Mark 4:25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
I've often been bothered by this verse. It doesn't seem fair for Jesus to say that even the little that those have nothing have - that will be taken away. Come to think of it, how can those who have nothing have anything taken away? They already have nothing. It just doesn't seem to fit, either with logic, or with the logic of Jesus and God as I know it.
But then I remember the little bit of faith I have. I remember the times when I join with one man who spoke to Jesus who said "I believe. Help my unbelief." I remember how I trust in Jesus - some of the time. I remember how I put my faith in Jesus - in some aspects of my life. And I hold fast to the promise that more will be given. More faith will be given. More trust will be given. And I open my hands to receive...
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Remember to join together in worship this Saturday evening at 5 and Sunday morning at 9. As always, find more information about events at http://www.allsaintspalatine.org and also as always, please be careful driving on Quentin Road and coming in and out of the church parking lot through the construction.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
ASLC Devotions - Wednesday
Friday, April 27, 2012
ASLC Devotions - Friday
Acts 4:1-4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.
I wanted to give you this whole passage because I think it helps illustrate where we (the church) have come from, as a people. And it illustrates the power that is in us - that's right, I said it in the present tense.
Peter and John annoyed powerful people by their words about God - they were saying that in Jesus there's resurrection of the dead. This annoyed the powerful people so much, they were arrested. We come from a tradition of people so strong in their faith that they'll speak the truth and risk prison for it.
And, we are formed by a message that's powerful. Even when they were put in prison, "many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand." Did you catch that? 5,000 people believed. 5,000 people became convinced of who Jesus is by the words of these prophets Peter and John. The power of their words (which we call the Holy Spirit) is still at work today. New people come to learn the story because of you and what you say. People come to believe it in new ways because of your story. Your words have power. Alleluia!
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for news and updates. Worship with us Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11. This Sunday afternoon, our Director of Music, Doug Williams, will be providing an organ recital at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1218 W Addison) in Chicago at 3 pm. Holy Trinity is near Wrigley Field but there's no Cubs game, and street parking is available, especially on Addison.
I wanted to give you this whole passage because I think it helps illustrate where we (the church) have come from, as a people. And it illustrates the power that is in us - that's right, I said it in the present tense.
Peter and John annoyed powerful people by their words about God - they were saying that in Jesus there's resurrection of the dead. This annoyed the powerful people so much, they were arrested. We come from a tradition of people so strong in their faith that they'll speak the truth and risk prison for it.
And, we are formed by a message that's powerful. Even when they were put in prison, "many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand." Did you catch that? 5,000 people believed. 5,000 people became convinced of who Jesus is by the words of these prophets Peter and John. The power of their words (which we call the Holy Spirit) is still at work today. New people come to learn the story because of you and what you say. People come to believe it in new ways because of your story. Your words have power. Alleluia!
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for news and updates. Worship with us Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11. This Sunday afternoon, our Director of Music, Doug Williams, will be providing an organ recital at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1218 W Addison) in Chicago at 3 pm. Holy Trinity is near Wrigley Field but there's no Cubs game, and street parking is available, especially on Addison.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
ASLC Devotions - Thursday
Acts 3:25 You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, “And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
This is an excerpt from a sermon delivered by Peter just a little while after the first Easter, long ago. He was speaking to a Jewish audience and trying to help them understand who Jesus was and what it had to do with their faith and with God's faithfulness to the promises God had made to the Jewish people. So he told them they were descendants of prophets, and descendants of the covenant God gave to Abraham. He told them that they were the descendants God meant when God said "In your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
I know that not many of you are Jewish. Neither am I. But we've been joined to Israel through our baptism into Jesus. So in a sense, these words are meant for us as well. So, people of God... people called All Saints... YOU are the descendants of the prophets. YOU are the descendants of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors. And in YOU, people of God called All Saints, in YOU, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for news and updates. Worship with us Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11. This Sunday afternoon, our Director of Music, Doug Williams, will be providing an organ recital at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1218 W Addison) in Chicago at 3 pm. Holy Trinity is near Wrigley Field but there's no Cubs game, and street parking is available, especially on Addison.
This is an excerpt from a sermon delivered by Peter just a little while after the first Easter, long ago. He was speaking to a Jewish audience and trying to help them understand who Jesus was and what it had to do with their faith and with God's faithfulness to the promises God had made to the Jewish people. So he told them they were descendants of prophets, and descendants of the covenant God gave to Abraham. He told them that they were the descendants God meant when God said "In your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
I know that not many of you are Jewish. Neither am I. But we've been joined to Israel through our baptism into Jesus. So in a sense, these words are meant for us as well. So, people of God... people called All Saints... YOU are the descendants of the prophets. YOU are the descendants of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors. And in YOU, people of God called All Saints, in YOU, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for news and updates. Worship with us Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11. This Sunday afternoon, our Director of Music, Doug Williams, will be providing an organ recital at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1218 W Addison) in Chicago at 3 pm. Holy Trinity is near Wrigley Field but there's no Cubs game, and street parking is available, especially on Addison.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
ASLC Devotions - Wednesday
2 Timothy 4:8 From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
I've often said that I wish Christians (or Lutheran Christians specifically) got to wear better headgear. I mean, think about it - Muslims wear head-coverings or scarves, Sikhs wear turbans, Jews get to wear yarmulkes. And we've got nothing. Obviously depending on the situation and the particularities of the person's observance, you might recognize that someone is Jewish or Sikh or Muslim based on the headwear just walking down the street. It's hard to hide who you are and what you believe when you wear it on your head.
