March 2022 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Greetings everyone…
We are about to enter Lent…that contemplative season which calls us to repentance and deep thought regarding our faith. We will be visiting the Fruit of the Spirit through the season. For that reason, I share the following devotion on that subject. It is a devotion I read long ago…but still find it appropriate. Please join us for this important season as we look toward Easter and the foundation of our faith.
 

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Galatians 5:22-23
 
Which do you prefer—mealy, tasteless apples, or crisp, tangy apples? Almost certainly, you prefer good fruit, right?
 
Jesus compares good fruit with godly living.  Luke 6:43-45,
 
and in our passage today, Paul uses fruit to teach us something about the work of the Spirit.
 
Just as a sick or dying tree will bear bad fruit, people who are dead in sin are prone to sexual immorality, impurity, hatred, discord, and jealousy, among other things. The person whose heart has been made alive to Jesus Christ, however, naturally produces good fruit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
 
Which fruit looks more appealing to you? Good fruit, right?
 
 
 
 
Unfortunately, no one can produce good spiritual fruit on their own. That effort is doomed to failure. Only with the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts can we know Jesus and begin to produce the life-enriching fruit of the Spirit. Working together with the Spirit, we bear the marks of a godly life in our daily living.
What kind of fruit are you producing? Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit is a handy guide to see how you’re doing in your walk with Jesus. Ask the Spirit today and every day to work in your heart to produce good and wholesome spiritual fruit.

Prayer:Dear Jesus, forgive us when our lives produce bad fruit.
Please send your Spirit to produce in us fruit that is
pleasing and glorifying to God. Amen.

Be blessed, Everyone!
 

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December 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Luther and I would like to share a sincere and warm heart to you! Thank you for the support and encouragement you give to all of us!
 
Over this holiday season, we have been very busy, but it has been the best busy because you have been a part of it.
 
This faith family has grown so much over the last months proving that we can accomplish so much when we work together! We thank you for the cards, well wishes, the gifts, the help, for being present and offering to do all you can for this Christmas season! We are blessed to be with such a great faith family.
 
 
Blessings to you
and with so much anticipation for 2022!
 
 
Be Blessed,
 
 
 
Pastor Dorie, Luther
       and the rest of our clan!

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November 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Greetings Everyone,

One of the questions we hear and may wonder about ourselves is “does God care if I am in church on Sundays?” Or whenever our worship services and other activities are held. Since Covid has been around, this question is even more obvious as we have discovered
we can watch our services on Facebook as we are relaxing in our living rooms. Some may even ponder the thought of why it is important at all.

First, it’s important to make all of you aware that God is NOT going to love you any less or send you to hell if you don’t come to worship. However, for your information, it’s not what God wants for you, and it very easily could hurt your spiritual growth. As we are taught, church is not the building. Church is the people who gather within the building. Those who gather are the Body of Christ as defined in our Bible. You will often read the Apostle Paul speaking to the Church, the body of believers who gather in the name of Christ.

We often refer to our Body of Christ as our Faith Family. If you are part of a Faith Family, it embraces many aspects that are beneficial. These aspects include being there for each other in whatever way necessary; to support each other, to encourage each other, to pray for each other, to guide each other, and to provide direction and learning opportunities. Being a part of a faith family is where we grow, where we love, where we laugh, where we serve and spread the good news of Jesus.
 
A Faith Family is not perfect, but it is a place where we can belong and find community! We are building bonds and it becomes a place where we can share the love of Christ with each other and those who join us. It’s not meant to be a perfect place, but one of warmth and acceptance. A place where we agree in our love of Christ and look forward to growing in His love. As we do, we become a shining light out in the world. Right now, we need that more than anything else.
 
Remember the song,
“We are the Church, we are the church together!”
 
God did not intend for us to be separate in our faith and worship, but to be together.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says,
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another,
and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
 
As we find ourselves coming back together safely in worship, let us remember the importance of being here for each other as well as for our own growth and love. Let us stir each other up! Let us embrace each other in Christian love, refuel our tanks so we can go out into the world and share this special love. Let us realize that there is a place and time where worship is private but coming together is God’s mandate!

Happy November in the name of Christ…
 
 
 

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October 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Greetings dear Faith Family!

For the last weeks we have been walking with some of the women of the Bible. It has been a rich time, discovering that although the culture of the time tried to control and hold back our gender, there were those who rose to the challenge and were used by God to continue forwarding his plan for us! We concluded recently with some time with the Mary’s of the Bible, honoring and reflecting especially on the mother of Jesus.

