Sunday Worship8, 9:30 & 11 am
We sat down to one of our recent holiday meals with Brian's family, including our triplet niece and nephews. After some typical back and forth about which holiday foods were and were not worth eating, I think there was as much food on the table and on faces as there was on plates or in stomachs. As a matter of crowd control, we started to sing songs and play games at the table (mostly so the adults could have a moment to eat instead of tending to the kids.)
Dinner wrapped up with an old-school game of "telephone," with phrases carefully selected and whispered by each of the kids. Most of them were cute. I'm pretty sure "poop" was the funniest, and also the first one that made it all the way around the table without any changes. The one that brought the game to a quick and awkward end came from Gabby. "I love you." We all complied and finished out the round, but it was apparent how uneasy the words were on the tongues of adult in-laws from various branches of the family who had never shared these words among each other. Of course it had never occured to a 5-year-old that there would be any reason to reserve those words to a select few people.
And why should there be? I know as well as anyone that life experience and social insecurities can make it difficult to express our feelings toward other people. It can be much easier to build walls around ourselves to protect our emotions than it is to make ourselves vulnerable by letting someone know we care about them. The problem is compounded when you know your feelings might be met with equal hesitation by the individual on the receiving end of your care. And perhaps at some level, we want to protect the meaning of the word "love" so it doesn't become tired from overuse, and instead we don't use any word at all to let people know we love them.
Jesus' command to love one another is first an edict to get over our biases against other people and treat everyone, even those who are different than us, the way we would want to be treated. As difficult as that can be to put into action, it is an easy enough concept to grasp. Another difficult idea that Jesus exemplifies is showing care and attention to people who are already in our circle; and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable to the love and affection we receive from others.
Some people are already better at this than others, but if you are one of us who can sometimes struggle to open up, maybe you could take baby steps toward loving your neighbor by allowing yourself to be vulnerable to letting people close to you know you love them, too.
Yours in Christ,
John Johns
I am a tree hugger. I grew up spending summer vacations at the Delaware shore, picking up trash in between bodysurfing and building sandcastles. On our way back to Ohio from the ocean, we would disappear into the woods of north-central Pennsylvania for an additional week or two at grandma and grandpa’s place, where we would climb trees, explore the mountains, and wander the banks of the Susquehanna River.
I grew up in the era of the crying Native American “Keep America Beautiful” TV commercial and heard overtones of caring for the Earth in Bible verses from the early pages of Genesis on Sunday mornings. Our household was filled with crafts reclaiming newspaper, aluminum cans, and glass jars. When we couldn’t reuse them, we recycled them. We were what you might call early adopters. Some of my earliest childhood memories are sorting newspapers and magazines on sweaty autumn days for the Boy Scout troop fundraiser.
Throughout the years, I’ve been known to carry a cloth napkin with me, dry my hands on my shirt in a truck stop bathroom, and only frequent fast food places that would allow me to use my own reusable cup. This was part of my personal plan to reduce consumption.
Last year, I received an aluminum travel straw for Christmas and this year one of my gifts to myself was a set of bamboo toothbrushes. If I forget my reusable bag at the store, I’m the guy that carries 13 items in my arms, rather than using a plastic bag. These little things can make a difference throughout a lifetime.
Please don’t take my words as a self-righteous declaration that I have this all figured out and have mastered the “living green” lifestyle. Nope. I am still regularly possessed by the demon of convenience, as I grab a large drink in a single-use cup and drive to work, even though I live a short nine properties away.
Please know that I also do not write this in an effort to guilt or shame you and your choices – quite the opposite. I write to celebrate the small victories that I’ve enjoyed and to challenge us as a community of faith to make intentional decisions while we step further into caring for creation and loving our neighbor.
| 1 million | Number of plastic water bottles sold worldwide each minute. |
| 50 | Percentage of plastic produced each year designed to be used only once. |
| 450 | Years it takes for a plastic bottle to completely degrade. |
This needs to change. Sasha Adkins recently wrote “Reclaiming Life In A Disposable Culture” for Sojourners magazine. Her pointed words connected many dots for me. She contends, “[the] more we normalize short-term utility as the main criterion for evaluating the things around us, the more disconnected we become from a sense of the inherent worth of creation. The more we cultivate this habit of the heart of seeing things as disposable once they no longer serve us, the less able we are to find the beauty and value in our relationships with each other, or even the intrinsic value in ourselves once we are no longer “productive” (sojo.net).
Our attention to and care for creation is a crucial connection to the value we hold for ourselves and others. It is also wrapped up in the mandate in Genesis that we are to work and care for the earth (Genesis 2:15).
As you know, Lord of Life recycles. We don't do it perfectly, but we try to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We encourage you to bring your own cup and water bottle. These are a few small steps we can make toward being intentional as a community in caring for the earth.
As we step into this new year, we’re going to explore additional ways to be good stewards of creation. If you would like to be part of the conversation, please be in touch with me. Together, we can make a difference!
