“…We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.” Luke 24:21
So, Easter Sunday has come…and gone. Like so many others, our congregation had an absolutely wonderful Easter celebration. The choirs, musicians, flowers, banners and pews filled with God’s people made the day truly memorable. Several of our young ladies came adorned in their new easter dresses. Young men were looking mighty dapper, wearing jackets, ties and bright clothing. And many of our older men and women came sporting their “Sunday Best” as we gathered for worship on this day of all days. Yes, Easter Sunday is a day to celebrate, especially as we gather with friends and some who are new to our community. We worship together as one and give thanks to God for the gift of salvation through His Son Jesus. The Easter celebration is always beautiful and spiritually invigorating. But the question remains, “So now what?”
The day after Easter Sunday signals a return to normal. For many, the Easter dresses have been put in the closet. Men have returned their Sunday best to the hanger. The flower cross where families gather for Easter photos has wilted and must be put away for another year. Still, even as we find ourselves in the midst of the fifty-day Easter festival, the trumpets are packed in their cases, hand bells packed away and the special music has been concluded. It’s now a little over a week following the big celebration and even clergy members who have taken time off have returned to work and resumed their daily struggle against the world. Naturally, the question begs to be asked; “Has Easter made a difference?” Does Jesus’s resurrection still impact you in your daily struggle against the world?
It happened just as Jesus said it would. God kept his promise to redeem his people, in fact, God is still keeping it. Every day, God acts to save those who have wandered from his grace. Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus brings forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life to all who believe. Even as the troubles and worries of earthly life weigh on the hearts of people, God’s promise of salvation and life in his kingdom is true and eternal.
Today, God’s people find themselves once again walking along the Emmaus road. Like those two disciples who encountered the risen Christ, we are still imperfect people with minds filled with doubts and hearts burdened with fear. We still live in a fallen and broken world where bad things happen to good people. Yet, in our conversations concerning Christ Jesus, our life together as God’s people, we are reminded through Holy Scripture that Jesus is indeed alive. As we walk the Emmaus road, living and learning the way of salvation, Christ walks with us. The good news of Jesus’s resurrection and victory over the grave gives hope to a world hungering and thirsting for God’s redemption.
Jesus makes himself known in so many ways; through the loving hands of someone providing food to the hungry, in the comfort of shelter provided to a homeless person, and through the presence of a loved one who consoles those who mourn. Jesus makes his presence known to the Church and to the world in his teaching, through his example of servitude, and most especially through the breaking of bread and pouring of wine at God’s table of grace.
Yes, the annual Easter events in our churches and families are concluded for another year. Yet, the hope and joy of Easter lives on in the hearts and minds of God’s people. Because Christ lives, every day is an Easter day for God’s people. Every day is filled with the promises of God’s mercy and grace. As we continue in our struggle against a fallen world, I pray the hearts of God’s people are burning with the hope and joy of Easter. May we all live in God’s grace and continue to proclaim the good news. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
Grace to you and peace,
Pastor David Nuottil
Pastor Archive
From Your Pastor’s Heart
Posted May 1, 2025 By adminExperiencing the Heart of Jesus
Posted April 30, 2025 By adminFor those who are working through the year long Bible study, “Experiencing the Heart of Jesus” we will have a time for conversation and encouragement to review what has been learned this far. We will meet in the church office on Tuesday, May 13th beginning at 6:30 PM. Do not worry if you have fallen behind. Everyone does at one time or another. Everyone is pretty much on their own schedule and the discussions will focus on personal reflections.
Pastoral Devotion for May – Jesus Said “Go”
Posted April 30, 2025 By adminRead Matthew 28:16-20
When we hear our Lord give the Great Commission, we understand finally that our response to Christ’s resurrection is to go into the world and tell others the good news of God’s salvation. Most Christians can quote this passage from memory; those who cannot certainly know where to find it in the Bible. But when congregations hear Christ’s command, the reaction can be varied.
As the remaining disciples gathered on the mountain with Jesus, Matthew tells us they worshiped him, but some doubted. Rest assured, the same condition exists within the Church today. Jesus says, “Go.” Yet, some doubt they are strong enough in their faith.
Others doubt they have the necessary knowledge of the scriptures. Still others feel they lack the training and skill needed to make disciples. All this said, the command given by Jesus stands. Our Lord says, “Go.”
As followers of Christ, it is incumbent upon Christians to learn. As the body of Christ on earth, it is incumbent upon the Church to teach and equip. As those called, gathered and sent by our Lord, it is incumbent upon us all to encourage one another, remembering Christ is with us even to the end of the age.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as we go in your name, overcome our doubts with your peace and presence. Amen.