I want to share one more woman with all of you, even though there were more we did not talk about, like Miriam, Martha, Bathsheba, Hannah, Leah…. Esther is one of the women in the Bible who stood strong and provided a cultural lesson for us today, even in our current state. A special lesson of unity and taking care of each other as well.

Esther has her very own book in the Bible, and it is intriguing and a good read! She was basically an orphan, whose family had stayed behind when the Israelites began returning to their land. Her family integrated into the Persian community around them and eventually was chosen by the King to be his next Queen. It’s a beautiful story, deep and interesting.

A leader in the King’s deploy was found to be manipulative and dark, this knowledge held by Esther. Haman worked to justify the slaughter of Esther’s people, causing the King to issue a decree and forcing Esther to make a decision to bring her identity to the King in order to save her people. She had a plan to expose Haman and it worked almost flawlessly. The King supported Esther and allowed her to develop a plan to save her people.
 
Still another woman whom God used to carry out his plans. Another example of how God is always working with purpose and having salvation for all in mind.

Sometimes it’s easy for us to think that God is all about perfection and when we fall short, we can’t possibly fit into the plan. We especially use this theory to beat ourselves up or hold ourselves back from experiencing God’s goodness. This entire series in looking at the Old Testament and beyond through the eyes of women, knowing the culture around them, reminded us that no matter what happens in our life walk, God is always present and working to bring his plan to reality. When we open our hearts to consider his plan, well, God can still make it happen!

                         And oh….here’s to girl power!

                              Be blessed and safe through harvest family!
 
                                                       

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September 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

As of this writing, there is a flurry of activity all around us! Fall is around the corner, and we are all gearing up for what such a time brings to all of us! Back to school, fall activities with youth groups, return of children’s education, prepping for winter, and a whole host of other things the change of seasons bring. As we gear up, please remember to stay tuned in for schedules, we have a lot to look forward to in our groups.
 
In worship, we have been learning some details about the women in our Bible. Most recently we talked about how messy life is and how God works everything together for good (for those who love the Lord.) Tamar and Ruth give great examples of this. For this writing, I would like to share with you a bit about Deborah.
Deborah was a judge during a time of great difficulty in the lives of the Jewish people. Some would say that she was chosen because, as a woman, she could share tenderness and comfort with a group of people who were downcast and defeated. She emerged as a great leader and warrior, helping Barak defeat a great army which had a pile of war toys and ammunition, more than enough to beat up on a lesser army without the means to carry out a strong attack. But God had another plan.
 
Deborah wanted the people to experience victory and be reminded that God was on their side and how many times God worked to give them their freedom. Deborah knew how difficult that could be given the conditions of the world around them…but she knew that God would prevail as they believed. The Book of Judges, Chapters 4 and 5 tell this special story of how God used Deborah to accomplish a great feat.
When you read her story, you can’t help but hear the arguing in all the ways the people came to her as a judge. Deborah spoke with confidence and faced what was happening in the lives of the people and those around her. She did not hesitate to step out in truth and faith, trusting that God would always lead her to the right road. She did it in love.
 
Deborah was close to God, her faith largely in line with God’s plans and she had courage to follow those plans. In a time of struggle, God brought the people a woman of action and it lead to 40 years of peace (Judges 5:31) for the people of Israel.
 
Life is hard, isn’t it? Making decisions and moving forward isn’t the easiest thing to do without a firm plan in place, “what might happen, if”…God reminds us continually that He is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Trust, surrender, believe!
 
Thank you, Jesus! In his name…AMEN!
 

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July 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

The Holy Spirit is a Body Builder, from the Seedbed Daily Text.
As we continue our time of getting the know the Holy Spirit, I thought I would share this text about another important aspect of the Holy Spirit. PD
 
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 NIV:
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
 
CONSIDER THIS
How many churches are in the world today? That question may be a bit beyond the scope of our immediate trivia knowledge. Let’s try another question. How many Churches are there in the world today? See what I did there? A capital “C” puts the question in an entirely different category. There is only one Church, only one Body of Christ, according to the Scriptures. Jesus alone knows who is in his Church.
 
The parable of the sheep and the goats is a parable for our time, but at the end of the day, there is only one flock of sheep. And Jesus knows each sheep by name (John 10:3). The Holy Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, communicates to us that if we were baptized by one Holy Spirit, then we are a part of the one Body of Christ. We all drink the water of God’s love and power at the same fountain. Like little children on the playground, we may try to push one another away to get our turn, hog the fountain, or put our claim on it. But there is plenty for everyone, and, if you look around, there are many fountains at which to drink the same living water.
The Holy Spirit is all about making—bringing together—the Body of Christ. We are one Body, but there are many parts taking their place to embody Jesus’ life and ministry in their unique locales and neighborhoods across the planet. When we start complaining about the rest of the Church, or if we even lose ourselves in a whine-fest complaining in sweeping terms about how broken we as the Church are, I believe we have stepped over a very important line.
 
