Welcome to St. Jacob's Lutheran Church

The page on the calendar indicates the month of April is finally upon us, and the highlight for the Church will certainly be the Easter celebration that comes on April 17th. Yet, as I prepared to write this column and offer an Easter message, I realized that at the time of this writing, we are but halfway through our Lenten journey. As the children of God, we long to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord at Easter, but in order to be faithful, we cannot look past the lessons of Lent and the events of Holy Week. Of course, there are plans underway for our traditional Easter breakfast and Easter egg hunt. Yet, in the midst of all these plans for celebration, if we fail to consider the journey of Christ to the cross, suddenly the story loses much of its meaning.
Since Ash Wednesday, Christians the world over have focused on our need for repentance and our reliance on God’s mercy and grace. Lent is a season of penitence, a time for spiritual renewal and a time of dedication to discipleship and following Christ. Each Wednesday, our congregation, along with four other congregations, have been engaged in a series based on the prophet Joel’s call to “Return to the Lord.” As we consider what Christ endured on our behalf, we hear God’s call to turn away from our betrayal, bearing false witness, and denial. We have also heard the message that God calls us to return to him in prayer, seeking his kingdom first above all else.
Each Wednesday, we continue to hear the call to return to the Lord from neighboring pastors who have prepared messages for us according to our theme. These voices of repentance provide us with very real examples of how we are to respond to God’s grace. God meets us where we are and in our every need. He provides that which we need to live and calls us to share these good gifts with others. Just as Christ loves us, God calls us to love our neighbors and be as Christ to them.
Finally, as we prepare for the week the Church calls Holy, we look to Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem where he was greeted as king and called blessed. The Bible study we have shared concerning the Passion of Christ has focused attention to those events of Holy Week that have
been leading up to Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion. For me, it has been a particularly meaningful time of Bible study. I strongly encourage those who are able, come on Wednesday morning and join in. We will engage Scriptures as we read of Jesus before Caiaphas, Herod and ultimately Pilate. We will consider his passion as the ones whom he came to save. And finally, we will study and meditate on Christ words from the cross as he completes his earthly mission and wins the victory over the powers that defy God.
Many of you will come to the service of Palm Sunday and hear the passion narrative of our Lord Jesus. Many more of you will come to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and feel the power of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Still, I encourage you to attend the services of worship dur-ing Lent and especially Holy Week. This is the time to consider what God in Christ Jesus has done and continues to do for the sake of God’s people. This is the time to dedicate yourselves to deepening your relationship with God. This is the time to cast away those aspects of our lives that do us harm and give thanks to God for rebirth as children of God as we bathe in the waters of our baptism onto Christ.
The Easter celebration is not far off, but it is also not yet here. In order that we may fully and joyfully experience the wonders of Christ’s empty tomb, we must also hear and consider his journey to the cross. I look forward to seeing more and more of you as Easter approaches. I look forward to sharing the gospel story of Jesus with you and receiving the feast of Christ body and blood that God sets before us each week. And most certainly I look forward with great anticipation to sharing with you the Easter proclamation that Christ is risen, he is risen indeed!
Grace to you and peace,
Pastor David Nuottila