ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL, MUNSTER, INDIANA
  • Home
  • Church
    • Discover >
      • Sunday School
      • Resources
    • Disciple
    • Connect
    • Youth
  • School/Preschool
    • Parents
    • Students
    • Preschool >
      • Summer Fun
    • Extra-curricular
    • Admissions
    • Faculty
    • Alumni
  • About
    • What We Believe
    • History >
      • Rededicated
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Church
    • Discover >
      • Sunday School
      • Resources
    • Disciple
    • Connect
    • Youth
  • School/Preschool
    • Parents
    • Students
    • Preschool >
      • Summer Fun
    • Extra-curricular
    • Admissions
    • Faculty
    • Alumni
  • About
    • What We Believe
    • History >
      • Rededicated
  • Contact

Gumption to do More

1/16/2021

0 Comments

 
Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,
    but the diligent man will get precious wealth.
Prov. 12:27



It is sometimes true of everyone. We have what we need, but we lack the basic gumption to do any of the work to make it useful for us. It takes a certain basic diligence to make use of the good things God gives us. One potentially precious gift God is giving us is the chance to come together as a congregation and study a good book together with the help of the author. Here is the schedule for the 4 week study of Pr. John Nunes’s new book Meant for More. Each session will take place on Wednesday evening from 7-8 p.m. via Zoom. I’ll send the Zoom link out early next week.
Jan. 20 - Preface through chapter 4 (pp. VII-51)
Jan. 27 - Chapters 5-9 (pp. 53-94)
Feb. 3 - Chapters 10-14 (pp. 97-141)
Feb. 10 - Chapters 15-20 (pp. 143-190)

It is all on the schedule and worked out. If need be you can even get the book for free as long as you promise to read it with us. This great gift is there for the taking.

But moderate interest and good intentions won’t get you started reading. You do have to “roast your game” so to speak. You actually have to order the book rather than decide you’ll do that later. Or you have to call the church office or drive by to pick up a copy. You have to make sure you have access to zoom, and look for the link in next week’s updates. Those things are not really that hard, but that is precisely why they’re so easy to put and so frequently on the list of things we had good intentions about but never got around to doing. Don’t let that be you in this case. Do the basic diligence to be a part of this opportunity.

I’ve asked the whole staff and the lay leadership of the congregation to make this a priority.
Of course you can still join the zoom meeting even if you haven’t read the book. Pr. Nunes is an excellent presenter. And you can still read the book even if you can’t join the zoom meetings. Do what you can to participate; I think you’ll be amply rewarded.

In Christ, Pastor Speckhard
0 Comments

April 16: Keep Reading

4/16/2020

0 Comments

 
Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Act 7:58​

Acts was written by Luke, who says (Lk. 1:1-4) that he carefully set out to write a history of Jesus and the early Church. And Luke was there with St. Paul at the very end of St. Paul’s life (II Tim. 4:11). Much of the information we have about St. Paul comes from Luke. So why does Luke seemingly go out of his way to condemn Paul (Saul) with this little aside about who was watching the coats at the stoning of Stephen? You’d think Luke would want to downplay, or at least not want to highlight such an embarrassing detail. But keep reading.

What Luke could have been teaching us it not to judge God’s ways, or lose heart prematurely. St. Stephen was beloved by the Church. His being unjustly stoned to death would have made many people wonder why God would allow such a thing. It made no sense. It was a huge loss to the Church. But we know that most of Acts ends up being about that very same Saul. He becomes a great Apostle. His story prior to his conversion laid the groundwork for his conversion and subsequent history. You just have to keep reading when it seems like everything has gone wrong.

When we encounter things that make no sense to us, such as when innocent people suffer, when death seemingly picks people at random, when government are unjust, when the Church suffers setbacks, we can begin to question God. We should know from our own Scriptures and from the name of our congregation that the story isn’t over. God is always going somewhere with this, no matter what “this” is or how terrible it may be. History isn’t over; we need to keep reading.

