Redeemer Lutheran Church, DeSoto, MO

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 2016

On: December 2, 2016December 2, 2016 By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“You know what time it is.” Romans 13:11

Dear Redeemer Family:
We are entering again into the Season of Advent. It is the season of anticipation and expectation.
Not surprisingly, it is the first season of the Church calendar. Yes, we are already into a new year.
You don’t have to wait until January. And for us, this is also the beginning of a special year.

This year we celebrate the 500 anniversary of the Reformation. Worldwide Lutherans are gathering to celebrate this anniversary.
Just last Sunday, we celebrated Christ the King Sunday (the last day of the Church calendar), with the expectation of the culmination of the age. And now, we anticipate once again Christ’s coming. We do so in two forms. First, as everyone is already thinking, as He comes as the babe in the manger. I have noticed that certain stores already begin that preparation before even All Saints’ Day. “Christmas” is not just the celebration of Christ’s birth. The word means, “The celebration of Christ.” Although we tend to put our emphasis upon His birth, the day is really a total celebration of Christ’s coming. That includes His coming again, the Second Coming, and the culmination of the age as He does so.
In that sense, we anticipate and celebrate with all of Christ’s believers. We anticipate with the whole Church; past, present and future; and all denominations; throughout time and space. We believe that through Christ’s coming all things can happen. All things are possible. All things are hopeful.

As Lutherans and reformers this year, we celebrate the Lutheran theological heritage as an ongoing work of reformation of our own church, and steps toward reconciliation with other churches. The theme of the report prepared by the joint Lutheran-Catholic Commemoration of the Reformation is titled, “From Conflict to Communion.” Five hundred years ago, those words would have sounded as impossible to hold together as the wolves sleeping with lambs and streams flowing through deserts that Isaiah prophesied. It is precisely because of their seeming impossibility that Advent is a perfect time to life them up. Lutherans and Roman Catholics sharing the Eucharistic meal at the same altar? “When hell freezes over,” our grandparents might have said. And yet, in October of this year, leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (of which we are members) and Pope Francis signed a document to work towards that goal. Advent dares us to hope, to stay awake, and to bear fruit worthy of repentance – including for the unkind words and assumptions we have so often made about each other. The whole Church gathered.

If we can hold out hope that the new world God is bringing about in Jesus Christ is indeed coming,
and coming soon, and with it will come new highways opened, new protocols declared, then even to this prayer
of unity at the table we can add our own “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus.”

In Christ, Pastor Rose

November 2016

On: November 12, 2016November 12, 2016 By: Rev. G. Michael Rose

“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32

Dear Redeemer Family:

It seems that summer is almost over. Yes, I know that it is towards the end of October, but yesterday it hit 90 degrees. Let us hope that summer it over. We are supposed to be in autumn. And with autumn, we get a new set of holidays.

The first one, which lands on October 31^st is not really Halloween (although it is the second most popular holiday in this country), rather I am thinking of Reformation Day. If you are Lutheran, and if you are receiving this, you probably are. This is seen as the beginning of our church. And, next year, worldwide, there are big celebrations planned for the 500^th Anniversary of the Reformation. It is the day we remember Martin Luther’s nailing of his “Ninety-five Theses” to the church door at Wittenberg. It started as a rather small affair. They were just ninety-five things (mainly abuses of the then Church) that he wanted to publically debate. It started simply. It had an unexpected response. It ended with the first major split in the Western Church, and a group now called Lutherans. Although, Luther himself preferred to call his group the Evangelical Church (Evangelical means “Gospel”). And, worldwide, that heading forms the largest Protestant group. It started quite small. But, its portents were huge, for with it we say, the Gospel was reclaimed by the Church. It was reformed. That is a much bigger day in my mind than sending our children door to door to receive candy from our neighbors. Rather, it is the day when we celebrate the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We “continue in his word.”

Later this month, there is a similar holiday. We call it Thanksgiving. The original Thanksgiving was also a small simple event, if we recall the Pilgrims’ version. After a very hard year, the Pilgrims had managed to raise enough food to get them through the year. In celebration (if the Pilgrims believed in celebrating, they were a rather austere group), they decided to give thanks to God for the blessings received, and hold a communal meal as part of the occasion. And, having read a couple of versions of the menu, it was quite simple. While they were doing this, the neighboring Native tribe showed up, and really kind of invited themselves. Hearing that there was no meat (sorry, no turkeys), the chief sent out 16 of his best hunters to get some deer (another November activity in Missouri). And yes, they had venison added to their largely vegetarian fare. From this simple act, and meal, has grown the feast that is now known on the fourth Thursday of November. The foundation of which is not to eat ourselves until overly sated, but to give thanks to God for blessings received. Remember this foundation.

Two holidays, with humble beginnings, but they are of great importance. Enjoy them. And thank God!

In Christ,

Pastor Rose