Instead of growth, we often times seem to slip. We slip out of town a little early, or we slip back in a little late. We slip in extra time traveling, or maybe we slip in extra time sleeping, because there is just so much going on. We slip in and out of church so that we will be inconspicuous—of course, we don’t want to bother anyone.

Yes, it is that time of the year as well when I will serve up a reminder not to slip away from Jesus. With all going on during the summer months, it is easy to slip. I know this myself. Because of schedules—travel, continuing education, Camp Linn Haven, VBS, vacation— we take time off from Bible studies and other church responsibilities and these gaps in the schedule makes it very easy to slip.

I hope that the words of Saint Paul will help us remember, whether we are on vacation or traveling or busy with other things, we need the Lord with us daily as we set apart our lives for Him. The Apostle writes: “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4-5 ESV). So as we travel, undertake summer activities, vacation, whatever…, we consecrate (sanctify, “make holy”) that time, that occasion, or that event by the Word of God and prayer.

Martin Luther talks about these very kinds of things in the explanation of the Third Commandment in the Large Catechism: “For the Word of God is the sanctuary above all sanctuaries, yea, the only one which we Christians know and have…. But God's Word is the treasure which sanctifies everything, and by which even all the saints themselves were sanctified. At whatever hour then, God's Word is taught, preached, heard, read or meditated upon, there the person, day, and work are sanctified thereby, not because of the external work, but because of the Word which makes saints of us all. Therefore I constantly say that all our life and work must be ordered according to God's Word, if it is to be God-pleasing or holy.”

Keep this Word which makes saints of us all and orders our lives with you this summer… so you don’t slip. God bless.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

In anticipation of the National Day of Prayer I wanted to share with you three specific things about what prayer is:

1) Prayer is communication with God. Notice what I said. Prayer is not simply talking to God, but it is a conversation with God where not only are we talking with Him, but He is also talking with us as well. One question I always like to ask people is, "How does God talk to us?" Most folks are puzzled at first, but then they realize that God speaks to us in His Word. We might get some indication otherwise that God might want us to say or to do something, but we can only be sure of God's will for us when it is in accordance with the Scriptures. In the Lord's Prayer, we ask in the Third Petition, "Thy will be done." The only way we can know God's will and ask that it be done is by being in His Word and learning from Him what His will is. As we know His will for us in Christ Jesus better and better, we will grow in our understanding of how He works to answer our prayers for His will to be done.

2) Prayer is an act of worship. In prayer we praise and thank God as well as go to Him for forgiveness and the needs of both body and soul. We recognize that God is a great God above all kings and that He is the only One who can receive our prayers and answer them. When we pray, we worship God by doing the very thing He tells us to do. Saint Paul tells us: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV).

3) Prayer is a confession of the faith. In our prayers, we say a quite a bit about our belief in God. In the way we address God our prayers ("Our Father who art in heaven…," "…in Jesus' name," etc.) we confess who He is and the awesome power and ability He has to make a difference in our lives. Throughout the Scriptures as we learn about prayer–to whom should we pray, what should we pray for, how we should pray, for whom should we pray–we learn about God and who He is and how we live under Him in His kingdom. Even the few words that Jesus speaks in John 16:23 helps inform our confession of the Triune God when we pray: "I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."

I hope that on the National Day of Prayer that you will take time to pray for our nation and that it will be a wonderful time for you as you communicate with God, as you worship Him, and as you confess Him in your prayers.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,

Pastor Keith

There are great celebrations and gatherings on Good Friday, even re-enactments of people crucifying themselves in some Third World countries. In these United States, some people are often somber and very subdued as they attend church, while others ignore the day completely preparing for only for the celebration that is Easter. In Europe, as it has almost become complete secularized, much of Holy Week and Easter is simply ignored except for the benefit of a long weekend for those who have a "bank holiday."

If we were to look to the early church, Holy Week was THE season of anticipation and celebration. Jesus' death and resurrection was what the life of the church was built around. Every celebration of the Lord's Supper was a proclamation of the Lord's death—a feast of victory that recalled Jesus' giving of Himself to overcome sin, death, and the devil. Every Sunday was (and is) a weekly celebration of the resurrection of our Lord—the declaration of justification in His work.

