People of God,
Happy Mother’s Day to all the women in our congregation. I know in my life, I had plenty of women who were mother figures for me along with my own mother. I know Patty has been a mother figure to plenty of her swimmers besides her own children. I firmly believe you will never know the effect that you have on people. That is why I am confident in saying Happy Mother’s Day to all the women out there. Thank you for being a mother to your own children and/or mothers to many others.
What a beautiful weekend. Yes, every weekend is beautiful but some are definitely better than others. Fields are being prepared and planted. I know our community garden is planted or will be planted very soon. Students are going to be out of school in the next couple of weeks. Heck, we only have one more week of Sunday School. As I have written before, life keeps moving on.
Next week is Confirmation Weekend. Five boys are going to be confirmed on Sunday. Just like baptisms, I firmly believe this is something our church should be very proud of and celebrate. Another group of children will have their picture taken and be part of the history of St. Johns. I know I have shared this with you before, but pretty much every event that we host at St. Johns, baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc., there will always be people going back and looking at the pictures of the confirmation history of the church. I get a big kick out of watching them find themselves and then showing their spouse and children their picture. It is a big deal in their walk of faith. I hope you will join us on Sunday to experience their next step in their faith journey.
Time to add one more minute to being silent and listening for God to speak to you. If you haven’t started, it is never too late to participate. Two minutes of being silent and just listening. DO NOT be hard on yourself. I know my mind wanders. Just bring it back maybe by saying a word or two to bring your mind back to focusing on listening to God. You may want to focus on a characteristic of God. For instance, “Loving God.” Two minutes will seem like a long time. I usually set the timer on my watch so I give God the full two minutes. Do whatever works for you.
Did you know that the Apostle Paul did NOT write all the books that we give him credit for in the New Testament? It was very common at this time to copy the style of someone’s writing and give them credit even though another person wrote it. We call that plagiarism but it was a sign of respect during this time period. How do scholars know this? Even though they may try to copy the style, it still doesn’t sound like them. For instance, biblical scholars believe that the letter to the Ephesians was NOT written by Paul. The style is different from the other letters from Paul. Others not believed to be written by Paul, are Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Now, it probably wasn’t some Jack or Jill writing these letters, but most likely his disciples who want to continue his teachings. Let’s not limit the people who God inspired to write the Bible.
One last thing: Maybe we think that the Gospels were the first written then everything followed after them. In truth, the Gospels were probably the last things written. The letters that make up a large part of the New Testament were most likely written first. The first letter that scholars believe to be written ever was 1 Thessalonians by the Apostle Paul.
Had a little conversation with a member of our church asking me why do you do things like adding a minute a week in silence, or reading the Bible in a year, etc. They said they think that most of the congregation does these things. One, hopefully this statement is mostly true. I hope some of you are way beyond this. I know some of you read the Bible many times in a year. I know many take a much longer time but they spend a great deal of time thinking and researching what they have read. All of this is great. Please continue what you are doing. However, I fixated on the word “most.” Is it worth it if one person took the challenge of reading the Bible in a year? Is it worth it if one person is adding a minute of silence each week to their prayer time?
I think so! Go look at Luke chapter 15. You get a picture of how God feels about it. The world’s economy of time would say “No!” However, God’s economy is so different. For God, even one person is worth it. I do NOT claim to be God. I happen to be a person who loves God and is working to be more like him. If that is the case, that means I also have to buy into God’s economy. I am far from perfect in this, but I am trying. I hope you are also. I am so thankful we worship a God who loves us beyond anything we can imagine. I am also thankful that we worship a God who is full of mercy and pours out his grace upon each one of us.
Truth: Only by filling up with God’s love, do I have love to share. (Living Lutheran, March 2023)
Pastor Tom
815-223-1144
Readings for the 5 Weekend of Easter – May 17 & 18
Acts 11:1-18 Psalm 148 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:13-35
Reading the Bible in a Year- Monday, May 12 to Sunday May 18
Day Isaiah Psalms Proverbs 2 Corinthians
Monday Ch 20-Ch 23 22:7-16 Ch 11:1-15
Tuesday Ch 24-Ch 26 106:32-39 Ch 11:16-33
Wednesday Ch 27-Ch 28 106:40-48 Ch 12:1-10
Thursday Ch 29-Ch 30:1-18 107:1-9 Ch 12:11-21
Friday Ch 30:19-Ch 32 22:17-27 Ch 13
Galatians
Saturday Ch 33–Ch 35 107:10-22 Ch 1
Sunday Ch 36-Ch 37 107:23-32 Ch 2:1-10
One quick note about Isaiah. Hang in there. The YMCA group spent a year and a half studying Isaiah. You’ll cover it in about a month. It is believed that there were three Isaiah’ that wrote this book. The time period that it is being written (The conquest by Assyria and Babylon) is much too long for one Isaiah. A lot of it is poetry depending on your ability to picture things in your mind. It is also the book that is most quoted by the New Testament writers. Isaiah 53, when we come to it, is special. The book of Isiah is a book that prophesied the coming of the Messiah.