Congo Mission Update
Posted April 19, 2025 By adminI’m not sure how many folks have been paying attention to the news of the ongoing struggle in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but there have been some significant and terribly unfortunate events taking place. The neighboring country of Rwanda has sent and supported militaristic factions and groups over the border and seized several of the bordering cities and other areas. These incursions have led to violent protests in several parts of the country, including the capital city of Kinshasa.
Given these political and military actions, Pastor Stephane Kalonji and I have concluded that I should not travel to the Congo this summer. Pastor Kalonji is Congolese and can blend in with the population while staying with family and completing our planned mission. Our amended agenda is for Pastor Kalonji to accomplish all that he and I had planned, including overseeing the construction of the parish building in Mbuji Mayi, education for laity, feeding orphaned children, freeing mothers and their babies from clinics, and supplying Bibles for those with such need. The decision regarding my travel breaks my heart as I pray for those pastoral colleagues and friends whom I have longed to visit. Please keep this situation in your prayers and ask God for resolution, reconciliation, and restoration of all that has been affected.
Pastor Kalonji will travel to Kinshasa at the end of June and upon his return home will provide a full report on his work and also on the political and social climate of the area. I look forward to hearing his report and to seeing photos of friends within the Lutheran Church whom I have been closely associated with over the last ten years.
Experiencing the Heart of Jesus
Posted April 17, 2025 By adminFor those who are engaged in the Max Lucado Bible Study, Experiencing the Heart of Jesus for 52 Weeks, our next quarterly gathering will be held in the church office Sunday school room on Monday, April 21st beginning at 6:30 PM. Don’t worry if you have fallen a little behind, everyone is on a different schedule. The discussion will include various parts of the study according to how much has been read. Please plan to join us.
Easter Divine Services
Posted April 14, 2025 By adminOur traditional Easter Sunrise Service is scheduled for 7:00 AM on Easter Sunday, April 20th. A Festival Service of the Resurrection will commence at 10:00 AM. This service will include a full processional, Gospel Procession and Trumpet accompaniment as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Please invite family members, friends and neighbors to join us on Easter Sunday.
Into the Liturgy, part 7
Posted April 7, 2025 By adminThe Sanctus
As the divine service continues, it reaches its peak in the singing of the Sanctus (pronounced Saanktoose). This singing is the highest form of praise to the God who created all that is seen and unseen, saves his people from sin, and grants believers eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. In the singing of the Sanctus, heaven and earth collide as the saints on earth are gathered at the table alongside the saints in heaven. Christians join their voices with the singing of the Seraphim Cherubim around the throne of God. We also join the cry of God’s people as Jesus made his Triumphal Entry into the city of Jerusalem. The Sanctus (Latin for Holy) is the Church’s own canticle of praise as she greets the crucified and risen Lord who comes to us through the Sacrament of the Altar. For this reason, the Sanctus is to be sung boldly, with loud music and voices.
The Eucharistic Prayer
The Eucharistic Prayer is a thanksgiving prayer that is said in the consecration of the bread and wine during the Christian Eucharistic liturgy. This prayer includes the Word of Christ’s institution of the Sacrament (Verba) declaring his divine presence in, with, and under the elements of the bread and wine. Jesus says, “This is my body, given for you; this is my blood, shed for you.” Jesus’s words are spoken by the one agent whom he has called to preside at the table. His words connect the sacramental elements to his promise of forgiveness and eternal life. These are the means through which the elements are consecrated. This particular bread, and this particular cup, consecrated before this particular assembly are the means through which God extends grace. Received through faith, the body and blood of Christ are eaten and drunk for the forgiveness of sin. The Verba concludes with the Lord’s Prayer.
Holy Week – April 13th-19th
Posted April 6, 2025 By adminHoly Week this year begins as always on Palm Sunday and continues through Holy Saturday, the eve of the Resurrection of our Lord. Palm Sunday worship will commence on the sidewalk in front of the church (weather permitting) with the Blessing and Procession of Palms. It is Christian tradition that on Palm Sunday, the Passion narrative of Christ is read before the assembly. A brief sermon my precede the reading of the Passion, but preferably the preaching clergy allow the Passion of Christ to speak for itself.
Divine service will resume with the Great Triduum (Three Days) beginning on Maundy Thursday, which commemorates Christ’s giving “a new commandment” (Mandatum). Through his washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus gives the commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” which takes the form of selfless service to others. The service reaches its climax as God extends his table through the receiving of the Sacrament of the Altar. In remembrance of Jesus’s betrayal and arrest, the altar and church nave are stripped of their worship appointments as the cantor sings Psalm 22, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” The service includes no benediction (Good Words), and the congregation departs in silent reflection on Christ’s passion and his approaching crucifixion.
