Early Tuesday morning, a powerful tornado ripped through Nashville and other parts of Tennessee, leaving destruction in its wake. The tornado was part of a series of severe storms. At least 24 people have been killed, homes and other buildings have been destroyed, and thousands of people are without electricity. The worship space for St. John’s Lutheran Church of Nashville, an ELCA congregation, was crushed by the tornado. (quoted from an email update from Lutheran Disaster Response)

At times like this, we remember the words of the apostle Paul to the early Christian church in Corinth, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. (1 Corinthians 12:16). As we gather for worship this weekend, we will hold the congregation of St. John’s and their surrounding community in our prayers. As we sing, pray, gather around the Lord’s Table and proclaim the good news of God’s love, we will do so mindfully of our brothers and sisters without a place to worship. The church is not gone. The church is, of course, the people. That said, we know that those people are grieving the loss of their sanctuary.

It seems fitting, therefore, to spend a moment this weekend giving thanks for the witness of the Lutheran church that extends far beyond just our own congregation here at Abiding Presence. Lutheran Disaster Response, our domestic disaster response agency, is already on the ground in Tennessee assessing needs, working with local partners and responding with immediate relief. In the information sent out to congregations this past week, Lutheran Disaster Response suggested that “given the extent of the destruction, recovery is expected to take years.” They are committed to being present “to address survivors’ needs over the long haul.”

At the same time, we are collecting supplies during Lent for Lutheran World Relief, our international disaster response agency.

These two organizations—Lutheran Disaster Relief and Lutheran World Relief—enable Abiding Presence to be part of a response much larger than ourselves, bringing hope and good news into the world.

During this season of Lent, there are lots of opportunities in addition to our usual weekend services, including:

· Monday Noon Worship
· Wednesday Evening Worship at 7:00 p.m.
· Small Groups throughout the Week

“Wait...What...More Church?” you might be thinking to yourself. Yes, more church!

Lent is about turning back to God by refocusing our lives on our relationship with God. There’s no better way to do this than by intentionally engaging in worship, prayer, scripture reading and study with other people of faith. So, here at Abiding Presence we offer a lot more opportunities for church during Lent.

In the midst of our busy lives, I often think that adding something for Lent is harder than giving something up. Giving up chocolate or social media for six weeks—while good—doesn’t impact our schedules much. While it can be hard to fast from these things, I’m not sure it always does much to draw us back to God.

Adding a weekly small group meeting or midweek worship service, however, is really inconvenient. As a mom, I know that Lent falls during the busy spring season of children’s sports and activities. Yet, something inconvenient is often exactly what we need during Lent. We need to be interrupted from our usual lives in order to refocus on God. It takes an interruption for us to reexamine our priorities.

So, I want to invite you this Lenten season to dig a little deeper in your disciplines to add something that will intentionally draw you back to the God whose arms are reaching out to you. Sign up for a small group even though you have never done one before, or don’t really like this kind of thing, or don’t know anyone else who is doing it, or don’t have time, or…(add your favorite reason not to do it here). Pick one of our midweek services and come to it every week. Come even when you are tired after work, the kids are grumpy or you prefer more contemporary rather than traditional worship. If none of these things really are possible in your schedule, then find something else to add—maybe daily Bible reading—that has to be worked into your schedule. Add an interruption that makes these six weeks different from all the other weeks of the year.

Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” is one of his best known sermons. Found in the beginning of Matthew’s gospel, this sermon outlines for Jesus’ new followers what it means to be disciples. Spoiler alert—it’s going to be harder than they think! 

Journey is headed—to crucifixion, death and resurrection. Here at the beginning, everything is still new and exciting. But, it won’t always be that way. So, Jesus sits everyone down and preaches about who he is, who God is and who God is calling us to be in the world.

Following Jesus is hard. If it’s not, then you might want to ask yourself who you are actually following. Following Jesus means getting outside of our comfort zone to love those we cannot stand, serve those from whom we would rather look away and shape our priorities in ways that are counter to the culture around us. It means being different, which is both a blessing and a challenge at times.

If you have a few minutes this week, I encourage you to sit down and read the whole Sermon on the Mount. You can find it in Matthew 5-7. Spend some time listening to what God is saying to you through these words. One of the wonderful and challenging things about Jesus’ words is that they are just as applicable to us today as they were to his first followers. Anger, love for enemies, the discipline of prayer, struggling with worry, judging others—these are all themes you will find in Jesus’ sermon and, if you are anything like me, will find are things you struggle with today.

