Dear Trinity Family,

If it’s Friday, it must be time for another update from Pastor. I pray that this finds all of you well and that we all continue to “hold things together” during these days.

In addition to our prayers for peace and patience and healing in our nation and world brought on by the Pandemic; we also find ourselves asking for the same gifts from God because of the unrest following the police involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.  We mourn the loss; we cry for justice; and we pray for peace.  May God hear and answer our prayers.

I was able to talk with Reb today to get an update on Paul who is still on campus in Minneapolis. He is safe and the campus, although nearby, is not in an area where the violence is happening. We pray God’s safety and protection on him and for all those in the city during this time.

As to local news, we know that the County Executive will begin a “Modified Phase One Reopening” of Prince George’s County beginning on Monday. And we have heard her announcement that churches must continue to limit their gatherings to 10 people or less and continue online services. While it is frustrating that these limits keep us from reopening the building for worship in a meaningful way for our Trinity Family, it does seem that our only course of action is to continue as we have for the last ten Sundays, and hope that sometime in the not so distant future we will be able to gather together again.

Because of the continued “lockdown” on our gathering for worship, even though we have moved into our “summer schedule”, I have decided that for at least the month of June, I will continue to offer a “Midweek Devotion” on Wednesdays. I feel that this is appropriate as the times we find ourselves in ask us to have opportunities for more prayer and not less.

More information on the above, upcoming Zoom fellowship, available Bible Study material, and other “notes and news” can be found in this Sunday’s Bulletin available here.

As for a devotional thought to close with, I think I’ll try to save most of my “material” for Sunday’s Sermon, so do “tune in” then. But as sort of a “teaser”…

The “90 Days plus” that make up the “Time of Easter” in our Christian Church Year are the way that I would usually be “marking time” at this time of year. But this year, marking the Sundays in Lent and of the Easter Season have given way to counting how many Sundays that we have been away from worshiping the Lord together in our dear church home. Holy Week and Easter have come and gone. And this Sunday, we will have “lost” the whole of Eastertide.

Or have we? This Sunday, the Day of Pentecost, brings the 50 days of Easter to their close. And with this day, although it will be different for us, it will bring us the same reminder–that the Holy Spirit sent to us from the Father and the Son is with us and will remain with us forever. He is our Comforter, our Counselor, and our Guide. He is the One who, even while apart from each other, continues to “call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian Church on earth” and keeps us united as one. Because of the Spirit, we are truly not apart but one. Praise God for that!

As we prepare to “be gathered” this Pentecost, I will share with you a video that Skip Hall passed along to me this week. It is a “virtual choir and orchestra” video put together by the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and the National Lutheran Choir singing the Danish Lutheran Pentecost Hymn, “O Day Full of Grace” (LSB # 503). May it be our prayer as we ask the Spirit’s continued presence in our midst, bringing us His comfort and joy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJETTBbnf6w&feature=youtu.be

Lord willing, we will “see” you at worship on Sunday Morning. God’s blessings on you and yours this weekend.

And as always, “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.”

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear Trinity Family,

First, a devotional thought (such as it is):

As we think on what our lives and living have become in this time of stay at home orders, we are reminded that what is being done is in a sense being done for our good and for the good of others. We do well to protect ourselves and others from those things that can hurt or harm us, like the spread of this virus.

That being said, we must also remember that while we look to have safety and do things to promote it, does that mean that we are ever free from danger? Safety is not the absence of danger, it is only the things that we can do to mitigate and protect ourselves as best we can. As Trinity and other churches look towards the day when we can worship together again, we want to do things that promote safety even while we know that there is no such thing as 100% safe, especially as we deal with this contagion.

Theologically, (as I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV), this is just one more manifestation of the hold that the “unholy trinity” of sin, death, and devil still hold on this world and on each one of us. Ever since that dreadful, fateful day in Eden, “danger” has been a part of our life as human beings. Work stopped being safe: “You will toil by the sweat of your brow and the earth will grow thorns and thistles for you”. Relationships stopped being safe: “And Cain rose up and killed his brother Abel”. Even God’s ways of saving us weren’t safe: a flood, plagues, destruction and exile, and ultimately the death of His only-begotten Son.

