Living Advent: Happy New Year!

Living Advent: Happy New Year!

This Sunday, November 27^th is the first day of Advent.   The question that I have for you is:  How might our world be different if we lived in sacred rhythm of the Advent Season? How might we avoid getting swept into holiday frenzy? How might our eagerness for instant gratification change if we practiced living Advent every day?

Could living in the sacred rhythm of the Advent season change our lives, our church – and the world – for the good?

Using this daily “Living Advent Calendar” is designed to help us be in right relationship with ourselves, with family and friends and neighbors, with creation, and most importantly with God.   If you didn’t get a copy of it last Sunday at church, you can download it from our church website here:   Living Advent Calendar

You can choose to use this calendar on your own, but perhaps you will have a richer experience if you “live it” with your family, friends, and/or church community.  Perhaps you could find a partner or group of people with whom to discuss and reflect on the daily invitations.  Perhaps you could meet once a week with your partner or group and talk about your experiences as well as pray for one another.  Instead of Sunday morning adult education classes, find someone during the “coffee time” to ask, “What daily practice was hard for you this week?”  Or, “what practice did you like the most?”  Or, “which practice refreshed or challenged you?”

As a church there is no greater time to bear witness to our culture about the peace and joy that Jesus gives us than in the midst of the hustle and business of the Christmas season.  Let’s join together and practice Advent. 

MSCF #8- Stand By Me

Liturgically speaking, this is a really cool couple of weeks of the Christian year.   The reason is because they are the last 2 weeks of the Christian year.  (The first day of Advent, Sunday, November 27^th begins the new Christian year.)  And in church in these couple of weeks we get to talk what we don’t often talk about:  the end times.

But the reason I like these last 2 weeks of the year is because that even when the Bible is talking about the end of the world, the message of the gospel is pretty simple:  Those who follow Christ don’t have to worry.  I don’t mean this in a “left behind” sort of way, as in we to celebrate our escape while everybody else gets punished.   Rather, I mean this in the I-am-a-huge-worrier sort of way.  Will my family be ok?  Will God judge me worthy of heaven?   But in the midst of the worry the simple and powerful message of the gospel comes in:  just be faithful.  In other words, just trust the one who keeps his promises and keep doing the work that He calls us into no matter what day it is. 

The interesting about this whole thing is that as I was turning on my computer to write this blog entry, the song “Stand by Me” came on in Starbucks and I heard the words:   

“If the sky that we look upon


Should tumble and fall

And the mountains should crumble to the sea


I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear


Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”

The writer of this song, Ben E. King, must know his Bible and that great promise Jesus gives us in it:

Matthew 28:20:  “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Making Sense of the Christian Faith #7- The Body of Christ

Why go to church?  This is a big conversation that is being had in our culture today and quite frankly, the (national and local) statistics say, less and less people are choosing to be a part of a local church.

I have to be honest and say that it is a scary conversation for me as a pastor because…well… it is my livelihood.  Maybe more than that it is a question that tugs (and sometimes flat out yanks) at my insecurities:  Is the church relevant to people anymore?  

I don’t mean to start a debate and because I am writing a blog (not a book) I don’t want to go too far into what is a very complex issue.   I also believe that the constant challenge of every church should be this question:   How do we remain faithful to the gospel and connect with people in the culture?  But there is a wonderful image that Lose gives in the book that captures beautifully the reason why we should go to church.  The image is breathing.

“The Holy Spirit” says Lose, “breathes us in so that we can be called and commissioned and breathes us back out into the world to make a difference.  Breathed in, breathed out.”  At church as we worship, as we hear the word of God and we celebrate His sacraments:  we are breathed in by God and we breathe in the Holy Spirit.  And in the process we are brought back to that simple gospel truth that we are beloved children of God, that in Christ we have forgiveness and we are made new so that we can be fully alive.  And then we are breathed out, so that we can go out and experience life the way it was meant to be lived, a life of service to our neighbor, a life of joy. 