Following Jesus is hard, but it is also the most transformational thing we can do—not only for ourselves, but also for our world.

This weekend we will observe the festival of the Presentation of our Lord. This is one of those special days of the church year that we only celebrate when the festival day falls on a Sunday.

The Presentation of our Lord takes us back to the early months after Jesus’ birth when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to be dedicated to God. According to the book of Exodus, every first born human and animal was to be set apart for God. (You can read all about it in Exodus 13:1-2, 11-16.) Having given birth to their first born male child, Mary and Joseph knew this law applied to Jesus and they followed it. While Mary and Joseph went to the temple to do what all first born parents of male children did, they left the temple amazed about what was said about their son.

At the temple they met Simeon, who proclamation that Jesus was “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to your people Israel.” Simeon recognized Jesus as the light of the whole world. He was and is God’s revelation for all people. Because of Simeon’s proclamation, in some places this festival is referred to as “Candlemas” and is a time to bless all of the candles that are to be used during worship in the coming year. 

Mary and Joseph also encountered a prophet named Anna. She, too, recognized that God was doing a new thing in Jesus’ birth, bringing light and hope into the world.

You hear me often preach, “God is not yet done with us or our world.” God continues to be doing new things in our midst, bringing light and hope into the world. The Holy Spirit, the breath of God, continues to stir among us at Abiding Presence and throughout the world to reveal the glory of God in Christ. In the midst of a world that often seems a mess, the fact that God is not yet done with us and is still doing new things is central to my faith.   

This weekend we will officially welcome our newest staff members. Pastor Joe Vought will be installed as our Teaching Pastor and Sarah Snow will be installed as our Congregational Care Minister. After a year of many transitions, I’m excited to settle in with our new staff team and get to work.

I’ve learned, however, that God rarely calls us to just settle in and get comfortable. So, let us keep anticipating and keeping our eyes open for the next new thing that God will do. Our new staff team and I will be watching, waiting and preparing. We hope that you will be, too!

During this time after Epiphany our scripture lessons will focus on the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. We will hear about the calling of the disciples and Jesus’ first sermon in Matthew’s gospel—the Sermon on the Mount. In these first two months of the new year, we will wrestle with what does it actually mean to follow Jesus.

The time after Epiphany is one of my favorite seasons of the year to preach. I love the stories of Jesus’ calling of the disciples and his building of the ministry team that will journey with him. I find the Spirit coming alive in these passages offering so much for us today through them. Following Jesus has never been easy. It’s always been a little strange and left people scratching their heads. 

Reading, studying and preaching the disciples’ call stories always reminds me of my own call story, too. This Wednesday will mark the 13th anniversary of my ordination into the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Some days of ministry have been just what I expected while other days have been far from it. Being a pastor—specifically, being your pastor—continues to be my “dream job.”

As I reflect on the calling of the disciples, my own call and our ministry together at Abiding Presence, I cannot help but wonder who else among us God might be calling into the ministry. Could it be you?

In celebration of Abiding Presence’s 40th anniversary a few years ago, we launched the Abiding Presence Fund for Leaders in Mission Scholarship. We are currently working to build an endowed scholarship that will provide financial support for members of Abiding Presence and others to attend an ELCA seminary to become a pastor or deacon. We want to ensure that not only Abiding Presence, but also the whole ELCA has faithful and innovative pastors and deacons to lead them into the future. This is one way that Abiding Presence is working to make a lasting impact on the larger church. 

Just as it did when Jesus called the disciples long ago, the church continues to need people willing to say, “Yes,” to God’s call. 

“What then are we to say about these things,” the apostle Paul asked in the 8th chapter of the book of Romans. The things of which Paul spoke were the “sufferings of this present time.” Of course, the time of Paul’s first century world was much different than the time in which we find ourselves today. That said, we still know suffering—in so many different ways, shapes and forms—all too well. We continue to face things that leave us wondering what to say and where to turn.  

In particular, this past week felt like one filled with uncertainty as we  watched and waited to see how things would play out in various places around the globe. It left me wondering with the apostle Paul, “What then are we to say about these things?” I wound up posting the following on my Facebook page:

Praying with sighs too deep for words for:
Peace in the midst of violence
Calm in the midst of rising tensions
Safety for those in harm’s way
Sleep for all who worry.
We may no longer be in the season of Advent in the church year, but as God’s Advent people I am praying, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Come quickly, Prince of Peace.

