June 11, 2024
Dear Friends,
First thing — come along this Wednesday for pizza out back of church at 5:30 pm before the evening service at 7 pm! Although we don’t have Family Night during the summer, let’s enjoy some time together over a meal! Bring a friend, invite your neighbors, and all the kiddos can horse around on the playground and in the ball field. This is a great way to introduce new folks to the fellowship of the church! If you think of it, shoot me a quick note to let me know you’re coming and we’ll make sure there’s plenty of food!
Second thing — we’ll host another softball game after Bible Study on Sunday, June 23 @ 12pm! Come along for a hot dog and the game! The folks from St. John Kimball are invited again, and the game will be with a 16″ mush ball, so no mitts are required and all can play. Cheerleaders and base coaches are also welcome!
Then, a couple weeks ago I shared this advice with you from “An Explanation of the Common Service“:
I’m thinking about ways that I can make this more accessible for all of you, but, in the meantime, just consider with me for a moment how everything holds together for this coming Sunday.
The Gospel lesson is from Luke 15 — three parables that Jesus tells about three lost things: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son (the prodigal son). There’s endless depth to those parables, but one of the more prominent themes is joy at the restoration of what was lost. When the prodigal son returns home, his father is ecstatic. He delights in forgiveness because it mends what has been broken and raises what is dead. That’s where we’ll be going this Sunday, and you can see how the other Propers for the day fit into that theme:
The Old Testament lesson is from Micah 7 — “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression. . .”, and the Epistle is from 1 Peter 5 — “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that the proper time he may exalt you. . .”
The Introit begins and ends with vss. 16 & 18 of Psalm 25: “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.”
And the Collect goes like this: “O God, the protector of all who trust in You, without whom nothing is strong and nothing is holy, multiply Your mercy on us that, with You as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
God is a multiplier of mercy. What a beautiful picture. Where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more. Where the sinner is brought low by his guilt and misery, there God reaches further down to raise him up. God is glorified in showing mercy, in forgiving sins, in welcoming home his beloved sons who have strayed.
That’s the theme for this Sunday — forgiveness, which is God’s great glory.
See you then!
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Wednesday, June 12
9:30 am – Chapel
10:00 am – Bible Study
5:30 pm – Pizza dinner
7:00 pm – Vespers
Sunday, June 16
9:00 am – Divine Service
10:30 am – Bible Study
Wednesday, June 19
9:30 am – Chapel
10:00 am – Bible Study
7:00 pm – Vespers
Sunday, June 23
9:00 am – Divine Service
10:30 am – Bible Study
12:00 pm – Softball!