The season of Lent was a special time of study and preparation for the adult catechumens as they prepared for their Baptisms, which would take place during the Easter Vigil service. The focus of the Easter Vigil service on Baptism perfectly brings together the glorious, victorious death of Jesus with His triumphal resurrection—both of which He gives to us through the washing of water with the word (Titus 3:5). Saint Paul's word to the Romans perfectly sums up the Easter Vigil service: “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection” (6:4-5).

I hope that this Lenten season, Holy Week, and Easter will bring a blessed joy to you.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

The Lenten season is a time that can be wonderfully beneficial as we consider the great love that our Lord reveals in making His journey to Jerusalem. His suffering, death, and resurrection for us demonstrate that Jesus was willing to redeem a world that could not help itself. He accomplished our salvation by His humiliation. He lifts us up by making Himself low. He makes us rich by making Himself poor.

The Lenten season often is presented as being sad and gloomy because the focus can be more on the sins we commit than on the redemption of Jesus won. I remind people all the time, that as we go through Lent, we must also look through Lent to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We have to always keep the goal of our faith in mind—“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 NASB).

So, I leave you with a little Luther to ponder. This excerpt is from his Good Friday sermon of 1519 which was very popular in the days of the Reformation and reprinted many times. Note how he preaches the strength of our sin, but how he also preaches all the more emphatically the greater strength of our Savior. A wonderful message for Lent—or anytime.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

Then cast your sins from yourself upon Christ, believe with a festive spirit that your sins are his wounds and sufferings, that he carries them and makes satisfaction for them, as Is 53,6 says: "Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;" and St. Peter in his first Epistle 2, 24: "Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree" of the cross; and St. Paul in 2 Cor 5,21: "Him who knew no sin was made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him." Upon these and like passages you must rely with all your weight, and so much the more the harder your conscience martyrs you. For if you do not take this course, but miss the opportunity of stilling your heart, then you will never secure peace, and must yet finally despair in doubt. For if we deal with our sins in our conscience and let them continue within us and be cherished in our hearts, they become much too strong for us to manage and they will live forever. But when we see that they are laid on Christ and he has triumphed over them by his resurrection and we fearlessly believe it, then they are dead and have become as nothing. For upon Christ they cannot rest, there they are swallowed up by his resurrection, and you see now no wound, no pain, in him, that is, no sign of sin. Thus St. Paul speaks in Rom 4, 25, that he was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised for our justification; that is, in his sufferings he made known our sins and also crucified them; but by his resurrection he makes us righteous and free from all sin, even if we believe the same differently.

—From The Sermons of Martin Luther, Volume II, pp. 189-190.

“Pray at all times” and “Stay alert in this.” It seems as if the apostle is asking something of us which we cannot do. In all reality, he is. We cannot “pray at all times”—much less pray at all—unless the Holy Spirit works through the Word and Sacraments to create the faith and bring us into this state of grace.

Martin Luther once said: “Praying is the work of faith alone and something no one but a Christian can do” (What Luther Says, #3440). As we carry out the privilege and necessity of prayer, we are reminded that we need faith, a gift given by the Holy Spirit, to nourish and sustain us in this enterprise. Thanks be to God that He asks of us only the things He supplies.

Here is a little more Luther to reflect upon as our congregation begins our Family Prayer Partners. As we take time to consider our prayer life and those for whom we are praying, these words of the Reformer serve as an encouragement for each of us.

Wherever a Christian is, there the Holy Spirit is, who does nothing else but pray constantly. For though a Christian is not constantly moving his lips and speaking words, his heart nevertheless moves and beats (just like the pulse of his body) and always throbs with such sighs as these: Dear Father, may Thy name be hallowed; may Thy kingdom come; may Thy will be done by us and everyone. Ane the harder the blows of life or temptation and trouble press and beat upon him, the stronger such sighs and prayers become, even vocally. Therefore you cannot find a Christian without prayer, just as you cannot find a living man without a pulse. The pulse never stands still; it is always throbbing and beating by itself, even though a man is sleeping or doing something else and, therefore, is not aware of it. (What Luther Says, #3486).

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

As we begin 2006, one emphasis we will see in our church is the importance of prayer in the life of our members. In January, we will be establishing our Family Prayer Partners which will connect the households of our church and surround Good Shepherd in prayer. This is one way we will encourage the people of God in a life of repentance and to “pray without ceasing.”

