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Kingdom 701: Kingdom Transformation on Transfiguration Sunday Feb 19/12

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we celebrate the end of the Epiphany Season with the Sunday of the Transfiguration. We hear the amazing truth of our Lord TRANSFIGURING before his closest disciples, as well as Moses and Elijah. This is truly a great ending to the study that we have been following. As we began the "Kingdom of Heaven" Series with the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday and the words of God saying to HIS SON: "This is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased!" we hear the book end to this amazing ministry of Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration. We hear in Matthew 17: After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.  Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, I will put up three shelters—one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”  When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.  But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Don’t be afraid.”  When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
This Sunday we close the series with the words of God again, as the cloud envelopes them, he says: "This is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased! Listen to him!" What do we hear in these proclamations of God the father, exactly the same, but with these very important words added: "Listen to HIM!" The exhortation is what we take away as we have studied who we are as Kingdom People, Children of the KING, A Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation, A people belonging to GOD! We know we belong, we know we have been called, we know we have the authority over demons, disease, death and nature because Jesus does, we know we have authority and are SENT to be his apostles, as well as disciples! We know that the Lord wants us to do even greater things than he did (John 14) we know that we live out the Authority and Power as we share the secrets of the kingdom (Matthew 13). It is in the final words of Matthew 7 that make the words of God on the Mt. of Transfiguration so important. The truth of the Trinity at the Baptism of our Lord, the ripping of the heavens in Mark's account, the picture here on the mount of the discussion of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and the CROSS in Luke's account, harken back to Jesus' words at the end of his Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 7: ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  ²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. 
"Listen to HIM!" is what Jesus is referring to when he states that we are wise when we hear his words and put them into practice. Last Sunday we heard in Matthew 13: ¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” ¹¹ He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹² Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables:   “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.¹⁴ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. ¹⁵ For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’^{[Isaiah 6:9-10]
   16} But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
May we be amazed by the story of our LORD "turning inside out" on the Mt of Transfiguration and may we like Peter want to stay there but my prayer is that we will hear and see, listen and understand....
The KINGDOM is HERE and NEAR may we walk in Christ's Authority and Power as we live out the truth of who we are and what we are called to do! I hope we walk in the Power of the Holy Spirit and maybe we will be blessed as Elisha, when he saw Elijah taken up in the chariot, to be given a double portion (2 Kings 2) so that we can really do what the Lord asks of us trusting is HIS POWER! It is a great reminder that we are called to be "R12" Followers of Jesus who do as St. Paul says in Romans 12: ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

What a great way to go into the Lenten Season of prayer and reflection. This year we are doing 40 Days of Prayer and the gift of the LORD'S PRAYER which will be our Sermon Series, as well as the evening services on Wednesdays @ 7:01pm studying the Feasts of the BIBLE by a Messianic Jewish Rabbi. The Children will be having a study on the Animals of Lent. Every Wednesday we will have a pot-blessed dinner at 6:15. This WEEK: We are going to be having a pancake lunch and supper on FAT, (SHROVE) Tuesday for the Students. We are also going to have Pancakes and sausage for the meal from 5:30-6:40 on Ash Wednesday with the Service starting at 6:45pm ending at 8. We will have an Ash Wednesday Lunch Hour Service from 12:10-12:50.

May we continue to live in this Covenant with our Lord and in His Kingdom Power even as we enter this Lenten Season!

Love in Christ our Transfigured, Crucified and Risen Savior and LORD,
Pastor Bryan

601:Kingdom Power: Go Sow! Let God Grow!! Feb 12, 2012

Hello Cross and Resurrection family!

Today we will be having a great celebration for the Dedication of our New Fellowship Hall and the New Sign out front at the EMU Site!! There will be no 12:15 Service this Sunday and the "ALIVE! Lenawee County" site will be joining us.

Pastor Roosevelt Gray will be sharing on Matthew 13 and the parable of the Sower as we continue to learn about the Kingdom and the Power to live it out. He is sharing on our planting the seed and God growing it. The Old Testament Lesson from Jeremiah 17 reminds us that we are cursed if we rely on our human strength and St. Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians in 1 Cor 3 that we plant the seeds, we help water but GOD makes it GROW! Please join us to hear a great preacher and friend of our Cross and Resurrection family!

Below is what Paul Knickelbein sent out for us to remember what is happening! See you at Church!

Pastor

Kingdom 501: Kingdom Power: Living out HIS Authority! Feb 5, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we continue our journey through Jesus' teaching on "Kingdom." Last week we looked at "Kingdom Authority," what it meant and how Jesus showed us His authority, as the "author and perfecter of our faith" (Heb 12.) Now we enter the phase of Jesus' teaching were we see in action what we talk about in the leadership and discipleship square phase 4: "you do, I watch." This is where Jesus take his disciples (learners, following a rabbi) who are following him as he teaches by example how to know the Kingdom is at hand, near and here! Now Jesus takes these disciples "followers" and calls them forward to SEND them out: "Apostles (sent ones or messengers)!" In Matthew 10 we see Jesus calling his disciples to him in verse 1. He then gives them AUTHORITY to drive out evil spirits (demons) and heal every disease and sickness! Just as we talked about last week, the exact things that HE WAS DOING! They were being ordained, set apart, commissioned to go out and do what the author had been doing. They were to be HIS "AMBASSADORS" or HIS "Representatives!" You see in verse 2 that the word changes as Matthew lists their names from "Disciple" to "Apostle."

Matthew 10:1-20
¹ He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil^[a] spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
 ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
 ⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[b] drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. ⁹ Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; ¹⁰ take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
   ¹¹ “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. ¹⁶ I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
   ¹⁷ “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. ¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

How many of us does the Lord want to call out today and send forth into all the world as his messengers or "apostles?" ALL OF US!! I think it is telling that the Lord warns them of the dangers. Gives them strict boundaries but expects them to do what he has been doing when he states in verse 7-8 "⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[b] drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." I think we should expect to have the same message because we serve the same Lord! Hebrew 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!" It is time for us, his followers, to see the Holy Spirit at work and live out the authority that we have been given in Matthew 28 and preach the message the "The Kingdom of heaven is NEAR!!"


I can't wait to see what the Lord will do as we live out the calling he has placed on our lives expecting to do what He has done! I am really hoping to see what Jesus meant when he said to Philip and the twelve in John 14: " ⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹². ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Living out HIS AUTHORITY is the power of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at work in HIS People!


May we see now, what we pray "THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!"




Love,
Pastor Bryan

*For those who were planning to come to the Lutheranism 101 class tomorrow the SuperBowl seems to be happening at the same time so it is postponed until next Sunday. The nerve of them putting it at the same time as our class:)

Kingdom 401: Kingdom Authority over Demons, Diseases, Death & Nature January 29, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We continue our journey through the study of Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom. Last week Paul shared with us the truth of the end of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus shares how solid a foundation we have when we build our faith on His teachings. He ends his sermon by saying: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock!" (Matthew 7:24) 

Today we are looking at the response of the people to the Sermon when Matthew in chapter 7 says: "²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." 

