Does that make sense?

By the light of the moon

The last couple nights out here on the spike, the moon has been very bright and low. Its almost like someone has put a street lamp in the sky. Its nice. When the moon is new, than its almost pitch black out here, even with outdoor house lights or even flashlights.

And even though the moon light streaks right into my bedroom at night, there is something soothing about it. Its not painful to look at like the sun.

When its dark St John looks ominous and foreboading, like some kind of scary haunted house. With the moon outside, it looks like beautiful serene country church, as its supposed to be.

It amazing to think that folks lived here 100 years ago, and that worshiped in this community, did a lot of their living by this same moonlight. I hope they rejoiced when the moon was full and they could see across fields and down roads, I hope they found the moon a welcome light in the darkness too.

BLC / SJLC Sermon – All Saints Sunday

Thanks to my friend Barbara for providing a sermon this week, during the insanity of my sister being in the hospital.

John 11:32-44

The recent movie Gran Torino centers on the life of Walt Kowalski, a jaded, embittered, and resigned war veteran. As a retired auto-worker, Walt fills his days with home repair, beer, and monthly trips to the barber. The people he once called his neighbors have all moved or died and have been replaced by Hmong immigrants from Southeast Asia. Walt openly despises them. And he is basically resentful of pretty much everything and everyone he sees – the shabby eaves, the overgrown lawns and the foreign faces surrounding him. His own children prefer to speak to him as little as possible.

We meet Walt for the first time at the funeral of his beloved wife. The young priest Father Janovich, a recent seminary graduate, had promised Walt’s wife to look out for her husband. Throughout the movie Father Janovich tries to connect with the old man. Walt doesn’t make it easy for the young man. But Father Janovich doesn’t give up on Walt. At one of his visits he says, “You seem to know a lot more about death than you do about living.”

(Sermons Archive)

SJLC Sermon – Reformation Sunday

John 8:31–36

Millie sat in the doctor’s office. She was stunned, she couldn’t speak. She had just been diagnosed with cancer. The doctor began to outline different treatment options, but Millie didn’t retain any of it, only the last words that the doctor spoke. As Millie was getting up to leave the Doctor said,

“If you stay positive and upbeat, we can beat this diagnosis”.

Over the next few weeks the showing of support was overwhelming. For Millie, she received cards and letters from old forgotten friends, she was constantly be phoned by neighbors and family, and her close friends were almost always at her side. But Millie was troubled the support was receiving. Most of the people who were trying so hard to be supportive would say things like,

“Stay Positive, be happy” “You will come out from this stronger” “This is actually a chance to learn and grow” “This is a blessing, this a good thing to happen to you” “God has a special plan for you, this a test to teach you how to have more faith”.

(Sermons Archive)

Little Lutheran Church on the Spike

So one of the projects that I decided to undertake for St John. the congregation where I am the pastor, was to create a website. So, I sat down a couple of nights ago and tried to see how far I could get. This is what I came up with. Check it out, and let me know what y’all think!

Little Church on the Spike

BLC Sermon – Pentecost 18 Year B

* This sermon was written by a dear friend of mine Barbara Groote, Intern Pastor of Bethel Lutheran Medsted*

…As we hear today, Job is the prime example of what suffering is all about. As the story tells us, Job and his wife lost 500 oxen, 70,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, their servants, and 7 sons and 3 daughters – all of this in one day. ONE DAY! And to add insult to injury Job is now left with nothing but a terrible skin disease. He has gone through one agonizing ordeal after another because God and one of his heavenly advisors, the Shatan had struck a deal. They had made a bet. They had gambled. And Job is the guinea pig for God and the Shatan to see who is right. The story of Job made it into the Bible because it touches profoundly on the dark side of human existence. It is a well-crafted piece that boldly addresses suffering and our struggling with it. The author of this story wrestles with the question: why do bad things happen to good people? Are we just puppets in a cosmic battle? How can God allow us to experience suffering and pain? Ultimately, this eloquent narrative is about God’s relationship with us and our response…

(Sermons Archive)

Glasses…

Well, I have been noticing over the last few years that I have been getting a lot of eye strain, and that things like street signs, the computre screen and tv are getting harder to see. So I got my eyes checked yesterday. And today, I have glasses. They are a mild prescription, and only to be used as needed for driving, reading, using the computer etc… And while this makes me feel super old (not because they are glasses but reading glasses!) being able to see in very sharp focus again is nice. I paid 60 extra dollar for some kind of anti glare coat… I guess it cannot stop the flash from my camera.

Now is it just me, or do I look smarter?

SJLC Sermon – Thanksgiving Sunday

Thank you. Two simple and common words. Thank you. Words that express genuine thankfulness, or words that can be said in such a way to imply ungratefulness. Thank you. We say thank you for the little things in life, a door held open, a chair pulled out and reaching a high shelf. And we also say thank you for the big things. Thank you is offered for the little things and the big things, and everything in between. We may throw out a thank you to a waiter even though our food is cold and late. We may mumble thank you to cashier at Canadian Tire for the overpriced tool we just purchased. A sarcastic …thanks… may even convey our dissatisfaction with what someone else has done for us or to us. And yet, “thanks” is still the word that we must use to show are appreciation when it is sincere. A thank you must still be able to convey our deep appreciation for something, if not more important our deep appreciation for someone.

(Thanksgiving Sermon)

SJLC Sermon – Pentecost 17 B

Like House, we stumble and we cause others to stumble and at the root of it is being curved in on ourselves. We put ourselves before others, just as the disciples do today. They are thinking only of themselves and how THEY can hold on to Jesus’ power by staying close, by determining who is a real follower or not, and they miss the point that people have been healed, whether or not this healer is a follower of Jesus or not. House causes others to stumble by interfering with and hindering the treatment of his fellow patients.

We might not be as concerned with who is healing in Jesus name, and more than likely we are not interfering with the treatment of psychiatric patients but like the disciples, and like House, we have our own ways of making others stumble. Whether it be in the workplace, at home, at school, in the community, we try to keep power and control for ourselves. We try put barriers in the way of others being a part of what we have. And by putting ourselves first, we often ends up hurting those around us.

(Sermons Archive)

SJLC Sermon – Pentecost 16 B

…We are pretty good at finding all sorts of ways to play ‘Who is the King of the Castle?’.  We play it in the work place with competition for better jobs, better wages and more power. We play it in school for grades and scholarships, for entrance into post-secondary institutions. We play it on the sports field, most visibly in the arena of professional sports, where the King of the Castle is rewarded with the most money, and big trophy. We play the game in our social circles by having the nicest clothes, the nicest houses and the nicest cars. And our most extreme, perverse and sick version of the game, Who is the King of Castle is the version that gave this simple child’s diversion its name. War. War which is no game at all… As human beings we have played war for power and control, for prestige and position and we have done it taking millions and millions of lives in the process. The scolding that Jesus gives to the disciples is gentle compared to the scolding that humanity deserves after the last hundred years of playing the game, ‘Who’s the King of the Castle?’…

(Sermons Archive)