At the Harvest Dinner in November, we had more than a dozen households sign up to be a Family Prayer Partner. We encourage those who have not signed up to consider being a part of our prayer network. If you have any questions or just want to talk about Family Prayer Partners, please give me a call.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul reminds the congregation there to “be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph 6:18). That is a wonderful reminder to us as we serve our fellow saints in prayer.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

As we once again enter the season of Advent, our attention can’t help but become focused on Christmas. In some sense we see the culmination of Advent in the celebration of the birth of Jesus—not a bad place for us to be. We can’t stay there though, because we know that Jesus’ birth is really just the commencement of His incarnation which finds its ultimate fulfillment on the cross.

The world sees the fulfillment of Christmas in the torn wrapping paper and discarded boxes. Along with cleaning up the mess left from showering ourselves with gifts, the true joy of Christmas very often gives way to making New Year’s resolutions and to fighting mid-winter depression. The Twelve Days of Christmas are over before our true love even offers the two turtledoves.

This year I would encourage you to think of the Advent Season as one of the Church year tour guides that will take you part of the way on Jesus’ journey to be our Savior. From prophetic promises, to His conception, and onto His birth, to His circumcision and naming, to the Magi’s visit, the escape to Egypt—these stops take us along the road that the God-man must travel to accomplish our salvation.

God bless you on your tour through Jesus’ life this Advent and Christmas seasons with the gift of God’s peace through Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

At the congregational meeting on October 25, 2005, I shared with those present my intention of establishing a volunteer ministry in our church which I have tentatively called “Family Prayer Partners.” My hope in January is for each of your households to be matched with two others in our congregation —one household to pray specifically for you and one for whom you will specifically pray. All of the households participating would then form a “prayer circle” around the families of our church and around the church itself.

As I have read and studied the Scriptures and as I have prayed and thought over this, Saint Paul’s admonition to the Galatians kept coming to mind: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:9-10). I like to point out here that, yes, we do have a Christian obligation to do good to all, but, as the apostle points out, we are to do good “especially to the household of faith.” He reflects here what Jesus said to His disciples after He had set an example by washing their feet: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

Taking this to heart, the most basic way that we have to do good, especially to the household of faith, and to love one another is to pray for our brothers and sisters in the faith. We are dependent on one another for strength and encouragement. Saint James says in his epistle: “Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16b). If we are not praying for one another, we are missing the mark in two ways: (1) we are not serving our neighbor in love as God has blessed us to do; and (2) we are not receiving the healing (spiritual, emotional, and physical) that God promises.

In approaching this undertaking, I am once again drawn to the Mission Statement that we adopted back in November of last year. That statement in part says that we will “reflect Christ’s redemptive love through the nurture of God’s people.” As we continue to rejoice in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ that we receive in Holy Word and Sacrament, always keep in mind that God also gives us strength to serve one another in love—and that prayer for one another is the starting place for that service.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

We have seen the images and heard the stories of how things went in New Orleans and at other places around the gulf. The needs continue to be pressing in some areas and the organizations that provide for those who have been affected are now up and running and finally reaching those in outlying areas. Help is still needed and there are still many avenues for involvement.

I would like to direct you to the LCMS Southeastern District website (http://se.lcms.org) to learn about the specific relief work our district is doing among the two congregations that we have adopted. Atonement Lutheran Church and School in Metairie, LA, and St. James in Gonzales, LA, specifically relate to our district office the needs they have in their congregations and communities and advise on the best way to help. On the district’s website you can also read some correspondence from the congregations about the progress that is being made in the surrounding areas.

Saint Paul tells the Galatians: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially the household of faith” (6:10). Of late, we have had many opportunities, and I am sure there will still be many as the recovery goes on. God continue to bless our efforts to help those in need.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith

We have seen the images and heard the stories of how things went in New Orleans and at other places around the gulf. The needs continue to be pressing in some areas and the organizations that provide for those who have been affected are now up and running and finally reaching those in outlying areas. Help is still needed and there are still many avenues for involvement.

I would like to direct you to the LCMS Southeastern District website (http://se.lcms.org) to learn about the specific relief work our district is doing among the two congregations that we have adopted. Atonement Lutheran Church and School in Metairie, LA, and St. James in Gonzales, LA, specifically relate to our district office the needs they have in their congregations and communities and advise on the best way to help. On the district’s website you can also read some correspondence from the congregations about the progress that is being made in the surrounding areas.

Saint Paul tells the Galatians: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially the household of faith” (6:10). Of late, we have had many opportunities, and I am sure there will still be many as the recovery goes on. God continue to bless our efforts to help those in need.

In Jesus, our Good Shepherd,
Pastor Keith