Today we will look at what it means that Jesus taught with AUTHORITY and what he expects of us his children, and followers. We are going to look at what AUTHORITY means and how it is lived out in the ambassadors of Christ, namely us his disciples! We will be looking at the text from Matthew 8 and 9 as a teaching tool to what having this AUTHORITY means and how the Kingdom Authority looks in action! Today specifically in the faith of the Centurion of Matthew 8: " ⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” ⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour." May we have the faith of the centurion to understand that AUTHORITY that we have over Demons, Disease, Death and Nature!

A definition that I found on Authority: "

The meaning and origin (etymology) of the word authority.

So, who really has authority, regarding biblical teachings and matters?

The answer was given above, actually. It is, of course, the author (Latin, auctor) of any given thing who has the authority (auctoritas) over the thing he or she has created, produced, written or invented."

We therefore as disciples of Christ have Authority to proclaim and practice what the "author" has shown us and taught us to do!

We will also be looking at Joseph as an example of the posture we should exhibit when recognizing the AUTHORITY and POWER we have as Kingdom people. For example Joseph had the gift of interpreting dreams as a child and he alienated his brothers by telling them about his dreams. This is when authority and power is motivated by pride and immaturity. It can be destructive. I think of the "name it and claim it" theology that permeates immature Christians as an example of this. We next see Joseph in jail interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh's Baker and Cup Bearer. He is learning slowly to recognize that the gift and power he has belongs to God but still throws in the "remember me when you get back" comment to try and help God out in his situation. The right posture of humility and complete surrender to God's will comes when he is brought before Pharaoh in our Old Testament lesson in Genesis 41 and says: ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Do you see the posture of humility that Joseph has learned through his trials. May we understand the gifts and power we have as people of the covenant and people of the Kingdom. May we exercise or as Jesus said "put into practice" what he has taught us to do with humility and complete surrender to our Lord's will and not to fear!



Love in Christ Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith,

Pastor Bryan

King and Kingdom 201: Kingdom Living: Identity of Righteousness January 15, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Last Sunday were started the series on King and Kingdom. Today we continue looking at "Kingdom Living: Identity of Righteousness." Last week we heard of Jesus' request to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordon and John saying he should be baptized by the Lord to which the Lord replied: "the is to fulfill all righteousness!" (Matthew 3:15) We heard of the heavens opening or "being ripped open" according to Mark's Gospel. We heard the amazing words "this is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased" spoken by the Father, as the Holy Spirit descended as a dove. It is no mistake that immediately Jesus is tempted in the desert to show that even the sinless Son of God is tempted as we are each day but does not sin. Then we see his ministry beginning with his preaching,  calling of his disciples and the healing of the sick.

Today we are going to delve into the Sermon on the Mount. This is an amazing sermon! Jesus begins with the Beatitudes, as we hear a radical change in what constitutes a faithful follower of God. Jesus begins by stating in the first Beatitude of Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is so important as we are learning to understand what it means that in Christ we are clothed with righteousness and children of the King! Therefore we who are in the Kingdom, which is "at hand," "near" and "here" all at the same, are righteous because of what Christ did on Calvary through his blood shed for us and proven in the empty tomb! We are therefore identified as the righteous which can give us a sense of pride, as being heirs, priests, children of the king etc.. So in order to keep us from getting too puffed up in the idea that this forgiveness and righteousness that we receive the Lord provided these words in 1 John 1:8-9 "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!"  This is an amazing gift that we as children of the king have in the identity we have been given in Christ. It makes us "light and salt" in the world (Matt 5)

The Kingdom of Heaven, as we mentioned last week, is used 33 times in Matthew and we understand that the Lord taught this as a central part of what His Kingdom coming into the world would look like as we live it out. Today we look at the words of Jesus as he taught in Matthew 5:17-20
¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
These words are powerful since they show us how the Lord will "fulfill all righteousness" as we heard last week. Matthew uses the word to fulfill OT Scripture 12 times. It is extremely important for us to know that this is the plan.

We are especially interested in the way He teaches on the Kingdom and Righteousness when He tells us that the righteousness of even the most legalistic and faithful to the law (Pharisees and the teachers of the law) will not be enough to gain us the Kingdom now, or for eternity. He wants us to understand that, as in the first Beatitude, we are to be "poor in spirit" or humble. We are called to recognize it is only by grace that we are saved and it is only by the justification of Christ's death on the cross that we get eternal life. We are sanctified and made righteous in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not be our good works. Our works are but filthy rags compared to our Holy God! So we are called to understand that we have this "identity of righteousness" as a gift and therefore we live as righteous saints, not running away from the idea of  righteousness but celebrating this gift as we receive it in the Word, absolution and with all of our senses in the Lord's Supper. After we receive this gift we understand our identity and we move forward with practicing our "Kingdom Living" as it says in Matthew 6:   ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Please join us tomorrow at ALIVE! Lenawee County at 11:00am, where Paul will be sharing, or at Cross and Resurrection EMU at 9am for Sunday School, 9:15 for High School and Adult Bible Study with Jim Fry teaching on King and Kingdom, 10:15 College Study, 10:15 & 12:15 Worship with lunch in between. I will be at the EMU site and look forward to worshiping with everyone!

Next week I will be going to see my new grandson "Levi" as well as my son and daughter-in-law (Tim and Meagan) in BC, my family in Calgary, Alberta and go to the Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute Board of Trustees meeting in Camrose, Alberta next weekend. Sarah and I will be back next Tuesday.

Blessings and Love in Christ our Righteousness,
Pastor Bryan

King and Kingdom 101: Identity January 8 "Baptism of our Lord"

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

On January 6, we celebrated the Epiphany of our Lord and the story of the Magi worshiping the baby Jesus and presenting their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh in Matthew 2.

Today we celebrate the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry, 6 months after John's ministry started, in his 30th year at the River Jordon. This we read in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 3 when we see John ministry of preparation and baptism with water for repentance and then Jesus' Baptism in the Jordon!

This scene in Matt 3 is fascinating to us because it continues what started with the words of Simeon and Anna in Jesus' Presentation in the Temple 40 days after his birth. Continued with the Magi in Bethlehem 30 years before, then when he visited Jerusalem at age 12, then here at the Jordon. This is the inauguration or coronation of the public ministry of Jesus. As we see in Number 4:47 the age of 30 was when the Levite would begin their ministry and be ordained or set apart. This is in good order and even though John says he should be baptized by his cousin Jesus, whose sandals he is not even worthy to carry, Jesus states this is TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS! This is necessary to make sure all the prophesy of Holy Scripture is fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

The reason we are starting our study of what it "KING and KINGDOM" with the Baptism of our Lord is because of what we see in this amazing event what St. Paul means when he shares in Romans 6:4: " We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life," The truth that in Holy Baptism we are identified with Christ Jesus as heirs of the Kingdom. It is amazing that in John's ministry he is a prophet of the law, who shares the truth of sin and the need to confess sins and be baptized and cleansed. Unfortunately it is only after the amazing inauguration or Coronation of Jesus at His Baptism that we can truly understand what repentance and cleansing means. In Christ's Baptism we see heaven ripped open and the voice of God proclaiming the identity of His Son! He tells everyone that He is well pleased with Him and that He LOVES Him! This is awesome! Jesus is without sin and yet He receives absolution from God, the Father, when He says: "He is well pleased!" In this wonderful event we see a prototype of our Baptism where through Baptism, God calls us His Child, affirms His Love for us and in to the truth of the Cross and Resurrection declares: "He is well pleased." We are clothed with the Robe of Righteousness and the Crown of Beauty and the promise of Heaven. In Matthew we will study our "identity in Christ" our King and what it means to be in the Kingdom.