We do not know what the future will bring, but we do know with certainty that whatever happens it will not be able to separate us from God. Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is nothing in this world that is a greater force than God. God’s presence with us is certain and God’s love for us is unwavering. 

In the midst of our present times, I cling to Paul’s words. I take great comfort in the conviction that there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God. We can pray and act in confidence that God is with us. God is not done with us or our world. 

Happy New Year!

As we prepare for Epiphany Sunday, I want to share with you a reflection from Martin Luther on the wise men from a collection of his sermons in Martin Luther’s Christmas Book edited by Roland H. Bainton. Here’s what Luther preached:

“When they had heard the king, [the Wise Men] departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, the rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”

Now the Wise Men had the faith to follow the word of the Prophet Micah. They were not offended that the king was not born in Jerusalem. They left the Temple and went to the cow stall.

If I had been there, I would have stayed in the Temple and said: “God dwells here and if the Child is to be found anywhere in the world, it will be where all the priests are gathered and God is served.” We may profit from the example of these heathen, who, took no offense when directed from Jerusalem, the great city, to little Bethlehem. They followed the Word, and God comforted them by putting back the star, which led them now to Bethlehem and to the very door where the young Child lay.

Here the Evangelist (the writer of Matthew’s gospel) shows us the true nature of faith, how they believed simply what they had not seen and held fast to the Word. That is why God brought them from their land to where they should hear the Word, but God let them first fall into error and bewilderment. They thought the Child would be born in the capital, Jerusalem, and that is where they went. Then the star left them and no one in the city so much as knew that a king was to be born. The Wise Men supposed that he would be born in circumstances of pomp like the son of a potentate. God did not leave them long in their error but showed them through the Scripture that they would not find him as they supposed in the big city, but in a little village, and he directed them to the royal town of Bethlehem.

The watching, waiting and preparing of this Advent season will soon give way to the proclamation that Christ is born. Here at Abiding Presence, we cannot wait to worship with you. Learn more about our Christmas Eve services here.

Here are a few quick and easy ways that you can help spread the word about Christmas at Abiding Presence:

· Share our FB post pinned to the top of the page about Christmas Eve services and/or our tweet.

· Post our Christmas Eve services on your neighborhood Next Door.

· Watch your social media feed for people looking for a church to worship at on Christmas Eve. Mention Abiding Presence and link back to our website.

This is the time of year when people are looking for a church and you could be the one to help them find it. I believe that we have good news to share about God’s love for all people that the world is waiting to hear. Let’s share it!

If you are traveling on Christmas Eve, we have our 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. services live on our Facebook page. Feel free to tune in to worship with us from wherever you happen to be.

Also, be sure to check out and share our annual Christmas Day Video Service that will come live to your inbox and social media on Christmas morning. The staff has once again prepared a brief (10-15 minute) service that you can watch from home in the midst of your celebrations. We look forward to wishing you a Merry Christmas in this year’s matching staff style.

Finally, I would be remised if I didn’t end by acknowledging that I know we have many in our faith family who are struggling this Christmas season. Grief, illness, anxiety and loneliness are hard anytime of year, but they are especially hard this time of year. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need a bit of support or care. You are not alone. We are a faith family, together.

As my reflection this week, I want to share with you the poem “The Birth of Wonder,” by Madeline L’Engle. I came across this poem when preparing for our midweek Advent services and I was immediately struck by the words. I found that the poem captured the feelings in my heart this Advent season. The poet speaks to the joy that goes beyond just a festive season, which is the joy for which I know many of us are longing.

The Birth of Wonder
As I grow older
I get surer
Man’s heart is colder,
His life no purer.
As I grow steadily
More austere
I come less readily
To Christmas each year.
I can’t keep taking
Without a thought
Forced merrymaking
And presents bought
In crowds jostling.
Alas, there’s naught
In empty wassailing
Where oblivion’s sought.
Oh, I’d be waiting
With quiet fasting
Anticipating
A joy more lasting.
And so I rhyme
With no apology
During this time
of eschatology:
Judgment and warning
Come like thunder.
But now is the hour
When I remember
An infant’s power
On a cold December.
Midnight is dawning
And the birth of wonder.

In the midst of your last minute holiday preparations this week, I hope you will take a moment to reflect on the joy we know as followers of Christ. It is the joy of a Savior who has put on flesh to dwell with us in the Christ child and who promises to come again, too. Let this joy fill you, even in the midst of the sadness, grief and challenges you may face.

