August 2007 Archives

Set Free to Be
Luke 13:10-17
August 26, 2007
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
Can you imagine what it must have been like for the woman in Luke's
story? Can you imagine how she felt? What she thought? What life was like for
her? For eighteen years she had been imprisoned by a force beyond herself; a
force opposed to the ways and will of God; a force that kept her from knowing
the wholeness and joy God desires for each and every person. For eighteen
years this force had weighed her down with its power, bent her over with its
force, held her so tightly in its grip that she could no longer straighten her
back, raise her head or look people in the eye.
We don't really know what this crippling force was, but as I thought about
this woman and tried to imagine what it was like for her, I thought of so many
people in our own society, who, like her, are bound and crippled by forces that
keep them from the life God wants us all to know.

Jesus said WHAT?

If you're like me, there are times when you're reading something and you get taken by surprise. For instance, I was reading the Bible.
In Matthew 5:9, Jesus says "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God."
In Luke 2:14, the heavenly host are saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men."
And then I read:
"Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!"
Jesus said WHAT?
DIVISION?
...
It's as if a mother took her crippled child to a highly-rated orthopedist, and the doctor said "Did you think I can heal this boy's leg? No! I'm going to break it!"
I don't think Mom wants to hear that.

Leading By Example

Guest Worship Leader - Shawn Hillman

Scripture - James 2: 14 - 24

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[a]? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"^[b] and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

****

"You see that a person is justified by what he DOES, and not by faith alone."

Okay - so right off the bat I concede that today's scripture is a bit of what we may call "extreme" as far as illustrating the point of good deeds! I mean - we ARE in the 21^st century now and well, using examples of how a father offers his son for sacrifice as a show of his faith is, well, perhaps a bit outdated.

However, the concept and teaching ring true to this day: Faith, if not accompanied by a call to action, is ineffective.

As a developing Christian - and especially now as a parent - I struggle with faith vs. action. I know I have "faith" - but how do I SHOW my children EVERYDAY through my actions that it is real? I guarantee this is harder than it sounds. The struggles with this can come in the tiniest of events:

God's Designer Fashions

Colossians 3:12-17

August 5, 2007

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

There was a woman in the congregation I served in Wisconsin who loved to sew. Her name was Karen and she and her husband Jon had three daughters -Lydia, Nora and Sophia. Not only did Karen love to sew, she loved to create clothing that was specially made for each of her daughters. Each year, months before Christmas and then again before Easter, Karen began shopping for fabrics and patterns for the dresses she intended to make for each of the girls for those special days. But Karen never -ever- used a pattern the way it came from the store. She always added this or took that away, until it was the perfect design for the daughter for whom it was intended. Then once she had a style that was just right and as unique as each daughter, she would mix and match the fabrics that she purchased, so that the main fabric in say, Lydia's dress, was an accent fabric on Sophia's and maybe the bodice in Nora's; while the main fabric in Nora's dress was likewise reflected in Sophia's and Lydia's and the same for Sophie's dress. The result was that each daughter had her own special look and yet you knew, just by looking at them that they were from the same family. When someone would compliment one of the girls on her dress, beaming with the delight at the gift of love which it represented, she would invariably say, "My Mom made it just for me."