We pray in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom Come" now we are going to see what it means as our Lord reveals His Kingship and Kingdom. John had the privilege of baptizing with water for repentance presupposing repentance and a change of life. With the Baptism of our Lord we see the fulfillment of all righteousness, consecration by God the Father (the Trinity present as in Gen 1) the Spirit descending and anointing him, the public announcement by John of the arrival of the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world in John 1 and the recognition as John and Jesus proclaimed the coming of the "Kingdom of Heaven" used in Matthew's Gospel 33 times and the "Kingdom of God;" used 4 times. This Kingdom is the rule of God both in present reality and a future hope. This is why many are scared to talk about this Kingdom which Matthew refers to over 50 times and is a central teaching of Jesus. If you are not able to understand as stated in a book I have called "A dictionary of Christian Antiquities" by William Smith: "Hence anything that could in any sense be called a mystery by Latin Christian was referred to a 'Sacramentum' especially sacred things used in service to God" (pg. 1831) The mystery of a "Kingdom" that is hear presently but yet also near in the hope of the future of the "everlasting kingdom of heaven." is not logical or easily reasoned and therefore scary! That is why for us Sacramental Christians: who proclaim the mystery of sinner and saint at the same time, the true REAL presence of Christ in His Supper as He is at the right hand of God. Celebrating with all the saints the foretaste of the feast to come, while celebrating the Lord's Supper and the present feast in the midst of the congregation. It is truly a profound mystery how we can be heirs of everlasting life, princes and princesses of the Kingdom, yet bound with our sinful earthly existence having to wait for the eternal Kingdom to be revealed at the final judgement! In the present as Sons and Daughters of the King: endowed with the power and authority given to us in the Holy Nation, the Royal Priesthood of all believers in the Church and the power of Keys etc... yet still sinners bound by our sinfulness. This dichotomy is very frustrating to live with being Sinner and Saint simultaneously as part of the "Church Militant" and a member of the "Church Triumphant" as we confess in the Creed: "The communion of saints!"



Please stay tuned as we will be hearing more about our KING and HIS KINGDOM throughout this Epiphany season! Join us at the EMU site for Sunday School, Confirmation, High School class at 9am, Adult Study on "King and Kingdom" at 9:15am, University study at 10:15, Worship Services at 10:15 and 12:15 with Lunch in between. Join us for ALIVE! Lenawee County Services meeting every Sunday at 11am in Raisen Township south of Tecumseh.

God Bless You All as we celebrate our identity with our KING in HIS KINGDOM!

Pastor Bryan

A VERY Merry "Christ"mas and a Happy BLESSED New Year!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Merry "CHRIST"mas!! We are almost at the end of the Advent Season and on Sunday we will be celebrating Christmas! I wanted to write to you all and share my heart on how much I love serving you as your pastor! I want to thank you all for your prayers and support as we come to the celebration of our Savior's birth at Bethlehem! On behalf of my family and the staff I wish to thank all of you for the amazing support you give us throughout the whole year and for your gracious gifts this Christmas! From our family to yours we wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and wherever you are this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day may the Lord richly bless you as our whole nation pauses to celebrate the greatest gift of all time JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD, EMMANUEL!

Please Remember:

DEC 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 7:00 pm AT THE EMU Site OF CROSS AND RESURRECTION.
DEC 25 Christmas Day Service 11:00 am at EMU Site (last Service of 2011! no New Year's Eve service this year)
JAN 1 New Year's Day Service 11:00 am at EMU Site, Holy Baptism for Joseph Walter Distelzweig

LOOKING FORWARD

Please watch for the new electronic sign coming out front soon! Planning for the Dedication of the New Fellowship Hall in Feb. Exciting study on "Kingdom" coming this Epiphany Season! Continued studies for all ages and experiencing the KINGDOM Power of Healing etc... in the ministries at Cross and Resurrection EMU and ALIVE! Tecumseh in 2012!

Again a huge "THANK YOU" to all of those who have been faithful in keeping their pledges to the Building Fund, as of this week we have received all but one of the pledges and many gave even more than they pledged! We even have people who did not pledge, giving to the Fund as well! We are so grateful for the many gifts of charity given through the Agape Fund, Giving Tree, special offerings etc...Well done good and faithful servants!

I know I don't have the time to thank all of you who use your gifts as volunteer staff, Council and Elders and so many others who teach, serve and bless so many in our family BUT KNOW THAT I LOVE YOUR FAITHFULNESS AND THAT OUR LORD KNOWS HOW FAITHFUL YOU ARE IN SERVICE!

SO: I know you have gotten a lot of Christmas Cards, emails etc.. But I wanted to share with you the wonderful words fulfilled by the birth of JESUS the CHRIST born in Bethlehem so long ago:

FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN, UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE UPON HIS SHOULDERS AND NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, ALMIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE! (ISAIAH 9:6)

BUT THAT IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY: "Of the increase of his government and peace THERE WILL BE NO END! He will REIGN on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM THAT TIME ON AND FOREVER! THE ZEAL OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS!" (ISAIAH 9:7) Praise the Lord, Alleluia! AMEN!!

Have a VERY Merry Christmas and a HAPPY BLESSED New Year!

Love in Jesus, the one who saves us,

Pastor Bryan

More Power! 2nd Sunday in Advent Dec 4, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today we celebrate the truth of St. John the Baptist's words in Mark 1:1-8 specifically vs 7: "After me will come One more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie!" As we prepare for Christmas, in this Preparation season of Advent, we can be forgiven for tuning out the hype of the sales, sears: amazing one day sale, JC Penny, Kohls. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday...it is too much. I laugh at the "REGULAR" price because I wonder if things ever really cost that price? It should therefore catch our attention when someone like John, the Baptist, shows up in the second week of Advent. He is not the norm. What he eats, what he wears, what he says all stand out and his ministry is certainly "SUCCESSFUL!" Yet John understands something that also stands out: that his ministry is to prepare the way for Jesus. I think it is brilliant that Mark starts his gospel with this promise of Mal 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way 'a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" This was specifically "Elijah" or otherwise known as, "John" who understood after living, since conception, as the one who prepares the way. We remember his leaping in the womb when his mother Elizabeth was greeted by Mary in Luke 1. We remember his Ministry starting 6 months before Jesus as Numbers 4:3 states at 30 years of age. We see him serving the Lord by Baptizing him. We recognize the that even with the shock value of his clothes, eating habits, and his words, he was successful in the work of Repentance. After all it says all the people from Judea and everyone from Jerusalem.

