Church Blog

Stewardship Minute 10/20/19

Whole-Life Stewardship
The traditional trio of tithing time, talents and treasure was unbiblical and counterproductive if it implied that after giving 10 percent to the Lord, the faithful were free to do what they wanted with the remaining 90 percent.
 
Stewardship is an all-encompassing word, not subject to our usual limitation to what is placed in the offering basket on Sundays. Andrew Lincoln contends in his Commentary on the Gospel of John that the fourth Gospel was written as a mission-training manual. It begins with the Father sending the Son into the world as His agent to live among us so that we see our salvation. The Gospel ends with Jesus telling His followers, “As the father has sent me, even so send I you. “These three words about God’s mission – servant, apostle and steward – are a full-time responsibility for the people of God. And for each of us, that means the call (vocations) God has given us in home, church and society.


Stewardship Minute 10/13/2019

“We are all beggars. This is true”
On account of Christ’s death and resurrection, the Father forgives you, save you, and is pleased with you. And you receive. You receive His love, His righteousness, His holiness, His acceptance, and His inheritance. We are all beggars. This is true.
This is the heart and soul of Christianity and the life-blood of the Christian Church. God justifies us, and He declares us innocent and righteous by His grace received through faith for the sake of Christ. This is not because of our works; this is because of His work on the cross. We, who once were enemies of God, are reconciled to Him and made to be His children.
This is what Luther would point us to when He took up his pen for the last time and scribbled “We are all beggars. This is true.” We are beggars. But we are beggars of God who does not ignore us, who doesn’t pass by us on the other side. We are beggars of the One who descended from heaven to make His dwelling with sinners.
We are beggars of Him who deigns to dwell with us, among us, and – yes – even in us by grace for Christ’s sake. For in the bread and cup that we bless, we share together with Christ and each other the riches of God’s grace.
So inexhaustible are the riches of this grace – the Gospel in sermon and absolution in Baptism and Holy Communion – that our cups overflow. We, who are God’s beggars, are not only inexhaustibly satisfied but have something to give back in thanksgiving and praise.
 


Stewardship Minute 10/06/2019

Martin Luther penned his final words: “We are beggars. This is true.”
And this is the truth that our Lord says makes you free. Ironic, isn’t it? That, in order to be free, you must be a beggar; you must be utterly dependent and reliant upon God. This makes us uncomfortable – the way we’re uncomfortable when someone gets us a Christmas or birthday present when we haven’t gotten them one. We feel we owe them. And we don’t much like being in someone’s debt.
But what Luther would remind us is that we are all indeed beggars. But we’re not just anyone’s beggars. We’re God’s beggars. And this is His legacy to the Christian Church. Christ came for sinners. He came to seek and save the lost. He came to heal the sick and raise the dead. He came for sinners, and He dwells only with sinners.
And, if we are to be where He is, we must be willing to be counted among the lost, the sick, and the dead. We must be willing to be beggars. We must cry out for mercy, for grace, and for his undeserved love and kindness. We must be dependent solely on Him and what He gives.
And here’s the beauty: He gives us everything. Everything – forgiveness of sins, salvation from death and the devil, and eternal life. This is not because of any worthiness or merit in us, but it Is because of His divine goodness, mercy, and grace.


Stewardship Minute 9/29/19

Matthew 18:3 – “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Children trust their parents. They look to their parents to bless them and care for them. We are children of the heavenly Father, and He invites us to trust Him. He has given us proof of His trustworthiness by sending His son to save us. Children delight in giving their parents gifts. Parents delight in receiving these signs of love and thankfulness. Can you see how this applies to us giving gifts to our heavenly Father?


Stewardship Minute 9/22/2019

Luke 16:8 – “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” The sons of this world know that they should use their wealth wisely to provide for their future. Shouldn’t we “sons of light” know that the wealth God has allowed us to manage should be managed for God’s purposes in the roles He has given us in Church, home and society?


Stewardship-August 2019

Have you ever noticed the subtle ceremony of receiving the offerings during the Divine Service?  The offerings are collected in plates or basket, and they are brought forward and given to the pastor or an assistant.  The pastor turns toward the altar, and, as he bows his head, offerings are raised slightly to the Lord and placed on the altar or an adjacent table. 
 
Originally, this ceremony included more than simply bringing forward what was collected in the offering plates.  The elements for the Holy Communion – the bread and the wine – were brought forward with the offerings.  The offerings and elements were lifted toward the Lord and placed upon the altar.  The altar, now made a table, would be set for the Lord’s Supper.
 
For what is offered to the Lord from the sweat of His people’s brow – the bread of anxious toil – comes back to us as the bread of life.  The bread comes down from heaven that whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup will receive life through the forgiveness of their sins.
 
What a blessing!  God provides for us in all things.  He provides bread from the sweat of our brows.  He receives this from us in the first-fruits offerings we give to Him in thanksgiving and praise, and He turns these into spiritual bread.  He gives this heavenly bread – the bread of eternal life – back to us so we might have joy.
 


Birthday Group-August 2019

On THURSDAY, July 11, we celebrated the birthdays of Bobbie and Jerry Ankenbrandt, Jim Brunner, BJ Lahr, Mary Ann and Ed Meinardus and Patricia Sax at Clara, a restaurant in Carlsbad Village.  Our group took up an entire wall which had no impact at all on the fellowship throughout the group.  We contributed one hundred ninety-nine ($199) dollars to Birth Choice.
 
We’ll celebrate the birthdays of Pastor Augie, Gary Reiswig, Dave Taylor, Ken Voertman and Gary Wilson in our first all-male birthday celebration on THURSDAY, August 29 at Dini’s Bistro, 3290 Carlsbad Boulevard at 11:30 a.m.
 
Lunches range from ten to eighteen ($10-18) dollars.  In addition to your lunch, we request a one dollar contribution per celebrant which will go to Del/Mar Solana Beach Optimist Club for their Rady’s Children’s Hospital project.
 
Everyone is welcome to join us but you do need a reservation with the Birthday Coordinator, Jo Voertman, jvbytheseaagain@gmail.com, 760-721-6674.


Free to be Faithful-August 2019

Free to be Faithful (a.k.a. Salt & Light) is dedicated to raising awareness within our Christian Community that we have a responsibility to be informed and to participate in the Civil arena; most importantly to vote for candidates that share our Christian beliefs. As individual Christians this responsibility must be taken as seriously as any other duty in our lives. How can you love your neighbor and yet vote for someone who will pass legislation allowing your neighbors daughter to have an abortion without parents’ consent?
 
A recent article on the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty website (part of the LCMS Free to be Faithful program) talked about a specific legislation that deals with public funding of abortions. Their guidance is this: “Now is the time for us to speak as a moral people, refusing to incentivize a procedure that, even though legal, should be sparingly used. The debate about the Hyde Amendment won’t let us hide anymore!”. The Church, for their part, must encourage members to get informed and be involved.

   Hyde Amendment: A legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. First passed in 1976

Isaiah 5:20: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” – Dan Bitner