And then the writer of this letter to Timothy tells me that we have special headgear. We have the crown of righteousness. That sounds nice. That sounds impressive. This crown will be given to all who have longed for the appearance of the Lord. It will be given to us - "on that day." In the future - at the fulfillment. So our headgear is coming. For now, we'll have to find another way to let people know who we are and what we believe.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for news and updates. Worship with us Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11. This Sunday afternoon, our Director of Music, Doug Williams, will be providing an organ recital at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1218 W Addison) in Chicago at 3 pm. Holy Trinity is near Wrigley Field but there's no Cubs game, and street parking is available, especially on Addison.
I've often said that I wish Christians (or Lutheran Christians specifically) got to wear better headgear. I mean, think about it - Muslims wear head-coverings or scarves, Sikhs wear turbans, Jews get to wear yarmulkes. And we've got nothing. Obviously depending on the situation and the particularities of the person's observance, you might recognize that someone is Jewish or Sikh or Muslim based on the headwear just walking down the street. It's hard to hide who you are and what you believe when you wear it on your head.
And then the writer of this letter to Timothy tells me that we have special headgear. We have the crown of righteousness. That sounds nice. That sounds impressive. This crown will be given to all who have longed for the appearance of the Lord. It will be given to us - "on that day." In the future - at the fulfillment. So our headgear is coming. For now, we'll have to find another way to let people know who we are and what we believe.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for news and updates. Worship with us Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11. This Sunday afternoon, our Director of Music, Doug Williams, will be providing an organ recital at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (1218 W Addison) in Chicago at 3 pm. Holy Trinity is near Wrigley Field but there's no Cubs game, and street parking is available, especially on Addison.
Friday, April 20, 2012
ASLC Devotions -- Friday, April 20
1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
I love the word abide. (What? You don't have favorite words? Ok, fine...) I love, especially, what it means in scripture -- the sense of dwelling within something, mostly God or God's word. It isn't a word that we use a lot in everyday conversation -- especially when something else will work -- but I hear it and feel instantly comforted.
These words and instructions -- to abide in God -- remind us that we are to dwell in God, to rest in God, to make our home within God's word.
Settle on in, folks -- abide in God.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
I love the word abide. (What? You don't have favorite words? Ok, fine...) I love, especially, what it means in scripture -- the sense of dwelling within something, mostly God or God's word. It isn't a word that we use a lot in everyday conversation -- especially when something else will work -- but I hear it and feel instantly comforted.
These words and instructions -- to abide in God -- remind us that we are to dwell in God, to rest in God, to make our home within God's word.
Settle on in, folks -- abide in God.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Thursday, April 19, 2012
ASLC Devotions -- Thursday, April 19
1 John 2:23-25
23No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.
On Easter Sunday we heard the resurrection according to Mark's gospel with what some consider a slightly strange ending -- "And the women said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." Now clearly, they (or someone else who visited the now-empty tomb) said something to someone because we all know what happened. So when I read this passage from First John (in terms of a warning against antichrists) about "what you heard in the beginning," I think of those women and whomever told the story after them.
What did you hear in the beginning about the story of faith? What made you want to learn more or keep coming to church? What was the story that you heard about the power of Jesus that abides in you? Was it a story of grace and hope? Of forgiveness? Of community? Was it a story that made you afraid like the women were, because you couldn't imagine something so amazing? Remember what you heard in the beginning and let that message abide in you.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
23No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.
On Easter Sunday we heard the resurrection according to Mark's gospel with what some consider a slightly strange ending -- "And the women said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." Now clearly, they (or someone else who visited the now-empty tomb) said something to someone because we all know what happened. So when I read this passage from First John (in terms of a warning against antichrists) about "what you heard in the beginning," I think of those women and whomever told the story after them.
What did you hear in the beginning about the story of faith? What made you want to learn more or keep coming to church? What was the story that you heard about the power of Jesus that abides in you? Was it a story of grace and hope? Of forgiveness? Of community? Was it a story that made you afraid like the women were, because you couldn't imagine something so amazing? Remember what you heard in the beginning and let that message abide in you.
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
ASLC Devotions -- Wednesday, April 18
Mark 12:24-27
Jesus said to them, ‘Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? 27He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.’
You can hear the exasperation in Jesus’ voice, can’t you? He’s responding to a group of Sadducees who have asked a hypothetical question about a woman who had married each of seven brothers in succession – and none of them had a child – “In the resurrection whose wife will she be?” I imagine that it’s these sorts of hair-splitting questions about the resurrection that drove Jesus a little bit crazy.
And I know that they were trying to test Jesus (for in verse 18 it describes the Sadducees as saying there is no resurrection), but it also reminds me that we (as people) have always asked questions about what it’s going to be like. Jesus might have grown exasperated with them and their testing and questioning, but he reminds them quite succinctly: God is God of the living.
For as long as we’re alive, let us give thanks for the power of God in our lives!
Peace,
Pastor Jenn
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