What we learn from John is that we are all called to prepare the way for the Lord. We are called to be used to reach up, in and out in order to direct people to the Mighty One who has the Power, Love, Grace, Hope, etc... Jesus Christ. We can learn from John that as he shares in John 3:30 "He (Jesus) must become greater, I must become less!" This is consistent with the humility he showed when Jesus asked him to Baptize him, and John in Matthew 3:14 says "I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?" He states in Mark 1:7-8 today that: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I baptize you with or in water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” When he describes his position of not being worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals, in Matthew it says "carry" them, he is helping us understand the posture for us to have as we prepare for the coming of Jesus this Christmas. If we want to experience the power that our Lord wants to pour out on us His Children we can prepare our hearts and minds by repenting of pride and humbling ourselves before the Lord. Then we will understand what it means that we celebrate the truth of the one coming with more power, to lift us up, carry us through and help us to fix our eyes on the prize of HIS SALVATION won on the cross of calvary, by His precious Blood and proven in the empty tomb! More power is always my prayer and it does not come from bettering ourselves but by humbling ourselves. That's preparation!

Love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Bryan

Nov. 27, 2011 "Happy New Year 2012: Lacking Nothing!"

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy New Year! Last week we spent time looking at all the Lord has done, is doing and will do as we ended the Church Year,  A.D. 2011. Today we celebrate the First Sunday in Advent, our 4 weeks of preparation for the Nativity of our Lord, and the New Year of the Church.  This Sunday we will contemplate the words of St. Paul which he shares with the followers of Jesus Christ in Corinth: 

This is an amazing introduction to the church that St. Paul spent 18 months with, as recorded in Acts 18. He shares with them how thankful he is for them! He reminds these Christians, who live in an extremely affluent community that is 5 times the size of Athens and is extremely important because for centuries it has been the city between the ports connecting western Greece with the East, what is truly important. Corinth, this 4 miles of isthmus that when crossed saved 200 miles of sailing from East to West, is a very important city. It was also a very cosmopolitan city with the multiple temples in the market and the Acrocorinth, the hill that historically was known for the worship of many gods, for it is no mistake that one of the Greek verbs for fornicating comes from the name of Corinth. It is said that there were over 1000 prostitutes for the worship in the temple of Aphrodite. I only reference this because as I watched Black Friday with the lines, sales, etc.. pepper spray used in Walmart. I thought we have so much to be thankful for in North America. Probably the way the Corinthians thought of their place in the Empire. From a worldly perspective they had it ALL.

Yet the Apostle Paul brings them back from the contemporary perspective of the world around them, to focus them on the truth of how they should recognize what is really important. More important than the deals on Black Friday, more important than the victory of our U of M Wolverines over Ohio State (I have been waiting for this since I moved here!), more important than even the birth of my first grandson "Levi Timothy Schindel" this afternoon!!! It is hard to imagine that even as I feel so thankful I could bust, the Lord speaks and shares the most important words for us as we enter into the next year of the Church: we have been "ENRICHED" in every way and do not "LACK" any spiritual gifts! We enter into this New Year knowing what Mordecai shared with Esther, (which I read in my devotions this morning) in Esther 4: ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" This was a huge eyeopening event for Esther. We know that it helped her to do the right thing and gave Esther the opportunity to put things into perspective and appreciate God's plan!

Brothers and sisters do we know that even when we put too much emphasis on those things that seem so important to us from our human, sinful, worldly perspective; because of his love for us, the Lord is constantly calling us to repentance. Today the Lord has given us the opportunity to confess this sin and receive the grace and forgiveness won for us on the Cross of Calvary and freely given to those who belong to God. We can then recognize the privilege of serving him NOW, rejoicing in the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate that we have been enriched in every way and lack nothing as we move forward in HIS ministry. We have the gift of refocusing and prioritizing what is TRULY IMPORTANT! We know we belong to God and believe in his plan and his power because we were created for such a time as this! May we become who the Lord wants us to be and move forward with confidence and boldness knowing we lack nothing and are called to work together as the Lord directs us. St. Paul says that the Lord will keep us STRONG to the end as we eagerly wait for His return. It is fascinating to me that the Lord sent two disciples to get the colt in our Gospel Lesson in Mark 11. He understood the importance of us working together as a family to support one another and see what the Lord will DO! St. Paul reminds us that we are in fellowship with God, as well as one another. He reminds us that "God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, is faithful!" The point is God is faithful and He has called us to this moment to do what He wants to be done and He is faithful to keep us strong and enrich us with all we need! What a way to enter this New Year of the church!
May we pray: "thy kingdom come among us and your will be done on earth, among us, as it is in heaven!"

Nov. 20, 2011 Christ the King: "Those who belong to him!"

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday and the New Year's Eve of the Church Year. It is the day to celebrate the truth of the final days! Today we celebrate and contemplate the urgency of Christ's command to be ready for the end and to share the truth with all the time we have left.

St. Paul shares what the essence of this day is in

October 31, 2011

Today, we celebrate a very important event in history. The day, that started the Reformation: October 31st, 1517 when Dr. Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the Wittenburg Church door. 
Today we look at a discussion between the Jews and Jesus. Jesus shares with the Jews who are following him in John 8:31-36

God richly bless you as you live out your faith every day!

Pastor Bryan

"Vocation not Vacation" October 16, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we look at the introduction to St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. We hear St. Paul sharing his thankfulness for these Christians and their faithfulness:
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
 ² We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. ³ We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  ⁴ For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶ You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷ And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸ The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, ⁹ for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

These words are so encouraging because they remind us of the importance of living out our faith. The gift of faith given to us; leading to work, labor and endurance. We know that our relationship with God in the covenant he has made with us leads us to know who we are in Christ. This then leads to us moving forward by the power of the Holy Spirit and deep conviction, with authority and power! We are so encouraged by the example of the Thessalonians. The most important part of what we see in this triad of verse 3: "Work produced by faith, Toil or labor prompted by love and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" is the theology of "vocation," or "calling" that Martin Luther introduced during the Reformation. Before Luther only the Vocations of the church were honored. These were the works that mattered. Luther reminds us Kingdom people that our calling, no matter what it may be, is our chance to glorify God and be imitators of Paul and of the Lord! It is so important that we live out our faith, not seeing grace as a call to vacation, although rest is extremely important, but vocation: our calling to do everything to the Glory of God. Then we will work, toil and endure by His power and not ours! Our whole life is living as part of the kingdom! As we pray "your kingdom come, your will be done!"

God richly bless you as you live out your faith every day!

