ASLC Devotions -- Friday

2 Peter 1:2 May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

We live in anxious times. We live in times of fear and uncertainty. Sometimes that fear is intentionally created and built up (see the latest campaign mailing to hit your mailbox). Sometimes that fear is a natural by-product of economic conditions, of workplace stresses, of family stresses. Whatever the source: we live in anxious times

I pray that you may find grace and peace in abundance. I pray that you may know that God is God and Jesus is the Lord and you don't need to have either one of those jobs. I pray that grace and peace might be yours in abundance. Amen.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Worship with us this Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11.
Sunday afternoon between 3 and 5 pm, we will hold a "Trunk or Treat" event in our parking lot. Bring your kids and pass the word - a safe place to trick or treat from several cars!

ASLC Devotions -- Thursday

1 John 4:1-2 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

How am I supposed to know who is speaking God's will when lots of people claim to know God's will? "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." 

A seminary professor once said that if you have a problem with another person... especially any of the -isms... racism, sexism, homophobism, classism, etc... then really you've got a problem with Jesus Christ on the cross. Because Jesus died on the cross for everyone. Jesus died on the cross for the people who don't look like you or think like you. Jesus died on the cross and, if you have a problem with someone else, what you're saying is "Jesus, how dare you die for her?"

If someone claims to speak for God and what they say would negate Jesus sacrifice for another person, then it's a lie. It's a false prophet. It's a false spirit. Reject it. Cling to the faith that Jesus Christ opened his arms on the cross for everyone. Simple. End of story.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Join us for worship Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11. We will celebrate Affirmation of Baptism (Confirmation) at the 11:00 service. See you then!
Sunday afternoon between 3 and 5 pm, we will hold a "Trunk or Treat" event in our parking lot. Bring your kids and pass the word - a safe place to trick or treat from several cars!

ASLC Devotions -- Wednesday

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
   he bestows favour and honour.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
   from those who walk uprightly.

No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.  Um, really. There are days when I read something like this and I think "Well then I must not be walking uprightly, because lots of good things seem to be being withheld." And while I encourage conversation and dialogue regarding these messages, please refrain from letting me know whether you think I'm walking uprightly. Let's keep those opinions to ourselves!

But I really don't think that's the issue. The issue is the good things. The issue is whether God is withholding, or whether God is withholding things that are truly good. This kind of question always brings to mind a phrase I've learned from African-American sisters and brothers: "God may not come when you want him. But he's always on time."

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Join us for worship this weekend at 8:30 and 11. We will celebrate the Rite of Affirmation of Baptism (aka Confirmation) at the 11:00 service.
See you then!

ASLC Devotions -- Friday

2 Timothy 3:13-15
¹³But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Do you ever wonder what it is exactly that you're supposed to be doing? Not in a task-list sort of way, but in a bigger picture, what is my life supposed to be like sort of way? It seems that today's scripture reminds us that our task is to continue -- to persevere.

But as for you, it says, continue in what you have learned. As for you, over here -- remember what you've learned about salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Carry on in the faith that you have learned from childhood, and persevere. 

Peace,
Pastor Jenn

ASLC Devotions -- Thursday

2 Timothy 3:8-9
⁸As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people, of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, also oppose the truth. ⁹But they will not make much progress, because, as in the case of those two men, their folly will become plain to everyone.

The trouble with a passage like this is that we can get hung up on questions like "What is the truth?" and "How do we know what is folly and what is faith?" The previous verses give us some clue that the divide centered on such things as people who are "lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit."

It would seem that no matter how you define truth or folly, these descriptors provide a pretty good clue as to how we shouldn't act toward one another. It might feel like too much on any given day to live a perfect life. After all, none of us are perfect (no, not even you!). But it does seem that we can do our best not to be abusive or arrogant or ungrateful or brutes or inhuman. So, dear ones, let's start there.

Peace,
Pastor Jenn

PS. I apologize with the unscheduled interruption of devotions earlier this week! There's nothing wrong with your email program...

ASLC Devotions - Friday

2 Timothy 2:23 Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

Usually I use this space to try to provide a little hope and good news for your morning. Today instead we're going to provide a little bit of advice. Ancient advice. But simple advice. The book of the Bible 2 Timothy was written to Timothy who was learning to be a pastor by some older and more experienced mentor. Lots of it is advice about how to be a leader and an example of Christian faith. This verse is no exception: "Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels."

So stupid and senseless controversies must have been a part of church life 2000 years ago. And they must have been a part of business life, and civic life, and political life, and family life. Hmmmm... Not much has changed in 2000 years has it? Stupid and senseless controversies are all around.

I'd like to invite you today to join me in having nothing to do with them. Walk away. Choose a higher road. Focus your mind and your heart on things that matter. You never know! God might have something better in store for you.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Join us tomorrow morning for Men's Breakfast at 8 am as Bob Crawford shares conversation with us about the political season (speaking of stupid and senseless controversies). Worship Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11.

