to live, we do not do on our own, but Jesus is there with us each and every hour of each and every day on our faith journey walk through this earthly life. This is the promise, the joy and the hope Jesus gives to us.

Lenten Jouney

Pastor’s Ponderings:

We begin our Lenten journey with Jesus. For forty days we will contemplate how we fall short of the Glory of God. We do, we are very fallible, frail and fickle creatures of God’s creation, and yet we are baptized children of God. Through baptism we are given the promise that God is with us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are named and claimed by God, as children of God. But as with most children, we are not as pure as the wind driven snow, we are not innocent creatures. As we contemplate our sinfulness, we can also contemplate God’s redeeming gift to us through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for us, for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus bore the cross for us; Jesus died for us, so we might have eternal life in the heavenly realm, sharing in the Glory of God.

We all have different Lenten pieties; we engage in our Lenten devotions and contemplations in different ways. People give up something so they may give to those in need, give to the poor, be in solidarity with those who lack proper food, proper housing, clean water. Lent is not so much giving up as much as it is giving towards a cause or concern. So what form will our Lenten devotions take? This year we are sharing our Wednesday Lenten services here in Absarokee with the congregations of St. Paul’s on the Stillwater Episcopal Church and the Community Congregational Church. Ash Wednesday saw the participation of all three pastors during our worship service. During Lent, our neighboring congregations who participated in our Ash Wednesday worship services will be taking turns hosting and preaching at our Wednesday Holden Evening Prayer worship services. Immanuel will host the Wednesday prayer service on 4 March with the participation of Captive Free youth ministry and on 18 March. The Congregational Church will host the bread and soup fellowship and proclaim the Word on 11 March and 1 April. St. Paul’s on the Stillwater Episcopal Church will host and preach on 25 March. The offerings we receive during our joint services will be split three ways going to the following church service organizations: Lutheran World Hunger, One Great Hour of Sharing, and Episcopal Relief and Development. All three organizations serve those in need by providing food, health care, clothing, shelter, and spiritual relief. During our Lenten journey let us be faithful in our devotional support to those who are in need, who suffer loss, who are in pain.