Pastor Bryan

Out: Are you envious of God's Mercy? Sept 18, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations to Eric and Sarah Morgan on the arrival of their new daughter "Gianna" yesterday! Sarah shared that "Gianna was born Friday at 4:19pm! 7lbs 15.5 oz and 20 inches. After being at Mott's Hospital for 44 hrs we had an emergency C-section; not what we wanted or planned, but God kept her safe and she's healthy!" We are so thankful for the Lord's protection and pray for both Sarah and Eric to get rest and enjoy their first few days with Gianna!

Tomorrow is going to be a great day for us to celebrate the amazing Love of our God shown to us in Christ Jesus! I look forward to worshiping with all of you tomorrow!

At 9am we will begin with the Christian Education for all ages. At 9:15 I will lead the Adults and Parents in a really cool study by "True U" looking at the truth of the Bible as God's inspired historic book.

At 10:15 we will have a great worship time and we will be looking at the words of Isaiah, the prophet whose name means "the Lord SAVES," sharing with us how simple the message we are asked to share with the world is to share with others as we grow in our UP, IN and OUT.  Isaiah 55:6-7 states the GOOD NEWS: ⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. What simple and yet powerful message! It is so hard for many to understand because they do not understand the ways and thoughts of our God: Isaiah 55:8-9 ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. We will look at the Parable of the workers to try to explain the Love and Grace that the Lord has for us and all for whom Jesus died. Check it out in Matthew 20:1-16. It is not fair and yet we belong to this wonderful God, we believe in HIS mercy and grace and want to become more like HIM each day!

At 10:30 Norma Polk will lead a study with College Students in the fellowship hall.

At 11:35 we will have the Congregational Meeting to elect our Council members and introduce to you David and Beth Marshall who are being called to Cross and Resurrection as Family Life Ministers, in partnership with the Word of God who is going to provide their salary (a very small part time salary), so that they will be part of our team. We will benefit from their work with Warriors (Middle School on Thursdays) and Mission Christ (High School on Fridays) as we encourage our young people to join in these great ministries just as we partner with University Christian Outreach for College Ministry.

We will have lunch, thanks to the Zuelligs and Chris Stauffer at 11:45. We will have the 12:15 (ish) service and then the ALIVE! Tecumseh service at 4pm.

It is going to a full day but I look forward to seeing what the Lord will do!

Just a note if you want to join me for the Lutheranism 101, proposed for Monday nights starting soon, please let me know if you wish to attend because with construction actually started we will be need to decide if we will meet on Mondays and where? Please send me an email or talk to me after services. THERE WILL BE NO STUDY THIS MONDAY.

Love in Christ Jesus our risen Lord,

Pastor
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Well we are back from the Lake Charlevoix and looking forward to Worship and Praise with our Church family tomorrow. Thanks to Paul and so many others who helped this week, so that we could take Bruce up on his invitation to visit Boyne City again! It was AWESOME!

This Sunday we continue our journey through Matthew 16 as we hear Jesus explain things to his disciples; after St. Peter confessed the truth of who Jesus is: "the Christ, the Son of the living God!" St. Peter was praised by Jesus and told that "upon this confession" Christ would build his church and not even the gates of hell would prevail against it! Jesus said Peter was blessed and that this "confession" came from His father in heaven.

Peter is definitely more confident as we hear him disagree with Jesus, as Jesus lays out the truth of what is going to happen to him in the near future:

 ²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

As a matter of fact Peter is so confident that he rebukes Jesus, his friend and rabbi? Jesus then calls Peter "SATAN?" Why? While he just said he was blessed for his confession given to him by His Father in heaven. Peter is now being told that his worldly desire and his "will" is satanic and a stumbling block. This had to be really hard to hear from the person you love and respect but listen to why he is a "stumbling block" akin to "satan." It is because he does not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Wow! How many times have we done extremely good and nice things because we feel that they are the right things to do or say, yet have we asked the question: "is it God's will?" In order for us to ask this question we will prepare to look at becoming more in tune with the Word of God and what the Holy Spirit wishes us to say and do. As we continue our relationship UP (Belong), IN (Believe) and OUT (Become) we will learn to be sensitive to discerning the things of God and the WILL of God. We will look at the remaining verses of Romans 12 that explain how we can be transformed and by the renewing of our minds, have in mind the things of God. Our challenge is to let the Holy Spirit help us to be living sacrifices, motivated by love and living as R12 (Romans 12) Christians! So that we are a blessing, following the will of our Father in heaven and not a stumbling block! Isn't that our petition in the Lord's Prayer when we pray "thy will be done"?

Please continue to pray for what the Lord wants you to share during the worship time, after the distribution of the Lord's Supper. This is the time to pray and to share what the Lord is putting on our hearts for us and HIS church!

Remember this is "move in" weekend at EMU so let's make a great first impression for the new students.

See you all tomorrow.

Love in Christ Jesus our Risen Lord and Savior,

Pastor
Believe: GREAT Faith! August 14, 2011 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am writing this after just experiencing the wonderful wedding ceremony of Mr. Matt and Mrs. Brenna Behnke here at Cross and Res! Tomorrow we will be experiencing the amazing love of God in Christ Jesus our risen Lord as we look at the faith of the Canaanite women in Matthew 15 where Jesus comments on her "GREAT faith." I think we can learn a lot from her posture in approaching our Lord, her persistence and her humble request of Jesus. At first Jesus seems uncaring, even unkind, as he ignores her. When the disciples ask to send her away, Jesus explains that his mission is ONLY to the lost sheep of Israel, yet because of her persistence and her faith, Jesus grants her request.

As children belonging to God, do we approach God with pride of position and almost demand things? I think I have been guilty at times, because of our consumer culture, to almost give a shopping list to our Lord and demand that "IF YOU Truly love me then....." I believe if we understood what this lady understood, the heart of our God, then we would humbly ask with expectation not because we deserve it but because of God's mercy, grace and love!

Please pray for GREAT faith! Please pray for the newly married couples Josh and Sarah Brudi, last week, (thanks again for all your prayers and support it went really well!,) as well as Matt and Brenna Behnke today! Please keep Rachael Kleimola and her family in your prayers as she is in hospice care! Please keep Joann Woodward and her family in your prayers as she recovers from a very difficult and stressful surgery!

See you tomorrow! It is going to be an awesome praise and worship time! I can't wait to worship our AWESOME LORD! Please remember to bring God sightings, or the Word at the end of the Worship after Communion.

Love in Christ,

Pastor

July 31 Pentecost 7: Believe: Telling the TRUTH?!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Tomorrow we continue on our journey through St. Paul's letter to the Church meeting in Rome. At the beginning of chapter 9, St. Paul struggles with the challenge of telling the truth, out of love, for people who do not wish to hear it. He is lamenting over the unbelief of his Jewish brethren. He states:
 ¹ I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, ⁴ the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

I remember a movie a few years back titled "A Few Good Men" when Tom Cruise, a JAG officer, is asking the Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson) in charge of the United States military base in Cuba, about his behavior. He demands to hear the truth while the Colonel states "you can't handle the truth!" (check it out, if you can handle the anger and language, @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hGvQtumNAY )

I think in some ways, with all of the "relative truth" and "political correctness" in our society we want to believe that we can't handle the truth and look the other way when the opportunity to share the Truth of Christ comes our way. I know in my own life I have had opportunities to share, as St. Paul is doing with his fellow Jewish family, relatives and friends, and instead of sharing the truth; even if it caused me "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" I have changed the subject! I have noticed that the Holy Spirit has grown the desire in me to find the "person of peace" who is open to the truth and share it. Jesus told his disciples, as he sent them out with the TRUTH, to find these people in Matthew 10:¹¹ “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.

