I love the season of Advent. I love the Advent wreath. I love that we get some time to prepare for Christmas. (I love to wear the color blue in the Advent season. When Pastor Dave Keller was vicar at Ascension he could joke that in the whole year there were 4 Sundays for blue, and only two for red.) Last year I remember that we had two funerals during Advent – for Dick Vaughn and Chuck Cozad. I remember how powerful the Advent season was for bringing God’s comfort and hope. I hadn’t thought about it much before, being from the southern hemisphere, but in the north, as the days grow shorter, and the darkness longer, the lit candles on the wreath increase, and then on Christmas Eve the central Christmas candle is also lit, and in our Christmas Eve worship many candles are lit.
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What are you especially thankful for this year? Some people are again embarking on a thirty day thankfulness challenge on Face Book. I like to read what friends write for their challenge. I love the American season of thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving Day, though I am not so fond of seeing Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving, and I am not fond of Black Friday encroaching. What are you especially thankful for this year?
On Sunday November 20, 2016 at 10am there will be a service of Thanksgiving at Ascension Lutheran Church. We will prayerfully lift up our praises to God for all the blessings which have been bestowed upon us. Specifically, we will embrace and affirm the cancer survivors in this community.
On Sunday August 14th, our daughter, Abbe Geneva Linder, was baptized in Ngaoundere Cameroon. Our son, Pomgna Freeland Linder, was baptized in the same church and by the same pastor, Jonas Miner. Pomgna was born in Cameroon and has always been a United States citizen. He is categorized as a citizen born abroad. Pomgna came to the United States to live when he was fifteen months old. In turn, both Abbe and Pomgna celebrated their first birthday in Cameroon with their grandmother, as well as their baptisms. Part 1 – written after Rally Day. Some lines from my sermon on Rally Day on Sunday September 11th seemed empowering to me as I preached them: “As I look out at you here in church, I say – What a team. What a kingdom team. I realize we are not as large a team as we once were, but we are formidable. That means strong.” I realize now looking up ‘formidable’ in the dictionary that it can mean ‘causing fear and apprehension’ like if I were using the word about how underpowered teams might view the Buckeyes in these pre-season games.
At the time of writing, I am not quite half way through a sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer. I am finding the preparation for the sermons to be moving and inspiring. I have read from a number of authors writing about the Lord’s Prayer. One writing caught my attention this past week with the assertion that the Lord’s Prayer is really a public prayer – a prayer to be prayed with others. We pray the Lord’s prayer a lot at Ascension – at every worship service, at the end of nearly every meeting and Bible study, at every wedding and funeral (and twice at funerals when there is a burial.) I have noticed a real strength in praying it together. Together we are praying for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done. Together we are praying about our daily bread, our forgiving of others, for discernment about temptation, for deliverance from evil. My time as Vicar here at Ascension Lutheran Church has been good. I have learned many things through the activities of preaching, teaching, bible study, committee meetings, one on one conversation, the intern support group, and prayer. My wife Halima and I were happy to be assigned to this congregation. We felt the opportunity for growth is present in this space. Pastor Tim has a solid reputation as an internship supervisor. The changing dynamics of this community from a suburban space to an urban space is intriguing and has allowed for unique pastoral responses, such as our collective focus on “Living In the Tension.” Two weekly services, one traditional and another contemporary allowed our family to experience different worship styles. We like the variety. I have always had significant relationships with people older than me and the average age of this community has been a joy filled discovery. I find my elders to be full of insight and wisdom, consistently observing behaviors, while identifying needs and providing a spirit of stability that is only found in Christ centered praying folks.
I remember that after I was called as pastor to Ascension 9 years ago, I asked that my installation service be held on Ascension Day Evening. (Ascension Day is always on a Thursday, 40 days out from Easter, and 10 days before Pentecost Sunday.) The call committee did not think a Thursday evening worship would be well attended, so we went for a Sunday instead. This year’s Ascension Day falls on May 5. Vicar and I will be hosting the members of the Lutheran Pastor’s Cluster at Ascension on Ascension Day. We are planning a small worship service in the sanctuary, and then we will have some discussion about the meaning of Jesus’ ascension.
Our confirmation class students are full of love, hope, peace, and intelligence. The spirit of empathy represented consistently among members of this group ministers to me. I’m pleased about our time together. There are three primary instructors and one secondary teacher who substitutes. We use a model which allows me to teach three Sundays in a row. I have been able to engage the participants over stretches of time, fostering a degree of continuity I find important.
We are in a season of listening. This time of preparation is full of reflection. Oftentimes our spiritual exercises have been triggered by what someone has said in the past or by something that is read in the present or by what we imagine the future holds. We know about several listening styles. Understanding the message being sent is a goal that is not always achieved. There are several reasons why clarity does not happen. It has been reported that 70% of what people hear has been filtered and changed. Effective communication includes flexibility and awareness in the listener.
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