This weekend's Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians 9 includes verses that were very instrumental in me starting down the path that eventually led to me becoming a pastor. As a part of a religion project during my junior year at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, my teacher assigned each of us a section of 1 Corinthians to thoroughly study and then present to the entire class, followed by feedback from our classmates. I found myself enjoying digging into the Scriptures and presenting what I had learned, and the feedback I received was that it seemed very natural to me and easy to understand. And so I began thinking more seriously about being a pastor, wondering if I had the gifts and abilities for that and if that's what God really wanted me to do.

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? I hope your immediate answer to that question is, "Who cares?" That's a question which some say theologians and philosophers who lived in the Middle Ages used to debate. Whether or not such debates actually took place is, in and of itself, a matter of debate.

You remember the start of the story, how when Jonah heard the LORD'S call he ran the opposite direction, boarding a ship headed for Tarshish. But you can't run away from God…

All of us who are followers of Jesus have a particular calling (vocation) from Him to serve Him and others with the various gifts and abilities with which we’ve been blessed in the circles of influence in which He’s placed us.

When things happen in our daily lives that leave us perplexed, we may find ourselves praying, “Lord, would You fill in the details? What exactly are You doing here and why?”

Have you ever taken the message of Christmas for granted? Each year, we hear the wondrous account of how the Virgin gave birth to a Son and laid Him in a manger, of angels sharing the good news with shepherds who came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby lying in a manger, and of magi who followed a star which led them to where the Child was. But imagine what the world would be like if those events never happened. How would your life be different?

This weekend, our theme for worship could be "Think Pink!" The Third Sunday in Advent is when the pink candle on the Advent wreath (or, in our case, the candle with the pink ribbon under it) is lit, symbolizing rejoicing. Our reading from Luke 1 will include a wonderful song of praise by Mary the Mother of our Lord, which is called The Magnificat. But it's not only Mary who rejoices. When she comes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth rejoices at her arrival, and the baby within her leaps for joy as well.

One of the things I truly love about our congregation is the amazing spirit of genuine love and care for others expressed in so many ways. In fact, I have had anonymous letters asking that the enclosed money be distributed in various ways with the simple message: “Jesus loves you.”

This weekend, we enter a new church year with the season of Advent and begin the yearly cycle of going through the promise of our Lord’s coming, His birth, perfect life, sacrificial death, glorious resurrection, ascension, outpouring of His Spirit, and promise to come again. During our school chapel service on November 29, I shared a slide which simply said, “Happiness is re-reading a favorite book.” For us who are followers of Jesus, the Bible is our favorite book. We never grow tired of the same family stories. What is more, the Holy Spirit has a wondrous way of helping us to appreciate something new each time we hear them.

Thanksgiving Day is Thursday, November 23. As is our tradition, we will have a worship service at 9 am on Thanksgiving Day. I have some “homework” for you. Take the words “Give Thanks” and develop either acrostic verses for them or try to name something that begins with each letter.

Many Christians follow the Church Year Calendar which, beginning with Advent, goes through our family story of the promise of a Savior, His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and then focuses on Jesus' teaching and how we who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit follow Jesus as we look forward to His return as Judge of the living and the dead. We are now entering the last few weeks of the Church Year, and the emphasis is on being prepared for His return.

Last weekend, we celebrated the Reformation and emphasized that the Church has a family story that centers on the Gospel. We do not get to heaven based on the good works we do for God, but rather because of what He, in His mercy, love, and compassion has done for us in forgiving our sins for Christ's sake.

Our role in this life is to be salt and light, influencing through His love as best we can, inviting people to know Jesus and providing opportunities to grow in His love.

So how do we do that?

When things like roof or car repairs or medical bills come up, those expenses can’t be avoided. So what do we do?

The current situation in the Middle East has caused some to explain the events as fulfillment of specific passages in the Hebrew Scriptures. It seems that’s the case every time there is some war that takes place in that region of the world. But when it comes to the end times, Jesus is not so specific.

Right now, our Synod is facing a critical shortage of pastors, teachers, and other workers. Imagine what it would be like if one of our teachers left and we could not find someone to fill the position, or, when the time comes and the Lord says my work here is completed, there is no pastor available.