... march in the infantry,
ride in the cavalry,
shoot the artillery.
I may never fly o'er the enemy.
But I'm in the Lord's army!
(Yay, Bible school, especially in Burkburnett, Texas!)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Maundy Thursday/Holy Thursday at the church near sheep camp
This Sheepherder is once again humbled ... it happens a lot (humbling), yet tonight's worship was one to really remember.
First, a little background ... Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday in some parts of the huge Christian family) is the night when Christ's church remembers the new commandment Jesus gave the followers the night before He went to the cross, to pay the penalty for everyone's sin for all time. The new commandment: Love one another, even as Jesus first loved us. Totally. Completely. In humble service to each other.
Tonight's service was co-led by a dear brother in Christ,along with six young people from the 7th & 8th grade Confirmation Class, and Pastor Sheepherder presiding.
Meet the brothers and sisters in Christ who assisted in worship tonight:
First, there's Bill. He teaches Confirmation Sunday School (Old & New Testament) as well as industrial arts and coaching in our local school district. And, each Spring, he grows a beard and takes on the role of the Apostle John in our local Easter pageant.
(The Apostle's good wife, Martha, kindly puts up with that beard until after the pageant on Palm Sunday. However, the Apostle has continued showing up for worship this Holy Week, and she's gamely putting up with his beard through Easter Sunday. But, I digress.)
Tonight, as we prepared to remember the Last Supper Jesus shared with his first followers, Apostle John called us into worship with a heartfelt first-person account of what it was like to be there, and to experience those three days from Last Supper, to the betrayal of Jesus, his suffering and death,and burial. Come Easter Sunday, Apostle John will be back for a visit with our Sunday School and Adult Bible Class, to share more of the Easter story and to engage the scholars, young and old, in a little Question and Answer time.
Now, meet the confirmands: Tonight's worship assistants included Abbe and Brittnee, our 8th graders, along with 7th graders Andy, Destiney, Jaci and Tyler. (7th Grader Jordan couldn't be with us tonight. )In addition to lighting the candles, helping with the offering and assisting at communion, these young people read the Bible lessons, led the congregation in the prayers, and helped strip the altar and sanctuary of its furnishings in preparation for Good Friday.
These kids know Jesus, know how to have a good time (you ought to be at confirmation with them some Wednesday night!), and respond with all their growing hearts and souls when it's time to get serious.
Tonight was such a night of awe and wonder: Oh, my, how God the Holy Spirit is melting, molding, filling and using lambs of all ages, all vital parts of the body of Christ.
The Apostle John, known also as Mr. Ford, Coach, or just Bill, grew up in this congregation. He went through the same faith formation that he now leads with our confirmation classes on Sundays and with all whom he encounters week in and week out. He's truly a shepherd, because he knows he's a sheep in the flock of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Pastor Sheepherder here has known most of these 7th and 8th graders since they were 6 years old. Along with co-sheepherders (confirmation guides Betty and Farrel), Pastor Sheepherder gets a blessed two years of concentrated time with them during the 7th and 8th grade confirmation program. What a joy to see them take their place in the Good Shepherd's flock. They are learning to know, believe and trust Jesus. They are growing into the body of Christ in ways that will shape them for a lifetime of faithful witness and service.
Our faith community - choir, ushers and greeters, communion servers, and all the praying, worshipping people of Hope, and the aforementioned worship leaders -- all got a glimpse tonight of God's amazing grace at work.
- We had the foretaste of the feast to come, when we received Jesus' body and blood, in with and under the bread and wine or grape juice, and heard the words: Given for you, shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.
- We glimpsed the once and future church: The communion of saints, stretching back to all who awaited Jesus in faith,into the future among all who will believe and receive Jesus, across time and across boundaries of land and sea, language and culture.
- Tonight reminded how the Lord can take our fears and turn them into joy beyond our imagining. That's what happened during the three days leading up to Easter, the raising of Jesus from the tomb. In that striking act of love, his crucifixion, Jesus put sin, death and the devil in their places. It was Good News then and it's Good News now, good for teenagers and those who shepherd them. It seems that kids take a bad rap these days. And, how often have you heard someone say how hard those jr. high school years are? Yes, they are hard - and they are hard for kids going through those times of change from childhood to young adulthood. Pastor Sheepherder confesses that teaching jr. high confirmation was one of her greatest fears going into ordained ministry. It's turned out to be one of her greatest joys, this privilege of shepherding young people through this spiritual rite of passage.
