Pastor's Pen - October 2007

Dear Friends in Christ,

As it is in life outside of the church, October is a busy month in the life on the congregations as well. This month will see Bibles being given to third graders, the celebration of Affirmation of Baptism by five young people, the commemoration of Reformation Day as well as time for food and fellowship with Octoberfest sponsored by the LYO and a planned German/Reformation dinner for the end of the month. Each of these events , along with the other regularly scheduled opportunities for worship, learning, witness, and service in the congregations, become a time for us as people of God to be witnesses for the power of God's Word for the sake of the world.

Everything that we do as the church should be rooted in God's Word and particularly as that Word is made incarnate in the Savior. Martin Lutheran at the time of the Reformation made it clear that it is God's Word and that Word alone that is the measure of God's will and God's desire. The Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion are the physical signs of that Word. To be Lutheran then is first and foremost to be a people of Word and Sacraments. Through this emphasis, we remain faithful to the promise of God and at the same time inviting to others to become a part of this family of God. Just as we would not dispense with God's Word so we can not lightly dispense with the Sacraments. Together Word and Sacraments mold and shape as the people that we have been called to be in the kingdom of God. Emphasizing one to the exclusion of the other is to miss the fullness of what God would so freely give.

Luther's words and the message of the Reformation are need to be heard again and again not just in each new generation but in every day in life itself. We are in fact by the power of God's love works in progress in need of renewal and reform regularly. As soon as we feel that we have "arrived", that we are complete, we will no longer be open to the new, creative work that God continues to be about. This is a work to which we are invited as those who have the privilege of bearing Christ to the world. We become the hands and feet of the Savior in the lives of those whom we meet. To serve we too must be nourished which brings us back to the importance of the Word and Sacraments in our daily lives. Fed and nourished, we will be able to feed and nourish others in the love and grace of God. Don't let yourself go hungry in the busy days that lie ahead.