Photo of the Day

Matching dollies!  JSLC kids are cute.  And then they get big.  But they're still cute.

further thoughts on "inviting all"

I have no idea who these people are.

I am sure there are some among you who do, since this photo comes from Scott Canfield's vast collection of JSLC memories.  (Nothing says archival abundance like over 3000+ old photos now lodged on my hard drive.)  I am posting this not just to figure out who these people might be, however, but to make a point.  A point about inviting.

A congregation is an ever-adapting organism.  People come and go as they grow up and find work, move through new phases in life, meet soon-to-be-loved ones and experience conflict (we are human, after all).  We are all one body in Christ, but the changing circumstances of life mean that any one congregational component of this body will look different over time.

This observation should not diminish the importance of creating a congregational environment where all can grow and prosper.  I would love to see all of you stick around for the next 30 years.  I'd love to stick around for the next 30 years.  I hope to see some of my beloved youth group kids raise their children here.  We need to put in the hard graft to ensure that we attend to our relationships.

Also, however, we need to invite.  We need a constant infusion of new vitality if we want to see this congregation prosper.  That means being not only a welcoming place, as P/T pointed out on Sunday, but actively going out and inviting others into fellowship -- truly living out the Great Commission that Jesus so expressly commands us to follow.

How did you get here?  In our case, we were looking for an ELCA congregation and we found JSLC on the Web.  We attended a couple Sundays and we met a number of people, including the Luedtkes and Marlys Morland.  I recall Marlys being astounded when Geoff remembered her name the second week she came over to share the peace -- my great-aunt is also a Marlys, so it had stuck in his mind.  P/T came over to our house to visit.  Ron and Kathy Taylor took us out for pizza at Abby's.  That first Christmas season Beth Randolph invited me to be a reader for some choir visits to area retirement homes.  In short, we experienced great welcome and we experienced invitations to fellowship and greater involvement in the congregation.

And here I am, eight years later, pontificating.  (Now you know who to blame.)

What is your story?  How might you contribute to someone else's?  How can we live out our mission of "inviting all" to share in God's grace? -- LG

Photo of the Day

Pancakes, anyone?

Inviting all...

Take a moment to read once again through today's lessons (below).  “Inviting all...” involves being a welcoming place, but it’s more than that.  Welcoming is a vital, but passive response.  Inviting is more active.  Inviting says we have something to share, something important that you would benefit from, that we are happy and excited to share with you.

Jesus calls us to invite others -- and to invite everyone, from "people like us" to people who may pose a challenge for us.  This can be a challenge.  As Charlie Brown put it well, "I love humanity... it's people I can't stand."  It's clear, however, that Jesus wants us to reach out.  And it's safe to say Jesus' plan for us will bring hope and joy to all of us.  We all are loved... no matter what.

How might we become better "inviters"?  Thoughts?  Please share!

As we approach our 30^th anniversary as a congregation, we take time to focus on our vocation, our calling from God, to be a people formed, nurtured, and sent by God’s word and sacraments, by a great and gracious love that cannot be kept to ourselves.

Prayer of the Day

God of all peoples, your invitation to life reaches out through the people you have called to be your own. May your Spirit empower our words and our witness as we share the stories of your love and life in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

The First Reading:  Deuteronomy 30:11-20 (NLT)

God’s people stood on the bank of the Jordan river, ready enter the Promised Land and open a new chapter in their life together.  They had choices to make about how this chapter would unfold.  As a congregation of people who gather around Jesus, in this time of transition, we also have choices to make.  How will we choose to answer the invitation?

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. ¹² It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹³ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ ¹⁴ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

¹⁵ “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. ¹⁶ For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

¹⁷ “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, ¹⁸ then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

The Second Reading:  Colossians 4:2-6 (NIV2011)

Paul was passionate about proclaiming “the mystery of Christ.”  Not everyone was anxious to hear it, and that’s still the case today.  But he calls us to pray and prepare to continue clearly and graciously offering the good news about Jesus with every opportunity.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

The Gospel:  Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)

Jesus commissions his disciples, inviting them into the next chapter of their lives.  It’s an invitation, a call, and a command that stands before us still today.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."