Advent Devotion - December 1st

4th Day of Advent
Written by: Lou Shives

Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal……. "
Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

This scripture, said to have been written as a poem by King Solomon, is referred to as A Time for Everything. It describes the combination of opposites we experience during our lifetime. Although man has little influence over the time to be born or the time to die, God has given us free will to think, feel, choose, and make decisions or commitments as they relate to our faith, work, marriage, friends, and the like. Christian compassion doesn’t occur only when tears fall; it occurs as we laugh and rejoice with others when things are good or when we weep with those who face times of trouble. Scripture reveals that Jesus Himself exemplified many of the examples described in these verses. During this Advent Season, are you able to use the contrasting experiences in your life to show compassion toward others?

Father: Thank You for all of the experiences of life that provide me with an opportunity to be conformed to the image of Your Son and to share my faith with others. Amen.

Note: This scripture has been replicated in the song Turn, Turn, Turn sung by Johnny Cash and Judy Collins (available on You Tube). What a wonderful way to hear this very popular scripture brought to life. It has also been replicated by The Byrds in the 1960s-1970s and the Philharmonic Orchestra (Meditations on Ecclesiastes: XI. CON BRIO at Amazon.com).

Advent Devotion - November 30th

3rd Day of Advent
Written by: Evelyn Nasworthy

Reading: Micah 5:2-5
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are small among the clans of Judah,
Out of you will come for me
One who will be ruler over Israel,”
Micah 5:2

Bethlehem is going through a difficult time because its people have fallen from their faith. But at an early time this small Judean village is declared to one day “become the birth place of my King” as Micah states. Oh things will not be easy for them for many years, but in time the exiles will regroup in spiritual rebirth, and they will return to their homeland. Then it will come to pass that Jesus the King will be born in the city of Bethlehem.

It seems that we all lose our way in our faith from time to time and in those times we feel lost too. Things just don’t go well. Like pieces of a puzzle…. when some of them are missing or temporarily undiscovered perhaps under the sofa or stuck in a chair cushion. The puzzle is ruined without them. But once found and things are “put right”, the complete puzzle springs to life. Jesus is born for you. Put His puzzle piece into your life. You’ll be so pleased to see how well it fits!

Lord,
Thank you for sending your son to complete the puzzle. Keep us mindful of your gift to us. Amen.

Advent Devotion - November 29th

2nd Day of Advent
Written by: Barbara Johnson

Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
“… just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you — so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1: 6-9

God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. Our God is faithful. What was written by Paul in the first century AD continues to be true today. We need to remember this fact when our faith wanes, or we get too busy to take time to profess our faith – our God is faithful to us. He loves us and wants us to have a deep, abiding relationship with Him. Unfortunately, some days my busy life gets in the way of my prayer life. But God is the parent whose love remains strong even though the child has not made contact in awhile. God is always ready and willing to accept – with love – our “knee mail.”

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us and for being our faithful Lord and Savior. Don’t let our busy days get in the way of our life with you. Amen.

Advent Devotion - November 28th

1st Day of Advent
Written by: Margene Wampole

Reading: 1 John 3:18-20
"Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”
1 John 3: 18-20

Advent is preparing for the Promised One. When I think that "God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything" I am at ease. He loves me just the way I am and I resolve to try to love others just the way they are, too. Each of us is at a different place in our journey and we tend to have expectations of others that they may not be ready or able to fill. It isn't easy to accept people where they are is it? I'll try to be open to the will and love of God and pass it on, not just in words but in actions and in truth. With the Lord's help, I can prepare my heart and mind for the blessing of Christmas.

Lord Jesus,
Help us to watch our expectations of others. Guide us to be more like you in every way, loving others as you love us. Amen.

Grateful
November 2010

I admit it. Life is busy and overwhelming. I seem to live at 98% time capacity, which of course, leaves no room for the rest of life that seems to always be popping up! There are days that I can legitimately cue up the violin section of the orchestra and set them to playing.

But chances are, you won’t join in the chorus. Chances are your life looks much the same way, and although a nice pity party might salve the soul, what we really need to do for one another is simply encourage one another; make the decision, with constructive words and actions, to pat each other on the back, give each other a deep and authentic hug, and then cheer each other through another day of life. We do life not on our own, but in community. It makes the bad times bearable, and gives us a community to celebrate with us in the good times.

Thanksgiving is already right around the corner. The truth is that thanksgiving – gratitude – has been institutionalized around a day of the year. It’s no less valuable for that. Even people who only take stock of all the beautiful things that are happening in and around them each year will benefit greatly. But I wonder if we’re not selling ourselves short.

I’ve been preaching on Faith’s Killer Apps this Fall, and I kicked off the sermon series with the “Gratitude App.” My insight, via Jesus, is that true gratitude is really pretty rare. When blessings start to flow, and things get good, we simply forget to stop and take stock of what just happened…that the blessings came from outside of ourselves and that in that moment of our lives we are a privileged channel for those blessings.

So maybe you’ll take a moment with me today to stop and think about all that you have to be grateful for. My list goes something like this. I am grateful for…

…the nation of my birth. I know that just by virtue of my birth in the USA, I won the lottery. I pray that I may leverage this blessing for the sake of others in this world who did NOT win the lottery.
…terrific grandparents, who in the midst of a checkered early family life were stalwart and present, a constant help and blessing, and ballast on the ship of my life.
…for my parents, who though flawed, are no more flawed than myself (I can now see). They did the best that they could, and through both their successes and failures, God has been faithful and present to me all my life.
…for Erin. She gifted me with this faith, and introduced me to grace, and gave me the gift of her family. My life’s calling has grown out of my relationship with her.
…for Erin. Because when God called she joined me in answering the call in Dolby Digital Surround Sound, and though it isn’t the life we would have chosen, has been my ever-present partner and love and companion.
…for Erin. Who shows me daily what good parenting looks like.
…for St. Mark Lutheran Church, Bloomfield, Nebraska, for calling a young, Gospel-driven pastor, trusting him, and for letting the Gospel and the congregation blossom in our work together! That community may never know just how precious and significant they are. But my family has been irrevocably blessed by them.
…for St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Longwood, Florida, for like the congregation before them, taking a risk on this young pastor, and for letting the Spirit move us into a new and vibrant chapter in our lives together. God is at work here. I see and feel it every day!
…for St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Longwood, Florida, for becoming so very easily a spiritual and community home for the Swenson-Reinhold’s.
…for my staff, that week after week so very diligently pursues the Gospel with me, and the development of that Gospel here in our community.

