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Pastor's Weekly Email |
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February 13, 2008 |
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“What has Christ done for us? What in God’s name
are we doing for him?” |
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Many may compare their Lenten discipline of
giving up something or adding more prayer and
Bible reading to a New Year’s resolution. And
after a week or so we may be discouraged if a
certain food was eaten or a discipline was
not maintained. But I’m not entirely sure it
should be like that. And this goes for so much
more than Lent, I think. |
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We worship and serve a God of second chances –
the Holy One who forgives lavishly and openly.
But many times, we have a hard time forgiving
ourselves, let alone forgiving someone else.
Jesus went into that wilderness embracing his
humanity – not running from it. We lament that
we or others are not perfect and yet were
reminded this past Sunday in the early verses of
Genesis to seek “to be like God” is the original
sin! What then do we seek? We seek Jesus and his
mercy, forgiveness, and strength. Lent is a time
to live in the second chance that God provides
and to abide in the conviction of Jesus, even
when ours may falter. |
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Another scripture paraphrase…
“It’s NEVER too late for you to come back,” says
the Lord, “Change your indolent habits, not just
your clothes.” Since time began, the Lord’s
become quite practiced in patience, forbearance,
tolerance, and leniency. He’s changed His mind
before – Adam and Eve, who betrayed Him first,
Noah and his
eccentric brood, coward Gideon, trickster Jonah,
weasel Moses. How many times has He embraced
Israel, the unfaithful prostitute? The world
itself is teaching you. Just look! The buds
along the branches, the flowers gulping sun. The
Lord’s eternal urge to start over again! “I will
ceaselessly rain down my life-giving Spirit,”
says the Lord. “Your sons and daughters will
dream dreams, a new life you never dared
imagine! Cherish them.” (Joel 2:12-14,
21-24, 28-29, paraphrased from Lenten Prayers
for Busy People) |
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We pray for Eldon Eargle who is in rehab and
Elmer Jacobs who is hospitalized. We also pray
for Jane Sexton, Betty Summer, Karl Bouknight,
Patti Krell, and Russ Manos, all recovering at
home. We offer our prayers, our needs and our
burdens, spoken and unspoken for our members,
family and
friends who are hospitalized, homebound, those
recovering at home, in nursing homes and rehab
facilities, and our troops serving in harm’s
way. |
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See you on Sunday,
Pastor Eric |
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The Rev. W. Eric
Friedrichs, Pastor
Mount Hermon Lutheran Church
West Columbia, South Carolina
803.794.6430 Office
803.791.8552 FAX
eric@mthlc.org
mthlc.org |
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