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  • A Grand Reopening

    A Grand Reopening

    What a joyous occasion! We have once again been given permission to meet together at church! June 7th at 10:00 AM will be our first chance to celebrate Divine Service together as a Christian family in many weeks! I look forward to seeing many faces once again, but feel that I should remind those of you at high risk from respiratory disease that you might want to stay home. We promise that we won’t leave you out of life at Faith. We will still be broadcasting our service on the internet. We will still offer communion by appointment as we have been throughout this crisis. If you need anything at all we will be here for you! 

    For those of you who can come to corporate service, things will be a little different. We will have to continue to observe social distancing, and the wearing of face masks to keep each other safe. We won’t be passing the offering plates, instead they will be placed in the back of the church so that you can drop your offering in them as you enter or exit the church. Seating will be different. Ushers will direct you to a spot that might not be “your pew.” They don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. They will be looking to keep people a safe distance from each other while maximizing the space we have in the sanctuary. There will be no passing of the peace. Handshaking will be replaced with a wave. Communion will be different for the same reason, to keep you safe. We will have a separate entrance and exit for many. Ushers will once again direct you where to go, and when to go for your safety. This is all from a desire to keep each of God’s children at Faith safe and well.

    Some things will not change, nor should they ever. God’s Word will be preached in all its fullness. We will hear our Savior’s voice in the Gospel. The font will be present reminding us all that we are baptized children of God. Holy Communion will be observed, because we need the strength of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of Jesus our Lord. Our family will celebrate coming together in person and online. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses to God’s faithfulness, God is good. I look forward to seeing all of you! Whether at home or in the church! 

  • Divine Service and Adult Bible Study Sunday!

    Divine Service and Adult Bible Study Sunday!

    Adult Bible Study will be held tomorrow, Sunday at 8:30 AM. We will follow that with Divine Service at 10:00 AM. Here is the link for both:

    https://webconferencing.cuchicago.edu/witte

    hope to see you there!

  • A New Thing

    A New Thing

    I know that many of you are looking forward to things getting back to normal. This period of social distancing is hard and scary. I want things to settle down as well. However, I question whether there will be normal again. The 1918 flu pandemic lasted into 1919. That pandemic killed 675,000 Americans. The people who lived through that were never quite the same again. I pray that this pandemic is nowhere near as deadly. But even with a far less deadly pandemic, I wonder if we will ever be the same. In many ways we won’t. The phrase “social distancing” has now become part of everyday speech. I see people wearing masks and gloves in the grocery store, and that is new. I have never seen that outside of a hospital or doctor’s office before. I can’t erase what I have seen. I don’t know that things will ever go back to how they were before. But is that a bad thing? Sometimes it is through trial and tribulation that our faith grows. Our hearts go out to those who are sick, suffering, and mourning. Would we have had this chance to cry with those who cry if things had stayed the same? Would we have had the conversations with our family that we have had if we weren’t confined together in our houses? 

    Isaiah writes, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19) Are we so insistent that things be normal that we miss a new thing? Are we so tied to how things were always done that we miss opportunities? 

    Jesus certainly didn’t. We read in Luke’s Gospel, “After this He (Jesus) went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, ‘Follow me.’  And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’” (Luke 5:27-32) 

    The Lord God made man was calling tax collectors and sinners to follow Him. What a wonderful unexpected thing. Churches still call sinners. Now, because of this pandemic, many churches that would have never considered a digital presence are reaching out online. God’s Holy Word is spoken, and The Holy Spirit moves through it. 

    In this pandemic we need each other, and those who are God’s children can reach out to each other and support each other. Where food is needed food can be provided, where an ear to listen is needed an ear can be there to hear. A member of Faith told me that they have never heard from so many people from Faith before! The bonds of Christ’s body are strengthened, and we will celebrate when we gather together again. Let’s put aside the way things have always been done and look for new ways to tell others about Jesus. Jesus tells us, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) Let this time apart be a reminder to love each other, and love each other enough to share Jesus. Let’s reach out in any new way possible, teach and baptize. We are Jesus’ Church. Our future is assured through His death and resurrection. We are safely buried and resurrected in Him through baptism. We have the assurance of His absolution and Holy Communion. That is our reality. With that security we can be ready for new things.

  • At Peace.

    At Peace.