I could go on. There’s more, but I think I’m running out of newsletter space! You get the picture. Why don’t you sit down and take a few minutes and mark out the things that have impacted you for the better? Trust me, you will be blessed by the exercise.

Happy Thanksgiving, St. Stephen. God is grateful for you! And I am too…
Pastor Nathan

Is Respect Unidirectional?

A discussion in our Bible study this week reflected briefly on the lack of respect many younger people demonstrate for those who are older. We talked about how, in the past, it didn’t matter who the “elder” was, because a respectful posture was accorded to him or her solely due to the difference in ages. As we went on, there was a general lament about this condition and examples of how it evidences itself. As the discussion went on, observations were made about how, today, younger people demand to be shown respect before they are willing to reciprocate, and whether this was a positive or negative development.

One of the participants, I think, is a hero among us. As a man who works with high school students, he helps individual students learn to respect themselves first, thus leading them to exhibit respect for others. Not a quick fix, but it is one that takes time and sets a positive model for the youngster. This is not an individual who applies discipline as if it were a balance sheet, but one who shows God’s love and models behaviors for the future. It’s hard to work through solutions and help the next generation, but, as Maya Angelou said, “Nothing will work unless you do." Time is a factor, love another, patience another and, yes, even grace.

The apostle Paul said, “Never speak harshly to an older man but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brother. Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.” 1 Timothy 5, 1. So – should respect be a one way attribute – from young to old? Is this a modern phenomenon? My guess is that since this issue is discussed by Paul, it has not just come to the surface, but has been a condition of the interaction of old and young for a long time. The Bible text suggests that respect IS reciprocal and needs to be modeled to be received. By Diane Bechtold

Challenging Can Feel Uncomfortable

Over the years, people can become very comfortable with their place within a group. Whether that “group” is a bunch of (let’s say six or seven) high schoolers, who meet up at a favorite gathering place (I suspect these days that would be a mall), or some empty-nesters gathering for breakfast at First Watch, members settle into their place (niche) – and that can be a very comfortable feeling.

Being part of a congregation, gathering together for worship, can have that same sort of comfortable feeling. Although we may not sit in the “exact” pew or seat each an every time, most of us have a place in the sanctuary that has become “our place.” Much of the time, we might even see the same faces, close by in their familiar locations. In some respects, we become part of an environment in which we feel comfortable. It’s where we settle in for our weekly dose of wisdom and inspiration. And, by the way, I suspect we are looking forward to (or expect) those “doses” dealt out by the pastor to make us feel even more comfortable. (That what going to church has become for many of us over the years – a place where we see others with whom we are comfortable, sit in places in the sanctuary in which we are comfortable, looking forward to hearing messages that inspire us and make us feel comfortable about our beliefs, reassuring us that we are living the “right kind” of life.)

We’ve been blessed in recent years to have really well-educated, enthusiastic, extremely gifted pastors stand before us, doing what I call major “tap dancing.” This is a term I’ve found myself using to describe the act of going beyond the norm, when it comes to speaking before groups. A “tap dancer,” to me, is someone who can take the topic of the day, articulate it to those gathered, talk seemingly off the top of their heads, pick up on body language from their listeners and maneuver the message and their own body language to fit how that audience is responding, and have the listeners walk away feeling inspired, good about ourselves, and ready to go off an have a great week. Boy, does that make us feel comfortable. And, when we feel part of the group, we can all go away with a collective comfortableness.

Now, what happens when we sit in our comfortable place in the sanctuary, near familiar faces, and are prepared for (maybe in need of) another dose of comfortable sermon talk – and we don’t get what we’re expecting? What if the message of the week makes us uncomfortable? What if we hear something that disturbs us down deep inside? What if we walk away with something else burning inside of us – something that leaves us uneasy? Can we handle that situation? Should we or shouldn’t we be prepared to both possibilities?

It strikes me that Jesus didn’t always tell his parables with a happy twist. Sure some were inspiring stories about little children and how the poor will inherit the earth. But didn’t he, more often than not, challenge his listeners to dig deep within themselves, feel uncomfortable, and then leave them with the challenge to go beyond themselves and reach out to those people and places that were truly uncomfortable? I’ve found the same thing to be true, when allowing myself to listen more deeply to what has been shared in recent sermons and when I’ve attended meetings on the St. Stephen campus.

I’m not sure that our role or job (if these are the right words), as members of the congregation at St. Stephen, should always be to “feel comfortable.” To serve, to grow, to be one with our congregation (our family)…should also include going beyond our level of comfort. Let’s take the challenges around us and step out of our comfort zones. Let’s take the messages we hear, be inspired and let’s feel good. But, at the same time, let’s hear what Jesus is saying to us…and allow uncomfortable challenges to drive us toward making ourselves, and our church better.

In the weeks and months ahead, we may hear or see things that make us uncomfortable. For me, it may be easier to say to live. But, then again, no one said that being a Christian was going to be easy. And, if they did, they may have been misspeaking. By: Dennis McClellan