A Welcoming Church

Is there a place where you always feel welcome?

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting with a few members of our youth group, and we were talking about what it means to be welcomed. Some students felt they had a safe place. They talked about church, their homes, and their friends at school, places where they could be vulnerable and honest with the people around them. Others really seemed to struggle. Some had moved recently and were still trying to fit in. Others were being bullied at school and felt unable to be themselves.

We had a powerful conversation about what a faithful community looks like. I tried to express that everyone is always welcome in the church. But I think the best argument came from the students themselves. When one student told a struggling classmate that they had a place in the church and would always be welcome here, I felt the room totally change. I could see relief and a bit of joy wash over both of their faces.

It is so important to have a place where we feel accepted and loved. Scripture tells us, "Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God" (Romans 15:7). Welcoming is part of a pastor's job, but there needs to be more. The church need every member to welcome one another. We all have a role. We may not think we are needed, but the church is a place for everyone, and everyone has a part to play.

When I look at the world today, I see so much division. I worry about my own children. I see kids at school drawing lines, and I see adults finding reasons to hate one another. We all carry a lot of pain. This week, we will talk about what it means to be a church that welcomes others. The church needs to stand against hate and division, because we are a people of love. Jesus came into the world to offer something new. Instead of dismissing one another's gifts, we need to lift one another up.

My hope is that we all cherish the love that surrounds us, share the welcome of Christ, and embrace God's gift of grace.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian

The Search for Love

 Do you feel loved?

This may be a question that shows up a lot at church. It may also be a question that you haven't put much time into. Perhaps it is something that you think about every day. Regardless of where we are, the love we experience matters a lot. Loneliness and anxiety can weigh on us. If we do not really believe we are loved, our lives can start to fall apart.

I was sitting in our church's basement recently leading a small group time for some of our youth. The students were sharing why they thought the church was important. Over and over, these kids spoke about the difficulties they faced in everyday life. None of them spoke about the need for religious doctrine or something along those lines. They all shared that they found belonging in the church by finding a community that supported them. They found friends here when they did not know if they would find people to relate to. They found confidence when they were supported by others. They found hope in a Savior who guides them through every situation. These are the things that mattered most to them. 

I see this everywhere in the church. It doesn't matter if I am working with youth or older adults. Everyone needs to be able to find connection. This is exactly why this week's theme at Community Lutheran Church hits home for me. We are coming back to some of the big questions in our faith. We are going to consider God's Love, and we will be taking a deeper look at our feelings of worthiness. We are each called and claimed by Jesus Christ. God has conquered sin and death for us. However, our own doubt can still prevent us from seeing the love that surrounds us.

Today I hope we can all embrace God's Love. I hope we can take a step toward trusting our Savior who gave everything for us. May we all experience this love and share it with others.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian

Our Spiritual Walk

Have you taken time to consider your spiritual needs?

We may be faithful people who go to church regularly. We may spend a lot of time considering the way of Jesus Christ. However, there are still times when our lives can become a mess spiritually. It may be that we are going through a really difficult season, and we are getting run down by the world. Sometimes it is in our busiest moments that we need to stop and take a breath. We may feel like we don't have time. We may feel overwhelmed by our worries, but Jesus reminds us all to pause in these moments and remember that we have to leave space for our spiritual needs.

I know I am guilty of rushing through life. I am rushing to get kids to school, band, cross country, piano, and soccer practice. I am rushing to take care of my own responsibilities at church. There are a hundred different things that I can worry about. However, there are also plenty of reasons to slow down. There are so many reasons to stop and consider what God is doing today... I just have to stop, reflect, and reprioritize my life.

At the moment I am really loving learning different spiritual practices from my one-year-old son. He loves to just be in the moment. He doesn't want to look at a phone. He wants to stop and have me read a book to him. He wants to explore the world. He wants to say, "Hi!" to the people and dogs he meets on the street. These are the things that bring him joy. He has also really started to love putting his hands together and saying, "Amen!" Sometimes he will want to stop a meal and just have us pray.

He also paused the other day to talk about church with my wife and me:

Kian (My 1-year-old): "Mama, church?"
Me: "Yes, Mama went to church."
Kian: "Brothers, church?"
Me: "Yes, your brothers went to church."
Kian: "Kian, church?"
Me: "Yes, you went to church."
Kian (with a smile): "Socks, church?"
Me: "Yes, your socks went to church too..."

He is figuring this world out. He is discovering there are people that offer hope. He is discovering where he can find love. He makes time for this every day. Today, I hope you can all make time for your own spiritual well-being. We are going to be starting a sermon series this week all about the deeper questions of faith. I hope we can all reflect a little in this season to experience God in a new way!

Blessings!

Pastor Brian

A song for the brokenhearted

Music has the ability to transform our hearts and minds. Much of the Bible was originally written to be sung and offered in worship. There was something about the music that brought people into a deeper connection with God.

If we pause for a moment, we can look around and find that music still surrounds us. It fills our movies, our media, and almost every part of our daily lives. In our sermon series, we are taking a look at modern music and some of the biblical themes lifted up today. Sometimes we don't know how to solve a problem, but music is able to open us up to a new perspective.