To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, “Our God is good, but He is not a tame God.” So many times, such as the one we find ourselves in, we may well wonder, “What in the world is God doing?” For us to try to ascertain the mind of the Lord is certainly “above our pay grade.” Only the Lord Himself knows His reason for what He does, or for what He allows. But even though it may not be apparent to us, or even understandable to us, what we can know is that our God is and will always remain Love, and in that love, He remains in control, seeking our good, especially everything that will draw us to “fear, love, and trust in Him above all things”.

Perhaps we need to learn again that God does not promise us safety in the way we think that safety ought to be–the absence of danger. Instead what we must hold onto is that God promises to be our Safety in the midst of danger–that He promises to be with us, to hold us as His own in His love, and keep us close to Himself so that we do not fear but trust ever and only and always in Him.

Perhaps even better than my own words are those of the Danish Lutheran Pastor, Bishop, and Hymnwriter, Hans Adolf Brorson (1694-1764). Perhaps more well-known to us is his hymn, “Behold, a Host Arrayed in White” (LSB 676). But there is another hymn of his which I remember singing during my seminary days, “I Walk in Danger All the Way” (LSB 716). These words are quite appropriate to this moment we are in, and may we pray them as we entrust ourselves to our God, who alone is our Help, our Hope, our Health, and our Salvation.

I walk in danger all the way.
The thought shall never leave me
That Satan, who has marked his prey,
Is plotting to deceive me.
This foe with hidden snares
May seize me unawares
If I should fail to watch and pray.
I walk in danger all the way.

I pass through trials all the way,
With sin and ills contending;
In patience I must bear each day
The cross of God’s own sending.
When in adversity
I know not where to flee,
When storms of woe my soul dismay,
I pass through trials all the way.

And death pursues me all the way,
Nowhere I rest securely;
He comes by night, he comes by day,
He takes his prey most surely.
A failing breath, and I
In death’s strong grasp may lie
To face eternity today
As death pursues me all the way.

I walk with angels all the way,
They shield me and befriend me;
All Satan’s pow’r is held at bay
When heav’nly hosts attend me;
They are my sure defense,
All fear and sorrow, hence!
Unharmed by foes, do what they may,
I walk with angels all the way.

I walk with Jesus all the way,
His guidance never fails me;
Within His wounds I find a stay
When Satan’s pow’r assails me;
And by His footsteps led,
My path I safely tread.
No evil leads my soul astray;
I walk with Jesus all the way.

My walk is heav’nward all the way;
Await, my soul, the morrow,
When God’s good healing shall allay
All suff’ring, sin, and sorrow.
Then, worldly pomp, begone!
To heav’n I now press on.
For all the world I would not stay;
My walk is heav’nward all the way.

(Tune available for listening at http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/w/a/l/iwalkdaw.htm)

And now…the news

The bulletin for Sunday is available here, along with the notes and news for this week.

We are scheduled for having a Zoom Fellowship this Sunday at 4 PM. We hope that you can join us for this opportunity for “face time” with each other. Connection information will be going out in a separate email. (If you did not receive it, please contact Pastor by email at trinity-elc-pastor@verizon.net, and he will forward a copy to you.)

We are hoping and praying that we may be getting closer to seeing the County moving towards the Phase One reopening outlined by the Governor which will bring us closer towards our reopening of Trinity for public worship following these long two months plus of being apart from one another. As we make plans towards this end, we invite you to contact Pastor or any of the MPG members with any input or questions you may have.

We will continue to monitor the announcements from the County Executive and let you know of our plans for our return to worship together. One thing that can be announced is that we do plan to continue livestreaming our worship services, even when we return, for those who may not yet feel comfortable in coming back to worship just yet, as well as for those whom we have been able to reach out to through this video ministry.

