Struggles

Struggles

This week I visited a lady at a nursing home whom I had never met before.  She is about 20 years older than I, and it sounded like she had been a resident of the home for a good many years.  She was confined to a wheelchair and spoke with a voice so soft I struggled to hear many of her words.  It sounded like she said that she had no family around who visited her.  She had called a church asking for a pastor to visit, so I stopped by.  As I exited the home, I praised God for her cheerful disposition that did not seem to have been dampened in the least by her struggles.

Timing, Part 2

Timing, Part 2

February 15, 2024 I will guess the conversation started around Labor Day, but to be honest, it was so long ago I really have no clue.  The issue was an unstable looking tree on our neighbor’s empty lot at Houghton Lake.  He was working on a plan to cut it down, but the path of its fall would produce a direct hit on our bunkhouse (this is the name we have given to the travel trailer we purchased last year to accommodate overnight sleeping space for our growing family).  I immediately agreed to move the bunkhouse to a different and temporary location on our lot … and that I would do so as soon as possible.  And then we drove home to celebrate Joel’s 40th birthday, though I may have actually tried to do this on my own – which, if you know me, is a thought that comes directly from fantasy land! 

February 11, 2024 Bulletin

February 11, 2024 Bulletin

Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

Timing

Timing

It had all of the appearance of just being fortunate timing.  Monica and I had attended different Sunday morning churches with specific responsibilities.  Around 1:00 p.m. she returned to our condo with our oldest granddaughter, Brooklyn.  The three of us then drove to Joel’s condo to relax and have a few snacks.  Then we put our coats back on and walked over to view the ice sculptures on display in downtown Mount Clemens.  The first one had a hole in the center ideal for picture taking.  We had Brooklyn smile through the hole, took her picture, and then walked away to see the remaining 30 some sculptures. 

February 4, 2024 Bulletin

February 4, 2024 Bulletin

If I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 1or if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Tough Loss

Tough Loss

Yes, I watched every one of the Lions’ playoff games – almost every minute of every game.  It felt really good to beat Matthew Stafford (whom I still like) and the Rams.  And then it felt even better to win again the next week.  Wow – those crowds at Ford Field really rocked!  As we approached the NFC championship game I had two thoughts.  The first was “Amazing – we are in the same conversation as the Chiefs, the Ravens, and the 49ers!  This is impressive company.”  The other was that if we had lost to Tampa Bay the disappointment would have been nearly intolerable.

The Three P’s

The Three P’s

No, I am not referencing a TV commercial targeted at people my age … and, with last week’s “By G through F” in mind, I am not working on any sort of Alphabet Soup.  Rather, I am going through another basic catechetical thought as a means of reminding myself (and, perhaps, you too) of a few fundamental teachings of the Christian faith.  Thus, the “Three P’s” are not Price, Price, and Price … though they could be if we were to be focused on the price Christ paid for our salvation … incarnation … humiliation … damnation … “(Christ) being found in human form, humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2.8).  However, as I said, this is not the “Three P’s” I am thinking of today.

January 28, 2024 Bulletin

January 28, 2024 Bulletin

They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath [Jesus] entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

January 21, 2024 Bulletin

January 21, 2024 Bulletin

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. . . . When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.