ASLC Devotions -- Monday, September 30

Amos 6:11, 14

¹¹ See, the Lord commands,
   and the great house shall be shattered to bits,
   and the little house to pieces.

¹⁴ Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
   O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
   to the Wadi Arabah.

The prophecy of the Lord that Amos spoke was not one of comfort or great consolation. There is great death and calamity foretold, particularly for those who oppress the poor and are not concerned with justice. I find myself sort of agreeing with his message – after all, I feel convicted by the mandate to care for the least among us. But I also find myself thinking, “Ok, Amos… but do you have to be so … harsh?”

I came across a list of quotes from my Hebrew and Old Testament professor Dr. Ralph Klein recently. Top among them was this gem: “Did people say about Amos…cut him a little slack, he’s going to be in the Bible?” Regardless of how we feel about the strength of Amos’ message, the Lord’s message to care for the poor should not be taken lightly. Seems that we can cut Amos a little slack, but not the Lord.

Peace,

Pastor Jenn

ASLC Devotions - Friday

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

It would be hard to find one verse in the Bible that more succinctly and clearly states the whole point of Martin Lutheran and his reformer friends. This is why there are Lutherans. This is why Lutherans are a prepositional people: we think the prepositions are really important. BY grace you have been saved THROUGH faith. It puts everything in the right order.

Sometimes I wonder whether there's still a point in there being Lutherans, 500 years later. I mean, we all are asking different questions with our lives than medieval Germans were asking. But then I remember this. I remember that salvation, life, and everything we are gifts of God. I guess I still believe there's a need for that message in the world.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.

ASLC Devotions - Thursday

2 Corinthians 8:12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their financial stewardship. He was going throughout the church and collecting money for the poorer sisters and brothers in the church in Jerusalem. He was encouraging the Corinthians to continue giving as they had planned when he had been with them. They had filled out pledge cards and he was reminding them to fulfill their pledge.

And he makes a critical point for all of us, whether we're talking about financial giving or giving our time and talent. God does not (and nor should we) judge whether a gift is acceptable or not based on what it is or how big it is. Instead, eagerness and love are what matters. Again, it's the old saying that is profoundly true: "It's the thought that counts."

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.

ASLC Devotions - Wednesday

Luke 21:1-4 He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ²he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³He said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; ⁴for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.’

As we're entering the season in the life of the church when we consider our financial pledges for next year, it's good to think about this passage. One criticism of the church (not just this congregation, but the church in general) is that all we ever talk about is money and giving more money. The reality is that we probably don't talk about money often enough. And it's not just because the church needs money to do the things we expect the church to do (which is true), but more importantly it's about you - it's about all of us.

This familiar story of a widow who put in two small copper coins and was praised by Jesus tells the tale. The most important thing about stewardship is stewardship: the most important thing about stewardship is how you take care of the things (the assets) that God has given you. Do you hoard them and think of them as yours? Or do you recognize that everything in life is a gift from a gracious God and treat them accordingly? That's the important question of the life of a good Christian steward.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.

ASLC Devotions - Tuesday

Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
   than a house full of feasting with strife. 

The book of Proverbs is truly what it sounds like: it's a biblical book that is simply a collection of short wisdom sayings, or proverbs. Some of them sound like the kind of thing you'd expect to read inside a fortune cookie with your Chinese take-out. 

The thing about these kinds of sayings is that we all recognize how true they are: they are self-evident and it sometimes almost silly to say them. Well, of course, we think. Why do we even have to bother talking about that? I think the reason is, no matter how obviously true we all think they are, we have trouble living them. Like the above: we all know that we'd rather have a peaceful and nice life with little material goods than tons of material goods and struggling all the time. And yet, if someone looked at your life from the outside, would they believe that's what you were working toward?

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.

ASLC Devotions - Monday

Proverbs 14:31 Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker,
   but those who are kind to the needy honour him.

This is basically another way of saying the familiar notion of Christianity: that whatever we do to the "least of these" we are doing to Jesus. God made each one of us - we are, all of us, made in God's image. This includes you and your family as well as the other families who lives on your street, in your town, across the state, and around the world.

When we mistreat one another, what is really happening is that the image of God is being denied in that other person. Think about it: if we REALLY thought of everyone we meet as the image of God, would that change how we treat that person? I'm sad to admit that, for me, it probably would. So we strive more and more to see the image of God in everyone, to not insult their Maker and our God.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.

ASLC Devotions - Thursday

1 Timothy 1:5 But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.

It is the season of beginnings in the church, the beginning of Sunday School and Confirmation and Youth Group. Adult Forums and adult Bible Studies are starting up. There are lots of opportunities for you to learn and grow in your faith. But why? What's the point of Christian learning ministries?

It's not to make you feel bad for what you don't know. It's not to make you feel more superior to those who don't participate in a Bible Study. It's not simply to intellectually intrigue you. No - the goal of Christian instruction is love. We are trying to build up love. Let's work on that.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.

ASLC Devotions - Wednesday

Luke 18:27 Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.’

Do you have any problems today? Is there anything that seems overwhelming or too big for you to tackle? Is there a situation you'd rather run and hide from than face head-on. Do you every feel like saying "it's impossible."

It's true that there are some problems in life that are simply impossible to handle. It's true that there are situations that simply are impossible. 

For you.
And for me.

But not for God.
With God, all things are possible. God can change your life. If God can raise God's own Son from the dead, what can't God handle?

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45. TONIGHT, join us for Holden Evening Prayer at 7:30 during our final Summer Supper.

ASLC Devotions - Tuesday

Psalm 29:3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters. 

God's voice is powerful. God's voice is strong. God's voice cuts through the big storms around us. I don't know what storms are happening in your life. Frankly, since I'm typing this last Friday, I don't even know what storms are happening in my life today. I don't know whether US planes are dropping bombs on Syria today or not. I don't know if there is simply just the loud bluster of war and destruction that goes on around the world every day.

No matter what noise is being made today... no matter what noise is threatening to drown our every good thing in your life... know that the voice and the glory of God is louder. Thanks be to God!

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.

ASLC Devotions - Monday

2 Kings 17:41 So these nations worshipped the Lord, but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children’s children continue to do as their ancestors did.

I am not writing this morning anything in particular about the style of worship of "these nations" referenced in 2 Kings. Whether it was OK or not to serve carved images along with God (hint: it's not) is not the point to ponder for today. Today I just want to focus on the idea that "to this day their children and their children's children continue to do as their ancestors did."

YOU are the primary teacher of faith for your children and for your grandchildren. Parents who make worship and prayer a priority in their lives have children who grow to make worship and prayer a priority in their lives. Simple, but profound. There are obviously no guarantees in life and everyone makes their own decisions and chooses their own paths. But if you care about the faith-life of your children or your grandchildren or the children in your neighborhood, the number one thing you can do is to care about your faith-life. Pass it on. It works. It's the only way it has ever worked.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

This message is a ministry of All Saints Lutheran Church. If you wish to be unsubscribed, please send us a message. Visit our website for full calendar and information about our ministries.  This Sunday we worship at 8:30 and 11 with Education Hour at 9:45.