Tomorrow we will look at the importance of telling the truth in love and looking for the "person of peace" so that we can bring truth to the nations!

It is true for us that with the Debt Limit Crisis and politics in general, truth seems to be a  matter of perspective. Truth seems to depends on who asks the question, the words used and the context and way it is asked. We are fortunate that the Lord Jesus has given us HIS WORD to keep us grounded on the TRUTH as the Jesus' Disciples said when challenged with the idea of Jesus as the "Bread of Life" in John 6:⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”   May we believe and know the TRUTH and the Holy one of God each day and tell the truth! Jesus also prayed in HIS high priestly prayer on the night HE was betrayed in John 17:¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

See you tomorrow as we worship the HOLY ONE OF GOD!

Reminder we will have the time of sharing each week following the worship after the Lord's Supper! Please ask the Lord if HE has something for you to share. Check the announcements on our website at www.crossandres.org.

Please remember all of our Church family is invited to our daughter Sarah's wedding next Saturday at St. Luke Lutheran Church at 1:00pm. If you have missed the invitation, please join us for this wonderful celebration of the gift of marriage between Josh and Sarah!

Love in Christ,
Pastor Bryan

July 24, 2011 "Belong: More than Conquerors!" Pentecost 6

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tomorrow we will share in the worship of our amazing Lord and hear the Word of God from Matthew's gospel and Romans 8. In Romans 8, St. Paul writes: "³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." These words are often heard at Christian Funerals. This is a very comforting passage of Holy Scripture for us each day!

Earlier in Romans 8 we hear "²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. The point of this is not that God automatically predestines some for heaven and some for hell through election (as our calvinist brothers and sisters believe) but that as Jesus said in John 12:32 "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He, God in Christ, will draw everyone to himself. Does this mean therefore everyone has to go to heaven? No, it means that our Lord, through the Holy Spirit draws, calls, gathers, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies! We hear this in Luther's explanation to the 3rd Article of the Apostles' Creed:

If people do not respond to the call then they are not justified, even though Christ died for all sins, once and for all! But God is faithful and will call, justify, glorify those who receive this free gift of grace! St. Paul wants us to know who we are when we receive the gifts that the Lord offers to us, as the Creed states: our adoption as children of God, our redemption in Christ and Sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what makes us more than conquerors and what makes Satan tremble when we live by the Spirit and know to whom we belong and what it means.

We are going to change a few things in worship tomorrow. Because we love to hear from the Word of God, prophecies and testimonies, sharing what the Lord has done and is doing, we are going to add a sharing time in the service each week. We are going to begin with our worship and prayer time as we normally do. We have the Gospel reading and then Children's message. We will read the text from Romans 8 which I will share from. After the Sermon we will share the peace and then confess our sins and enter into the Lord's supper. We will have the Lord's Supper and while we offer prayers during the worship time following the distribution, while we pray for people, healing etc... we will also offer time after the worship for people to share at the microphone at the side. An Elder will stand on the pulpit side at the front and everyone who wishes to share may come up and we will have sharing time every week. This will allow us to have "God-sightings" and other sharing on a regular basis! The Elders will be responsible for assisting the people who feel led to share by helping them in keeping good order and time. The Elder's and I believe this will facilitate an even greater appreciation for what we know the Lord is doing in the midst of his family here at Cross and Resurrection!

I look forward to worship tomorrow, giving our Lord all praise and honor!

Love in Christ Jesus our Risen Lord and Savior,

Pastor Bryan

July 17, 2011 "One TRULY Sent: Belong as Children of God"

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This Sunday is the 5th Sunday after Pentecost, in this "teaching season" of the church year. This week we continue to look at what it means to "be one truly sent by God" specifically looking at Romans 8 where St. Paul states in verse 19: "the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed."  This refers to the end of time but we as "Children of God" are able to share what has been revealed to us in Holy Scripture. We therefore are talking about what it means to be the "Children of God" revealing to the world what our Lord has done, is doing and will do. Our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 44:8 where Isaiah quotes the God of the universe saying to us: "Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” We have the privilege of being His witnesses. The Gospel lesson are the very words of Jesus when he declares in Matthew 13:43 "then the righteous (us) will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear!" We are going to make the sermon time a "God-sighting" time. I am asking everyone to prayerfully consider as you have experienced God, as His child, over the last few months doing amazing things that you would feel comfortable sharing with us. My sermon will be short and we will have the time to share! Also we are going to move the prayers to after Holy Communion, during our worship time to experience the intimacy of the "real presence" of Christ and pray, praise and give thanks during this time of worship. We are hoping to set up a training time to have more prophetic words in worship and this will better facilitate this experience of the Holy Spirit moving in the midst of Christ's body, the Children of God, in worship together. Holy communion is an "altar call" of sorts when we come to the Lord to know with all of our senses the forgiveness of sins and the power to live as Children of God!
See you on tomorrow!

Thanks in advance to those who help lead the worship and serve every week! If you want to share on Sunday please let me know!

Love in Christ,
Pastor

July 10th, 2011: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost "Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ"

This week we continue our journey of discovery into what it means "being one truly sent" which we first heard from the prophet Jeremiah. We will hear from Isaiah 55 about the power of God's Word as it is goes forth! We will hear Jesus sharing in the Matthew 13 about the seeds and the soil, those who received the Word. We will be looking specifically at our identity as ones who are truly sent in Romans 8. In Romans 8 St. Paul tells us of the importance in living by the Spirit and knowing we are Children of God and "heirs!" It is important to understand the way the Roman world looked at adoption and being heirs! Tomorrow we will look at the tremendous gift it was to be an "heir!" It also came with responsibilities especially if your "Co-Heir" was Christ!

Let us understand who we are as Children of God in Christ Jesus and recognize the privilege, power and responsibility we have a free people and slaves to righteousness. It is awesome to know to whom we belong and relationship our Lord wants to have with us!

June 26, 2011 "One who is truly sent by the Lord!"

Tomorrow we celebrate the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost. We are focusing on Jeremiah 28:9 where Jeremiah states: "But the prophet who prophecies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true!" With predictions of the end of the world a little over a month ago, changed now to November??, it is understandable that people like myself who want to see prophecy alive and well in the 21st Century church cringe at these false prophets!

Jeremiah had a real difficult task, telling people the truth when the false prophets were telling them what only what they wanted to hear. Why is it that people think that telling the truth has to be negative. If we look at history the truth could have been a great help to the people in Jerusalem. They may not have rebelled against Babylon again and ended up with everything destroyed in 586 BC. I am not a fan of "positive thinking" which overlooks the truth, but I am a great fan of "thinking positive" which takes into account the truth of what is happening but remembers that the Lord is king and we serve him!