I also encourage you to take a moment to invite someone to come to Christmas Eve services at Abiding Presence. There are so many searching for joy right now who are waiting to hear the good news of Jesus. Share the joy you know! Offer an invitation!

This weekend we begin the season of Advent, the four weeks in the church year leading up to Christmas. While this is a time of preparation for celebrating  Christ’s birth, that is not the focus of Advent. Instead, Advent is as season of looking ahead. We watch and wait for Christ to come again. Trusting in God’s promise that Christ is coming again, we look into the future with hope and anticipation of what God will do next.

It makes sense, then, that during this Advent season we also look ahead to the new year and the ministry we hear God calling us to in 2020. There is lots to be excited about, especially the news we recently shared about our new Teaching Pastor and Congregational Care Minister. If you missed the letter in your mailbox from me and Steve Lucky, our Council President, there are copies of it available for you to pick up in the narthex when you head to worship this weekend. As I look ahead to the coming year, I cannot wait to see how God will continue to work in and through us to fulfill our mission of Connecting People to Christ through Community.

If you have not yet offered your financial statement of intent for 2020, please do so this weekend either online at AbidingPresence.net/soi or by filling out the paper form included with this weekend’s bulletin. You can place your paper forms in the offering plate during worship or mail them to the church office. Our Stewardship Team will be making calls this week to families who have not yet made commitments as a way to invite them to do so and answer any questions they may have about our vision moving forward. Together, working generously and faithfully, we can meet or exceed our goal of $65,000 in new income for 2020. 

Next weekend, December 7/8 will be Celebration Weekend. We will not only be offering prayers of dedication for the financial commitments given, but also thanking the congregation for making them. You don’t want to miss it! We have some special things planned to say, “Thank You” as we look ahead to 2020.

This Sunday is a festival Sunday in the church year known as “The Reign of Christ.” At our services this weekend we will hear the story of Christ’s crucifixion as we think about what it means for Christ to be king of our lives. We know that he reigns in heaven and on earth, but what does that actually look like in the midst of our day to day realities? That is what we are thinking about this weekend. 

 “The Reign of Christ” is also the last Sunday in the church year. It is our equivalent of New Year’s Eve. Next weekend we will be the first Sunday of Advent and a new church year will begin. As such, this is a time for us to  both look back and look ahead. We can take stock in what we have done and we resolutions about what we hope to do differently.

 Stewardship season always falls in this New Year’s time in the church when we ask you to take a look back at your financial commitment to the church in the past and prayerfully consider your commitment in the future. I hope that you will spend some time taking a look at the bar chart in the bulletin insert as a way to think about your commitment. It will take all of us offering our financial commitments to fulfill the 2020 vision. 

Now, I know that it isn’t always popular for the church to talk about money. But, Jesus talked about money a lot! In fact, over a quarter of Jesus’ parables are about money. Why? Because Jesus meant what he said when he told his followers, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)”

Jesus knew that our hearts and our bank accounts (or the first century financial equivalent) are closely connected. How we spend our money speaks volumes about who and whose we are, which brings us right back to the church year celebration of the “Reign of Christ.”

As followers of Jesus, we believe that Christ is King—of heaven and earth, of our hearts and minds, of our treasures and finances. To acknowledge Christ as King in our hearts means to do so with our financial priorities as well. The two are more closely connected than we might some days want to think.

When you come to worship this weekend, make sure you pick up the red and white stripped bag that will be waiting for you. You don’t want to leave church without it!

Inside the bag you will find the usual stewardship resources, including our “Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going” booklet, a letter from me and a Statement of Intent. Please plan to take a little time to read through the resources and prayerfully consider how God is calling you to respond. You can return your commitment for 2020 in the offering plate, by mailing it to the church office or by going online at AbidingPresence.net/soi. We’re asking for all commitments to please be turned in by December 1 in preparation for Celebration Weekend on December 7/8. (Just wait until you see what we have planned for this year’s celebration!)

The usual stewardship resources aren’t the only thing you will find in your bag this year, though. You will also find your very own personalized Abiding Presence hot chocolate kit. Now, I realize you might be wondering, “What does hot chocolate have to do with stewardship?”