I hope and pray that everyone has a wonderful and restful weekend, and Lord willing, we’ll “see” you at worship on Sunday.

May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another. God bless!

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear Trinity Family,

As I write these words to you, I am sitting at my desk in my study here at church. In some ways, I am used to a quiet church building during the weekdays. However, until our current crisis began, there was the knowledge that the building would not always be quiet, because it would be filled with you and your voices each Lord’s Day and other times we would gather. So for the past two months, a quiet has settled in, which I know, that I for one, would like to see filled once more with the joyous sound of a congregation gathered again.

I do wish to express my thanks to our Parish Musician, Skip Hall, for his help and collaboration in leading us all in our virtual worship. Also to Paul Ritter for his assistance in “manning the camera”, and to the members of our “live studio audience” of less than 10, who have made preaching to an empty church less empty. Also, my thanks to all of you who have been watching online and have commented on how much you have appreciated these services.

And now, the news…

First, because of County Executive Alsobrooks’ extension of the Governor’s stay-at-home order within Prince George’s County until June 1st, we will continue to abide by the government’s requests and remain closed for in-person worship through the rest of May. We will certainly be continuing to monitor the situation and will be keeping you informed as the conditions change.

With the extension of our closing, our Trinity leadership is discussing how best we can responsibly work towards the reopening of Trinity, especially for public worship. As we make decisions, if there are questions or concerns which you would like to raise or have addressed, please contact Pastor or one of our MPG members so that we can hear your input. Once we have our plan laid out, we will share it with you.

Other notes and news can be found in this Sunday’s Bulletin which can be found on the church website:
The bulletin for Sunday is available here

Of note from the bulletin:

We will be having a virtual Offering of Letters this year as another way to show our care, concern, and support for the needs of hungry people. A message and instructions on this from Art Simon are in the bulletin.

We plan another Zoom Fellowship to be held on Sunday, May 24. We hope you can join us.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding during this time. It has not been easy, but I do believe that the Lord has certainly continued to lead and guide us, as well as providing us with the means to continue to be connected with each other in worship and study. God’s Word has not been bound, and it has gone out in new and different ways for our joy and edification and comfort, and for reaching out to those who still have need to hear of God and His love for them.

Keep on taking care of yourselves and those you love. Keep on looking after your fellow Trinity family members and your neighbors. And know that, even though we do not know when or how this all will come to its conclusion, our God is still God, He is still in charge, He is still looking after us and our good, and He has each of us and the whole world in His hands. And that is and always will be the best place for all of us to be.

Hope to “see” you in worship on Sunday, and, “May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another.”

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear Trinity Family,

A blessed Friday to one and all!  We made it through another week.  While it seems that we are still a ways off from getting the green light to allow us to open the doors of our church home again so that we can once more worship together in person, it does seem that we may be a little closer than we were as the toll of this virus slows its pace, and God willing, allows the whole world a time to recover and find a way to bring this illness to its knees as it has already done to our world.

As our governor begins looking at beginning his plan to reopen the state, it does seem like it may be some time yet before we can look at opening for public worship. We will continue to look at the governor’s recommendations and see how they will work for us. With “Phase One” allowing only “small outdoor religious gatherings”, it may well be that we may only be able to work towards opening again for worship when “Phase Two” begins.  We will continue to wait and monitor the situation and keep you informed on plans and preparations we are making, many of which still wait for further instructions and advice from the state.

Until then, please continue to be in prayer for the world and for our congregation family that the Lord will continue to bless us, keep us safe, keep us strong in faith, and bring us through this moment so we may praise Him for His goodness and mercy.

As to other news…

This Sunday’s bulletin is available on the church website. Feel free to look over the announcements that are there.

A few items of note:

1. Art Simon has some wonderful news about our participation in this year’s Virtual CROP Walk.

2. We have scheduled another Zoom Fellowship call for this Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM. We hope you can join us, and connection information went out to members in an email. (If you would like to join us, please send an email to Pastor at trinity-elc-pastor@verizon.net so he can get that information to you.)