This week we are going back to a song from 1984, and we are looking for a deeper understanding of how God shows up in times of pain and grief. 

Grief, loneliness, and heartbreak are all themes that show up in Biblical poetry, and they are themes that are present in modern music and poetry. There is a longing in the human condition that we all strive to fill with something.

Today I hope we can all recognize that God is with us. In the ups and downs of life, we have a Savior who loves us. There are people dealing with unimaginable loss today. There are also people just feeling overwhelmed. However, God is with you. You are loved. It is my hope and prayer that everyone would be able to experience that love today.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian

A New Perspective

Are you looking for God in your life?

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a vacation with my family to Glacier National Park in Montana. My family from Minnesota was also able to join us for the trip. It was a wonderful opportunity to get out in nature and spend time together.

It was not the most relaxing vacation, though. We drove with our three kids for over 1,500 miles just to get there, and we spent a lot of time camping in our tent. It's a lot of work to drive all day and then set up camp every night. But the trip was amazing! Even when we had to set up the tent in the rain, we were all laughing and enjoying the moment. The weather was cooler, the mountains were breathtaking, and the wildlife was incredible. I will always remember the glacial lakes and all the animals that surrounded us. More than anything, it was wonderful to experience these moments with family and to cherish the love we share.

The trip was a reminder that God is always with us. We didn't need all that extra travel, but it did help us look at the world with a different perspective. Even in biblical times, people looked at the mountains and were reminded of the wonder of God.

This week, at Community Lutheran Church, we are looking for a deeper understanding of how God shows up in our world. We are called to look beyond our current situation and see that God shows up everywhere in creation. We just have to open our eyes.

Today, I hope you can open your eyes and recognize that God is with you. God's love surrounds you. I hope and pray that God will put a song on your heart so you can live in praise to our Creator.

Here's a few pictures from our trip...

Blessings,

Pastor Brian

Grace for all

Over the last few weeks, our church has been looking at the book of Galatians in the Bible. This letter was written almost 2,000 years ago to a church that was struggling, not with finances or so many of the concerns that affect churches today. The church in Galatia had lost sight of what it means to live by grace. This is also a problem in our world, but we tend to be more concerned with other things. To Paul, the pastor who wrote the letter, grace was a primary concern. The church loses something essential if we start judging others. We judge people's economic status. We judge cultures. We find all kinds of ways to put some people down and lift others up. Paul saw this as a critical problem in the early church, and I believe he would still see this as a problem in our world today. 

The church talks about grace all the time, but this is very different from living it out. I encounter people every week who tell me how they were just about to leave the church entirely. They felt beaten up and worn down by the church. It's too easy to let these judgments rule our lives. 

This morning I was a little stressed getting my one year old ready for daycare. I was in a rush, and he was not. He was in a great mood. He loved playing with his brothers, running around the house, and putting blueberry pancakes in his hair. I was trying to prepare for the day, and I was getting a little overwhelmed trying to clean up after him. However, I had to admire the joy he was living in. He was laughing and playing, and everything seemed right in the world. Eventually, I had to get to work and he had to get to school, but I had to stop for a minute to watch this little guy live in the moment. He was not feeling any judgment or any other stress. He was happy to be right where he was. 

Today I hope we can all let go of the burdens that Christ doesn't want us to carry. Jesus wants us to be free. Let's open our hearts and live in God's Grace.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian

The Season of the Spirit

We are in the season of Pentecost at Community Lutheran Church. Sometimes this season is known as Ordinary Time. However, in reality there should be no "ordinary" season. Pentecost is a season of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit always shows up when we least expect it. Long ago, Pentecost was a celebration after the wheat harvest. There was something sacred about gathering together to share in the harvest. It was supposed to be a time of hope and generosity. It was a time to remember that every person was blessed by God, and that everyone could share something out of their blessings.

In Jesus' time, the disciples came to Jerusalem, but after the crucifixion they were not feeling particularly blessed. After Christ died, they wondered if they were going to have to return to "ordinary" time. However, it was in this moment that the Holy Spirit arrived. Jesus was no longer walking alongside them in the same way, but Christ was still with them. They could still share God's grace and walk in God's path.

As I write this newsletter, I am in the midst of all kinds of summer preparations. We have two major youth trips, Vacation Bible School, and so much more. There are times in the midst of all of this that I feel a bit overwhelmed. It would be nice if there were some ordinary time... I am struggling to prepare all the VBS stations. I am trying to make sure I have van rentals and airline tickets purchased. Then there is the task of herding everyone together to try and create a meaningful experience. There is a point where I have to say, "I've tried my best — now let the Spirit work!" I think that is important for all of us. We need to open our hearts and follow the God who loves us.

Today the Holy Spirit is still guiding us. We just have to open our hearts and listen. It doesn't matter if everything feels like it is coming together, or if it feels like it is falling apart. God is with us.

Blessings,

Pastor Brian