    We have been shut in. I know it has been difficult. It is hard not to be able to see all of the people that you care about. It is hard when our routines are changed through no fault of our own. It is hard when we have to gather in new ways. But this is a place that Jesus’ Church has been before. The apostles were hidden in a room, Paul was in prison, Christians were forced underground because of persecution, still God’s Word marched onward. The thing that we have to remember about God’s Word is that it is strong. Stronger than we can imagine. It has come from Jesus’ Apostles and been handed down to us. It has lasted over 2000 years, and will continue to last until Jesus comes again. There will never be a time when we are cut off. There will never be a time when God’s Word no longer works. God’s Holy Spirit works through these words, and they will not return to God empty. Some have tried to bury God’s Word. Some have tried to twist it into something that is no longer God’s truth. But in the end God’s Word reigns as surely as Jesus rose from the dead. This good news that Jesus died for the sins of the world and rose again from the dead takes away fear and doubt. It takes away the sting of death. Jesus rose and those faithful who hear His Word and believe will rise as well. Be at peace as you gather around your computer on Sunday. Be at peace as you read your Bible. Be at peace at Bible Study. Be at peace no matter what the world throws at you. You are in the world, but not of the world. You are of Jesus. You know peace. A peace that seems outlandish to the world. You have heard God’s truth and believed. So, through imprisonment or social distancing, through times of gathering or times of loneliness, Jesus is with you. In His Word His Holy Spirit continues to work. Hear it wherever you may be, and be at peace. 

  • Special Service Schedule

    Special Service Schedule

    Maundy Thursday Service will be Thursday the 9th at 7:00 PM.

    Good Friday Service is Friday the 10th at 7:00 PM.

    Easter Sunday Service for The Resurrection of our Lord is Sunday the 12th at 10:00 AM

    All of these services will stream live here:

    https://webconferencing.cuchicago.edu/witte

    If you miss one our archive is here:

    https://faithlutheranbv.org/online-services-at-faith/

    God’s richest blessings in this holy season!

  • Tie a Red Ribbon

    Tie a Red Ribbon

    As you all know, Easter is coming up fast. It is Palm Sunday on the 5th and then Holy Week and onward to Easter Sunday on the 12th. Normally this time would involve gathering at Faith, enjoying other’s company and celebrating together. We would eat breakfast and greet each other with, “Christ is risen, He is risen indeed.” But this year is different. Our celebration is quieter, but no less joyous. I was wondering how we could show solidarity in a time of hardship, with sickness and even death on people’s minds? Then our Congregational President pointed out what some other churches in Nebraska were doing. She said that they were tying a red ribbon to their doors, so that the world would know that they were still celebrating Easter. I thought, How appropriate. Red is the color of the blood of the Passover lamb that was painted on the doorposts when God’s people were called out of Egypt. Red remembers the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s own Son. Now red can unite us as we celebrate our Risen Lord. Tie a red ribbon or piece of cloth on your door and share it with us in a picture. Even though we are social distancing, we can celebrate together in this way. God bless and keep you!

  • The Church Goes On.

    The Church Goes On.

    In a monarchy the king’s death is often memorialized with the words, “the king is dead, long live the king!” This reminds people of the continuity of the monarchy. One king is dead but the king lives on, in his heir.

    I drove by a Christian congregation the other day, and it had a sign on it that church was closed. That caused me to think a little bit. My conclusion was that the building may be closed due to the current pandemic, but Christ’s Church won’t close until He returns.

    Christ’s Church didn’t close when Saul, later to be know as Paul, was muttering murderous threats, the Church didn’t close when Nero the Roman Emperor sought to destroy the Christian faith. The Church didn’t close for Nietzsche’s quip that God was dead. The Church remains stubbornly defiant that we know the way and the truth and the life is Jesus Christ in the face of postmodernists claims that truth is negotiable. The Church didn’t close for the plague, and the Church won’t close for the Corona virus. We might, as we have done in the past, not be in our buildings temporarily, or even permanently, but the Church will not simply close.

    The Church is not ours, but Christ’s. He assures us that there will never be a time that His Church will truly close. It will remain until He returns. The Church will gather around Jesus’ Word and Sacraments wherever these can be found. Christ’s Church has done this through plague and famine, through disaster and hostility.

    Jesus’ Church has gathered, and will gather, if not in person then remotely. Christ’s Church will be there if the Word is preached online or in the building. Christ’s Church will revel in our Baptism and look forward to gathering around Christ’s Supper. We love our building, but that is not Christ’s Church. We would be Christ’s Church anywhere Jesus’ is because we know that He has the words of eternal life. Where else would we go.

  • Sunday March 29th, The Fifth Sunday in Lent

    Sunday March 29th, The Fifth Sunday in Lent

    Here is a link to Service for The Fifth Sunday in Lent. Hope you are all keeping safe and remembering that God is with you. Go in peace!

    https://us.bbcollab.com/recording/25110d37157e49c48d71a5d0cb900d50

  • Lent Wednesday Service

    Lent Wednesday Service

    Here is our Lenten Wednesday Service. Thank you so much Rev. Dan Muecke for filling in while I was rescuing my kids from the dorm closure! You are great! God’s Word in the theme, “Murderous Eyes.”

    Witte Meeting Room – recording_2

  • We Did It!

    We Did It!

    Service for Sunday March 22nd The 4th Sunday in Lent

    Our first online Service wasn’t perfect, but it is done. We will learn from this and move forward, until such a time as we can meet again. I look forward to seeing you all in person, once again, but for now we will learn and grow through God’s Word online. If you missed Service this morning, here is a recorded version.

    Witte Meeting Room – recording_1

    God bless you and keep you safe! Love your neighbor!

    Pastor Becker