May the world have less false prophets who tell people what they want to hear and more prophets like Jeremiah who reluctantly told people the truth, sometimes in dramatic fashion, to point them to repentance, life with God and freedom in the truth of redemption!

May we all honor God first and let everything else fall into the right place in our life! May we look at the world with truth as our perspective and Christ as our lens!

May we all be one who is truly sent!
Today we conclude our sermon series on Covenant. It seems appropriate to end with the realization of what the "New Covenant" really means to us who are living in it, by celebrating the special places mother's have in the nurture and faith of children.

St. Paul celebrated Mother's and grandmother's in 2 Timothy 1:
 ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ² To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ³ I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

St. Paul recognized the special place of encouragement and nurture given by Mother's. Today we look at the Gospel from St. Luke 24 where Jesus appears to the men on the road to Emmaus:
 ²⁵ He (Jesus) said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
 ²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
 ³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
 ³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Today we want to have our eyes opened to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit who is given to us in Holy Baptism and "who calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith" (Luther's Explanation of Third Article of Apostles' Creed in Small Catechism) We are called to live a life of faith and sanctification and therefore as Romans 12: 
 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I believe this is the desire of every parent, but especially our heavenly father's will, that we experience the transformational power of the New Covenant and His Holy Spirit in our lives each day. The Holy Spirit is the encourager and nurturer in the Old Testament and New Testament let us experience this transformation today. THEN OUR HEARTS WILL BE BURNING!

Texts to look up for more information Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 29, Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 11, 2 Corinthians 3, Romans 8, Galatians chapter 3-5 and Hebrew 12:18- the end of chapter 13. Check them out.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! CHRIST HAS RISEN! HE HAS RISEN INDEED HALLELUJAH!! On Friday, over a million people crowded London streets to see the Royal Wedding. It was called the wedding of the century? Over 2 billion people were said to have watched it!? I thought it was pretty interesting that the future King of England, Canada, Australia.....etc... was actually followed around and mobbed by other countries most especially the United States of America?? I thought it was interesting to hear people speculate about why things were done a certain way. For example: why was President Obama not invited? Why did he wear the "Red Coat"?...etc. Growing up with the monarchy and having been commissioned in the Canadian Armed Forces I appreciate the pomp and circumstance but this was not even a state wedding. Although William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are someday going to be the King and Queen, the heir apparent is still Prince Charles the Prince of Wales. For this reason it is not a state wedding, just a royal wedding. I also thought that the USA had problems with "Red Coats" yet William wore this color, not as an afront to the people across the pond, but because he is a Colonel in the Irish Guard, which is his highest rank in his Military service at this point. But the fairytale of a commoner, albeit a rich commoner, marrying THE future King is pretty exciting for many worldwide.

Today we look at the truth of the Covenant the Lord has made with us HIS people. In 1 Peter 2:9-10 the Lord says through Paul: 
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So we should pay attention to Royal Weddings but ours is with the Lord. Christ used marriage to explain the relationship he has with His Church in Ephesians 5
²² Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. 

Or in Revelations 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready". 

This is not only in the NEW Covenant. God in the Old Covenant used the marriage relationship to express His relationship with His people.

Isaiah 54:5 "For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth."
Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion."
Hosea 2:19-20 "I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD."


He really wants this relationship with us and that is why Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our redemption and the empty tomb we celebrated on Sunday proved God cut the covenant with us through Christ's Blood.

God is not pleased when we do not appreciate the love and relationship HE has done everything in order to establish. He speaks quite clearly about how important this Covenant is to HIM in Malachi 2:13-16: Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring^. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. 
Or in the Gospel of St. Matthew 19:3-6 "Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”


It is a reminder of Genesis 15 where Yahweh "cut the covenant" with Abram even while Abram was sleeping! Now it is time for us to appreciate the relationship and covenant HE has made with us and walk in the oneness of the marriage covenant with our LORD! "One flesh" is the biblical language of Marriage. In the Royal Wedding on Friday it was interesting that William said everything I am and have is yours to Kate. I think that is soooo important for us to appreciate in our relationship with the God of the universe that we "Yaddah," "know" in Hebrew, the intimacy that our God wants to have with us in Christ and that His love is everlasting and more amazing than we will ever truly understand. I know in the Lutheran Church we do not have Marriage as a sacrament (latin for mystery) because it does not offer the forgiveness of sins, although there is a lot of forgiveness in marriage all around:) but I think we should always appreciate the intimacy of being ONE! I know I love being married and the relationship I have with my wife and I know the Lord desires this to be an example of the relationship he wants with each one of us!

May we as the Royal Priests, a HOLY nation, a people belonging to God, understand the Covenant of Love the Lord has made with us! May we walk with the confidence, love and hope that comes from knowing the Lord and walking in His love, grace, mercy and power!!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, (this is long but please read this important information)

Today (Palm Saturday) we experience a preview of Holy Week, the Passion and Resurrection for our families! It is awesome to see the children learn what this is all about, make pretzels, crafts etc...

Tomorrow (Palm or Passion Sunday,) we celebrate the experience of the Procession of Palms and Balloons remembering the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in John 12:

 ¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

   “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

 ¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
   see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

 ¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

 ¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

We continue the service after processing in with palms and balloons to the song HOSANNA, with the reading of the remainder of John 12 hearing specifically of the words:

 ²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

 ²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

   ²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

   Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

 ³⁰ Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. ³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up^[g] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. 

The prayer we have for everyone as we enter into Holy Week, with the conclusion of our reading through the New Covenant (Testament) is that we have gained a much better understanding of the Covenants God has made with us in the Old Covenant as well as the New. Starting in Gen. 3:15, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to King David and today Jeremiah 31 looking at what GOD does in Covenant with us and how HE gave us these promises and now we prepare to see life through the NEW Covenant we have in CHRIST JESUS through our relationship with HIM and in our Baptism. That we would see, feel and hear JESUS!

I have the privilege of sharing this message at ALIVE! in Tecumseh at 4. But if you are not joining us there please remember: 

On Palm Sunday, April 17th come celebrate our Lord at Hosanna!  join with Christians for a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic but ONE LORD from 5:00 to 6:30 at the  Michigan Theater for HOSANNA 2011!  This promises to be a fantastic time!

This HOLY WEEK we celebrate the truth and celebrate Christ's giving of HIS NEW COMMAND on MAUNDY THURSDAY (Maundatum: meaning mandate) in the words of John 15: (During the Last Supper which we will celebrate on Thursday in the Passover Seder Meal at 6pm)

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

After we celebrate the Passover Seder we will Strip the Altar as a reminder of Jesus' journey to the Garden of Gethsemane and HIS State of Humiliation. 

On Friday evening at 7 we will have a Good Friday service where we leave in silence and contemplate the BLOOD of the NEW Covenant shed on the cross of Calvary!

On Holy Saturday we will not have a Vigil this Easter, due to the Pastor's health but we will spend this time in prayer! 