Past, present and future came together on that Maundy Thursday, the night when Jesus was betrayed and began his last legs of the redemption story.
Past, present and future came together again tonight, reminding us once again that memory of what Christ has done for us gives hope for the future, and hope in the future gives power in the present.
Who could ask for more?
Not me.
In Christ,
Pastor Sheepherder
PS -- Watch for the messages from this service -- especially the Apostle John's -- on our website in the future. Drop in to www.mychurch-hope.com , pull down the menu to find sermons, and check it out some time soon.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
As One Flock ...
There's something about baby animals, lambs in particular, that attracts the attention of young and old alike. Even before the first lamb of the season is born, parents are asking when they can take the kids out to our ranch to see the baby lambs following their mothers and, as they grow, frolicking with their age-mates as baby lambs do.
Once they get to be a few weeks old, those lambs begin to act like a little flock of their own. They band together and move as one, sometimes on a flat-out run, othertimes just bouncing on little legs that seem to be spring-loaded. Think of the times when you've seen a flock of geese or other birds moving in unison, changing directions as though on a cue only they can sense, hundreds soaring as one through the sky. That's how the lambs are flocking and frolicking: they are many, yet they are moving as one. It's a beautiful, amazing thing to watch.
Meanwhile, back at the church ...
Pastor Sheepherder recalled something very-flock-like that had happened during her first month at Hope. (Back then she was called Vicar, during the year of internship prior to her ordination to the pastoral office.) Vicar Sheepherder was teaching the Sunday School's junior high class about what it meant to confess belief "...in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth ...." First Article, The Apostles Creed.
After a brief discussion, she sent the class to put on their coats and go outside, to wander and to reflect, silently and individually,on the creation that surrounded them, the Creator who made it all, and their place in it as creatures, young men and women created in the image of God. The Sunday School officers, ushers and greeters were advised not to worry:The young people were indeed supposed to be out and about the church yard on Sunday School assignment.
Then, Vicar Sheepherder settled in to observe the youngsters.
Well, their silent, individual meditation lasted for all of a minute or two. The youngsters soon started flocking together. They made their way as one to the adjacent cemetery, and, as one, moved through the headstones and plots. Here and there the flock would stop, as one. Each youngster who had a relative buried there would introduce the others to the memory of this grandmother, that uncle, or even siblings. They frolicked as one from grave to grave -- no fear of death, only delight in being one with each other and the saints who had gone before them.
And, oh, the prayers of thanksgiving for God's creation that came forth from them as we reassembled to end the class hour.
How amazing, how beautiful, when the Good Shepherd's flock moves as Jesus Christ, prayed we would be:
"Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one" ... "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:11, 17-23)
St. Paul echoes the Good Shepherd's intent that the holy flock, the holy commuity of Christ, would be one:
I[Paul], therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.(Ephesians 4:1-6)
Thanks be to God -- The Creator, The Christ our Savior and Good Shepherd, and the Holy Spirit, who calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies and keeps us together in the one flock. Thanks be to Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- together, one God.
Once they get to be a few weeks old, those lambs begin to act like a little flock of their own. They band together and move as one, sometimes on a flat-out run, othertimes just bouncing on little legs that seem to be spring-loaded. Think of the times when you've seen a flock of geese or other birds moving in unison, changing directions as though on a cue only they can sense, hundreds soaring as one through the sky. That's how the lambs are flocking and frolicking: they are many, yet they are moving as one. It's a beautiful, amazing thing to watch.
Meanwhile, back at the church ...
Pastor Sheepherder recalled something very-flock-like that had happened during her first month at Hope. (Back then she was called Vicar, during the year of internship prior to her ordination to the pastoral office.) Vicar Sheepherder was teaching the Sunday School's junior high class about what it meant to confess belief "...in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth ...." First Article, The Apostles Creed.
After a brief discussion, she sent the class to put on their coats and go outside, to wander and to reflect, silently and individually,on the creation that surrounded them, the Creator who made it all, and their place in it as creatures, young men and women created in the image of God. The Sunday School officers, ushers and greeters were advised not to worry:The young people were indeed supposed to be out and about the church yard on Sunday School assignment.