And breathing is a rhythm.  It is not too long before we breathe in that we need to breathe out.  It is not too long before we breathe out that we need to breathe back in.  No, it is not to long at all.   In fact, according to God, it is about every 7 days…  

Chapter #6- You have beautiful feet...

In Making Sense of the Christian Faith Chapter 6 we are looking at the concept of “atonement.”  In other words the question: “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?”  It is the question that has been with Christianity ever since the beginning and it was a controversy even before Paul penned these words when writing his 1st letter to the Corinthians:  but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:23)” 

For many this question is a non-starter to faith.  It is just too much to believe that God would become flesh and then (to add to the scandal of it all) die on a cross.  And yet, it is at the center of what we believe.  We can’t get away from it no matter how many diamonds we put on the crosses that we hang around our necks.  Each of the gospel stories has the death and resurrection as its central event. 

So the questions become:  Does it make sense to you?  Does it make enough sense to you to understand why it needed to happen?  And… here’s the real question… does it make enough sense to you to be able to try and explain it to your children, your neighbors, your (fill in the blank).  If not, read Chapter 6.

I say this because lately I have been looking at the big picture of faith in our culture.  Sadly, less and less people know the Christian story these days.  A simple reason for this is that less and less people are telling it.  One of the reasons for this is because it is a hard story to tell.  It takes work.  And there is a risk, not everybody is going to believe it.  Some might even scoff at us when we tell it.  But, and here is the thing, for some it is going to be liberating, life-saving and the best story they have ever heard.  This is why it has come to be known as “the gospel” which means “good news.” 

Let’s not forget that it is a really beautiful story to know.  It gives life.  It tells the story of how much God loves us.  It helps people to make sense of life.  Let’s not forget that it is a story that is meant to be told even if it feels a bit risky or hard to tell.  Let’s not forget we have beautiful feet.

Romans 10:15:  “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”       

You are a Theologian... I am serious.

Thinking theologically about the Incarnation…

Have I already lost you?  Are you eyes already starting to glaze over?   Are the words theological and incarnation more potent than the average over-the-counter sleeping pill? 

We have been talking theology now for several weeks and, I have discovered that when it comes to theological concepts like the Incarnation, many people say things like, “I believe that in Jesus, God became human so why do I need to think any more about it?” 

The answer is because these questions are still being asked, maybe not by us but by many others.  Not just by Muslims and Jewish people who want to understand that Jesus was a great teacher but not divine, but also by, for example, many young people within the Christian church who have never learned about this concept because the older people have stopped passing it along. 

So my encouragement as we cross the halfway point of reading this book is: keep reading.   Keep reading not just for you but also for those around you.  More than likely, there are people around you  who might have questions about God that you can help answer.  In fact, you might just be the theologian that God has put in their life to talk about the Incarnation.  Or maybe I should say it this way, you might be the person that God has put in their life to tell that beautiful story about a God who loves us so much that he is willing to come to us, in all our messiness, in all our chaos,  and remind us how much He loves us.   

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments…  when is the last time you really thought about them?  Not about whether or not they should be featured in front of a court house somewhere but their actual content? 

For me, they are just one of those things that I assume in my life.  I assume they are there, I assume that they all make sense in their own way and… I assume that I know them. 

But I am glad that I have gotten the chance to think about them again.  The perspective that has helped is the way David Lose describes them as a gift that a parent gives a child in order to help them live life.  Maybe it is because now I am a parent and I am one of the officially designated law givers in my house.  Maybe because my oldest is really smart and lets me know when he disagrees or sees flaws with one of the laws that I lay down.  Maybe because I picture a future in which my kids challenge and even rebel against my laws just for the sake of rebelling.

I am ready with my defense.  “These rules I have given you not because I want to oppress you, not because I want to make you feel ashamed when you can’t live up to them, but because if we are able to follow them, life in the family will be better.  Peace will abound.  We will learn how to look out for each other, respect each other, and be the family God calls us to be for the world.” 

