faithlutheranbv.org

Tag: christianity

  • Christmas Confession

    Christmas Confession

    Merry Christmas to you all! What a joy to hear God’s Word, and know that the one who takes away the sins of the world has come! We confess our faith in this wondrous gift, and know the same confession ties us to Jesus’ death, and resurrection. We confess that Jesus was raised from the dead, and so we will be also living forever in a new heaven and a new earth. 

    There are some signs in various places around town confessing what people believe. Confession of belief is important. So important that Jesus’ Church has put together statements of belief that tell us the content of Christian faith. These were called “Credo”, a translation of their opening statement, “I believe.” These Credo are the Creeds that Jesus’ Church confess together. The Ecumenical of universal Creeds. 

    These Creeds begin in the same way that the signs begin, a plain, but powerful statement. “This is what I believe.” The signs around town confess some beliefs that are supported by God’s Word, and some beliefs that oppose God’s Word. The Ecumenical Creeds are entirely supported by God’s Word and agreed upon by the historical church. The most common of these is the Apostles’ Creed, an ancient Baptismal formula of the Christian faith first used about 140 AD.  

    It begins with a confession of creation, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” It continues on to a confession of salvation, “And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell; The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.” It ends with a confession of the way God saves us,” I believe in the Holy Ghost; The Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.” 

    This confession does so much more than a simple statement on a yard sign. This confession describes God’s salvation of men. We were created by God, saved by the birth, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, and those wonderful gifts were given to us through Jesus’ Church and the work of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, in Holy Communion, and through the Holy Word of God. Because we believe and confess this all we are God’s children.  As God’s children we are heirs of heaven. This confession is not just a thing for Christmas. It is a thing that is true year-round. Forever. 

    This is what Jesus’ Church believes. The anchor that moors our faith. Other beliefs may come and go as those around us change their minds and actions. But this is what we believe. A solid confession in a world that changes constantly.

  • 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.

  • Blackboard Collaborate Service at Faith Lutheran Church 10:00 AM

    Blackboard Collaborate Service at Faith Lutheran Church 10:00 AM

    Thank you Dennis Witte and Concordia University Chicago for the tech and tools to make this switch! In the face of the Governor’s ban on meeting in groups greater than 10, we are moving Sunday Morning Divine Service online. Denny is our point and technology guy and deserves our thanks. Make sure that everyone knows that we are making this move. Don’t have a computer, that’s okay. A phone will work. Ready for instructions, here we go…

    For those with computers and internet access use this link:

    https://webconferencing.cuchicago.edu/witte

    For those without computers or internet access call:

    1-571-392-7650

    And use conference number:

    468 843 8423#

    Please check in 15 to 30 minutes early. Remember that we are all learning this first week, so be patient. God bless and keep you. Pastor Becker

  • Focus

    Focus

    There is never a time that your Pastor’s attention wavers from its laser beam-like focus on God’s Word. Well, except for basketball season. Oh yeah, and when driving cool cars. Or when something comes up with his wife or kids. Or friends. But other than that, laser beam focus. Yeah. 

    In seminary, I was taught that your first vocation, or calling, is always to God, then your family, then your work. But it is sometimes really hard to keep things in order. Your eyes and mind get distracted, pulled away, by the things of the world. I know the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me”, (Exodus 20:3) but it is so easy to let other gods slip in. 

    I know, I know, we aren’t building golden calves in our backyard and saying, “this is my god” but anything that displaces God from the center of your life can become an idol so quickly. People bow at the altars of sports, and money, and sleep, and popularity, and so many other things, quickly losing their focus on God. People try to change God from the God revealed to us in His Word into something more to their tastes, making their own God in this way, as well. Idols are so easily built. But what can you do? 

    First things first. Make God’s Word a priority. A recent survey showed that only about 20% of those identifying as Christian read their Bible regularly. I don’t know about you, but I have to read books in order to ingest the material in them. Sleeping on them doesn’t really help. And the Word of God is more important than any other book. The Word of God comes with a promise, “so shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I purpose, And shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 5:11) So get into God’s Word regularly and with joy knowing that, through it, He is doing wonderful things, like giving you strength and faith to make it through whatever would distract you, and bringing you back to God.

    Also, remember to gather together. God has given you a wonderful gift, a Church. You have a family forged in the water of baptism. It is a place of refuge, a place of strength. So be in it. “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25) God meets you in Church with Word and Sacrament. He meets you there with loving arms in His people and body and blood in His Sacrament. 

    There we gather and are strengthened, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1) Our focus may waver, but Jesus’ does not. He is there waiting for you, ready to strengthen you. Ready to help you focus as you run your race.