From the Pastor's Desk
Reverend David Kaul
“ For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life. ”
- John 3:16
Martin Luther, the farm, and the Sabbath
Dear friends in Christ,
In his sermon for Whit-Monday Martin Luther writes, "We hear from our text that God through love does not give us a dollar, a horse, a cow, an eye, a kingdom, or even the heavens with the sun and stars nor the whole creation but He give us, "His only begotten Son," who is like unto Himself in everything.
...But alas, our miserable unbelief and the terrible darkness which enshrouds us prevents our hearts from realizing what a blessing we have in this gift of the Son of God. We hear these glorious words but they rush by our outward ears and the heart remains cold and cheerless. When we hear of a house or farm which is for sale on easy terms, we run and are as eager to make the purchase as if our existence depended upon it but when the glorious gospel is preached, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for our salvation, we are shamefully and sinfully careless and lazy about hearing and accepting this truth. Who is at the bottom of this wicked indifference and carelessness as to the greatest gift so that we do not accept it nor derive from it joy and consolation. No one but the old devil himself, he blinds our hearts to such a degree that we permit the precious preaching of the gospel to go unheeded while we in the meanwhile busy ourselves with temporal cares."
August has arrived. Soon summers quiet days and easier living must give way to the new school year, football practices and fall's increased responsibilities. There is a bit of the frantic in our living out these last days of summer as we discover a great number of items undone on the "Things I wanted to do this summer 2010" list. Would you join me in remembering the importance of being present to hear God's word at worship every weekend. The Third Commandment tells us to "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." God has important and precious words to share with us about His love and vital business to conduct in the forgiveness of our sins and guiding us as we seek His will for our lives. God has promised to be with us in the precious sacrament of Holy Communion as we partake of the bread and cup. Jesus is our most precious treasure and deserves our time and attention in worship and prayer. Here faith will grow. As we gather with family, we share joy and support that illness and life's challenges cannot remove. May we be intentional not to erect an idol in God's place and allow other people or experiences to keep us from Him. "The gift is one freely given and will remain a gracious blessing which cannot be borrowed, lent nor bought, all we need do to obtain it is to hold out our hand and receive willingly and gladly this treasure."
I wish you God's richest blessings and look forward to seeing you this weekend as we worship,
P. Dave