O man, I know that there will be conversations in which that defense will sound so thin.  I picture my kids as teenagers as they roll their eyes when they hear dad repeat it yet again like he is some kind of broken record.   I see it happening because I remember doing it to my parents.  But I know that I have got to hold my line.  Because I really do love my family and I want the best for them and I have come to realize that while giving and reinforcing rules is usually a pretty thankless job it is one of the best ways to show your kids how much you love them.         

Of God Talk and Figgy Pudding

For those reading Making Sense of the Christian Faith and are somewhere around the 1st chapter,

Thanks for participating in the conversation!  Here are 2 reasons that I am glad we are engaging in this conversation:   1.) figgy Pudding and  2.) the next generation.

First, figgy pudding.  Let me explain.  My professor David Lose (author of the book) tells a story that he thought was analogous to the place that many people are these day when it comes to many parts of our faith.  He was out Christmas caroling and came to the last song they were to sing.  “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” they sang.   You know the verse right?  You might even be singing it in your head right now.  You know the second verse too, right?  “So bring us some figgy pudding…so bring us some figgy pudding.”  As Dr. Lose was singing it he suddenly realized…. He had no idea what figgy pudding was.  There he was claiming it, belting it out and not knowing what it meant.  Isn’t that the way we are with parts of the Bible and parts of the Christian Faith?  We claim it is ours, maybe we even sing about it!  But do we really as much about it as we should?  I mean what really is the book of Hezekiah all about?  (There isn’t really a book of Hezekiah in the Bible)  So maybe we should be more engaged in the Biblical story and more engaged in the faith.   By the way, here is a picture of some figgy pudding…

And you thought it looked like Jello pudding… didn’t you?  I did.

Second,  We really do need to learn how to pass down our faith.  The Bible commands us too.  But do we really need to be commanded to pass down something that we cherish to the people who we love so much?  The trick is learning how to do it.  And learning how do it means learning it, then learning how to listen to the people who we want to pass it down to, and then learning how to talk about it with them. No easy process but well worth the effort.

So thank you for reading and may this reading engage us and challenge us to learn, grow, and share... and perhaps try out some figgy pudding the next time you get the chance.  

Making Sense of the Christian Faith- An Invitation

Hello to all!  I know it has been a while since I last wrote in my blog!  The reason I write today is because we are starting a new emphasis at Ascension.  Together, many of us will be reading and discussing David Lose's book:  Making Sense of the Christian Faith.  It is a book about the basics of Christian theology.

The reason I recommend this book is not necessarily because I think that everybody need to "brush up on the basics"  (though some of us do and that's o.k.!) but because there are a whole lot of people in our world, in our neighborhood, perhaps even in the same room who have questions about what we believe and why we believe it.  We should probably have a response for them- a response that might even help them make sense of this world and of life in general.

This is why Making Sense of the Christian Faith is such a great book.  It is a written in a simple question and answer style and it has great content.

So I invite you to join us.  Get the book and be a part of a small group (there are books, small group leader guides and discussion starter dvd's available in the church office) or come join us on Sunday mornings at Ascension.  We will meet in Founders Hall at 9:30.  I am also trying to put together a group of people at 11am as well.

I will also be sending out a blog about this once a week.  Please feel free to unsubscribe to this blog if you don't plan to be a part of this conversation.  You will not offend me at all and I would hate to thing that I am sending you emails that you would rather not read.

If you have any other questions please let me know by emailing me at pastortim@alcto.org.

Here is a short video Aidan and I made in preparation for the class:  

Around the Table

Seems a fitting end to our Thanks Giving Study and to Give Thanks Give Hope.  My wife has always been a better writer than I... or is it me...  anyway... 

As I write this, I’m at our dining room table, the fire flickering, the children playing a board game, and my tea mug almost empty.  Tim has just left the table, but what a joy to sit this morning as we both lingered, talking, giving thanks on this Thanksgiving morn.