The Divine Service resumes on Good Friday with the traditional Tenebrae Service (Service of Shadows). Worshippers gather in silent reflection, pondering the sacrifice Christ made on their behalf. The service includes the confession of sin, solemn reproaches and seven readings concerning the crucifixion and death of Jesus. With each reading, light is diminished until the church is shrouded in darkness. Once more, at the conclusion of the service, the congregation departs in silence as it awaits the good news of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Pastoral Devotion for April – Because He Lives
Posted April 4, 2025 By adminRead John 11:30-44 Once, a Sunday school teacher showed her class a picture of famous people gathered around God’s table in heaven. The teacher then asked, “Where are you in this picture?” The children were puzzled. Finally, a boy spoke up saying, “We can’t be in the picture, we’re not dead yet.” Such an understanding presents the resurrection as a distant and future reality.
Jesus’s announcement, “I am the resurrection and the life,” teaches us that the resurrection is closer than we may realize. Because of sin, every moment of human life occurs in the face of death. Yet, by grace through faith in Christ Jesus our sins are forgiven and death has lost its sting. Therefore, the resurrection is not some far off point in time that we await; it is a future and present reality for those who know Christ as Lord and Savior. Because he lives, we too shall live.
In their grief, Mary and Martha see only the earthly picture, the one in which their brother Lazarus is missing. Jesus invites us to gaze upon the heavenly picture and to take our place at God’s table gathered with the saints of every time and space. This we do each time we come forward to receive the Sacrament of the Altar. As we profess our faith and belief in the communion of saints, we declare the reality of God’s table extending from the one heavenly dimension into the earthly dimension of Christ’s church on earth. See yourself in the picture. You are certainly there among those gathered at God’s table.
Prayer: Eternal God, we give you thanks for raising your people from death to life, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
From Your Pastor’s Heart
Posted April 2, 2025 By adminNow on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. John 20:1
John’s account of Christ’s resurrection, as with all others, begins on the first day of the week, while it is still dark. In many instances, this mirrors the church’s annual accounting of the same event. Many congregations across denominational lines celebrate Divine Services at sunrise on Easter morning. The idea is to greet the new dawn with songs of thankfulness and praise as the Gospel of Christ is announced. It is a tradition held in many and various ways. But the unifying factor in the varied celebrations is that it happens earlier than normal.
Truly, the resurrection breaks the bonds of comfortable routine. Mary came to Jesus’s tomb early while it was still dark. That is anything but routine. People, especially women, didn’t travel alone in the dark, let alone following such a tumultuous few days as those in Jerusalem. And the local graveyard was not a place where one would expect to find a woman alone at such a peculiar time.
What did she expect to find? How would she roll away the stone? When the other women got there could they help? Questions surrounded her in her grief, questions she could not have been expected to answer. Yet, in true wonder and amazement, God answered Mary’s questions for her. The stone, that barrier that separated the Lord from all others, was rolled away. Inside, the tomb was emptied of its contents; Jesus was gone; raised, alive, resurrected!
Suddenly, early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, light shined on the world. This should remind you of another time when darkness was all that there was. In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light, and God saw that the light was good.
At the dawn of the first Easter Sunday, God raised his Son Jesus of Nazareth from the grave and said to our darkened, fallen word, “Let there be light!” This light, the light no darkness can overcome, burst forth from the grave in majestic triumph over death. No wonder the stone was rolled away, the grave could not withhold the light of Christ.
For those who did not come to the tomb, questions remained, and darkness prevailed. How could it happen that Jesus was crucified? It didn’t make any sense that a man hailed as king one day, would be executed by the end of the week. Their confusion reached an even higher level when reports were made that Jesus’s body was gone. Some even said they saw him alive. Once again, this is anything but routine.
In our world today, confusion still remains when it comes to the risen and living Lord Jesus. The world won’t accept it. How can someone who was dead be alive again? How can one man’s dying save the entire human race’s sin? The powers that defy God are perfectly content to hold Jesus in the darkness of the grave. They are also perfectly content to keep the risen Lord’s disciples fearful of reprisals lest they begin proclaiming his victory over sin and death.
Yet the promises of God are sure. Sin has been defeated, and the light of Christ shines bolder and brighter than even the sun. Through our risen Lord, fear gives way to assurance, doubt surrenders to belief, and those who call upon the Risen Lord Jesus are provided the peace of God that passes all understanding. It is the message our fallen and broken world so desperately needs to hear. Open the doors and go tell others, for the peace of Christ is to be shared with all.
Prayer: Almighty God, provide a clear voice for your church, that the good news of your grace is shared throughout the world. Amen.
Grace to you and peace,
Pastor David Nuottila
