ASLC Devotions -- Monday, July 9

Ezekiel 3:1-3

He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. ²So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. ³He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.

These sorts of visions of people eating (literally) the word of the Lord are a little bit strange. Perhaps that’s an understatement. But I appreciate the imagery of ingesting the words, of making it part of who we are in a very real and different way than simply hearing it. The whole point is to make the message of the Lord a part of who we are, to embody the words that the Lord would give us to speak. The prophetic words given to Ezekiel are words of lamentation and mourning and woe against a rebellious house; the prophets rarely received a message to deliver of affirmation.

But what message have we received from Jesus? Well, there are a lot of messages and words we could choose. Perhaps you have a particular message that you have consumed and that is part of you. For me, it’s Christ’s message of peace – “Peace be with you” – that is sweet like honey.

 Peace,

Pastor Jenn

ASLC Devotions - Friday

2 Corinthians 10:7 Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we.

Yesterday I quoted Paul to remind that you that God has made you rich, God has given you enough, and God has even made you a king or queen in God's kingdom. You are valuable and loved and gifted. God loves you beyond all imagining.

Today Paul writes to the Corinthians (and the Palatinians) to remind us that God loves everybody else too. That person who just cut you off in traffic? A king in God's kingdom. The barista who screwed up your coffee order this morning? One of God's own queens. Just as you belong to Christ, so also do they. Remembering that might just change how we treat one another on an everyday basis.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Check out http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for full calendar and the July newsletter. Worship each weekend at 5 pm on Saturday and 9 am on Sunday. Also, visit the Youth Gathering group's carwash on Saturday from 11-2. Then join the "ASLC NOLA" Facebook group to follow our trip in July.

ASLC Devotions - Thursday

1 Corinthians 4:8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you!

Clearly hard times are a reality. Some of us at times go hungry, struggle to stay in our homes, get collection notices in the mail. Hard times are a reality, and no amount of positive thinking or looking at it from another perspective makes those collection notices go away.

On the other hand, I often wonder whether for many of us, perspective really does matter more than we give it credit!. I wonder whether we feel poor and we are hopeless sometimes precisely because we feel poor and we are hopeless. Sometimes it is clear that our attitude affects the reality of our lives. I think that's what Paul was getting at when he wrote to the Corinthians that "already you have all you want... you've become rich... you've become kings." Sometimes the day and the problem would look a whole lot better if we just remembered that in our baptism, God made us kings and queens in his kingdom. God has given us all we need. God has made us rich.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Check out http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for full calendar and the July newsletter. Worship each weekend at 5 pm on Saturday and 9 am on Sunday. Also, visit the Youth Gathering group's carwash on Saturday from 11-2. Then join the "ASLC NOLA" Facebook group to follow our trip in July.

ASLC Devotions - Wednesday

A prayer from our hymnal for this Independence Day on which we mark and give thanks for over 200 years of striving for liberty and justice for all:

Holy Trinity, one God, you show us the splendor of diversity and the beauty of unity in your own divine life. Make us, who came from many nations with many languages, a united people that delights in our many different gifts. Defend our liberties, and give those whom we have entrusted with authority the spirit of wisdom, that there might be justice and peace in our land. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our sovereign and our Savior. Amen.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Check out http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for full calendar and the July newsletter. Worship each weekend at 5 pm on Saturday and 9 am on Sunday. Also, visit the Youth Gathering group's carwash on Saturday from 11-2. Then join the "ASLC NOLA" Facebook group to follow our trip in July.

ASLC Devotions - Tuesday

For these message, we use the ELCA Daily Lectionary - readings that relate to the weekend readings but expose us to more of the Bible. The assigned reading for today is a passage from Leviticus that describes the monthly ritual cleanliness needs of women. I didn't feel like writing a devotional message about that. I surely could have chosen another biblical passage - there are plenty. But the reading got me thinking about healing of all kinds - physical, spiritual, emotional, religious. And so I invite you to use the text of this loved hymn for devotional purposes today:

Healer of Our Every Ill

Refrain
    Healer of our ev'ry ill,
    light of each tomorrow,
    give us peace beyond our fear,
    and hope beyond our sorrow.

1    You who know our fears and sadness,
    grace us with your peace and gladness;
    Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts.  Refrain

2    In the pain and joy beholding
    how your grace is still unfolding,
    give us all your vision, God of love.  Refrain

3    Give us strength to love each other,
    ev'ry sister, ev'ry brother;
    Spirit of all kindness, be our guide.  Refrain

4    You who know each thought and feeling,
    teach us all your way of healing;
    Spirit of compassion, fill each heart.  Refrain

Text: Marty Haugen, b. 1950
Text © 1987 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Duplication in any form prohibited without permission or valid license from copyright administrator.

Check out http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for full calendar and the July newsletter. Worship each weekend at 5 pm on Saturday and 9 am on Sunday. Also, visit the Youth Gathering group's carwash on Saturday from 11-2. Then join the "ASLC NOLA" Facebook group to follow our trip in July.

ASLC Devotions - Monday

Leviticus 21:8 And you shall treat the priests as holy, since they offer the food of your God; they shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, I who sanctify you, am holy.

Leviticus is not the most riveting of biblical books. If you're looking to read the Bible more in your life (a goal which I recommend) I don't recommend starting with Leviticus. Lots of rules, lots of regulations.... most of which are not relevant now. The section we're quoting from here has to do with priests and how they can maintain their ritual cleanliness. For example, there are specific rules about how they should shave their beards. I'll tell Pastor Jenn!

But this verse lays out the main point, I think: the priests are holy only because God is holy. They get their holiness not from their behavior, not from their beards, not from their position. They are holy because God is holy. Whatever is holy, whatever is good, whatever is worthwhile gets those values from God. God has blessed God's people with leaders throughout history. Those leaders (myself included) only are able to do that and to be a leader by God's grace. Thanks be to God, for God's amazing grace and holiness.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for full news, including the July newsletter. This next weekend, worship at 5 pm on Saturday and 9 am on Sunday. Our New Orleans group will hold a carwash fundraiser on Saturday from 11-2. Sign up for the "ASLC NOLA" Facebook group for updates during our upcoming trip.

ASLC Devotions - Friday

2 Corinthians 8:1-7  We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; ²for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, ⁴begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints— ⁵and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, ⁶so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you. ⁷Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. 

Thought I'd just share all of Paul's words here, because the man knew how to write!
I just love the image of the churches of Macedonia "overflowing in a wealth of generosity" and "begging" for the privilege of sharing. 
But the truth is, I don't just love the image. I love the reality. I love the reality of seeing people and congregations every day begging for the privilege of giving. It happens. All the time. Thanks be to God!

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

Join us as we worship together on Saturday at 5 or Sunday at 9.