The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.  Acts 15:6

St. Luke’s record “The Acts of the Apostles” is not intended to be a prescription for the Church of every age, but does describe how God was at work in the Church at that time and place.  One of the significant events that is recorded in chapter 15 is the Jerusalem Council.  What took place at that point so early in the Church’s history still sets for us a pattern for how we make decisions. 

Here are some of the things that are noted by St. Luke that occurred at the Council...  

• Gather together to hear the Word of God.
• Engage in constructive debate about matters where there is not clear agreement – in an effort to reach agreement.
• Report on what God is doing through His Church.
• Make decisions guided by the Word of God.

​Though we are far-removed from that convening of the Church, we continue to gather for those same type of functions.  Our Congregational Meetings, at their most basic understanding, are for the purpose of being united in the Word of God which frames all of the reports, debates, and decisions that we gather to discuss.

The description we find in Acts 15 can also provide guidance to couples and families, church boards and even a congregation seeking to consider a Godly VISION of the future of ministry following a decision on a God-given MISSION statement.

When we gather for reasons apart from having our work guided and framed by the Word of God, then we have resorted to the ways of the world.  However, our prayer is that all of our decisions as individuals, families, and the Church would be guided by the Word of God, for we know that the Word of the Lord endures forever.  May that emphasis always mark our decision-making processes!

Prayer – Almighty and gracious God, we thank You that by Your Holy Spirit, You bless and guide those who assembled in Your name that all that that is done is according to Your good and gracious will and for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.  

[The above is adapted from the “Encourage” devotion by Missouri District President, the
Rev. Dr. R. Lee Hagan on June 15, 2022.]

As I have talked with folks over the past couple of months, one of the key desires of the congregation was to have opportunities for regular Christian Fellowship. It has been suggested that dinner at people’s houses and other ways of furthering relationships is important in our faith community - to be building one another up in Christ.
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We read about this in Acts 2:42-47, as being important to the first Christians…

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. - Acts 2:46-67

This brought to my mind something I had heard about a few years back where a group of 4-6 people agree to come together once a month for 3 months (a different host each month) and simply share a meal and possibly invite others (it is recommended that groups be no larger than 8 people).
Some call it “Dinner with Friends.” After 3 months, the members of the group rotate into other DWF groups.

This falls right in line with what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica…

11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. - 1 Thessalonians 5:11

If you might be interested in starting a “Dinner with Friends” group, please contact the Church Office and we will start setting things up.

Encouraging? I pray you continue to do so…

Grace and Peace in Christ,

​Pastor Jim Kirschenmann

After reading the title above for the MAY newsletter, some of you are probably thinking that Pastor is more than one egg short of a complete basket! After all, Easter was in April, right?!

Then again, some of you (who were at the Easter Sunday service) are beginning to realize that Easter is continuing and is certainly MORE than just one day of the year.

And that is really the point of this month’s newsletter – EASTER is, indeed, still part of our daily lives. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ that we celebrate is more than can be contained in a single morning – it is all year long, every year. We can see it if we look for it. And we can embody it if we truly believe it.

Among the congregational activities this month, you will have many opportunities to fulfill your own expression of your resurrected life in Christ, and you are encouraged to share that with others.

Are you allowing your life to interrupted by God? Remember that we heard Dietrich Bonhoeffer write, “God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together [San Francisco: Harper, 1954], 99).

St. Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).

So, are you giving everyone a reason to ask?

Consider how you might go about doing that in your daily life, and then share the
things that have worked for you with your fellow members, so we can all learn new
ways to continue to show that Easter [still] Matters in our daily lives.

Blessings in the Risen Christ,
Pastor Jim

Springtime in this area can be both beautiful and hazardous, but always brings that sense of “newness.” Nature seems to awaken quickly as the colors of spring abound – trees bud out and leaves appear, flowers pop up from what seemed to be a completely dormant state. Birds, animals and even insects show renewed activity.

There is a certain excitement and energy that comes with all of this... Certainly, celebrating the Resurrection of our LORD in the middle of the month (April 17) seems to provide an “exclamation point”!

In our readings, we will hear from the prophet Isaiah as he gives us God’s Word,

“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.”

We are reminded during our Lenten journey to repent, and bring all our sins to the foot of the cross of Christ, where he bears them in his body as it is crucified, taking the punishment we deserve. As he took our sins to the grave, he left them there, rising to New Life on the third day. Our creation story now becomes New – an eighth day of Re-Creation – and our life in Christ is a New Life.

As we rejoice in His Resurrection, we hear the promise of our own resurrection to come, on the Last Day. So, as we hear in Isaiah 65:18, “be glad an rejoice forever in that which [He]” Re-Creates… in Christ,

Pastor Jim Kirschenmann

​As we embark on this year’s Lenten Season, it is time, once again, to hear and obey the call that God places on our hearts... While February seems to be all about Love, Lent is a time to reflect on how we are acting in response to God’s love.
On Ash Wednesday we will here God speak through the prophet Joel:
“ …  and rend your hearts …
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love…”
Joel 2:13 (ESV)
 
So, what does it mean to “rend” our hearts? Those experiencing a heavy loss or extreme grief in the Old Testament would “rend” their garments – tear them apart, usually at the center of the chest – revealing their heart. To “rend” your heart, then, is to expose the inner most part of your being – to open up – and thus allow God to do His work in your life.

