But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,   and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave,   just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 Dear Friends, As I am writing this, we are a couple of days int

“God, who is rich in mercy and love, gives us a new birth into a living hope through the sacrament of baptism. By water and the Word God delivers us from sin and death and raises us to new life in Jesus Christ.” [Beginning of the Rite of Baptism in the Lutheran hymnal.] Dear Friends, Last Sunday (Easter Sunday), we had four baptisms and I said the above words as part of the baptismal rite in the service. It was a day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. It was a day cele

I love to tell the story. ‘Twill be my theme in glory. To tell the old, old story… of Jesus and His love. [Chorus from I Love to Tell the Story  by Katherine Hankey] Dear Friends,   When Laura and I started dating, she introduced me to a really new concept: watching movies over and over!  My whole life prior to that, I don’t think I had ever read a book that I’d read before or watched a movie or play that I had seen before. In my mind, since I knew how the story turned out, t

“Hosanna to the Son of David!   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Matthew 21:9 Dear Friends, This last weekend, I was at the Alberta and the Territories Synod Council Retreat. I attended as the clergy representative of the South West Area (Calgary). At that retreat, the Rev. Dr. Deborah Ann Taylor did an educational presentation on Christian Nationalism . In case you haven’t heard of Christian Nationalism, this is a polit

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 Dear Friends, A couple of years ago at our Annual General Meeting, we did a Values Card exercise to begin to identify the Core Values of First Lutheran Church. The assumption is that God has brought this congregation together and that it is animated by a particular manifestation of God’s Holy Spirit here. The Values Card exercise was an

Dear Friends, The following will not be my normal weekly update. My wife, Laura, shared this post from an American priest with me this morning and I find that it names a lot of the emotion and even personal conflict and challenges that I have as your pastor during these trying times. The priest, Bob Mooney, is in the United States and so his context is from the viewpoint of an American citizen. I think the disparity he names between the core of Jesus’ teaching about love and

Dear Friends, I have an older brother and a younger sister. My brother is only 2 years older than I am so we tended to have a lot of “interactions” growing up. Occasionally, one or the other of us would do something that upset or irritated the other one. It might start with a word or a poke or some other perceived injustice. In order to “restore justice,” the “injured” party would do some kind of in-kind or “appropriate” retaliation: a word, a poke, a shove… Of course, the ot

St. Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God— what is good and acceptable and perfect…” Romans 12:2 Dear Friends, If you have been around the church for a while, you have probably heard of some congregations closing. If we’re honest, the membership of the Lutheran Church in Canada has been declining for a few decades. There are lots of explanations for this: changing demo

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 Dear Friends, Today is Ash Wednesday. It is the beginning of Lent and is called “Ash Wednesday” because the tradition and practice of the church is to have our baptismal cross traced on our foreheads with ashes. The words that accompany this ritual are, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” As such,

“So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” Deuteronomy 10:12 Dear Friends, This Sunday is our last Sunday of “worshiping in the catacombs.” We have been reminded of the promises of God represented in those 3 rd Century drawings of the early Christians: ·         The Baptism of Jesus – When we are baptized into the d

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:25 Dear Friends, On Sunday, I told the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and about how God delivered them from the fiery furnace. It is a story that urges us to stand firm in our faith and to stay focused on worshiping and serving God alone. One of the questions that I raised in my reflection is, Do

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 Dear Friends, Last Sunday, I reflected on how Psalm 23 was a “good friend” to my father as he spent his last few days here on earth. I also shared a few of the Scriptures that are my friends  and are ready to ground me or comfort me at any time. For this week’s email update, I thought I’d go ahead and share some of my other Scripture friends

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.   Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.   And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.Colossians 3:12-14 Dear Friends, If you were at worship on Sunday (in person or online), you got to watch me try to deliver a

[ God said to Noah] “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,  I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”  Genesis 9:13-15 Dear Friends,   Sometime in the past few years, I heard about the distinction between soft power  and hard

This congregation confesses the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God, through which God still speaks, and as the only source of the Church's doctrine and the authoritative standard for the faith and life of the Church. [Article II, Section 3 of the FLC Constitution] Dear Friends, We live in a world full of information. It’s not just newspapers and the evening news anymore. It’s 24-7 streaming news, podcasts, internet, AI, social media (Instagra

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,   “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”   This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ” Matthew 3:1-3 Dear Friends, Back when I was living in Texas, I looked forward to my annual snow skiing trip… and it was a lot more than a two-hour drive down the road! Weeks

Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. Matthew 1:19 Dear Friends, Last Sunday, we had our Christmas Play, Who Will Save Us?  For those of you who were able to watch it, you saw how many of the elements of the nativity story we have in Matthew echo or parallel the nativity story of Moses. Though we had wise men, you may have noticed that there were no shepherds or no “room at the inn” (even thou

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator   shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.  Isaiah 58:8-9 Dear Friends, When I was in university in Houston, I was introduced to snow skiing. One year, I decided to put together a trip with some other young folks from our church to drive to Colo

Then [the king] will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ Matthew 25:45 Dear Friends, Each week during our staff meeting, I read the upcoming Sunday’s scripture. So last week we read Jesus’ parable about the Sheep and the Goats from Matthew 25… we were all convicted by it. Isn’t it the case that there is always more that we can do for those in need? It is easy to go on a guilt or shame trip but I don