Here at Abiding Presence our mission is Connecting People to Christ Through Community. More than just any community, though, we want to connect people to an authentic community in which they can be real. We follow Jesus in community not because we all know the way, but because it is easier to stumble on the path together. We don’t have all the answers, but we are willing to sit in the questions listening for God with one another. The Abiding Presence faith family reminds us of who and whose we are as beloved children of God when the world tries to tell us otherwise.

Creating this kind of intentional and authentic community is built through relationships. That’s where the hot chocolate kit comes in. We hope that you will find a way to use the kit to take step in your relationship building as we seek to invite people in to see what this faith family is like.

Maybe you can enjoy a mug of hot chocolate as a family while you sit and talk together at a time when phones are put away. Next time the grandkids (or the adult kids) come over, get it out. When they ask, “What is that?” use it plant a seed and talk for a moment about why you go to church. Put out the packets at  your book club or when a friend comes over as a conversation starter. Talk about your church, share about this community of faith and spread the word that all are welcome.

Whenever and however you use your hot chocolate kit, I hope it will be a reminder of what we are about here at Abiding Presence. This is your community and we are glad you are here.

One evening last week one of our church council members texted me to say, “I love that when mental illness support was requested on [a Facebook group], Abiding Presence was the first thing mentioned.” “Me, too!” I replied. I then went on to check out the thread. Sure enough, someone had posted in one of the local Facebook groups asking for recommendations for where to get support for themselves as they provide care for a family member with a mental illness. The first reply was to check out Abiding Presence with links to our website. The best part was that the comment came from someone who isn’t even a member of our church!

Week after week, day after day, I am privileged to see the impact Abiding Presence is making on people’s lives – both people in our congregation and people in our larger community. I hope you see it, too. The Facebook group is just one example of the how Abiding Presence has become known in the Burke community as a place where people can turn for help and support. What we do here is important and it matters.

This weekend I want to say thank you for the ways you make possible the life changing work possible we do at Abiding Presence. We are able to do what we do because of both your presence in our faith community and your financial support for our ministry. We are the church together. Thank you!

 This is also the weekend where we begin to look ahead to next year as we launch our annual stewardship campaign. Enclosed in your bulletin this weekend will be the first of four weeks of inserts that describe our vision for 2020. That vision will lead us to:

Build Sustaining Faith
Grow in Discipleship
Make Disciples
Maintain & Grow in Excellence of Ministry

Next weekend we will distribute packets to every household in the congregation as we invite you to consider your financial commitment for 2020. This packet will include our annual stewardship book that tells the story of where we have been and where we are going, a statement of intent to record your commitment for 2020 and a letter from me. Here at Abiding Presence, we think stewardship packets are pretty exciting, so you won’t want to miss the fun things that will be in your packet, too.

 As I look ahead to the coming year, I am as excited as ever to be your pastor. Abiding Presence is an amazing faith community that is changing lives, connecting people to Christ and build authentic community. Thank you for all you do to make our church the vibrant, active and Spirit-filled congregation it is.

All Saints Sunday is my favorite weekend of worship of the entire year (and not just because it always coincides with Daylight Savings Time and an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning). I countdown all year, preparing to sing with gusto the verses of “For All the Saints,” which is my favorite hymn. While I hold tight to the promise of eternal life throughout the year, on All Saints Sunday I cling to it as I am especially mindful of the saints in the great cloud of witnesses who surround us each time we gather at the Lord’s Table.

As your pastor, I find there to be something especially holy about standing at the font and the altar and naming the new saints—both naming those baptized into the living saints among us and naming those who have died into the great cloud of witnesses. Most years, I read the names through eyes blurry with tears. After nearly 10 years of ministry with you, the saints we have buried this past year people who I had come to know and love deeply. One of my greatest privileges is walking with you and sharing in your grief, too.

As I look at the pictures of all those who surround us in the great cloud of witnesses and out at all of you living saints in the congregation, the memories come flooding back of the saints in my life who have led me to this place. I remember people like Miss Betty Gerwig, the volunteer librarian at my home congregation when I was growing up who taught me how to play the game “dots” one Sunday while I waited for my parents to finish talking. I think about Mrs. Genevieve Manley, too, an older woman at the church who had no family in the area who my mom helped care for by driving her to doctors and checking in on her until her death. These two women taught be about what it meant to be a “faith family” long before I knew the phrase.

It is also the Sunday of the church year when I think about all of the children who I had the privilege to teach back when I was a teenager and sensing this call to ministry. All of those kids are now grown up. Some of them even have kids of their own. One of them, Billy, passed away in a tragic accident this year and I’ll be trusting he will be there in the great cloud of witnesses.

