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February 2nd has many names. In popular culture, we refer to it as Ground Hog’s Day. In the church, it has been known as Candlemas, the Festival of the Purification of Mary, and as the Presentation of Lord. According to St. Luke’s gospel, the infant Jesus was carried by Mary and Joseph to the Temple in Jerusalem on the 40th day since Jesus’ birth, which is February 2nd.  It was during this visit that the old prophet Simeon, who had been assured that he was to see the Messiah before his death, saw the couple and their infant son Jesus walking across the Temple. Having seen the infant Messiah, Simeon took the child into his arms and announced, “Now, oh God, I can leave this world in peace- for I have seen my salvation.” He then continued his prophecy with the word that Jesus would be the light for all the world.
This year as we celebrate the Presentation of Our Lord, we will invite the families and children of those baptized in 2015 to be a part of the worship service. They will be presented a medallion imprinted with their child’s name and their baptismal date to serve as a reminder of their connection to Lake of the Isles and their more important relationship as a child of God.

0d23e606-d814-4b59-86ab-21b1caa7f926The First Sunday after Epiphany is traditionally marked as the Baptism of Our Lord. It is the day in which the church remembers Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan.   In the yearly retelling of Jesus’ life, it is the shift from the Christmas story to Jesus’ adult ministry. The Baptism of Our Lord also allows us to reflect on the meaning of baptism. In particular, the day allows us to reflect on the sacred gifts and benefits offered at baptism.  

Historically, these were favorite days for music and theatre. William Shakespeare wrote his comic play “Twelfth Night” for the close of the Christmas season. In Leipzig, Germany, during the time of J. S. Bach, the city marked the Advent season with silence in the churches. There was no music performed until Christmas Eve. The twelve days that followed were filled with music. Bach’s own Christmas Oratorio was to be performed on the First, Second and Third days of Christmas.
Epiphany
On Sunday, January 3th, we will celebrate the close of the Christmas season with the festival service for Epiphany. Epiphany on January 6th traditionally marks the visit of the Wise Men to Bethlehem. This will allow us one last chance to sing such favorite Christmas carols as “The First Noel” and “We Three Kings.” Sunday School will resume this day as well.

Dear Friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

It is not easy to preach on Christmas, and I’ll confess it is just as hard to preach on the Sunday after. On Christmas you struggle with toddlers impatiently tugging at their parents’ arms to head home and open Christmas presents. One Christmas, I heard a little boy say a little too loudly. “Daddy, has the preacher finished yet?” The father painfully whispered a little too loudly as well. “Yep, he’s finished. He just hasn’t stopped talking.” And of course, there are the usual critics. As Mark Twain once chided. “He charged nothing for his preaching. And it was worth it.”

The First Sunday after Christmas, however, offers its own set of challenges. Most often, you simply wonder whether anyone will be in church at all. As a missionary family in Lithuania, 15 years ago, our little family began the worship with just the four of us and the organist sitting in the organ loft. Ten minutes into the worship service, a curious tourist walked into the church. We were so excited about another worshiper, that I ran down, welcomed him, grabbed him by the arm and led him to the organ loft, and then started the worship service all over again. The poor fellow didn’t know what hit him.

There is another challenge as well. What should the theme of the sermon be? The 12 Days of Christmas offer a host of possibilities from triumph through tragedy. The First Day of Christmas tells the story of peace and good at Jesus’ birth, yet the second day of Christmas, December 26th is traditionally remembered as the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the church. It is a poignant reminder that there may be a cost in telling the story of Christ’s birth. Today, the Third Day of Christmas is often celebrated as the Feast of St. John, the author of the gospel who captured the mystery of the incarnation in the words, “And the word became flesh.” In the Roman Catholic Church this Sunday can also be celebrated as Holy Family Sunday. It is an occasion for honoring the roles of Mary and Joseph in raising the Christ Child. For me, there is yet another more personal option. Today is Janna and my 29th wedding anniversary and the lesson we read was actually the scripture read at the wedding. So I may try to pull them all together into one.

