Category: First Thoughts

“When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.” Acts 2:6

Pentecost is the day we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church. The Holy Spirit uses the apostles to share the good news of Jesus with people in their own language. It’s a reminder to me that this good news is for everyone. Think about that. This good news is for each of your neighbors, each of your friends, each of your co-workers, and each member of your family. BUT they need to hear it in their own language. Our work is to let the Holy Spirit speak through us to them in a language that might not be our own so they can hear the good news for them. That’s not an easy task. The way a 20-year-old hears the good news is different from how a jaded 40-year-old might hear, and they speak a different language from their 60-year-old neighbor. Add to that gender, income, education, and experience diversity, and you can see why we need the Holy Spirit to speak multiple languages through us to get the good news into people’s hearts. I suppose we must ask ourselves if we are willing to speak the gospel in unfamiliar languages or if we will insist on it being said in the language we grew up with? We’ll talk more on Sunday.

–Pastor Travis Norton

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“On the third day he rose again,
he ascended into heaven, 
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.” – Apostle’s Creed

Every week in worship, we say the Apostle’s Creed together and confess that Jesus ascended into heaven and that he will come back again. We are told how the disciples looked to heaven and were told promptly not to wait for Jesus to return but to get to work. The disciples weren’t ready to have Jesus leave. They had been told plenty of time what their work was to do now that Jesus was gone, but they still looked to the heavens and waited in longing for the reign of Jesus once and for all. Unfortunately, they would wait and wait and wait. They would die before they saw Jesus come again, and many of us may die before we see Jesus reign. However, we are not called to stare at the sky and wait. We are called into active waiting, a call to go and do the work of Jesus’ church today and every day.

The Gospel of Luke ends with the Ascension of Jesus, and the Book of Acts begins with the Ascension of Jesus. These books were both written by the same author, Luke, and they were intended to be read together. The end of Jesus’ story is the start of the church’s story. This week, we will consider together the hard work of the church and what Jesus calls us to do as we wait.

-Vicar Michaela Eskew

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“This is my command; Love each other.” -Jesus

We think we know what that means, don’t we? Love each other. On the surface it seems simple, but what does it mean to obey it as a commandment. It has to be more than nice feelings for people. What does it cost to love each other? What does it mean for how we talk to each other or about each other? What does love look like when someone makes us angry? What does love look like when someone hurts someone we care about? What does love look like when someone isn’t pulling their weight or doing their job? Can love set boundaries? Can love say no? Can love hold people accountable. What did Jesus mean when he commanded us to love each other? That’s what we’ll talk about on Sunday.

–Pastor Travis Norton

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Pastor Carrie Baylis

John 15: 1-9

We need each other, all of us.  We truly are better together, as disciples, as a church, in the world for the sake of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. 

The text for this coming Sunday is the last of the “I am” statements in the gospel of John, and it is one that not only tells us who Jesus is but also who we are.  “I am the vine, you are the branches.”  I’m not usually one to get super involved in the tenses and translations of the Greek, but I like this one because it tells us we’re ready.  That we are the branches. It calls into being all of the other directives and calls in John and says, you are the branches. You have everything you need already to bear fruit, grow, flourish, and probably even get tangled with all the branches that surround and support you. 

You know what else it reminds me?  That sometimes we have to prune the branches.  With the weather warming up, I just trimmed back a bunch of things in the yard.  Pruning away what isn’t life-giving any longer brings us back to new life.  I love the imagery of this text. I love that we can be connected to one another through vines and branches that have lived from generation to generation and still bear fruit for the sake of the world today.  I love that a little pruning can bring new life.

Alleluia! He is Risen!

-Pastor Carrie Baylis

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“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” John 10:14
 
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
 
This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, and we recognize the classic texts of Psalm 23 and John 10 that illustrate our children’s Bibles and cover our nurseries in sheep artwork. We know this classic metaphor for Jesus as the Good Shepherd. We gain great comfort from knowing that we have a shepherd to tend and care for us. However, our trust in Jesus as our shepherd does not make our lives as sheep any easier.

As Psalm 23 sings, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” The story of Peter and John that we read in Acts shows them surrounded by those who still persecute Jesus’ followers. Just because we are sheep with a caring shepherd does not mean our lives will be sweet and easy. So, what does it mean to be a sheep in the fold of God? How do we walk in life as disciples and followers through the valleys of darkness and death? How do we live a life that proclaims salvation in Jesus, our Good Shepherd’s name?