Finally, I call to mind the saints who taught me about generosity and faithfulness to God and the church. One of those saints is my grandfather. I was in my early 20s and visiting him one afternoon when he asked me to get his checkbook. He wanted me to write out his monthly contribution to the church for him so he could sign the check. He was homebound at the time, not getting to church and nearing death. “You are still giving to the church, Di?” I remember saying to him that afternoon. “Of course,” he explained, “you don’t stop giving to the church just because you cannot go.” It is a lesson that took me several years to learn and digest, but my faith journey has been far richer because of it.

I invite you to join me in thinking about your saints this weekend. Call to mind the people who have brought you to this place. We know and trust that they are present with us each and every time we gather at the Lord’s Table. This weekend, in particular, we will celebrate their presence as we cling to the promise of eternal life together. 

Throughout the month, we have been looking at the core value statement of our congregation:

At Abiding Presence:
All Are Welcome
We are a Faith Family, Together
We are God's Hands and Feet in the World
We See People as Christ Sees Them 

On this Reformation Sunday weekend, it is fitting for us to look at our first core value, “All are Welcome.”

So, what do we mean when we say, “All are Welcome?” First and foremost, we mean you are welcome. But we mean more than that, too. So, here’s a glimpse of what this value means to us.

No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome at Abiding Presence:

· If you are young or old or somewhere in between, you are welcome
· If you have brown skin, black skin, white skin, or any color of skin, you are welcome
· If you are single, married, widowed, divorced or in a complicated relationship, you are welcome
· If you are LGBTQIA+, you are welcome
· If you are sick or well, happy or sad, you are welcome
· If you are rich or poor, powerful or weak, you are welcome
· If you believe in God some of the time, none of the time or all of the time, you are welcome

You are welcome here, so come:
· Come with your kids, your spouse, your extended family or by yourself
· Come with your gifts, pain, hope and fears
· Come with the church experiences that have helped you or hurt you or with no church experience at all
· Come with the life experiences that have shaped you and challenged you

Come and be part of the faith family of Abiding Presence where when we say “All are Welcome” we mean all and we mean you, too.

This welcome statement has been personalized for Abiding Presence, but is one many churches have adapted from Gordon Brown’s Shaping Sanctuary. Thankfully, there are many Christian churches that offer a clear welcome to all.

This past spring our church council and staff, along with input from the congregation, discerned how to put our core values as a faith family into words. The result was the following core value statement:

 At Abiding Presence:

All Are Welcome
We are a Faith Family, Together
We are God's Hands and Feet in the World
We See People as Christ Sees Them

 In my weekly newsletter messages this month, I have been exploring what each of these core values mean. This week I want us to take a look at “We See People as Christ Sees Them.” This value encompasses the idea that we both see other people as Christ sees them AND that we come to see ourselves as Christ sees us, too. They are two sides of the same coin of looking at people through the lens of Christ rather than the lens of the world.

First, let’s talk about how we see others through the lens of Christ. We know how Jesus sees people. The Bible is filled with stories of Jesus not only   noticing those who were on the margins, but also stopping to engage with them. He touched people who were considered to be unclean. He welcomed at his table those who were shunned. Over and over again, Jesus widens the  circle of who is included in the kingdom of God. No one is unworthy of Jesus’ time, attention and love.

When we look at others through the lens of Christ, we see not their sin, faults or mistakes, but instead we see that they are beloved in God’s eyes. We may not like them or their behavior. But, we are called to see them and treat them as  fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, beloved by God. That’s what we try to do here at Abiding Presence, whether the person is a fellow church member, one of our weekday community center guests or someone in the community in need of help.

I’ll be honest, some days this is harder than others. When telemarketers call the church, the last thing I want to do when I pick up the phone is to treat them as a beloved child of God. When someone throws a brick through the church    windows like happened this summer, it is really hard to stop and see them as Christ sees them. When I get cut off in traffic or hurtful by someone’s words, my go-to lens is not Christ’s. It takes practice, lots of it, to see  people first and foremost as Christ sees them.

To see others through the lens of Christ is not enough, however. We also come to see ourselves through that same lens. In my sermon last weekend I preached about being   defined by our identity as beloved children of God instead of the successes or failures the world tells us matter. As I preached last weekend, I need the voice of this faith family and of the God we proclaim to be the loudest voice in my life and in the lives of my children.