Now, there are very few passages in scripture that tell us of Jesus’ childhood. The gospel we have heard this morning is perhaps the only story in the Bible where we are reminded that the “Little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes” did indeed cause a few tears and gray hairs. There are of course legends recorded in non-canonical writing such as “The Infancy Gospel of St. Thomas.” Here you can read of Jesus breathing life into birds he fashions out of clay, and leading wild lions out of the city to the amazement of his neighbors. There is even a story of Jesus raising an angry man back from the dead. Apparently, the man was scolding Jesus and was struck dead. Mary and Joseph pleaded with Jesus to make him bring him back to life.

I am sure that St. Luke’s story is the edited version of the true conversation between mother and son. What Jewish mother, finding her missing child after three days, would simply be amazed? Can you imagine your mother saying in polite English, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” I don’t think so. It certainly wouldn’t be the response in our home. And it doesn’t surprise me at all that when Jesus went back to Nazareth, he “was obedient to them.” In the telling of this event, it may be that St. Luke is helping us to discover the heart and the mind of Jesus. He is also helping us to know that Jesus understands the joys, tensions and struggles we have within our human families. But St. Luke highlights that family can be life’s greatest blessing. They don’t have to treat each as titles, but they can treat each other as people with real feelings.

Over the past 18 years, I have also learned that parents can be totally confused frequently by their children’s behavior. And frankly, children can be confused by their parents’ behavior. So I find comfort in this story knowing that even the holy family of Mary and Joseph who were hand-picked by God were confused. But there was one difference. And that should be our lesson today. In spite of what happened in Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph did not burst into a rage nor did they shame their son with words. They seemed rather to follow the example that Jesus himself had set when he was lost in his thoughts in the temple. He listened and questioned. That is the true gift of family. But how are we to live as a this human family.

Let me share with you a few simple thoughts drawn from the Letter to the Colossians.

First, As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Over the last 18 years of parenting, and 29 years of marriage, I have learned that clothes do not make the man- nor the woman, the mother or the father, the husband nor the wife. Nor frankly, do the clothes make the pastor. The late J. Elmo Agrimson, my Bishop in the old American Lutheran Church, told me , “Pastors make two mistakes in dressing- thinking too much about it, or not enough.” This was quite a contrast to another Bishop Lowell Erdahl, who joked that that he wore his clerical collar so seldom that he had to rent one. As people of God, clothes don’t make you a better person, but you must consider your appearance. I receive cards every year from families in striking, color coordinated clothes. They are wonderful pictures that brighten a gray, December day. But they are painful images as well when I know that the clothes are simply masking an anger, or sorrow or emptiness. As mothers and fathers, sons and daughters consider wisely how you are dressed for those you love. Do not be so comfortable with your bad habits and patterns that you would not dare to dress up for those you care about. “Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.”

As mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, we spend far too much time fretting about our appearance. We need to choose the garments wisely and the moments of combat carefully. When hair was long forty years ago, my grandmother to the chagrin of my mother, complimented my brother on his long hair. She said, “As long as it is clean it is beautiful.” Or as it was often said, “Jesus had long hair.” There are some choices that are not healthy, wise or humble. Be mindful of those. But “Above all, clothe yourself with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” That is what you must practice in your family.

Second, “Bear with one another.” In my previous parish in Marine on St. Croix, a couple showed up in Church one day, when I was gone. They were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. The husband explained to the staff, that they wanted to visit the scene of the crime. Janna and I have returned occasionally to the scene of the crime, to the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church just down on East Franklin Avenue. Many of our closest friendships were established in those years. Unfortunately, many of the friends and relatives who were present for the wedding are no longer with us today. There have many good times, as well as hardship and loss, and we have stuck together- through sickness and in health- for richer, for poorer. It’s a quality of loyalty which is to “Bear with one another.” It is giving of yourself and of your time. My friends, it may be annoying, and time consuming. Believe me it is worth the price. I have no regrets in “bearing one another at a time of loss.” But I do have regrets, when a friend was in need, and I could not stand beside him. As mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, you need that same commitment to the family.