Then, Vicar Sheepherder settled in to observe the youngsters.
Well, their silent, individual meditation lasted for all of a minute or two. The youngsters soon started flocking together. They made their way as one to the adjacent cemetery, and, as one, moved through the headstones and plots. Here and there the flock would stop, as one. Each youngster who had a relative buried there would introduce the others to the memory of this grandmother, that uncle, or even siblings. They frolicked as one from grave to grave -- no fear of death, only delight in being one with each other and the saints who had gone before them.
And, oh, the prayers of thanksgiving for God's creation that came forth from them as we reassembled to end the class hour.
How amazing, how beautiful, when the Good Shepherd's flock moves as Jesus Christ, prayed we would be:
"Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one" ... "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:11, 17-23)
St. Paul echoes the Good Shepherd's intent that the holy flock, the holy commuity of Christ, would be one:
I[Paul], therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.(Ephesians 4:1-6)
Thanks be to God -- The Creator, The Christ our Savior and Good Shepherd, and the Holy Spirit, who calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies and keeps us together in the one flock. Thanks be to Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- together, one God.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Invitation
Good readers ...
All are welcome to drop in at this blog ... However, I just discovered that to actually write into this blog, you need to be on the guest author list -- and the system limits the number of people who can be on the list. So, if you're interested in writing into this blog, then drop me a line at my e-mail address, hopepastor@rcom-ne.com. Include your name, e-mail address and location, a little information about who you are and what attracts you to this blog, and anything else you think it would be helpful for me to know.
Pr. Sheepherder
All are welcome to drop in at this blog ... However, I just discovered that to actually write into this blog, you need to be on the guest author list -- and the system limits the number of people who can be on the list. So, if you're interested in writing into this blog, then drop me a line at my e-mail address, hopepastor@rcom-ne.com. Include your name, e-mail address and location, a little information about who you are and what attracts you to this blog, and anything else you think it would be helpful for me to know.
Pr. Sheepherder
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Welcome to Pastor Sheepherder's sheep camp ...
| Welcome to Pastor Sheepherder's sheep camp ... a place to drop in for conversation about our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Your host is Pastor Sheepherder:
We're in the middle of lambing (arrival of baby lambs) at the ranch right now. We're not quite half-way through the lambing season. We're grateful for good weather so far, and for an adequate barn that shelters the flock as it waits to give birth. We're having a baby-boom in the congregation I serve. We've had 10 babies born since late last summer, 8 of them baptized so far and two more scheduled to receive this Sacrament in the coming weeks. In addition, three young boys and a sixth grade girl are being prepared for baptism at this time; their parents are preparing to join the congregation by affirmation of the faith into which they were baptized earlier in life. Back to lambing for a minute ... When we have an orphan lamb, we will graft it to another new mother ewe who has lost her lamb. (This beats raising the orphan on a bottle!) We do this by removing the hide from the dead lamb, covering the orphan with the hide, and introducing the lamb to its new mom. The mother smells her own lamb on the hide and usually will accept the oprhan as her own with little or no problems. This intersection of lambing time and the baby & baptismal boom at church reminds me of Galatians 3:26-28 (Contemporary English Version): 26All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. 27And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes. 28Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman. A lamb covered with the bloody hide, being adopted, may seem like a stark contrast to the baptismal candidate being brought to the font, often dressed in the purest of white. Yet there is a reminder of the blood of Christ, shed for us and for our salvation on the cross, the blood that washes us pure and white, freeing us from sin's power, making us righteous in God's sight. And as for adoption, we wrap our newly baptized brothers and sisters in quilts mae for them by the women of our church ... "Holy Comforters" to remind them of the Holy Spirit's presence in their lives and their adoption as children of God, heirs of and in God's reign, and co-workers with us in the holy service of God and neighbors. Anyway, those are some opening thoughts. Drop into the sheep camp, imagine yourself being greeted with an outstretched hand (maybe a bit dirty from chores) and a warm welcome in the name of our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. If I could figure a way to do it online, I'd also offer you a cup of strong, hot sheepherder's coffee (or a cup of cold water or hot cocoa or, even tea!) You're always welcome ... Pastor Sheepherder
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