I wholeheartedly believe that this core value in our faith community has the possibility of changing our lives and the lives of others with the good news of God’s love. It’s a different way of being in the world. It is the way of Jesus. While it is far from easy, it is important.

This weekend we have the privilege of welcoming new members into our faith family. To our new members we say, “Welcome! We are glad that you are here.” We are the vibrant, Spirit-filled church we are because of new people like you who come into our midst.  

Welcoming new members is a great  opportunity for all of us to remember who we are as God’s people here at Abiding Presence. As some of you might recall, this past spring the church council and I invited the congregation to help us identify our core values. Core values serve as guiding principles that shape our life together. They reflect how we understand our call to be the Body of Christ in this time and place. 

 At Abiding Presence:

All Are Welcome
We are a Faith Family, Together
We are God's Hands and Feet in the World
We See People as Christ Sees Them

Today, I want to focus on what it means to live out our value of “We are a Faith Family Together.” As I look at it, there is a lot packed into this one phrase!

Family
As a congregation, we place a high   priority on supporting families, especially parents/caregivers and children/teens. Our worship environment is one that offers grace to adults as they teach children how to worship. We invest with time, finances and staff in our growing children, youth and family ministries. We envision new ways to connect with students, such as the Sunday night Youth Group ministry we launched this fall. We want to be a church where families/children/teens are fully integrated into all aspects of our life and ministry.

Families at Abiding Presence come in all different shapes and sizes. At any given worship service and throughout the week you will find families who are nuclear, extended, biological, adopted, blended, separated, LGTBQIA+, interfaith and not-so-sure-about-faith. Our definition of “family” is as broad as the beautiful diversity of families in our congregation and the community in which we live.

Faith Family
More than just wanting to support   families, though, we understand the church to be family. You will often here me teach, preach, write and talk using the phrase “faith family” to describe the church.

All that said, when we talk about family, we realize that it isn’t a word that creates a sense of warmth and       acceptance for everyone. For those whose prior family and/or church experiences have been less than   positive, we grieve with you and want this faith family to be a place where you find hope.

Together
At Abiding Presence, we live life together. It’s not perfect. Often times our life together is messy. Some days it involves a lot of forgiveness, grace, patience and strength. Many days, it offers great joy. We seek to be faith family that is real and authentic as we do life together.

We are a Faith Family, Together
I am grateful for each one of you and your place in this faith family. It is my privilege to walk with you in the holy space of being one of your pastors, raise my children alongside you and do life together with you.

I have been reminded recently of the opening  words of the ELCA social statement “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice,”  which say:

Christian concern for the environment is shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth. We of the ELCA are deeply concerned about the environment, locally and globally, as members of this church and as members of society...we know care for the earth to be a profoundly spiritual matter.

We worship a God who is the creator of heaven and earth. This means that as people of faith and followers of Jesus, care for the earth is a spiritual matter. One of the ways we live out our faith and live in relationship with our Creator God is in the way we steward the earth. 

So, what does this mean? First and foremost, it means that I have sinned and fallen short in my care for the earth in ways too numerous to count. Maybe you have, too. I am mindful that there is much that I have done and left undone when it comes to being a good steward of God’s creation. 

Second, it means that the church has something to say to the world about what it means to care for God’s  creation. As people of faith, caring for the earth is something about which we can and should speak out.

Third, understanding that our care for the earth is connected to our lives as   followers of Jesus, we as the faith family of Abiding Presence have the chance to model what it looks like to be good stewards of God’s creation. I hope we can begin to have conversations around what this might mean moving forward. If you would like to be part of the discussion, please let me know.

As we seek to better steward God’s  creation, we are trying a few things this weekend in order to reduce the amount of paper we use in worship. These changes are experiments to see what might work (or not work) as we seek to care for the earth. I welcome your feedback as to how they go.

Here’s what we are trying:

· Having one prayer request sheet in the back of the sanctuary instead of stuffing individual sheets in each bulletin. (Reduction of 150 pieces of paper/weekend)

· Offering a small number of reusable worship outlines at the 8:45 a.m. service instead of printing a worship folder for each  person. (Reduction of 130 pieces of paper/weekend)

· Creating a worship folder for Saturdays that can be used for a few weeks in a row. (Reduction of 500 pieces of paper/month)

I look forward to continuing the  conversation as a faith family about what it means to be good stewards of God’s creation here at Abiding Presence and out in the world.