And in those moments, when loyalty is broken, “Forgive each other; just as the Lord as forgiven you, so also you must forgive.” Inevitably, you and I do disappoint each other, as husbands and wives, mothers and father, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues, but God’s love and forgiveness will not disappoint you. So do not disappoint God by holding back the gift of his forgiveness. Let forgiveness sustain the life of your family.

Finally, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” Our twenty nine years of marriage and 18 years of parenting have been blessed by many wonderful experiences. But the most fulfilling times have been those moments when we allowed God’s imagination to fill our days. Our great adventure to the Baltic States as the Iron Curtain was falling down began as a simple New Year’s Day Resolution. We had no idea, what the year would bring. It happened again when we allowed God’s imagination to run wild as we opened our hearts and our home to two foreign- born boys living in Russia. The possibilities for God are endless when you allow the peace of Christ to rule in your hearts, and to practice this in your home.

Now, you may wonder, so why does God place such great emphasis on the role of the human family? Why would he place his own son Jesus into the care of Mary and Joseph. Why not look to a good Sunday School program, the work of professional teachers, or even an ordained pastor? For one simple reason. God knows that within the sheltering arms of your home, within the cradling arms of loving mothers and father, within the safety of a healthy marriage, Jesus is blessing your children every day, and he is blessing you. There is no more important place for the spiritual development of your children, than in your home. For it is in your home that they experience the wonder of sacrificial love. It is in your home that they experience forgiveness. It is in your home that they experience protection. Yes, it is your own home that they experience the truth of the Christian faith. That is what you and I are called to share.

My friends, when you listen to and care for your family as real live people with flesh and blood, you can be like Mary, who would treasure all of these things in her heart. Yes, when you work to listen and question and treat others as real people, you can even learn to treasure the confusion of your children- and your parents. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever;

From generation to generation we will recount your praise.

                                                            Psalm 79:13
Dear Friends and Members of Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church,
“What is stewardship?” People often consider stewardship to be a form of fund-raising. For others, it is simply the way congregations turn to their constituency each year to ask for the funds necessary to run the programs that the congregation has decided are important. Still others believe that stewardship is nothing more than the managing of user fees and dues. There may be a bit of truth in all of these views, but I think there is something more.
For me, stewardship is a matter of faith. Stewardship is my disciplined response of praise and thanksgiving to God for all that he has entrusted to my care. Perhaps the most impassionate definition for stewardship is this “Stewardship is about the growth in your relationship with God through the use of the gifts he has entrusted to you.”
 As we prepare for Stewardship Sunday on November 15th, the day in which we offer our stewardship and financial commitments for the new year, I would like to challenge you with a few thoughts drawn from this definition of stewardship.
1.     Stewardship is returning to God a portion of the gifts he has entrusted to you first as an act of faith.  This is a biblical call to offer the “first fruits.”  Many people, however, wait until they have covered all their desires and necessities, and then they may turn over a portion of what is left to God.  Truthfully, we never really grow in faith when we only offer what is left to God.  Faith is nurtured and grows when you begin by offering a portion from the very beginning.  In this way, you learn to know God’s providence.  You learn to trust that he will provide all that you will need.  In this way stewardship becomes a way of knowing God and growing in a relationship with God by leaning on him.  And you become more daring as God’s servant.
2.     Return to God a portion of your gifts is more than simply giving money. In many churches, we define gifts as time, talents and treasure. They are all important. The kingdom of God needs your time. God desires your worship and praise. He knows that your presence in worship is important for your spiritual growth. It is where you come into contact with his word. Your talents are needed to touch the lives of other believers struggling in their journey. In the ELCA, we say, “God’s work. Our hands.” You and are needed to be the human touch of God’s mission. And yes, gifts do include your treasure. Jesus speaks about money more than any other topic in the Bible. People are always trying to hold onto their treasure, and keep it for themselves. And Jesus is always reminding them that it can be doing so much more- if they would simply return it to God’s service. Giving gifts is a part of the spiritual discipline which allows you to grow in faith.
3.     Stewardship is a reminder that God has created all things, and that you and I are merely entrusted to take care of these gifts.  That may surprise you.  From our first years of childhood, we learn to say, “It’s mine” and “That’s yours.”  It would be a different world if we learned to say, “It is God’s and he has entrusted it to me.”  That is ultimately what we believe and hope to be our everlasting future.
My friends, God entrusted to you many gifts. What will you embrace as yours, and what will you dare to return to God?   Stewardship is an act of faith which will allow you to grow in your relationship with God.
Peace, Pastor Arden Haug