As the table is central to the Thanksgiving feast, the table has been a central place for us during Gifts of Hope.  We sat one evening with Bishop Andrea DeGroot, Dr. Ed Maliski, and a table full of others.  We all talked about malaria.  The energy and the ideas and the means to truly save hundreds – thousands – of lives was coming out of this conversation.  All of the sudden I had this sense that I was on the sidelines, gazing at this lively table of possibility, and my eyes swelled with tears.  I knew the Spirit was there.

A week later, we sat with Pastor Benyam Kassahun at the table where I now type.  A small group of six of us broke bread together and prayed and talked and dreamed about an Africa where children weren’t dying each minute from preventable and treatable diseases.

The table is a powerful place.  This Thanksgiving weekend, we pray that you feel the power of Spirit upon you.  We pray that you are blessed with good conversation and good food.  We pray that you say a word of prayer for those who have no feast today.  And we pray that the many table-conversations surrounding Gifts of Hope will bear much fruit.

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest,

and let these gift to us be blessed.

Blessed by God, who is our Bread;

may all the world be clothed and fed.

Chamie

By the way there is still plenty of time to take part in the Gifts of Hope campaign.  You can pick up order forms at Ascension and turn them in (through December) at the church office or at church on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings.  God's abundant blessings to you. 

Pastor Tim

Is there a Malariaologist in the House?

A malariologist? Is there really such a thing? Yes indeed there is. His name is Ed Maliski and he is coming to speak here at Ascension on Sunday (11/21) in the Library at 9:30 and 11am. He has a wonderful, Christian perspective on how it really is possible to contain malaria.



Be sure to ask him what this is.

 Come hear him speak, bring your questions and your imagination. Come also, and check our gifts of hope fair. It is the last chance to be a part of and there are a lot of great products for great causes.

Creating a Legacy of Hope

Amanda Miner is a member of the Gifts of Hope team and a parent of a 1st grader...

Joan

Since I was asked to give a parent's perspective on buying gifts through Gifts of Hope, I really wanted to explore exactly why it is I choose to do this with Kate each year. Simply because it helps somebody and is a 'good' thing to do just doesn't cut to the heart of my motivation - although it may have started out that way. We've done several things over the last three or four years - including buying chickens and rabbits and maybe a goat or two at prior Gifts of Hope fairs. Kate's first response at opening a Christmas card at age 4, and learning that part of her gift was a pair of rabbits (for someone else, no less), was one of puzzlement - but what it did do was initiate a conversation that has been going on in various forms and activities for the following three years. Shortly after, we learned (together) about exactly how rabbits are used in Ghana, and how children are involved in the family livelihood-- so that parents might pass a legacy of hope down to them. We've written to Joan in Uganda, and now Jithendra in India. Kate's curiosity has been contagious - and in very specific ways. She wants to know names, ages, where they sleep, what they eat, what they like. Go figure - she wants to know them as a person. The realization that we have distanced ourselves as adults was quite profound to me. Yes, we have outreach and ministries and offerings, which are extremely valuable - but let's come out from behind those safe little boxes for a moment and remember that it is people's lives we are getting involved in.

Jithendra

Many hands have made the things you will see at the Gifts of Hope Fair, and many hands will use the goats, rabbits, chickens, pigs (and maybe even a water buffalo) that you may generously provide. Those hands each belong to to a unique individual, with a name, a family, a talent or skill, and a million other attributes. Imagine that in your mind, as a child does---or better yet, with your child - and give thanks for the opportunity to help someone else's family legacy. This can sometimes feel awkward for us adults (and by us, I mean me) - but I am suggesting that we need to more purposely present our children with things like these that make us uncomfortable, lest we squander their curiosity to learn about all God's children, in all places. Let's build their courage and excitement in doing that, and ours is sure to follow. It's a legacy worth passing on.

"If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."  1 Corinthians 13:3



Abundance vs. Scarcity

Ephesians 1: 17: I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.