Looking forward with hope,
Pastor Lowell
At the beginning of 2019, I made a New Year’s resolution to lose some weight. At the start of 2020, I weighed more than I did at any point within the last year. There were times in the past year when I had lost upwards of 25 pounds, but at some point, I packed them all back on, and then some. My New Year’s resolution was a complete failure. Why did this happen? Well, duh, it was because I ate more calories than I burned, but seriously, why was I not successful at achieving my resolution? I am nothing if not an achiever. I make daily to-do lists, weekly to-do lists, grocery shopping lists, and believe it or not, I have even made lists of which to-do list to tackle first. I should have easily been able to figure out a way to organize and achieve my way to dropping those last 30, *ahem*, 60 pounds.
Don’t think that I didn’t try. I read up on several different diets. I found out that I could eat a diet of just meat and cheese and lose weight (huzzah!). I researched all of the correct supplements I should take if I started a keto diet. I ordered keto-friendly cookbooks. I signed up for a year-long membership to Planet Fitness. I bought a new pair of “running” sneakers (ha!) for when I started to go to Planet Fitness. Over the course of 2019, I had come up with the best possible health and fitness plan that would appeal to me. And yet, I still failed. Why?
I am reminded of a quote from Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Jesus is quite literally talking about monetary treasures, but I think it can apply metaphorically to other aspects of our lives as well. I was trying to convince my mind and heart of how great losing weight could be. I figured if I could psych myself up enough about how great dieting and exercising could be, that I would be motivated to do it. I was working Jesus’ quote backward; if I could put my heart in the right place, the treasures would come. But often it does not work that way. What I needed to do was, quite literally, take the first step. I needed to just start exercising and eating better, and over time, I would have found out what I liked and needed to be successful.
Where are the places in your life where you know you need to get moving, but you keep delaying yourself worrying about the details and motivation? Rather than resolving to do something by the end of the year, just start doing it. Figure it out as you go and try to enjoy the journey, even when you take a step back. All of this can apply to our lives of faith as well, it doesn’t all have to be about our bodies. Are you thinking of wanting to deepen your faith this year? Just stop by a Bible study and check it out. Lord of Life currently has seven of them for you to check out.
It might seem a little awkward at first if you aren’t a “Bible study type of person,” but give it some time and you may see your heart begin to follow and your faith begin to grow. If it ultimately isn’t for you, don’t give up, check out another way to plug into the community at Lord of Life.
Resolving to shorten my blog posts,
Pastor Corey
Little kids want to be big. They play dress up and put on Grandpa’s shoes. Young ones attempt to ride a bigger bike. They pretend to be teachers, firefighters, doctors, and Olympians. Children stretch and stand on tiptoes, hoping to extend their reach.
This time of year, I’m always reminded – my kids are bigger. As we gather with family for holiday celebrations, many of them comment on how tall they’ve become or ask about college plans. As they try on winter clothes from last year, they don’t fit! They’ve grown. I should have noticed from the marks on our wall.
In our home, we make pencil marks on the wall separating the living room and dining room. It’s a homemade growth chart, one of the many ways to measure how we grow. Every couple of months, our kids stand tall and we mark their height.
Even big kids, like us, want to grow. We want to be smarter, stronger, and more disciplined. We strive to be more emotionally and financially stable. But it isn’t so easy to track our progress. There must be more than our bank accounts and degrees to help us calculate our maturation.
It becomes even more difficult for church congregations. All too often, we tend to chart our progress by looking at membership and budgets. It is important to have an eye on these gauges, but what if we measured our growth beyond viewing the numbers? What if we looked past attendance and the annual budget as signals of health? What if we recognized the Church as the living organism that it is, rather than only brick and mortar?
Frank Viola is quick to point out, “In the minds of the early Christians, the people – not the architecture – constituted a sacred space…nowhere in the New Testament do we find the terms church (ekklesia), temple, or house of God used to refer to a building. To the ears of a first-century Christian, calling an ekklesia (church) a building would have been like calling your wife a condominium or your mother a skyscraper… ekklesia always refers to an assembly of people, not a place.”
So when we talk about growth in the Church, we are speaking of so much more than bodies in the pews or dollars in the plate. We’re talking about the people of God. We are pointing toward the ways that the Holy Spirit helps us expand our knowledge and interaction with all of God’s creatures and creation.
As you look to the New Year, how would you like to grow and what does it look like? Maybe you hope to spend more time grounded in the pages of the Bible or wish that you could greet a little one by name. Make it happen! How often do you see someone leaving church alone, while you head to lunch with friends? Invite them to join you. What about filling an empty notebook with names of loved ones as you pray for them or serving in a new capacity once a month?
Ephesians 2 says, “You are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God…In [Christ] the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.”
How would you like to grow spiritually and how will you chart your growth? How can we encourage and support each other as we reach for a new height? When we grow in God, we grow together in Christ.
Growing with you,
Pastor Lowell
We are so grateful for the many ways you have served and participated in life and ministry at Lord of Life throughout the past year. We thank God for each of you and the numerous ways that you generously share your lives for God’s mission here, in our community, and throughout the world. Thank you also for your Christmas gifts.
