Dear Trinity Family,
After a different sort of Summer, we prepare to enter into a different sort of Fall; but the life of our congregation continues nonetheless. I pray that we all continue to be uplifted by the Lord and His gifts of grace, even in these days when some of our gathering together takes shape in virtual ways.
Reflecting on many of the things that made up this Summer, not only in personal and congregational life, but also in our nation, I came across a message from a brother Pastor and seminary classmate to his congregation in Washington State. He shared the following hymn text with them, and when I listened to it, I was moved by it and the message that it gave. I invite you to view the video for yourself.
The video is from our sister congregation, St. John’s in Seward, Nebraska, and the hymn is presented by the A Cappella Choir from Concordia University Nebraska, also in Seward.
The introduction to the hymn mentions that the text and tune were both written by Professors at Concordia. What is also interesting is that the text was written in 1999, as the author reflected on the fears that some felt as they looked at the coming of the new millennium. Remember the worries that flew around in those days because of “Y2K”? Compared with many of the things we must face in our day, one might almost wistfully wish for those “simpler days” with “simpler problems”.
But what struck me as I thought through the text of this hymn, it almost seemed prophetic and spoke to much of what we are feeling in these days of 2020. That being said, the hymn is not really prophetic, but rather based on the plain reality of life lived in our world. The fears and problems that the stanzas address to God are nothing new to our day–they are and have been a part of human life and living since Adam and Eve left Eden to live in the fallen world that their sin and disobedience brought and which we too continue in. Our “problems” are really of our own making, born out of our own sinfulness and our fleshly desires which seek what we think to be good and right rather than what God wills for us and what He gives to us as good for our good.
We cry out to God in our fear, frustration, anger, impatience, and any other emotion that our life’s trials make us feel, looking to Him perhaps as the One who can “fix what we broke”. And His response? It is always the same: “I AM forever WHO I AM. Above you, beneath you, around you and within you. Be still and know that I am God.”
God has come and put right what our sin made wrong. Through the cross and empty tomb of His Son, that fallen creation has begun to be restored back to our Creator’s original intent and design. Yet, we still deal with that fallenness which is written on each page of our world’s history, and we continue to see our sin against God and one another played out again and again. None of this is new; not to us, and certainly not to God. There is no “new sin”, just old ones repackaged in a different time and place.
And yet, God remains eternally our own and our world’s I AM. He is the changeless One, whose presence still fills His creation, and who calls His creatures to come to Him to be renewed, restored and healed by His forgiveness won for us by His Son Jesus. It is this love of our creating and redeeming God that becomes our comfort, peace, and hope even in difficult times because we know that He is I AM–the eternal changeless One who holds us in His care even when things seem out of control. He is the One who can take our distress and show us even in the midst of it His gracious and loving hand of blessing which is leading us safely through this vale of tears to Himself, where the pages of our own stories become a part of His own eternal story.
Let us trust that we are in the loving hands of the great I AM and in Him know, find, and have true and eternal peace. May His Name and His Word comfort us and always bring us hope, that we may “be still and know that [He] is God.”
And now, some news as we move into the Fall in our life together here at Trinity…
We thank God that since the middle of June we have been able to open the doors here at church for in-person worship on Sunday mornings. Our attendance so far has averaged at 19, which is not too far off of our average attendance for last year of 24. We are thankful for all those who have come out to worship, including several members from the Mekane Yesus congregation who have been with us. We are also thankful for all those who have continued to join us virtually through our livestreaming of services. Whether in-person or online, we are still connected together as Christ’s body in this place as His Holy Spirit continues to bless us with the Lord’s Gifts.
For the time being, our Sunday Morning Schedule will be to only hold Divine Service at 9:30 AM. We will wait for the moment in resuming Sunday Morning Bible Study, and will announce when we will begin that again.
We are considering how best to conduct our Midweek Bible Study and what format that will take.
The Ministry Planning Group will be meeting this Sunday to look at how we have managed during this time of COVID and how we will be moving forward. Feel free to reach out to any of the group members with any questions or concerns you may have which would help in our conversation and decision making.
We also thank all those who have helped and assisted in the Food Distribution efforts by Redeemer and Trinity while the Compassion Center has been closed. The center will be reopening this coming week and will once again be serving our clients with both food and clothing. Please continue to keep this ministry of mercy and service in your prayers. And with the reopening of the center, we will be “winding down” the Food Distribution that we began after the center’s closing, ending it at the end of this month as the Compassion Center does its work.
God’s blessings be with you all the remainder of this week, have a wonderful weekend, and Lord willing, I hope to see you at worship!
Peace,
+Pastor