Thank you to the Grade 1-6 Sunday School children for sharing their beautiful bell song on Reformation Sunday!  Thank you also for making lanterns and singing in worship today on St Martin’s Day. It won’t be long before we start preparing for the Christmas program!
Here are some things to note on your calendar for the month of November:
Nov. 15:  Winter clothes drive ends. All are encouraged to share new or gently used (and clean) winter coats, hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves and place in the barrels at either entrance of the church. Donations will go to PPL (Project Pride for Living) and Matter.
Nov. 22: 2nd annual Family (Advent)ures” An interactive event for families with children of all ages to prepare for the Advent and Christmas season. Families will also participate in a service project assembling care packages for our college age students (see article for more details).
Nov. 29:  Advent calendars (with chocolate!) will be distributed to children.
Looking ahead: Christmas program is Sunday, December 13. Final Rehearsal will be the morning of Saturday, December 12.
On Sunday, November 22nd, we will celebrate Thanksgiving at Lake of the Isles. Members of the congregation will offer their reflections on what they are thankful for this year. A pie fellowship will follow the worship service. You are invited to bring canned goods for the Food Shelf.

 

 

In honor of St. Martin and his legacy, our St. Martin Fest dinner will kick-off a winter clothes drive for Matter and PPL (Project Pride for Living).  Participants are encouraged to share gently used mittens, gloves and hats, as well as new or gently used and cleaned winter jackets. Bins are located near church entrances.

A warm welcome to our new and returning kids in Sunday School!It is so good to have the classrooms filled with children again!We have a great staff of both high school and adult teachers making some wonderful connections with the kids.
Guardian Angel program kicks off this month. The Sunday School children will begin receiving communication from his/her Guardian Angel this month. If you are interested in being a Guardian Angel, please contact Diane LaMere (dlamere.loti@yahoo.com).
Here are October happenings in Children’s Ministry:
October 4:  Blessing of the stuffed animals!Kids of all ages are welcome to bring their most treasured stuffed animals for a special blessing after worship with Pastor Haug.A fun and important tradition to honor St Francis enjoyed by all.
October 18NO Sunday School – MEA break
October 25Children ring bells in worship.Details will be emailed to families as we get closer to this date.
On behalf of the Church Council, I would like to thank you for your financial gifts.  Surprisingly, in spite of the usual low, summer attendance, we were able to stay largely on budget, particularly with our expenses and to move towards a solid foundation for the fall.  We faithfully count on September’s strong financial giving to pull us eventually out of the summertime slump. The month of September usually allows us to catch up on the lost income during the summer months and to pay the outstanding deferred expenses.
Unfortunately, this September’s giving was unusually weak.  While attendance has been up, and new activities have begun, overall giving has not kept pace.  As we head into the month of October with both the TC Marathon and MEA weekend, we anticipate lower income.
I would like to invite you to consider an additional or an extraordinary gift to carry the church through this period.  As Pastor Haug has reminded us all in the past, the congregation has no reserves to draw from.  We simply try to be good stewards of the gifts we have been entrusted.
Thank you for your prayerful and intentional gifts.
Ross Bartels, Treasurer