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Visit our Sunday worship services at 8 or 10:30 am. Sunday school and adult Bible class at 9:15. We are "Making Christ Known" by faith, worship and witness to get the message of Jesus Christ to all people.

December 2018

On: By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“Prepare the way of the Lord.” Matthew 3:3

Dear Redeemer Family:

Company’s coming! It’s time to get ready! In times so long ago we can only imagine, those keeping watch over a town or village would be the first to spot movement along the road. The good news of the company’s safe arrival would be shouted from the heights to those standing guard, or simply waiting, down below. The great bar pinning shut the castle or city gate would be shoved aside, the heavy door pulled open. At night, servants with blazing torches or lamps of oil would go running out to meet the approaching party and light the way. Exhilaration and joy would surround the travelers as they were ushered inside. The hosts would feel delightfully torn between pressing the visitors for all the latest news and leaving them alone for a while to refresh themselves and rest. Soon there would be time for feasting and mutually satisfying conversation.

Company’s coming! But now in these last days, even as gated communities are beginning to reappear, retinues with oil lamps are not. And so, as our own guests are en route, we watch the weather channel, tune in to traffic reports, call the airline to monitor a given flight’s progress. We mail and email maps or information about ground connections; perhaps we ourselves drive to the terminal and idle in a passenger loading zone, or more likely, the cellphone lot until we’ve just about memorized the messages repeated on the boards. Once our guests and their luggage have safely arrived, we feel delightfully torn between wanting to exchange all the latest news and allowing them to recover from jet lag.

Company’s coming! Not some stranger or supervisor we have to impress, but friends or family whose love for us reaches across time and distance and makes us eager to get ready. Once our company gets here, we won’t have to go out of our way to dazzle them with constant entertainment. Just being with them will be enough. Good shared memories will surface and surround us. A walk, or cup of coffee, or even a simple task undertaken together will become the substance of future memories. Because of the love and friendship that have drawn and kept us together, we trust that the visit will turn out to be one of the highlights of our year, and of theirs.

Company’s coming! Our Church year begins with this sense of joyful anticipation, of looking forward to welcoming one who loves us: Christ, the guest, who is already on the way.

Company’s coming! It’s time to get ready. We prepare as we’re able so that the visit can proceed. Once our guest has arrived, we want the focus to be not upon all that we have done to prepare, but upon the visit itself. During Advent we make ready at home. We make ready in church as well. Liturgical paraments and vestments in shades of blue mirror the deepening night. Candles flicker against the growing darkness. Away from the malls and traffic jams the liturgy helps us to create space where we can prepare ourselves and keep watch for Christ, the guest. It is love, the guest, who is already on the way; whose power is stirred up for our sake. Christ is journeying toward us. Let us prepare the way. Let us be prepared to welcome Him!

Pastor Rose

November 2018

On: By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.” Isaiah 25:7

 

Dear Redeemer Family:

Many pastors will say that they would much rather preach or preside at a funeral than at a wedding. I clearly remember at seminary when the professor told us, “If you are in a large church, and there is more than one pastor, if there is a wedding and a funeral on the same day, take the funeral!” In my experience, this is sound advice. Weddings can often be like herding cats. And weddings somewhere other than at the church building are even worse, generally. At least at the church, there is some degree of assumption that I’m in charge. At funerals, usually, people know how to behave (there have been exceptions). I have often said that when I retire, I am going to write a book on weddings and funerals. And I’m not going to change any names. I have plenty of ammunition. Enter November, the month that is more funeral than wedding.

 

Beginning with All Saints’ Day, the readings remind us of our mortality and predict war, disaster, and the end times. It’s enough to make us yearn for a savior or king. And we get both as the time after Pentecost draws to a close on Christ the King Sunday.

 

On the surface, there is not much good cheer. But buried beneath the darkness and death of November is the promise of resurrected life; an end to sadness and tears; the opportunity to give thanks for, share, and partake of the rich harvest of the earth; and a chance to renew our unwavering, confident trust in God. Don’t judge the month too harshly. Go deeper, and bring other people with you.

 

We begin with the opportunity to remember the past, honoring the saints who contributed to the creation of the kingdom. Both our churches and our families were built by dearly departed loved ones. It is because of them that we are able to joyfully give thanks for this life and cling to a longstanding faith, especially in the darkest of times.

 

Last night, I taught the Confirmation Class about All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2), and the most abused of Christian Days, All Hallows’ Evening (Oct. 31, you know it best by another name, a slurring of its real name). These are all part of the Church’s celebration of the dead. Originally, it was celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. As Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection of the dead, All Saints’ Day looks forward to the raising of the Church, the whole Church. In most parts of the world, it is a very celebrated Church festival. That, we believe is one of the reasons why Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door on the night of Oct. 31, 1517. Everyone would be going to church service the next day! All Saints’ is an ideal time to acknowledge that although death is a part of life, death does not have the final word. In a society that keeps people alive at all costs, sanitizes death, and even demands that the grieving “move on.” This is our time to collectively pause, grieve, and remember. Consider this a “little Thanksgiving” for those on whose faith shoulders we stand.

 

“For All the Saints”

Pastor Rose