ASLC Devotions - Thursday

Acts 17:28 For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said,
“For we too are his offspring.”

This is one tiny excerpt of a sermon that Paul gave to a group of Athenians. It's a great sermon. Lots of good stuff. But I pulled this one line out just because of the thing that Paul quotes actually: "In him we live and move and have our being." That's a reminder that I need this morning.

It is in God that I live. It is in God that I move. It is in God that I have my being. And if that's true, then nothing can take any of that away. Nothing can take away my living and being, because God is protecting it all. And nothing can take away my moving - my freedom of movement - my joyful movement - my dancing, because all of it rests in God.

In God you live and move and have your being.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Join us Saturday morning at 8 for Men's Breakfast with our speaker Bob Crawford. And Sunday morning for worship at 8:30 and 11. More details at http://www.allsaintspalatine.org

ASLC Devotions - Wednesday

Psalm 61:4
Let me abide in your tent for ever,
   find refuge under the shelter of your wings.

Some days I just want to pull the covers back up over my head and stay in bed. Maybe it's the gray and dreary weather outside the window. Maybe it's the gray and dreary tasks on my to-do list. Maybe it's just sheer human laziness. But sometimes I just want to stay put and not have to face the world.

"Let me abide in your tent forever." It would be wonderful to be able to stay in God's tent and not have to face the world and all its real-life problems and real-life situations. It would be nice to stay sheltered and comfy and cozy. But of course we can't stay there. We all need to face the day. We need to face what the day brings.

It's sure a good thing that God's tent is bigger than my bed, bigger than my home. God's tent follows me and shelters me wherever I go.

May you know God's presence and shelter today, wherever you roam.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Join together tonight for prayer and fellowship. Holden Evening Prayer at 7 pm followed by fellowship in the Gathering Space. Bring a dish or bottle to pass.

ASLC Devotions -- Tuesday

 Psalm 41:3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
   in their illness you heal all their infirmities.

In some ways I really believe that I have the greatest job in the world. I am privileged to be able to walk with people through all kinds of joys and sorrows in life, and to learn from them all along the way.

I walked into Joyce's room expecting sadness and tears. Anybody would have expected sadness and tears after Joyce's diagnosis. She didn't have much longer to live and what she had would be painful and hard. That was sure. I was prepared to try to offer comfort and to try to assure her that God would be with her even through all of this. That's my job.

Except that she assured me. She assured me that God is good, and that God had given her so many blessings throughout her life. She wanted only to talk about thankfulness. She wanted to talk about passing on her faith to her children and gratitude. I don't know about her children and grandchildren, but I know she passed on her faithfulness to me. The faithfulness that says, "Even here on my sickbed, I know that God sustains me and that God is a good and gracious God" is a faithfulness I can continue to learn and to carry.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for more information. Join us for prayer, singing, and fellowship Wednesday evening. Holden Evening Prayer is at 7 pm and join us for fellowship in the Gathering Space afterward. Bring a dish to share and join in the fun!

ASLC Devotions -- Monday

2 Kings 5:15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, ‘Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.'

Naaman is the "he" referred to here. He was a great general of a foreign army who had his leprosy healed by a prophet of the God of Israel. He was impressed to say the least. You have your skin disease disappear out of nowhere and your skin completely cleaned, you'll put some stock in whatever God or belief-system accomplished it. You'd believe too, I'd venture to say. Anybody would.

I've never seen a skin disease cured. I don't have that as a basis of faith.

But I've seen a woman reconciled with her mother after 35 years of not speaking. I've seen people fed who otherwise would have starved to death. I've seen it. I've seen this and so much more. I've seen it and it feeds my faith. It nourishes my faith. It reinforces my faith. It causes me to take Naaman's confession and change it up slightly. Naaman said "I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel." I say "I know that the God of Israel is alive and well in all the earth."

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

For more information, visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org  Join us Wednesday evening for Holden Evening Prayer and fellowship at 7 pm. Bring a dish to pass for the fellowship time.
 

ASLC Devotions -- Friday

2 Timothy 2:1-2
You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; ²and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.

This is the heart of any graduation speech, congratulations card or send-off: be strong, and share what you have learned with others. To boil it down like that might seem like I'm not taking it very seriously, but I'd argue just the opposite. There are so many things that we learn throughout our lives -- and it is important to share them with others. Why should our knowledge about the Gospel and grace of Jesus Christ be any different? 

I love, though, that all of that comes after the encouragement to be strong in the grace. Take encouragement to be strong. Take comfort to be strong. And then share what you have heard and what you know.