This is how we are to RETURN to the LORD – with a heart open to receive his steadfast love.

Psalm 51:7 (ESV) states it this way…
“ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
 
During this period of Lent in March, bring your broken and contrite heart. RETURN to the LORD, and receive the blessings of His grace and mercy, share in His abounding and steadfast love, those gifts given in the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ, to atone for your sins.

Let the Cross of Christ “mend the rend” of your heart! And be blessed to share such blessings with others.

Pastor Jim Kirschenmann

February, with Valentine’s Day, brings to mind the concept of “Love.” What do you love?
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I love teaching… and I love teaching Catechism Classes. So it is with great joy that I share with all of you what was recently shared with our latest class of confirmands, as we are going through our lessons on the Ten Commandments from Luther’s Small Catechism.
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We often see the “two stone tablets” depicted as huge towering blocks that appear quite heavy. The image of something very “weighty” is appropriate for rules with such gravitas. But… I’ve always found it somewhat humorous that those big blocks only have Roman Numerals (I, II, II on one block and IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X on the other). You see, Rome (founded in 753 B.C.) was not even in existence at the time of Moses! And the tablets themselves had NO numbering (Hebrew uses letters instead of numbers)… More likely, the tablets themselves were sized as you see in this picture – able to be easily held in one hand and fit in a pocket. That kind of makes you wonder – what else have we mistaken about the Ten Commandments?

Most of the world probably thinks of them as “Thou Shalt Not” rules and restrictions.

But they are really all about LOVE. Romans 5:8 puts it this way…

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It all boils down to this: God loves you AND your neighbor and your response is simply to reciprocate. As Jesus tells us in Matthew 22: 37 & 39… the first and greatest commandment is this:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
(see also Deuternomy 6:5).

And the second is like the first:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (see also Leviticus 19:18).

So, the next time you think of the Ten Commandments, think of God’s LOVE.
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Pastor Jim Kirschenmann

As we look toward the future, the theme for the year ahead involves transformation. The Bible, God’s WORD, speaks of this subject in many ways that help to guide us forward.

We find encouragement in the passage from the first testament as we read the prophet Isaiah speaking God’s WORD to the beleagured Israel then and to us also today… from Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV):

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
   See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

And how do we find that way? How do we navigate the wilderness and drink from the streams in the wasteland? Romans 12:2 provides one answer…

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

By staying in the WORD and allowing the WORD to get into you, this ‘new thing’ this ‘transformation’ is taking place. My certainty is with Paul as he writes to the Philippians:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God is doing a NEW THIng... and it involves YOU! (see the video "Glorious" below...)

Look to God and perceive the NEW things in your life this year.

Together we will follow the WAY, in Christ Jesus,

Pastor Jim Kirschenmann

That phrase is often used in our secular world in a negative context; for example, in a third-person perspective of “[person] gives negative comments as effectively as those being dished out against [him/her/them]“… And so often the case is that we are proud of the fact that we can lambast another with a slur that tops whatever they said against us.

But… what if?  What if this season we turn that around and flip it into a POSITIVE mindset?  What if we were to build others up (see Ephesians 4:29), rather than tearing them down? What if we were to focus on what could make things better, instead of focusing on what does (or could) make things worse?

What if we were to GIVE hope, encouragement, trust, kindness, compassion, and care?  And what if we were to become an example of that type of giving – all year ‘round? Would that make a difference in our world?

As we’ve been studying the Acts of the Apostles, we recently came across the following passage from
​Acts 20:35 (ESV):

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

As you (hopefully) still have the remnants of Giving Thanks on top of mind, meditate also now on what God has given you (John 3:16),

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

So, my encouragement for you this day, this month, this year (and the next) is to give an example, as the Apostle Paul did for us, and to remember that to ‘Give as good as you get’ also means you need to realize just how much you have been blessed – to the point of receiving eternal life… in paradise… with Christ Jesus!

Give even as it has been given to you… in Christ,

Pastor Jim Kirschenmann

Transition, according to dictionary.com is “the movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another”.

The transition of seasons, the changes in the academic year, the seasons of life, the changes in our congregation… some transitions are more impactful than others. The Daylight Savings time change is minimal when compared with all the changes we keep seeing regarding restrictions due to COVID-19.

So… how do we, as Christians, deal with transitions?

          “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; or this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 
(1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV)

That middle part - in everything – is what often trips up even the best intentioned among us, and yet heartfelt thanks is something we always have because of Christ Jesus.

As we come to this time of harvest and the celebration day for giving thanks, let us keep in mind that we should pray without ceasing and rejoice always.

And in the transitions, we humble ourselves, bow down before Him, and lift up our souls to God in prayer even as we give thanks. As for myself, I say along with St. Paul…

                  15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love 
          toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
          (Ephesians 1:15-16)

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving - today and Every Day!

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jim Kirschenmann