Abundance vs. Scarcity. What is your mindset? Do you think about your possessions in terms of abundance or scarcity? In other words, do feel like you have got to hold on and protect what you have because there is precious very little of it? Or do you feel like you can be free and generous with what you have because there is always plenty of it? I guess it might depend on what it is. Nonetheless, it is a good question to ask because the answer to it reveals a mindset. Knowing our mindset might help us to figure out what we need to ask God for in prayer.

I tend to have a scarcity mindset. One of my kids doesn’t and he amazes me. He teaches me much about being generous. When he gets something that he really likes (a treat, a toy) his first impulse seems to be to try and figure out how to share it, give it away or at least to make sure that others have gotten some sort of treat too.

Sometimes I worry that he is going to regret giving his stuff away. Sometimes part of me even wants to discourage him from being so generous. Is that crazy?

But then I realize he does is because as he has told me, “It makes me feel good.” There is a difference between the two of us. He is naturally generous. He enjoys giving to others without having to think about it. He believe that the world is an abundant place and that the most important things, the things that he really needs are readily available all the time so he does not have to worry about keeping a tight grip on his stuff.

He is right.

I suspect the more we get to know “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,” the more we will realize this.

From Generation to Generation

Marcia Koenig is a member of our Gifts of Hope team here at Ascension.  In this article she tells the story of how she made a joyful connection with the idea of giving alternative gifts for Christmas and how that idea has caught on.  By the way, our Gifts of Hope fair beging at Ascension this weekend and will be open in Founders Hall after each service. 

As we dried dishes after our family Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago, my sister-in-law and I jested about the unpleasantness of holiday shopping in crowded malls and about what we did NOT want for Christmas: more sweaters, more gadgets, more casserole dishes, more etc.

From our playful banter emerged some thoughts: Our gracious God gives to us abundantly. We give Him thanks! He also raises before us brothers and sisters who suffer poverty and the diseases of poverty. How can we not "be openhanded" (Deut. 15:11)? How can we not provide others justice and hope?

I told my sister-in-law about Ascension's alternative giving project: Gifts of Hope. And we made a pact for Christmas future: instead of exchanging the usual presents, we would give thanks by giving hope to others.

The two of us initiated this tradition, sometimes adding a book, like The Fever to share information about malaria, or a fairly traded coffee product or craft item from the Gifts of Hope Fair, for members of our family. In the last two years, several of our nieces and nephews, the "younger generation" families, have embraced the idea and joined our pact -- heartwarming indeed! Give thanks. . . .

Marcia Koenig

The Body of Christ

Pastor Benyam Kassahun works at ELCA Churchwide office Global Mission Unit as Program Director for Southern & Eastern Africa Regions. We are honored to have him come to Ascension all the way from Chicago and share his extensive experiences in Africa. He is passionate and articulate. I encourage you to come and check him out at either 9:30 or 11am in the library. Here are some thoughts that he wrote down for the blog:


“So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Rom. 12:5)


What does this mean for Christians, in particular, for those of us who claim to be Lutheran in a world stricken by disease, conflict and hunger? What does God call us to do?

Over the past several years, I traveled through West, East, and Southern Africa region to do my work as assigned to me by the Global Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I had several conversations with women, men, and children who were severely impacted by diseases such as malaria, HIV & AIDS, T.B. and hunger (malnutrition). I knew some of them would not be alive during my next trip to their villages. Deep down in my heart, however, I knew that with some intervention many of those women and children could have lived.

I remember a woman I once met in Mozambique. I arrived at her place at about 6:30 P.M. She was lying on a small mat outside of her hut. She was approximately somewhere between 23-25 years old. But she looked like a 13 year old child. Someone from her family came and helped her to sit up. She had difficulty talking because of her severe cough. She was HIV positive (she had no choice there), she has T.B. and malaria. To make matters worse, she only ate a small bowl of porridge that morning. That was her meal for the day. She was so frail she couldn’t continue our conversation—she kept quiet for a few minutes—finally, she lay down on her mat.

If we are the body if Christ, and individually members one of another, therefore, the body of Christ is HIV+, inflicted by malaria, T.B., and poverty in general. The question is what does this mean? What does it mean to be Lutheran Christians?