Peace,
Pastor Jenn

ASLC Devotions -- Thursday

2 Timothy 1:13-14
¹³Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

The letters that we read in scripture are full of many things -- some admonish, some encourage, some teach, some preach. These few lines remind the reader to uphold and guard the treasure, the Gospel message -- the Good News of Jesus Christ. Today we still hear about this teaching and treasure that we read about in the second letter to Timothy -- we still have received sound teaching and the Gospel message.

And, we don't have to do it alone -- the Holy Spirit lives in us. However, if that Holy Spirit feels a little quiet, take note that there are others in your life (and mine!) who help us to do these things. We have mentors and guides and wisdom folks who embody the role of guard and teacher, helping us to remember what we have learned and the value of this amazing treasure that we have received. Give thanks today for those Spirit-folks in your life. 

Peace,
Pastor Jenn

ASLC Devotions -- Wednesday

Psalm 3:5-6
⁵ I lie down and sleep;
   I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
⁶ I am not afraid of tens of thousands of people
   who have set themselves against me all around.

On those nights when I cannot sleep because of worry, I am sometimes of clear enough mind to realize the absurdity of worrying late into the night. Not that I'm recommending that we worry during daylight hours, either, mind you, but there are often enough distractions during the day that our obsessive worries get a break. If we truly believe that the Lord sustains us, then we should sleep. If we truly trust in the Lord, we should sleep.

I've had several people tell me over the years that they feel badly about falling asleep in the middle of their bedtime prayers. Now, I don't know many conversation partners who would be appreciative if you fell asleep while talking with them, but I think that's maybe exactly what God wants us to do -- turn your worries over to God at the end of the day, and sleep. You will wake again, for the Lord sustains you. Do not be afraid. Rest.

Peace,
Pastor Jenn

ASLC Devotions -- Tuesday

Habakkuk 2:2-4
 ² Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
   make it plain on tablets,
   so that a runner may read it. 
³ For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
   it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
   it will surely come, it will not delay. 

Perhaps the most powerful part of our words from Habakkuk today might be: "then the Lord answered me." In some ways it hardly matters exactly what the Lord says, but simply know that there's an answer can bring comfort and relief. Now, I know that's not always the case -- the answer we get or the response that comes can be far from what we hoped we would hear. But God does answer, and to Habakkuk, God says that there's still a vision, and that the task is still to write it -- large and plainly. 

Habakkuk was a prophet, and he was hoping for a message from God to bring to the people, the wayward people. And, God assures him that the message is coming -- even if Habakkuk needs to have a little more patience. God has answered, the vision is coming, have patience. Take comfort -- the vision is coming. Have patience. 

Peace, 
Pastor Jenn

ASLC Devotions -- Monday

Habakkuk 1:12-14
 ¹² Are you not from of old,
   O Lord my God, my Holy One?
   You shall not die.
O Lord, you have marked them for judgement;
   and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment. 
¹³ Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,
   and you cannot look on wrongdoing;
why do you look on the treacherous,
   and are silent when the wicked swallow
   those more righteous than they? 
¹⁴ You have made people like the fish of the sea,
   like crawling things that have no ruler.

Habakkuk seems like a cheeky prophet, like a prophet that got a little bit sassy with God, and somehow lived to tell about it. Some editors of modern translations, the folks who put those descriptive headings into our Bibles, have called this first chapter of Habakkuk "The Prophet's Complaint." Seems pretty accurate, especially when we read verse 13 -- why don't you say something, God, when the wicked eat up the good? Perhaps by my standards, though, we could all be considered a little bit cheeky when we wonder why God doesn't seem to speak a word to situations riddled with injustice.

There are two parts of Habakkuk's scripture that I find beautiful, however. One, the prophet brings a word to God -- a word of complaint, a word seeking justice, a word of information, a feisty word of challenge. Perhaps we sometimes shy away from being sassy with God -- we have lost the art of bringing a word to God, the art of prophetic give and take. And two, God responds. We'll hear that response tomorrow, but for today know that this is not a one-sided conversation that Habakkuk has with God -- and our conversations, our prayers, with God are not one-sided, either.

Peace,
Pastor Jenn 

ASLC Devotions -- Friday

Revelation 2:17 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.

To those of us who conquer (through our baptism and the death and resurrection of Jesus), God promises to give us a white stone with a new name written on it. God says that nobody knows what the name is. God sent this message and seemed to want to promise us a new name but tell us not to bother trying to figure out the name.

Risking getting in trouble for even guessing, I've got a guess. I've got a guess of the new name that will be given to all of us at the end. I think it's "Christian." We've been marked. We've been claimed. Our sinful selves have been covered over in the purest white. We are now called not sinful Seth, but Christian.

That's my guess, and someday we'll all find out!

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

See http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for information about all of our ministries and a full calendar. Bring your pets for a service of blessing Saturday morning in the church parking lot at 9. Worship Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11.