Luverne United Methodist Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

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

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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…

 

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!

 

 

 

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:

 

 

 

It is remarkable to reflect on our present times, mainly because one would never have thought it possible our world would be enduring in such a way as we are with COVID19. It has changed the way we do life as we know it and has for quite some time. As a pastor who craves human interaction (as I’m sure a great deal of people do), such a time as this has created a whole host of thoughts and dilemmas. As we now enter the Advent Season, those thoughts and dilemmas are magnified as the holiday season is one of togetherness, it is a time of love, a time of family and of faith.

 

We will be stepping aside our path of promises through the Old Testament to talk about the promises brought to us through Jesus
during this special season. It is precisely the promises given to us that remind us we have everything we need to get through a time such as this. In fact, in the Second Book of Peter, he gives us the words to remember this specifically….

 

 “ 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

 

 

Are we not challenged in these times to possess many of these attributes, I mean, perseverance is a given…self-control is somewhat
difficult….and if we allow, we can be moved to godliness, which allows
us mutual Affection, which moves us to love.

 

Something which can be totally profound! “He has given us very great and precious promises….” This is how we survive, on the promises of God, given to us through Jesus. “He has given us very great and precious promises….” Which Peter then tells us they help us to participate in the divine nature….which can be interpreted to mean that we can walk hand in hand with our God…we can step aside from what the world offers, even the struggles…we can be filled with Joy, Hope, Peace….Love! The gifts of Advent!

 

So the meat as to what we’re getting at is that for us to navigate this time well, leaning on the promises of Jesus, focusing on the gift of His
life becomes necessary and central to living a life of faith, of developing deep relationships in Christ, which take us to LOVE. We are not only challenged to embrace such attributes, but the struggle of these times almost feed our ability to lean in on them, rely on them.
While we may not understand what is happening, while we may find ourselves full of emotions and questions, we can relate to the people
in our biblical history and take their guidance.

 

As we navigate these times, let us also be thankful for the gifts of these times and their ability to move us to love. Standing on the promises…May God guide us every day!

 

 

 

Greetings dear faith family,
As we continue through this very interesting time, which is challenging us in many ways, we also continue to lean upon our God who has made numerous promises. And though it seems like we turn around and another branch of this time takes our breath away. We continue to pray and hope, using this time as an opportunity to grow in our faith.

We live in this land of promise freely, it is a tremendous gift. And the best part of this gift is that, as we receive it, as we embrace it and as we learn from it, we go deeper in the knowledge that we have a God who loves us so much that he has provided everything we need to survive in the here and now, while also securing eternal life for us.

In our recent services, we have spent time with Noah, learning that trust was essential in the request God made to Noah. We found it interesting that Noah, nor anyone, had ever heard of rain. This made it even more fascinating that Noah followed God’s direction to the letter. God had rendered Noah faithful and worthy to take on the task. Noah, and all of us were given a promise through a rainbow that we would never face death by a flood from God’s hands again.

Abraham came on the scene when he was 75 years old, but we know little about him. God chose him because he believed. He wasn’t perfect, but he agreed to follow God’s direction to leave his home and go for a land God directed…but the most significant piece of this was that Abraham believed. Period. He even got a little testy at one time…we get this don’t we?

 

It’s not easy limiting our social experiences. But despite this, his belief was solid, that’s why God chose him…and he went on to be the father of many nations, filled with promise. And as such as God has made it possible, we, too, are heirs of this promise. The promises of God are many, it is hard to put the words to all that God expected of us, but jumping in and learning…going deeper…embracing the history…taking the time and giving value to all that he left us, makes a tremendous difference not only in our faith, but in our lives.

We might not feel confidence in what our tomorrows hold right now, but in the promises of God, we have more hope than we could ever find anywhere else. Join us on Sundays for a while and learn about some of these promises and what they mean for us.

 

Be blessed dear faith family…