Sunday morning we will Celebrate a late Sonrise Service at 7:45am with Easter Breakfast from 8:15-10:15 with Resurrection DAY Service happening at 10:30! There will be no Christian Education Hour on Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday. (There will be NO 12:15 Service this year.) We are going to Celebrate "Living life through the perspective of the NEW Covenant and the Cross and Empty Tomb" It will be awesome! 

Please pray for the Palm Saturday celebration, Holy Week Services, as well as the students finishing up at EMU, Washtenaw Community College, Concordia University and U of M. 

Please keep the Saturday after Easter (April 30) to join us in Spring cleaning at the Church. The Saturday after Easter, April 30th, we will have a Spring Cleanup Day inside and outside the building.  We will start around 9:00 and have a cookout at noon.  Bring your tools, rags and cleaners and lets make our Lord's House look extra nice! 

On Sunday, May 1 we will have a shortened 12:15 Service with Worship, Prayer and Testimonies then there will be the BLESSING of BIKES with a BBQ and Fellowship time at 1:10. 

May God richly bless you all as we prepare for HOLY WEEK and look forward to what the Lord will do and how HE will change our lives! I really look forward to seeing you tomorrow, Sunday, Holy Week and EASTER!

Love in Christ Jesus our amazing LORD and SAVIOR,

Pastor Bryan

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Sorry I caused some confusion with the email I sent out. Because of Palm Saturday Family Celebration we will not have Sunday School tomorrow! BUT we will have Jim Fry's Covenant and Kingdom study at 8:50am with Child care provided. Please come early to join this class, enjoy coffee and fellowship and get your palms or balloons. Don't miss out it is going to be awesome. ALSO we have no Christian Education Hour next Sunday because of Easter breakfast! So no covenant and Kingdom study on Wed or Sunday. BUT we will be back to Wednesdays at 7:30 and Sunday at 8:50 the week after Easter. Great study please join us!

Please pray for the Building Committee and Council as they meet on Sunday to go over the bids and move us ahead on the Building project. We hope to be starting very soon.

We will be having lunches until May 1. As well as the Bike Blessing and BBQ on May 1. (I am not sure how this will all work yet?)May 8th is Mother's Day so we are on our own. May 22nd will be the last Christian Education Hour.

God richly bless you all!

Love in Christ,
Pastor Bryan
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Tomorrow is the Third Sunday in Lent. As we strive to celebrate this reflective season of Lent I want to encourage you all in the continuation of your reading through the New Testament! If you are doing the Gospel and Letter portions each day, which is what I am doing, you are finishing Luke 5 and Ephesians 6 today. I hope in the next few weeks to have people share what the Lord has been revealing during this Lenten discipline.

Tomorrow we will have JIM FRY LEADING THE COVENANT AND KINGDOM STUDY that was on Wednesday, following the Lenten Service. It will start in the sanctuary at 8:50am and THERE WILL BE CHILDCARE PROVIDED! We want everyone to take in this class to better understand where we as a church family are journeying to Share Christ: BELONG, BELIEVE, BECOME!

Tomorrow we continue with our Series on Covenant and Kingdom looking at the Covenant God initiates with Abram/Abraham. This is a unique covenant in that we see Abraham receiving a remarkable gift of the "Royal Land Grant (unconditional) Covenant" in Gen 15 where God does it all! Then in Gen 17 a restating of this Covenant with a Name change, a Sign (Circumcision/heart change) and then a game changer which is the promise of land and multitudes of descendants! The difference here is that in Gen 17 God gives Abraham and his descendants an "out" if they do not want the blessings. Don't be circumcised and then you will void the covenant. This is unique and in Old Testament, of which I studied as my major in my BTS and MDiv, and is called a Suzerain-vassal where there is an act of love and total consecration to the King, ie: circumcision of the heart as God will later explain.

Tomorrow please join us for the AWARDS CEREMONY FOR THIS UPWARDS SEASON at 4pm at the EMU Convocation Center. Our own Abbie Stauffer will be sharing her remarkable gift of music from 3:30-4 so arrive early! It is free and the presenter is awesome!! She will be worshiping the Lord with us tomorrow morning! Please come and bring friends!!

As I have spent most of the week in bed wrestling with the multiple viruses that I received, I want to thank those who have faithfully continued to serve in the many ministries happening at C&R! Special thanks to Paul for taking over on Wednesday and for those who help with Ladies Bible Class, Wednesday meal, small groups, college outreach and Covenant and Kingdom. Thanks to all those who helped out with the Soaking Prayer time on Thursday, I really wish I could have been there! Thanks to Jim and Marsha for coming to pray with me and for all your prayers!

This Thursday at 11am there will be a Funeral Service for Stephen Masch, son of Gary and Betty Masch. I will be leading the Service Liturgy and Pastor Ron Zehnder will be preaching. The service will be at St. Luke with a lunch following. Contact Joanne at the office if you wish to help or find out more information. Please keep the Masch family in your prayers during this time. Stephen passed away in North Carolina from a automobile accident and this has been a long two weeks for Gary, Betty, Mike, Laura, Bethany as they said "goodbye" to their son and brother. They look forward to celebrating the gift of everlasting life that we have in Christ on Thursday! Gary also has been recovering from surgery.

Next week my Discussion Huddle on Thursday will not be happening but anyone who desires can join me and my daughters at Winter Jam 2011 at the EMU Convocation Center from 6-9 for only $10 you get great Christian Entertainment! Come early, last year people were turned away! check out Winter Jam on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=112630005468913

Please remember to pick up the parking pass tomorrow for Wednesday so you can park in EMU parking and join us for the Dinner @ 6 :15 and our continuing study @ 7 on "Sometimes a great defensive is the best offense!" a study of the armor of God in Ephesians 6 this week: FEET fitted with readiness! Remember that the small group, College group and Covenant & Kingdom study is on right after the half-hour Lenten service Childcare is provided for the Study.

Tomorrow and Monday please take advantage of the Answers in Genesis workshop at St. Paul's Lutheran School. Answers in Genesis Conference: Not Ashamed Sunday, March 27 & Monday, March 28 St. Paul Lutheran School (495 Earhart Rd) Dr. Terry Mortenson from Answers in Genesis will address: Sunday evening 7 PM Genesis: Key to Evangelism Today 8:15 PM Noah's Flood: Washing Away Millions of Years Monday evening 7 PM Origin of Species: Was Darwin Right? 8:15 PM Ape-men: The Grand Illusion No cost & no RSVP necessary, open to the public Questions contact 734-665-9117 or visit the AIG website for more details.

Personal note:
I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. I am feeling better and the Dr. has let me stop taking the immune suppressant drugs  for the next two weeks so that I can get over these bugs. I believe the Lord has already healed me of two, so I look forward to being with you all tomorrow! Our daughter Sarah is engaged to Joshua Brudi as of last Tuesday! We are very excited as this spring and summer is filling up!

Love in Christ Jesus, our amazing Lord,

Pastor Bryan