Service Times
Sunday - 8:00am and 10:30am
Thursday - 6:30pm
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Sunday - 8:00am and 10:30am
Thursday - 6:30pm
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Upcoming Events
Lenten Worship 10 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Date: 24 March 2010
Details: 10 a.m. worship followed by fellowship meal. 5 p.m. meal followed by 6:30 p.m. worship
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PASTOR'S THOUGHTS:
September 2010
Seasons Change – How About You?
“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
It’s that time of year again. I feel evidence of it in the air. I see evidence of it from my office window here at church. The seasons are changing. The air has that certain feeling of autumn to it. A few leaves on the trees are showing a tinge of some red and orange. It’s changing and I for one like the changing seasons.
We sometimes fight change but change in some things is not only good but absolutely necessary. Repentance is about change. Jesus said, “…unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of God.”
Not only are we to daily confess our sin to God and turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness, we are also to change. Repentance is about change. It’s about changing the way you talk. You talk in a demeaning way to others and it has become your “normal talk.” Your spending habits need to change – you are not spending your money wisely. Your prayer life and your public worship life need to change. You find that praying and worshipping with your fellow Christians has become hit or miss or your attentiveness in church leaves much to be desired. Even our thoughts need to change. Bad thinking leads to bad living.
Seasons change – how about you? Are you changing? Are you on a daily basis becoming less world-like and more Christ-like in your thoughts, words, deeds and desires? This change doesn’t happen once or twice a year; change needs to be happening all the time. Repentance is a daily exercise in which we die to sin and rise with Christ and live new lives. It’s about daily changing and becoming like little children.
How much change is there in our lives? I have one short and simple answer to that question – NOT ENOUGH! There is not enough – there is never enough and this is very depressing. It’s like greyhound dogs in a dog race never being able to catch that fake rabbit. We look at our lives and we
see evidence of being the same old miserable sinners we always have been. The seasons change - where is the change in our hearts and minds? We need to repent for our repentance! How crazy is that.
As we struggle with our sin and shame; as we struggle with our baby-steps of change, we take comfort in knowing that our God does not change. In one of our favorite hymns – Abide with Me, we sing these words…
O thou who changest not, abide with me!
How sweet to know that our loving, patient, forgiving Lord does not change. Despite our sinfulness and lack-luster efforts, God loves us for Jesus’ sake and that my friends, will never change. God the Father’s love for us is not based on your daily performance record but on Jesus’ perfect life lived in our place and his suffering and death in our place. That Jesus has redeemed us from sin and rose from the dead is the rock-solid truth that will never change.
It won’t be long before the change that we long for in us will be complete. “Listen, I tell you a mystery…in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…we will be changed.” (1 Cor. 15:51ff) Wow! What a day that will be. Until then dear ones, keep changing like the seasons. Your change won’t be perfect; it won’t be complete until the day Jesus comes again. But don’t let that stop you from working with the Holy Spirit to bring about change in your life. All glory to our changeless God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Krueger
Seasons Change – How About You?
“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
It’s that time of year again. I feel evidence of it in the air. I see evidence of it from my office window here at church. The seasons are changing. The air has that certain feeling of autumn to it. A few leaves on the trees are showing a tinge of some red and orange. It’s changing and I for one like the changing seasons.
We sometimes fight change but change in some things is not only good but absolutely necessary. Repentance is about change. Jesus said, “…unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of God.”
Not only are we to daily confess our sin to God and turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness, we are also to change. Repentance is about change. It’s about changing the way you talk. You talk in a demeaning way to others and it has become your “normal talk.” Your spending habits need to change – you are not spending your money wisely. Your prayer life and your public worship life need to change. You find that praying and worshipping with your fellow Christians has become hit or miss or your attentiveness in church leaves much to be desired. Even our thoughts need to change. Bad thinking leads to bad living.
Seasons change – how about you? Are you changing? Are you on a daily basis becoming less world-like and more Christ-like in your thoughts, words, deeds and desires? This change doesn’t happen once or twice a year; change needs to be happening all the time. Repentance is a daily exercise in which we die to sin and rise with Christ and live new lives. It’s about daily changing and becoming like little children.
How much change is there in our lives? I have one short and simple answer to that question – NOT ENOUGH! There is not enough – there is never enough and this is very depressing. It’s like greyhound dogs in a dog race never being able to catch that fake rabbit. We look at our lives and we
see evidence of being the same old miserable sinners we always have been. The seasons change - where is the change in our hearts and minds? We need to repent for our repentance! How crazy is that.
As we struggle with our sin and shame; as we struggle with our baby-steps of change, we take comfort in knowing that our God does not change. In one of our favorite hymns – Abide with Me, we sing these words…
O thou who changest not, abide with me!
How sweet to know that our loving, patient, forgiving Lord does not change. Despite our sinfulness and lack-luster efforts, God loves us for Jesus’ sake and that my friends, will never change. God the Father’s love for us is not based on your daily performance record but on Jesus’ perfect life lived in our place and his suffering and death in our place. That Jesus has redeemed us from sin and rose from the dead is the rock-solid truth that will never change.
It won’t be long before the change that we long for in us will be complete. “Listen, I tell you a mystery…in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…we will be changed.” (1 Cor. 15:51ff) Wow! What a day that will be. Until then dear ones, keep changing like the seasons. Your change won’t be perfect; it won’t be complete until the day Jesus comes again. But don’t let that stop you from working with the Holy Spirit to bring about change in your life. All glory to our changeless God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Krueger
WELS Daily Devotions