Prepare Ye

Below is the sermon text for Sunday, February 25. The lesson is John 13:1-17, where Jesus washes his disciples feet. When is the last time someone washed you? Or when was the last time that you washed someone? Washing someone is an intimate act. If you think of someone washing you, it probably makes you feel uncomfortable. It is a familiarity that is beyond what we are used to. To wash, or to be washed, requires a certain trust. It is done out of a sense of love, or out of duty. A mother washes her baby or infant, and they bond. A child washes their parent, or grandparent when the ability to do it oneself proves too challenging. We get our hair washed before it is cut and styled to pamper ourselves. A nurse gives us a sponge bath as part of our care in a hospital. Washing someone isn’t something that happens normally. And it didn’t in Jesus time either. As a sign of hospitality, a host would provide a basin of water and a towel for visitors to use to wash their feet. It was

--> This letter was sent this week to members of the ONE in Christ Lutheran Parish in Wisconsin.    February 14, 2018 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, After much prayer, thought and consideration, I write to inform you that I have accepted another call, and will be leaving the churches of the ONE in Christ Lutheran Parish after Easter Sunday. The Covenant Lutheran Churches of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma have voted to call me to be their pastor, and I have accepted that call. Several times, I have shared with quote from the Apostle Paul when he encountered the Risen Christ on the road the Damascus. It is the quote from one of the chapel windows at the Seminary in Gettysburg, and I have had it tattooed on my left forearm. Paul asks, “Lord, what wouldst thou have me do?” I include that question in my prayers several times daily. I now feel that this is the time for me to follow the answer that Christ gives to Paul in Acts 9:6, “Arise, and

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Here is Ananias' article from the February newsletter. You can download the Small Catechism app through Augsburg Fortress for FREE here . Taking Up Prayer For Lent My Big Guy wrote a lot about what you can give for Lent, but he didn’t tell you about what he, and his C+LIFFE students, are taking up for Lent. For each of the 40 days of Lent, they are going (or going to do their best) to pray the daily prayers that Martin Luther suggested when he wrote the Small Catechism. People may not know that at the end of the Small Catechism, Luther wrote prayers and practices for people to do when they wake up, when they have a meal, and when they go to bed. My Big Guy and the C+LIFFE students are going to try to do those each day during Lent, and then see if those new habits stick after Easter. I’m going to try to do it as well. I downloaded the Small Catechism app on my iPawd, and you can get that app for your smartphone, or a copy of the

Here is my article from the February newsletter. It will be updated as new information on giving opportunities at the ELCA Youth Gathering arise. Information on the ELCA's Global Farm Challenge is here . A pdf brochure is here . A flyer on the Blast off for Books program is here , and the Amazon wish list link is here . Information on all of the offering opportunities at the Gathering is here . Giving for the Gathering & Yourself Pastor’s Ponderings I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. – Genesis 12:2-3 On the first page of this month’s newsletter, there is an article about special giving opportunities for Lent. Starting from the bottom, we are going to ask you to participate in the 40 Days – 40 Items offering during Lent. It is a great time to get a head start on