As we jump into a new year of growing in faith, we pray that the Spirit of God will continue to bring us health, joy, and peace as we remain rooted in the promises of Jesus.
The Lord of Life Staff
(l to r) Pastor Lowell Michelson, Paula Drake, Pastor Corey Wagonfield, Cara Hasselbeck, John Johns, Donna Harvey, Ava Fiebig, Pastora Carmen Colon-Brown
Did you ever encourage your child to invite the whole class to their birthday party, and then worry about what to do if they all responded that they would attend? That’s how I felt after my husband Greg and I agreed to host a small group for Lord of Life’s book study of The Tech-Wise Family. When Pastor Corey asked us to host, we felt it was a great project, and so we said yes. But then the what-ifs started filling my head: What if too many people signed up? What if nobody did? What if I read the book and didn’t understand it? What if I didn’t like it? What if I had to pray out loud in front of everyone? What if I served snacks that nobody liked?
Pastor Corey was able to relieve some of my anxiety. Group size at any one location would be capped at around a dozen people. There was a terrific study guide that would help us all to walk through the discussion points each week -- with all the prayers included. I started to read the book, and it wasn’t hard to understand. I didn’t agree with everything the author proposed, but he did raise some interesting points. So, stocked with sweet and savory snacks, we welcomed eight people into our home.
What a great group we ended up with! I knew some of the folks and some faces were new. We represented many generations: from folks who grew up and raised their family before modern technology existed, to parents of teens, to parents with little ones. We had some great discussions, sharing our thoughts on the author’s ideas, and sharing our own hopes and fears for how technology would shape our lives and the lives of our children. How fascinating that a group of people gathered together at random could connect the way we did. How ironic that the little ones entertained themselves with our old-school Mattel electronic football game while we talked about technology.
As the weeks went on, we had one person drop out, and a few others miss a meeting or two, but overall the group held together and completed the study. I asked them for their thoughts on the experience, and overall, the response was positive.
“I enjoyed the conversation; great to hear other people's perspectives. The book challenged all of us.”
“A comfortable way to meet and connect with Lord of Life members that I didn’t know well. Great topic to learn from each other while having faith-based discussions.”
“We enjoyed getting to know some new people. See you around church!”
I hope you had the opportunity to participate in the book study. If you have finished the book, consider passing along the book and study guide to someone who might enjoy it. If you are interested in participating in or leading a small group study during Lent, please contact Pastor Corey (
Hopefully Tech-Wiser,
Cara Hasselbeck
image by Corey Holms on Flickr
Has anyone ever told you to “turn your problems over to God”? What exactly do they mean by that? I think when most people offer up that piece of advice, they are encouraging you to not worry or be anxious about something. I don’t know about you, but “turning it over to God,” doesn’t immediately bring me peace and calm when the storms of anxiousness are stirring. I’ve prayed for thousands of things in my lifetime that it seems like God did not answer, so why would I turn over more problems to God that I could just try to solve myself?
You might be thinking to yourself, “wow, this is a pretty cynical blog post coming from our intern pastor, what is going on”? This past week I submitted the final batch of paperwork needed to be eligible for the ELCA Assignment Process in February. What is the assignment process? Well, it is very much like the NFL draft. Some people, in high places, don’t like that analogy, but it is the best analogy that can be made, so I am going to roll with it. All of the graduating Lutheran seminarians across the United States fill out a slew of paperwork that is sent to all of the bishops of the 65 synods across the US. Those bishops get together over a couple of days in February and are given a “selection order” based on the needs of their synods and regions, the more pastors they need, the more selections they receive. Bishops begin selecting graduating seniors for their region of the country and then the applicant receives a phone call, letting them know what area of the country they will be serving. The whole process is done in conjunction with a lot of prayer, discernment, and the power of the Holy Spirit, which makes it a little different than the NFL draft.
So, by mid-February I will know the region of the country in which I will receive my first pastoral call and then in early March I should find out in which of the 65 synods I will be serving. At that point, I can begin the call process with congregations in that synod that are looking for a first call pastor. If I’m lucky, I will be able to be ordained and installed in a congregation in early summer. Some graduates, like our previous intern, Lucas, found the process can take a lot longer than that.
So why do I mention all of this? Because, I am a planner by nature, and all of this uncertainty is causing a lot of anxiety in my life and the life of my family. I could try to “work the system,” by wheeling and dealing with synodical bishops to get things to go my way, but the risk involved with that kind of politic-ing would only add more stress. In this instance, and maybe for the first time in my life, I found peace in the phrase “turn it over to God,” which is derived from Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
By releasing the stress of the unknown in my life, I have been able to enjoy this process more and have more free time to enjoy my last five months with you all at Lord of Life. There are days where I still wonder where my first call will be, but I trust that God will provide in due time. What are the things that you are tired of trying to control? What is bringing you stress and anxiety in this Advent season? Are you willing to try to “give it over to God?”