Since we know that time after time God had brought good out of evil, we should simply keep our eyes open for what the benefits of this strange, ongoing situation might be. Maybe it was necessary to shake you out of a spiritual lethargy. Maybe this will help our society re-prioritize. Maybe people are getting the training they need to fight some other virus in the future. Maybe all of those things and countless other good things are going on.
​

What is certain is that this Easter season we need never fear any kind of endings. Whether that ending is death, or of a career, or stage of family life, or anything dear to us, we look forward. We keep reading. The Christ who came out of the tomb is with us. The disease, injustice, or ravages of time that bring the things we love to an end do not have the final word, and are likely just the seeds of amore glorious, unforeseeable future. St. Paul has been on both side of a martyrdom—first helping to kill St. Stephen, then being unjustly executed himself for his faith. But the story of Christ and His Church goes on. St. Paul’s, Munster is a part of it. You are a part of it. It is full of endings that erupt into new chapters. Don’t be afraid, and don’t be surprised when it turns out God has been going somewhere with this. Keep reading.

In Christ,
Pastor Speckhard
0 Comments

April 1: Speaking of Reading

4/1/2020

0 Comments

 
Let the Word of Christ dwell in your richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Col. 3:16

Colossians is only 4 chapters long, so the whole book is very readable in one sitting. And really, the meat of it is chapters 2-3. I encourage you all to read at least those two chapters today. In them, St. Paul writes the words quoted above, about letting the Word of Christ dwell in our hearts in teaching and in song. But he urges them to do that having acknowledged in the previous chapter that he cannot be with them in the body, at least for the time being.

More importantly, this section of the Bible includes these words: Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Col. 2:16-17 We have the Christian freedom to figure how best to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in different ways suitable for different contexts.

Since we cannot be with each other in the body, and since we cannot celebrate the festivals by which we normally commemorate Holy Week (at least not in the usual way), we rejoice that we have the God-given opportunity nevertheless to ponder Christ and His Passion with the God-given freedom to do so in unusual ways given the circumstances. The main thing is that our hearts be fixed on Christ. Reading Colossians today will help that be the case for you.

Speaking of reading, have you read any good books lately? Sometimes good books (and yes, there is a difference between reading a good book and reading a book designed merely to distract and amuse) can help us ponder Christ and His Passion by explaining and illustrating the way a sermon would. Here are a few recommendations.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis is a fantasy story and Christian allegory that portrays the Christ figure as a fearsome Lion. You will note the obvious parallels in it to the Passion story of the Gospels. It is good for all ages, and a genuinely good book that also entertains.

Death on a Friday Afternoon, by Fr. R.J. Neuhaus (full disclosure, my uncle) is essentially a Tre Ore service in book form, with each chapter providing an extended theological reflection on one of the seven last words from the cross.

Grace Upon Grace, by John Kleinig is an excellent general introduction to practicing a deeper Christian spiritual life in a world obsessed with cheap, imitation spirituality.

But no book can replace Scripture. Read Colossians 2-3 today, and keep following the services online. Let other books like these help you think through and process the Word. St. Paul’s (the saint and the congregation) goal for you is that the Word of Christ continue to dwell in your richly in this time of being away from each other in the body and out of our normal rhythm of festivals. God is still with you!

In Christ,
Pastor Speckhard
0 Comments

    Author

    Rev. Peter Speckhard, Senior Pastor at St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church, Munster, Indiana

    Picture

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    March 2017
    October 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Topics

    All
    Anchored
    Art & Music
    Authority
    Bible Study
    Budgets
    Callings
    Catechism
    Challenge
    Christian Living
    Church Building
    Citizenship
    Communion
    Congregation
    Connection
    Cycles
    Death
    Denominations
    Direction
    Disappointment
    Discipline
    Disruption
    Education
    Endurance
    Eternity
    Evangelism
    Evil
    Faith
    Fear
    Forgiveness
    Fruits Of The Spirit
    Frustration
    Future
    Generations
    Gratitude
    Growth
    Heaven
    History
    Identity
    Idols
    Injustice
    Inspiration
    Isolation
    Joy
    Kindness
    LCMS
    Legacy
    Lent
    Liturgy
    Luther
    Memory
    Milestones
    Passover
    Patience
    Peace
    Perfection
    Pilgrimage
    Prayer
    Priorities
    Promise
    Protection
    Reading
    Rededication
    Reformation
    Rest
    Resurrection
    Sacrifice
    Safety
    Salvation
    Scripture
    Self
    Self-destruction
    Serving
    Shepherding
    Sin
    Stewardship
    Strength
    Suffering
    Synod
    Technology
    The Word
    Trinity
    Trust
    Truth
    Unity
    Vigil
    Vocation
    Wisdom
    Worry

    RSS Feed

©2022, St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church & School
Munster, IN