Archive for the 'Greetings from the Pastor' Category

The Intent of the Lord’s Heart

Posted: Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Jeremiah 23:16-29
God was a demanding God in the Old Testament. You know He didn’t allow the people to worship in any kind of convenient way. They were expected to make their way to Jerusalem for specific feasts and offer their sacrifices only there in the temple. He set forth the way things were to be [...]

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Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher

Posted: Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

I read a short history of the Wends this morning. Most of us probably have never heard of them. They are a Slavic people that once occupied much of central Europe. But as history has told us many times, people groups are often persecuted and assimilated by other peoples and societies. In the mid-nineteenth century, [...]

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A Memorial Day Reflection

Posted: Friday, May 28th, 2010

May 25, 2010
As Memorial Day approaches in a few days, I sit in the lobby of a Crystal City hotel waiting for a room to be cleaned so that I may check in. I cannot see the now familiar skyline of Washington, DC with the memorials of Lincoln and Jefferson flanking the Washington Monument as [...]

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Birthday Surprise

Posted: Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Don’t you love birthdays with all the anticipation of what the day will bring; presents, cards, or other surprises?
Yesterday I celebrated another birthday. It seems that each year they come and go with less hoopla and fanfare than the year before, but this year I received a wonderful surprise. I had a couple of wonderful [...]

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Honor Your Father and Your Mother

Posted: Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.                                                             Proverbs 1:8

In these months of May and June we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I’ve often thought of them as just made up holidays that give [...]

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March Madness

Posted: Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

I must admit; I’ve never been much of a basketball fan. March Madness has never been anything but a sideline event. It is probably because I was a wrestler in high school and did not ever go to a basketball game. But this year is a little different. Today, I’m into the March Madness. Today, [...]

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St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr

Posted: Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Today, much of the Western Church (including the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod) commemorates St. Polycarp of Smyrna, bishop and martyr.
St. Polycarp was perhaps the last living link to the last of the living apostles, being a disciple of St. John the beloved apostle. St. Polycarp (whose name means “much fruit”) was martyred about 155 [...]

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Anticipation

Posted: Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Christmas time is a great time of anticipation. Children look forward to a couple of weeks off from school. Parents look forward to the break ending and children returning to school. But, I think there is a great bit of anticipation for all of us as we wait to see what our children or parents [...]

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For All the Saints

Posted: Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

All Saints’ Day is one of those special days of the church year that we celebrate every year on November 1. It is a feast day, when we change the paraments to white [...]

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Independence Day

Posted: Saturday, June 27th, 2009

The Fourth of July is a great holiday for us. What do you think of when someone mentions the 4th? A picnic in the park? A family get together? Fireworks? The holiday has been around as long as each of us and many of us have developed traditional things that we do on the [...]

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