Benyam Kassahun

Preventable and Treatable

Amanda Berg and Chamie Delkeskamp are two women who are passionate about helping God develop the faith of children.  As the co-directors of Childrens Ministry at Ascesnion Lutheran Church they are using Gifts of Hope as a faith nurturing opportunity.  These words are from Chamie: 

Every 45 seconds, a child dies from malaria. This may seem like a scary or difficult number to say to our own children. But if we want to raise a generation who will be compassionate, who will be wise, and who will make the world a better place, then we have an incredibly important role as parents, grandparents, and teachers, adult role models.


During the next few weeks, children and youth at Ascension Lutheran Church and School will be learning about malaria and our response to this disease. We are focusing on two words: preventable and treatable. On November 14, during Sunday School opening, we will be presenting a skit with a mosquito net as we talk about prevention. On November 21, we will do a skit that is set up as a clinic as we focus on the word treatable. In addition, the junior and senior high Sunday School classes will be doing Bible studies around this theme and upper division students at the school will be playing “Malaria Dodgeball” as they grow in their understanding. The Sunday School offering and the school chapel offering from now through December will go to Gifts of Hope.

There are two wonderful books you can purchase at Ascension for your children. For younger children, we recommend Little Things Make a Big Difference: A Story About Malaria by Rev. John Nunes. For preteens and teens, we recommend Generation Change by Zach Hunter.

We are passionate about raising kids who do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God (just like the Old Testament prophet said in Micah 6:8). You can learn more at “Raising Micah,” www.raisingmicah.org. If you click on “Monthly Essay” you can read another story about malaria. And if you want to be in conversation with other adults about how to raise children to be thankful for what they have while also being compassionate to others, join us at our home on Sunday afternoon, November 21, 3:30 to 5:00 PM. The kids can play in the backyard while the grown-ups sip some apple cider and talk about raising “Micahs.” Please RSVP to revchamie@mac.com.

Love Struggles With

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.”

Wow.   This sentence from by Paul (Romans 15:30) from our reading in the Giving Thanks curriculum rocked my world.  I have never really thought of prayer as a way to join somebody in their struggle.   Yes, I pray for people who struggle.  I pray for them a lot.  I pray for them because they are struggling and I don’t want them to struggle.  So why would I want to join their struggle?  Why would I want to struggle?

But then I think of the times that I have struggled.  The people who helped me were not the people who merely offered advice or felt sorry for me, the people that helped me were the ones who were present with me in the midst of it- struggling along with me because they loved me.

Love struggles with. 

By the way praying for other people is one of the ways that we can give hope.  This video helps us to understand what ELCA is doing for people who are struggling in places where Malaria is endemic.  As you watch it, perhaps you can join in their struggle by praying for them. To watch it, click on this link: ELCA Malaria Film 

Pastor Tim

Conejo Valley Cares

J.P. Gorham is the director of Conejo Valley Cares. Conejo Valley Cares’ primary purpose is to “assess the needs of the Conejo Valley community and work in partnership with local churches and organizations to help reorganize and repair the lives of clients.” I have personally witnessed CVC do a wonderful job at working to help re-establish people who have been hit hard by the economy. For this reason we are so excited to have Conejo Valley Cares be the focus or our local Gifts of Hope project this year. Below is a note from J.P.:

As we at Conejo Valley CARES start to prepare for the holiday season, we're very much aware of the fact that we've never seen needs like this before and certainly have our hands full. So many of the families who come to us now have never been in this critical position and as we work on improving their situations, our thoughts and prayers also turn to making sure every family has a wonderful, spiritual Christmas this year!

Depression is unfortunately a large element in the process of crisis intervention and to help these families enjoy the holidays will help provide an anchor they desperately need as they feel they are drifting on the ocean of life. As we provide the basics to these families, something else inevitably happens. They can stop worrying so much about the simple details that suddenly seem so overwhelming, turn their attention back to God, and then have a freer ability to allow the holidays to be a time of worship and family bonding as it should be. To see the blessings provided by the community to make all of this possible is to look into the heart of the Lord and fully understand how much He truly loves us.