3. A blessed Mother’s Day to all of the mothers, grandmothers, and mother figures in our midst!

I pray that everyone has a blessed weekend and look forward to “seeing” you all at worship and perhaps at our Zoom fellowship.

As I sign off with this message, I thought that I’d share this as a devotional message today.

Recently, I was invited by my alma mater, Concordia College in Bronxville, NY, to be a part of a “virtual choir” project which they were creating. You may have seen similar videos online, and I thought that it might be fun to participate, and I’m glad to be able to share it with you all.

The college asked for Tour Choir Alumni to send in a video of each of us singing the individual parts of what is a “signature piece” that has been sung by the choir over many years: “Nun Ruhen alle Waelder”.  That piece is two stanzas of an evening hymn authored by the German Lutheran Pastor and Hymnwriter, Paul Gerhardt (1607-76), with the music composed by Heinrich Isaac (c. 1450-1517), in an arrangement by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). The hymn is still found in many hymnals, especially Lutheran ones, and is in our Lutheran Service Book as Hymn 880, “Now Rest beneath Night’s Shadow”.

The choir sings the first stanza of the hymn in its original German. A close translation of the words would be something like:

Now rest all the woods,
Cattle, people, towns, and fields,
The whole world is asleep.
But you, my soul,
Up, up, you now will begin,
What is well-pleasing to your Creator.

The second stanza sung in English is the fourth stanza in our hymnal:

Lord Jesus, who dost love me,
O spread Thy wings above me
And shield me from alarm.
Though Satan would devour me,
Let angel guards sing o’er me:
“This child of God shall meet no harm,”

What made this a choir signature piece was that this hymn concluded every concert sung by the Tour Choir. Each evening, the choir would make its way into the nave of the church we sang in, usually able to surround the congregation, and we would hold hands singing with one another, looking towards the altar and its cross, offering this as our evening and closing prayer.

Singing this piece was always a special moment for us as choir members. For many of us, the times spent on tour were among the most memorable of our college days because of the friendships which developed, grew, and flourished between us while not only singing together, but also living on a bus for two weeks and all of the other things which made up “tour life”. Each night as we prayed this hymn together, it prepared us for what was another “tour ritual”. Following each concert, we would usually be hosted overnight in the homes of the congregation members; sometimes in our selected “tour partner” pairs, sometimes needing to be separated because of the space limitations which our host families had. In any case, we as a choir were needing to be apart from one another, if only for a night, and so this prayer was one which we were asking God’s blessings on one another while we were away from each other, praying that we would be able to see one another the next day and continue on our journey together.

I have to admit that hearing us sing this hymn “together” brought tears to my eyes because of the memories that washed over me from those wonderful three years I was privileged to sing in this choir, and under the direction of “Doc” Schultz. But it was also because of my remembering the meaning behind this piece which also made me think of the current times we find ourselves in as Pastor and People. This is the same prayer which I offer for all of us as we remain apart from one another in these days: that the Lord Jesus who loves all of us, remains with us, keeping us safe in His care and protection, under the watchful guardianship of His holy angels, who constantly warn the evil one and his hosts: “This child of God shall meet no harm!”

And so we pray: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK-QL_gu6q4&feature=youtu.be

May the Lord bless us, defend us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen!

And may the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear Trinity Family

It’s hard to believe that we are about to have our seventh Sunday apart from each other and not yet able to gather together for worship. I pray that all of you continue to be and stay well and safe and that we may be inching closer to the ending of this time of quarantine.

The bulletin for Sunday is available and all the announcements are there for you. Just wanted to lift up a couple of items though…

VIRTUAL CROP WALK:
Thanks to all those who have participated in this effort we have raised $520.00 to help the hungry in our community. Donations can still be made online, or if you just want to go “old school” and write a check, you can make your check out to CWS Crop Walk and mail your check to Art Simon who will forward it on to the folks at the CROP Walk. Full details can be found in the bulletin announcements.