First, when we complain about the Church as a whole, that is just a sorry, weak, lazy, and distorted replacement for biblical lament. We are welcomed to lament, to grieve, and to pray for the Body of Christ when seeming fractures and relational puzzles emerge. But it seems that God’s Word gives us no quarter to stand as judge and jury over what is happening with our brothers and sisters in different parts of the Body.
 
Secondly, when we stage a whine-fest complaining in sweeping terms about how broken we are as the Church, it is like declaring: “I know all and see all, and this Body is a mess. It’s a hot mess, I tell you.” At that point, we are on the wrong side of God. Do we really think the gates of hell are prevailing against the Church, even when Jesus said they would not (Matt. 16:18)? No, they are not. Times are hard, yes.
 
But the Spirit sees the true, robust, and unconquerable Body of Jesus rising with him toward the day New Creation’s dawn breaks on the earth. Full stop. The Body of Christ is beautiful, and strong, and always the Beloved of Jesus.
 
The Holy Spirit is a Body Builder, and that is who we are to become as well if the Spirit lives in us. If we spend our time lost in complaint, we are spending our energies in the opposite direction in which the Spirit is spending the Spirit’s energies. Jesus is about building his Church, and the gates of hell will not topple it, divide it, or diffuse its power.
 
Let’s turn our energies to pray for the Body of Christ in all its local forms to learn what it means to live in union with the Father and the Son once more. Then, let us pray for the unity that flows out of that intimacy. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the capacity for unity in a fallen world. The Body of Christ is designed to be a sign, a wonder, a declaration that unity can occur in any age.
 

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May 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Happy May everyone!

We are sitting on the verge of a beautiful season and frankly, I can’t wait! It is always very refreshing to be able to spend time in the outdoors and watch the beginnings of Spring and Summer take place! With that comes a new season of worship!
 
How many of you would say that the concept of the Holy Spirit is unknown or maybe a little confusing? I have two ideas for worship over the summer and we will begin by spending some time learning more about the Holy Spirit. Once we get through some special events with our Confirmands and High School Senior, this will be our plan.

The end of May brings the celebration of Pentecost, a time when we acknowledge and remember the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples and a group of people who were gathered in Jesus Christ’s name. Do you remember Peter’s speech when everybody thought him to be drunk? It was then, the Bible teaches us that Jews from every nation were gathered when the Holy Spirit came as was told to them. Here was the Acts Church, the beginning of The Way that strengthened and encouraged the teachings of Jesus and shared the ways of Christ for all who would listen. It was the Holy Spirit who came to help the people – us – understand those ways and teachings! The Spirit was poured out.
 
The Holy Spirit is an important piece of our faith. Jesus in John 14: 10 says,
“the words I speak to you I do not speak to you of my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me.”
Jesus was conceived by, taught and was empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guided all his steps. The Holy Spirit seeks to guide our steps as well.

We teach our confirmands that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity and is considered their helper, the one who guides them in decision making. The Holy Spirit is their advocate and is often described as our Life Coach. We could benefit greatly from learning even more about this powerful third part of the Trinity. Join us in May and June for this impactful teaching!

Blessings,
 

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April 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Spring Resurrection Greetings to all!
 
 
Following the resurrection of the Lord, the disciples were given clear instructions by Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching others to obey all the commandments given by him…The Book of Acts shares the stories and journeys of the disciples as they begin to build the foundation of the church and bring the gospel to the people. Remember, they had the living, breathing Jesus to teach them while he was with them. It is important to add that this time when “the Way” was growing. It was revolutionary, but yet deeply meaningful for those who knew and experienced the love of Christ – GO WARRIORS!

Today, the idea of Church means different things to different people. Even though past generations usually stayed grounded in one church their entire lives, it’s not unheard of for people to be members of several churches during the course of their lifetimes…which is great as long as people are growing in their faith during this journey.

God created us to be in community, united with other believers and strengthened by the love of family. Loving and encouraging each other, supporting, and caring for each other, embracing and holding each other when it is important to do so. While our relationship with Jesus is quite personal, God wants it to be something we share with each other. In fact, Paul refers to all of us as members of a living body…and all of us are part of this living body…
 
There is no doubt that COVID affected our family, in countless ways, both good and challenging…but despite this…God held us together! There are those we can be forever grateful for in having done so much for us through this time, to keep us strong and still on the path.
 
