Lenten Lutheran Paradox

I loved last nights Ash Wednesday Gospel, and it made me reflect and I'm heavily paraphrasing:

Jesus said give alms silently and joyfully. Ok check Simply Giving.

Jesus said pray in silent. Ok check you don't see me raising my arms and swaying in my prayers, music now that's different.

Jesus said don't suffer openly when are fasting. Again check..(Hey it's a personal message between you and I, God, right?)

Oh... but Jesus said don't be boastful. Ouch that's what a good blogger does sometime if not all the time; and most know I've overcome my bout of youthful shyness.

Aw, but we are all sinners so we're saved by God's gift of Grace, ......SOOOO....return to the top and start over.

HA..

Hope you enjoyed my twist to the classic Lutheran Paradox loosely based on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 and Pastor Dan's sermon which emphasized our Lenten journey should focus on Truth, Proof, and Grace. 40 more days to go; hope to see you all at church. Feel free to remind me Lent is for solemn thinking so cut the jokes.

Peace be with you too. Dave


p.s. just in case you are confused the picture is Martin Luther... and not what Dan looks like since Pastor Glenn has retired.

A great blog on the Lectionary

The lectionary is the pattern of reading during the church year. I was looking for a resource to explain text we were going to use on March 21/22, and found this great blog, Join The Feast. What a great way to study the bible and bring the texts read during the weekend to life. Who knows, maybe you could surprise the Pastor and ask them a question of why they didn't compare the text to "___" That'll get them going. HA.

We are Blessed.

As I looked out on the new snowfall and before the calm was broken to get me to rise up and shovel. I thought snow is such a wonderfully beautiful way God nourishes the Earth. We are blessed. So here's the Celtic Blessing sung to you by an angel named Allison Sattinger. She is the person who wrote "So Much Grace" that ACTS covers with Shelly Pederson on lead. Allison is coming to Holmen Wednesday May 27th... details to follow.

"May God hold you in the palm of his Hands." Dave

Prayer meditation

Passionate Spirituality is as much about the solitude of prayer and the conversation with God. Here is a video that you can put on in the background, look down, look up and read a verse, look down, or just meditate to the soothing music.

Passionate Spirituality?

Ok some of you know that we have a committee called the "Natural Church Development Health Team" working on improving our "Passionate Spirituality". Now I'm pretty sure if the founders of this great church wouldn't think we're NUTS, they would be convinced of it if they knew that the other trait we talked about was "Loving Relationships." So are we nuts, or is the Holy Spirit guiding us to really evaluate how we put our feet to our faith?

There are other ways of describing these traits like "Enthusiastically living your faith", "Witnessing Christ in you life during the week", or "Keeping the fire that God lit in your heart alive". During the last year, the Pastors have asked several members to witness their faith during the sermon. While I've shared how the kids help me wake up on a Sunday for praise time, we've heard Ken Damashke talk of being an example for his children, Dick Mannstedt spoke about his faith through health issues, Tony Hart related his witness with the children he teaches, Lou Pertzsch wrapped us in her prayer shawl ministry and there were many others.

Martin Luther recounted how we should witness & serve in our every day life, "The same is true for shoemaker, tailor, scribe, or reader. If he is a Christian tailor, he will say: I make these clothes because God has bidden me do so, so that I can earn a living, so that I can help and serve my neighbor. When a Christian does not serve the other, God is not present; that is not Christian living."

So where will our passion fire take us? We believe we have kindled a flame put in our hearts at baptism, and many more of us could and should be a witness to each other. We build our own faith thru our community, so let's spread the good news. If anyone wants to share their faith or recommend someone, please talk to Glen or a member of the NCD Health team.

Prayerfully yours,

Dave Schipper
photo credits

Congregation Connection

The late Kate Wolf penned a song that said, “Outside a country store, there’s a board on the wall, that’s filled with cards of every size…Everybody’s looking for the same thing…an old Chevy, a bass player, a country house on three acres, three bedrooms ABSOLUTELY Free.” While only God’s Grace is free and that old country store is gone, we still have a need to connect with each other on what we have or what we need. Were you ever looking for a sitter and didn’t know who to ask? Did you have extra zucchini and didn’t know who to give it too? How about telling people that you are willing to sew? How can you let people know that your hobby is scrap booking or that your business is landscaping? What if you have a dead tree? Maybe you heat with wood and want some free wood? What if you might have a need for some extra dishes for a college student starting an apartment life? Finally would you would rather spend your money with a HLC family member than a stranger? Well our NCD Health Team was looking over the many gifts that were shared through the simple questions, what are you good at, and what do you enjoy doing; and brainstormed an idea to make our bulletin board in the narthex get to work making connections. We’ll start with half the board, keep the notes to business card size, and pray that you make a connection that gives you just what you need.

Opening the Book of Faith

Show your passionate spirituality by opening the Book of Faith. This spring about 30 people have started the ELCA initiative, and as Bishop Hanson describes it as joyful; with exception of the infamous bat coffee so far. (That second part is an inside joke... look me up for the rest of the story.)

Where your heart is...

So one way you might show your passion is to write. This song is one of ACTS (Accentuating Christ Thru Song) original. It always brings me peace to hear the whole congregation sing it. It was loosely based on the Stewardship theme the year it was penned, which I think was 2005, it could be 2004. I do have a recording of Tim and Paula singing it that I went back and added a banjo to; if you would like a copy just email me at Dave@TheRoseRiverBand.com. I should put a co-author on this because Lori has tweaked nearly every section... ha.



Where your Heart Is… by ACTS

Chorus:
Where your Heart is, there your peace be
Friends and family loving Christ
Worship, Serve your loving Savior
Grow with Grace, Seize your Prize

When demands pack every hour
‘til the worries dim your view
Lift your voice upward in worship
Let God’s peace fall on you.

Repeat Chorus

We live our lives as hidden strangers
Looking past the ones in need
But when we turn and follow Jesus
Our eyes grow clear to his lead

Repeat Chorus

There is one Body, and one Spirit
To one Hope, We are called
Listen for your special message
Let your life answer your call

by Dave Schipper (c) 2005 I think... HA.

What is your Passion?

Annual Repot

Natural Church Development

Our committee consisting of Dave Woggen, Tony Hart, Barry Bertelson, Jeanne Curtis, Cathy Fonstad, Lou Pertch, Betty Sacia, and Audrey Olsen has been proud of the efforts to bring awareness of the Passionate Spirituality that is real at Holmen Lutheran. When we took on the effort to increase the weakest characteristic defined from a survey of 30 involved members, we realized that Spiritual Passion runs deep at our church. During the year we inspired members to model their faith in sermon interviews, we asked each other what are we could at and what do we like to do, and we facilitated some new adventures into prayer services. At the heart of the efforts is a passion fire burning in each of us, and it showed in our next survey. To our surprise, Passion Spirituality again was deemed the characteristic to work on for the next year. We were pleased how much higher all of our characteristics grew because indicated that we’re getting the message out that we truly see the work of Christ is alive in our church.

This year we welcome Jim Boatner, Stacey Swatek, and Nancy Luedtke to the committee and expresses thanks to Cathy, Betty, and Audrey for their help. In addition to Passionate Spirituality, we are going to see if we can strengthen a characteristic called Loving Relationships, which is named for friendships that are nurtured at church and taken out to the community as day-to-day friendships.

Pray for us.

Sincerely,

Dave Schipper
Chairperson.