-Vicar Michaela Eskew

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“They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.” Luke 24:42-43

How do you prove someone’s not a ghost? Apparently, you give them something to eat. Jesus appears to his disciples, and they need some convincing that it is actually him in the flesh. They touch his hands and feet and feed him to prove to themselves that resurrection has actually happened. Our whole faith rests on this event. Not the idea of it or the principles to be learned from it. But the actuality of resurrection is the lynchpin of our faith. Once we believe, we are empowered to go and do God’s work in the world.

–Pastor Travis Norton

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In lieu of First Thoughts on this Sunday’s sermon, here is an update on our chancel remodel. It has been on our staff’s minds for many months, and we are excited to see the project get underway!

We’ve been talking about it for years, and now it’s finally happening. We are remodeling the chancel of the Sanctuary! When you come to church on Sunday, you will see the beginnings of construction. Mahler General Contractors will be redoing the platform, altar rail, pulpit, and baptismal font. The altar itself will remain the same. They expect the work to take six weeks, so for that time, we will be worshipping with a bit of construction as our backdrop. This work began on Monday, April 1. The old platform and red carpet have been removed. The new platform will be constructed over the course of five weeks and hopefully be ready for Pentecost Sunday, May 19. Thank you for your patience as we have this period of construction.
 
Why are we doing this? The biggest reason is to remove the need to step up in order to receive
communion. The altar rail and kneelers will be on the main level. This will increase our accessibility and prevent the stumbles that have taken place each year on the current steps. The second reason is simply to update the look of the chancel. The wood in the pulpit and the rails have been beaten up over the years, and the carpet is wearing thin in some areas. The third reason is to enlarge the highest level of the platform to improve sightlines. The highest level around the altar will be increased in area to provide greater capacity for special events.
 
What should you expect? The chancel area will be mostly converted to hardwood flooring, red oak with an ebony stain. There will be carpet only on the treads of the three steps leading up to the altar platform. The new pulpit and baptismal font will sit on the highest level and be made of red oak with a Sedona stain. The new altar rail will sit on the floor level and have a cushioned kneeler. The altar rail will stretch across the front of the Sanctuary. The area near the sacristy door and the side pews where pastors and worship assistants sit will now be on the same level as the Sanctuary pews. We hope it will all be very beautiful and last for decades to come.
 
How are we paying for this? The cost of the construction will be paid for out of memorial funds given throughout the years. In addition, a few members have made special donations toward this project. We have limited the project in scope to just the chancel area. In the future, as funds become available, we will update other areas of the Sanctuary, like the narthex and windows.

To see photos as this project progresses, follow the blog here!

–Pastor Travis Norton

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“while it was still dark…” John 20:1

I’ve always struggled with that Easter Sermon because of the pressure to preach a cheery, positive message. Nobody wants to come on that Sunday and hear about a gruesome death on the cross, the depravity of our sinful nature. They want to hear that Jesus lives and we will live, too. But when I read the story, I’m struck by the darkness, the confusion, and the weeping that make up the tale of the resurrection. The resurrection happens while the world is asleep, and those who are awake are deep in grief. It’s that juxtaposition that makes it so incredible. We need to know what Jesus has been resurrected from, and we need to know what depths he brings us up from, too!

–Pastor Travis Norton

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“Hosanna!
    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
    Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Mark 11: 9b-10

Jesus comes into Jerusalem in triumph and glory. Jesus finally receives all the acclaim and attention that he deserves, the world is finally able to see the Messiah. But, how quickly things turn and in a matter of a week Jesus faces the same crowd with cries on their lips of “Crucify Him!” Jesus is the same Messiah on Palm Sunday and Good Friday and Easter Morning and yet the crowd has changed drastically at all three of those days.

What expectations do we bring to our Christian leaders? To our God? What about the church? What expectations do we hold and how often are those expectations met? How often do we consider the unrealistic optimism we bring to a broken world. I am sure Jesus saw on Palm Sunday all that Jerusalem and Israel could be and yet a week later saw the broken reality up close and personal. Our Messiah is our example, a strong and steady presence in an unstable world.

-Vicar Michaela Eskew

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“Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle” John 2:15

In each of the gospels there is this event at the temple. Jesus causes a scene. He angrily drives out the money-changers and the sheep and the cattle being sold for sacrifice. He shuts the temple down, at least the business part of it. John’s gospel has it as one of his first acts. The other gospels have it as the act that comes on the heels of Palm Sunday and leads directly to his arrest and crucifixion. Something happened and it was remembered forever. The act of publicly interfering with “business as usual” challenges Christians to consider the role we are called to play in public affairs. What would Jesus shut down today? Where would he cause a scene? What does it mean for us to be his followers?

–Pastor Travis Norton

Looking for last week’s worship? You can find it here!

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