God Bless!!!!

J.P.

For more info on Conejo Valley Cares you can go to: http://www.conejovalleycares.org/

Give Thanks: Week #1: Study Reflection

2 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
I read these words of the apostle Paul and I have to admit that I am convicted. Part of me really doesn’t believe that he was so thankful all the time. That perhaps he was just trying to convice himself. Nobody is that thankful, right? He would say things like “give thanks in all circumstances” and talk about how he had learned to be content no matter what his situation was whether he just baptized a new believer or being beaten in jail. And here I am complaining because my computer is running a bit slow today.

This quote from Professor Alan Culpepper gets to the root of my conviction:

“Gratitude may be the purest measure of one's character and spiritual condition. The absence of the ability to be grateful reveals self-centeredness or the attitude that I deserve more than I ever get, so I do not need to be grateful.”

I forget that deep down I truly believe that I don’t deserve as much as I have. And I struggle to remember that all that I have, I mean the things that are really important to me, are a gift given to me by the grace of God.

But then I think about those things. My family, my friends, my faith and I realize that I could never have put these things together myself. I think of them and I don’t even have to force myself… it just happens- my heart starts to beat again with love and joy and well… gratitude.

Maybe Paul has something there.

Pastor Tim
P.S. For those of you who are doing the Give Thanks study and are doing some Malaria research… here is a great place to test your knowledge: http://solidfoodnews.blogspot.com/p/take-malaria-challenge.html

A Holy Opportunity

Mary Wennes is a member of our Gifts of Hope team here at Ascension.  She also is has been a leading advocate in the national church for many years for the cause of hunger.  Her passion the "the least of these" that Jesus talks about in the gospel of Mathew 25:40 is contageous.  Here is a reflection from her about the holy opportunity of our Gifts of Hope project: 

As I reflect on this past year, I give thanks for a family that has been blessed with excellent health, meaningful work and a host of good friends. But on top of that is the knowledge we have of a loving and compassionate God.


This grace filled God has given each of us a “holy” opportunity through the ELCA Malaria Campaign. We are able to express our thanks by sharing our gifts with the people of God in Africa. Our gifts will give hope and healing to those afflicted with malaria as well as to prevent millions of children from contracting it. A $10 mosquito net will protect a family or 4 from the deadly mosquito.

I have a BIG birthday coming up very soon. My birthday present request is for a net for every year of my life---and that’s A LOT. If I get my wish the nets will protect almost 300 children & adults from getting malaria. Now that’s a “holy” opportunity.

Our Gifts of Hope will provide all of the members of Ascension the opportunity to think about “holy” Christmas gifts that can bring life and hope to those in need.

Our gifts can be “holy” when they bring hope to others.

Mary Wennes

What do you say?

Carrie Leonard is a leader here at Ascension and has a passion for putting together people in small groups.  She sees how the Spirit transforms people when they get together in Jesus' name for the sake of care and personal growth.  She has written many of the small group curriculums that we have done here at Ascension, including the "Give Thanks" one that we are encouraging you to be a part of.  Here's Carrie...

Remember when we were kids and our parents had to remind us (sometimes) to say “thank you”? They would say that familiar phrase, “What do you say?” And do you remember being frustrated when you were just about to say “thanks” and they were quicker with “What do you say”? It seems like sometimes we just didn’t have a chance to say thanks fast enough!

How quick are you to say “thanks” to God? I know sometimes I can get lazy and start taking things for granted and I forget to thank God for all He has blessed me with. The two things that get me back on track are the Word and my friends.

So that is why I am excited about the small group study for next month, “Give Thanks”. It provides a terrific opportunity to get back on track with our giving and thanking by getting into the Word and studying it with friends. All you need is a friend or two, the Study Guide (found on http://www.alcto.org/ or in the Narthex) and a Bible.

What do you say?





Carrie Leonard