Prepare Ye

This is a version of my sermon from April 19. It's a combination of what I said and wanted to say at both Our Savior's and Emmanuel. It is based upon Acts 1:1-14. It is from the first week of our Spring/Summer series going through the book of Acts.    One of my favorite movies is the Blues Brothers. This comedy is crude at times, and features some of best car crashes in cinematic history. But at its heart, it is about two musicians who drop everything because they are on a mission from God – or so they believe. Elwood picks up his brother Jake when Jake gets out of prison. They go to the orphanage where they were raised and find out that the orphanage is going to be closed because it is behind on it’s tax bill. When they visit a church, Jake sees a vision that they have to reunite their band to play a concert to pay tax bill on orphanage. They go to recruit their old band mates, all of whom have better jobs and have moved on. Jake and Elwood use two quo

Back in February, I issued a little challenge. I said that if the people of Our Savior's and Emmanuel donated over $1,000 to Walk4Water , a cause being supported by the ELCA's National Youth Gathering, that I would buy and wear a Packers jersey to lead worship during the month of May, as well as to wear it when we make that donation at Ford Field in Detroit. I'm sorry to say that we did not collect over $1,000. We collected over $1,200. To be precise, one thousand, two hundred, thirty six dollars and twenty-nine cents. ($1,236.29) But I didn't lose this challenge. The people who will benefit from your generosity won. A gift of $1,000 will allow the ELCA and their global partners to go into a village or community facing water concerns and train the community about water sustainability, sanitation and good hygiene. It will allow wells to be drilled so that people don't have to spend hours lugging water jugs back and forth. It will allow those water-bearers,

from the April 2015 Messenger My Big Guy was reading the Bible when I jumped up onto the couch, so he started reading the story to me. I wanted him to play Throw the Toy, but he wanted to read, so I let him. He was reading the part about Jesus dying and then coming back to life. I guess he is getting ready for Easter. But what he read made me think, especially about the disciples who were following Jesus. Even though Jesus told them that he would be arrested and killed, they seem surprised when it happened. They were even more surprised when he was raised from the dead. I thought about what that Saturday must have been for them. Remember a while ago when my Big Guy went to Michigan for a conference and to visit his family and friends? He told me that he was going to be away for a while and that I was going somewhere else while he was away. I didn’t really understand what he meant until he left. I was so sad and scared and afraid. I didn’t eat much and only chewed on my bl