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- 4th Annual Pool Party and Food Challenge at the Fergus residence - next Sunday, July 25 at 3:00 pm. There are sign up sheets in the fellowship hall as we are all encouraged to bring (and enter) a dish in one of 3 categories: grilled, side dish or dessert. If you forgot to sign up call the office (638-4673) and we'll write you in.
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- Starting next week between our worship services, Pastor Paul will offer an orientation to How Lutherans Speak. This is especially for those who desire to join our Lord of Life community, but anyone interested is welcome.
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- Men's Breakfast next Saturday at 8:00 am.
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Commemorations this week: |
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Thursday Mary Magdalene, Apostle
Sometimes called "the apostle to the apostles" because she told them of her encounter with the risen Lord, Mary was a woman of Galilee who followed Jesus throughout his ministry. She was present at Jesus' crucifixion and his burial.
Friday Birgitta of Sweden, renewer of the church, died 1373
Birgitta married at age thirteen and had four daughters. Widowed at age thirty-eight, she gave all that she owned to the poor, and founded a community of monks and nuns led by a woman. Her work is continued today by the Society of St. Birgitta.
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Priorities and Distractions
Is multitasking a virtue or a vice? Our society is of two minds on this subject. On the one hand, we reward people who are able to juggle a multitude of tasks. Many top business professionals and politicians are celebrated and rewarded because they work long hours and seldom sleep.
On the other hand, we say we value focus, and we shame at least some people who try to multitask. Texting or talking on the phone while driving is increasingly frowned upon because it is, studies show, unsafe. We want our professionals mindful, attentive, and in the moment. In a culture of high anxiety, calmness is a virtue.
In a culture like this, it is no wonder that a devotional book with the title Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World can become a best-seller. It is a deep yearning, commonly shared, to perform and host like Martha, all the while living with a calm and centered Mary heart. |
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Jesus, however, makes it clear that the issue is whether we have been distracted by many things, or whether we have prioritized the one thing needful. It is a difficult but freeing word that Jesus speaks. In order to choose the better part, we need to let go of the many things that distract. The lesson is simple in principle but so difficult in application. What is the one thing Mary chooses over the many distractions? Like the psalmist, whose singular prayer is to sit at the feet of God in the house of the LORD, she sits at Jesus' feet and listens to him. She "behold[s] the beauty of the LORD" (Ps. 27:4). There is a word for this: Adoration. There may be one more: Attention. |
From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2010 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.
Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #20677. |
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"Liturgy is not a book, or a prescribed and legalistic set of rules. It is a pattern of God's own action. It is what happens when God's people gather." Robert Schaefer, Executive for Worship, ELCA
It's not that our liturgy is dead! It is beautiful and rich - filled with relevance and meaning. But do we mean what we say when we proclaim, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God's people on earth"? Are we truly penitent when we plead, "Lord, have mercy"? And are we genuinely mindful of our brothers and sisters of different cultures, and different generations, who might be lifted and inspired in worship, too, if we will but pay attention and offer real opportunities for diversity to be expressed and celebrated?... So what would happen if we really embraced and fully lived out what we have claimed to be true? That is, that:
Jesus Christ is the living and abiding Word of God. By the power of the Spirit, this very Word of God, which is Jesus Christ, is read in the Scriptures, proclaimed in preaching, announced in the forgiveness of sins, eaten and drunk in the Holy Communion, and encountered in the bodily presence of the Christian community. By the power of the Spirit active in Holy Baptism, this Word washes a people to be Christ's own Body in the world. We have called this gift of Word and Sacrament by the name "the means of grace." [Principle 1 of The Use of the Means of Grace, ELCA] Rev. Nancy Christensen, Southeastern Synod Director for Evangelical Mission
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Dear Jesus, help us to remember that you are the most important thing in our lives. Don't let us get so busy with other things that we forget to spend time with you. Amen |
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| Audio sermons: |
- Please be patient after you click- these are LARGE audio files and will take time to transfer before playing.
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6.8 MB |
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"Stay behind the blood of the Lamb" |
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3.7 MB |
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"A Lenten Meditation on the
Transformation of the Christian from
Mount Tabor to Mount Calvary." |
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14.7 MB |
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14.7 MB |
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"How might we see Jesus - on our
Emmaus roads?" |
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"Thy kingdom come"
Lessons: Jeremiah 11:18-20;
Psalm 54;
James 3:13-18; 4:1-8; Mark 9:30-37 |
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10.9 MB |
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Prayers of Intercession for Sunday March 7 |
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Gathered by the Spirit, let us return to the Lord our God and pray for the church, the world, and all who yearn for new life.
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Merciful God, you call your church to be a witness to your steadfast love. You expect that our witness will be a bearing of fruit acceptable to you. Grant that the work of Lord of Life Lutheran may be faithful and fruitful and that each person here worshiping you may find in the seed of their faith the fruit of their labor for your glory, alone. Lord, in your mercy, |
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hear our prayer. |
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Just God, your ways are beyond our understanding. Keep us mindful our knowledge is always incomplete and our faith is always insufficient and therefore, keep us in the humility that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Give us a compassion that extends beyond those we know but a compassion that even embraces our enemies. Lord, in your mercy, |
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hear our prayer. |
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Faithful God, hear the cries of the sick and dying, the hungry and homeless, the lost and forgotten, and the victims of natural disaster. Bring healing and hope, food and shelter, love and compassion to all in need. We especially remember those names that rest in our hearts and on our lips. Lord, in your mercy, |
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hear our prayer. |
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Loving God, teach us to seek your will in all things. Give us a devotion to study your word. In our Lenten journey, deepen our faith and give us strength to follow wherever you lead us so that we might bear the fruit of our prayer, “Thy will be done.” Lord, in your mercy, |
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hear our prayer. |
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Eternal God, we give you thanks for all the faithful departed who now rest in you. We remember this week martyrs Perpetua and Felicity and their martyred companions, renewers of society Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, and Bishop of Rome, Gregory the Great. Grant that we might follow their example in how we live and the fruit we bear of faithful witness.
Lord, in your mercy, |
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hear our prayer. |
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Almighty God, you have commanded us to pray, and you promise to hear us. Hear the prayers of your people and grant us all that we need, for the sake of the one in whose name we pray, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. |
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Amen. |
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Forward to five friends! |
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