Palm Sunday 2021 will forever be known as the day we hopefully turned the corner in Christ, together. My heart warmed to have those of you so wanting a hug and not being afraid to share that feeling, while holding back in respect of space. You are blessed and we are thankful to have you back with us.

God has watched over us and we are thankful – The Resurrection of Jesus is complete – the lessons remain important to us.
 
      He is Risen!     He is Risen Indeed!
                                                   Praise Be to God! AMEN!!
 
                                                                                             

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March 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Greetings dear Faith Family,
Wow, we have been blessed with some awesome weather to give us a breath of fresh air. I am always thankful for those moments
as Spring approaches and we get a tease of what’s ahead. I still remember the May Day Event when we were watching the snow
pile up in the basement window wells while we celebrated the special day. We ended up with six inches that day!! Thank you,
Lord, that we are hearty Minnesotans and adjust as Mother Nature provides!
 
I think we have all learned some adjusting as it relates to COVID19 as well. For almost a year now, our lives have been at
the will of those in professional positions making decisions fitting of the science they know well. We have the awesome responsibility
to respond to those offering guidelines and directives based on their professional opinions. All of it has created a need to be very
thoughtful with every step we take.
 
Certainly, the need for added prayer has been created and even energized us in many ways. And hopefully, we have all learned the
need for added depth and commitment in our faith lives. I have always loved the verse in Psalm 23 that goes…
“yea, though I walk
through the valley
of the shadow of death….”
 
and I do because it talks about walking through that valley. While we might hear that scripture mainly at a time when we are surrounded by death, it is fitting to note that the scripture speaks to a person walking THROUGH such a time.
 
We might pray to God for an end result, when in reality, God wants to be in the walk, in the through, in the process of that
which we are find ourselves challenged. God doesn’t always want to answer us by granting our request, but often seeks to
know if we hold his hand and TRUST in Him while going through it. And honestly, we do learn more in that part of the walk
then we really do in the results.
Remember, we don’t know what tomorrow might hold, where tomorrow might take us…But if we trust God is with us in the
process, it sure makes a difference! Hold on now…don’t always pray for tomorrow…God wants to be in your life today! Be
blessed by that…deepen your faith!
Hang on…
 
 
 

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January 2021 – From the Pastor’s Desk

Dear Friends!
We have been on quite a journey this last year with COVID! It has challenged us, changed us, shook us, scared us, and encouraged us to think about things in many a different way! It has also taught us that we are very much able to adjust and adapt, hasn’t it? Some of us thought that was not possible!

In Colossians, there is scripture (honestly there are several throughout the Bible) which teaches and encourages us by way of building our
relationship with Jesus and deepening our roots in him by growing our faith and walking in his love. (See picture). And it goes to reason that as we deepen our roots in him, our wings are reaching and strong. Which means we have even a greater ability to accomplish mighty things!

Sometimes struggles and challenges help us to contemplate who Jesus is to us, they might help us to step back and evaluate what our faith means to us, and it might even help us to realize that we might have been neglectful of our relationship with Jesus.

We have been searching and talking about some of the promises in the Bible and how they remind us of just how much God loves us and all the things God has made available to us. Many of us have been striving for a stronger foundation. We have been craving another level of peace and even trying to learn more about what it means to simply just surrender. God is always about helping us to transformation!
But, surrender is difficult and it relies completely on the faith you have nurtured. When you have the ability to give it to God, God lifts you up with scripture, like in Isaiah 41:10:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~ Isaiah 41:10
 
And in Proverbs 3:5-6…

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6.
 
These scriptures remind us that as we grow close to him, the closer he comes to us, the stronger our faith is, the more we trust Jesus and the less stressful things like COVID make us because we don’t have control over those types of things.

We might remember that moment in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus bowed his head and talked with his Father about what was ahead for him. In one way he asked God to take it all away, but yet, his surrender was imminent, he knew how important what was ahead for him (and for us, as well!) and Jesus had trust and a deep love for us. Jesus would go on to make the greatest sacrifice of all for each one of us as he surrendered his own life to God!

It is precisely that sacrifice that gives us the hope we need to take each step we take every day! It is what Jesus did for us which
reminds us we can do anything, especially as we plant our steps in God! Remember, Jesus came to live a human life, to show us how he could relate to the things we go through!

This month, let us deepen the love we have for Jesus by growing closer to him, by building on our friendship with him and trusting everything will be okay, in spite of all the things around us which might teach us otherwise.

Be blessed,
 
                                                   

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