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From The Pastor's Pen Henry Schulte
January 2012 God grant each of you a Blessed New Year of JOY! Perhaps you will not be “Happy” all of the time but having celebrated the joyous festival of the Nativity, we are reminded that our Joy is not dependent upon our being happy. Life is still a gift from God to be invested and spent in a way that brings Glory to God, Blessings to those around us and Fulfillment to us as we live in the Joy of our New Creation.
It is the same for us as “Church” here at St. John Lutheran. All things may not be perfect nor perhaps the way we would prefer, yet all things are a gift of God and we are called upon to be good stewards of that to which we are called. Like the U.S. House of Representatives, we are called to be “Church”, the living, breathing body of Christ in this place, living as Christ’s Representatives in God’s House of Representatives. Because God in Christ has done all things necessary for our salvation, we are equipped to live out of that relationship of faith, joining St. Paul in living out of that tub full of GRACE in which we stand, (Romans 5:1-3), responding to God with our worship, praise and behavior while responding to those around us from that Grace in which we stand.
What does it mean to respond from grace? Certainly it means that we are equipped to respond grace-fully. It also means that we can ACT toward others as we believe Jesus Christ would have us act, and not allow ourselves to REACT toward others if they do not meet our specifications for what is “right” or “wrong” according to ME. Sometimes we see people who “Get On A Mad” and then spend their life living out of that MAD. What a tragedy! God does not call us to a life of reaction, even if our intention of “self-righteousness” is there.
As we begin this new calendar year, I pray that we may begin and continue this new year with a commitment “to be gracious” as we live with and serve with one another, in our homes, in church, and in community. May we seek to see each other as Christ sees us, imperfect, forgiven sinners, living by the grace of God and then see others in the same way. The message of “Peace on Earth” that we heard at Christmas is not about some new program of the United Nations. It is about the world living under the Reign and Rule of a New King who has come to live in the hearts of his children who have been transformed by the love and grace of this Christ the new born King.
May your New Year of 2012 be filled with many opportunities to live out of this tub full of “grace in which we stand”, celebrating the privilege of being the Beloved of God, and then become representatives of Christ the Lord as a part of God’s House of Representatives here on earth.
A Blessed New Year
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