ZOOM FELLOWSHIP:
It’s been great to “see” the Trinity family on Zoom. Our next time for some “face time” with each other will be next Sunday, May 10th, at 4:00 PM. We realize that this is also Mother’s Day, but we hope that you can still join us. Connection information will be sent out in a separate email by next Friday, May 8th.

Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to being with you at worship on Facebook Live this Sunday morning. And as always, “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.”

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear Trinity Family,

God’s richest blessings be with you all! And I continue to pray that everyone remains safe and well as these days of separation continue.

I just wanted to reach out to you all this Friday with an email to say hello and to pass along a few announcements.

Fellowship on Zoom:
We will be holding another Zoom Fellowship this Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM and we hope you will be able to join us, either on video or phone conferencing. Information to connect will be coming out in a separate email.

Virtual CROP Walk:
Just a reminder that the “Virtual CROP Walk” is still going on. We hope you will participate in this work to help hungry people as you are able. Please find the the message from Art Simon on how you are able to participate and donate in this Sunday’s bulletin, available in the Bulletin Archive.

LMS Compassion Place Ministry:
While our Hyattsville Compassion Center continues to be closed at this time, the Lutheran Mission Society (LMS) still is doing work for the good of needy people. Please visit the LMS website, which includes a video message from LMS Director, Pastor David Maack, to learn more about what they are doing at this time.

During this time away from the Lord’s Supper:
I know that not everyone is able to come and receive the Lord’s Supper as we usually would, although opportunity to make arrangements to receive the Sacrament can be made with Pastor. Because we are unable at this time to regularly receive this great Gift for the comfort and strengthening of our souls, one spiritual tool some use during this time of separation from the Sacrament is that of “spiritual communion”: a reminder through the Word of the gifts that we receive through our participation in Holy Communion and a prayer for the Lord to continue to give us those gifts even while we are unable physically to share in the Lord’s Supper. Thanks to a seminary classmate of mine, I was able to find such a “spiritual communion” meditation and prayer from our Lutheran Christian tradition. You can find it for your use on the church website under the Worship tab as “Prayer for Spiritual Communion“.

I wish all of you a wonderful weekend, and look forward to “seeing” you in worship this Sunday. Keep safe and healthy, and always continuing to trust in the Lord.  And as always, “may the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another”!

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear Trinity Family,

God’s richest blessings be with you all! And prayers that everyone continues to be safe and well as we continue through these days.

On this Easter Friday, I just wanted to reach out with an email to say hello and to pass along a few announcements.

Online Worship and Study Opportunities:
Thank you to everyone who has been viewing our Sunday Worship and Midweek Bible Studies on Facebook Live. I’m glad for the positive comments that have come to me, and even more glad to know that these broadcasts are a blessing and spiritual encouragement for you all.  Most certainly, we’re all hoping to be back together for “in person” worship soon, but as we wait, this virtual means of spiritual provision allows us to still be the body of Christ united in the Word and in prayer together.  My continued thanks to Skip Hall for his musical accompaniment, and to Paul Ritter for his work “behind the camera”.  Thanks also to those who have been a part of our “live studio” congregation.  It’s nice to have a few faces in the pews, until I get to see everyone back in them again.

Virtual CROP Walk:
One of the things we are missing by not being together in person for worship during this season is Art Simon’s weekly reminders about the CROP Walk for hungry people. Because of the current conditions, the CROP Walk for this year has been cancelled. However, this does not mean that the opportunity to help hungry people has been cancelled.  The information on how you can participate in this virtual CROP Walk is available in this Sunday’s bulletin, posted on the church website.

ZOOM Fellowship:
It was nice to have an opportunity to “see” each other for a little bit on Easter Afternoon by video conference on ZOOM.  We invite you as you are able to join us again on Sunday, April 26th, when we will schedule another ZOOM fellowship.  Be on the lookout for an email with the contact information later next week.

I wish all of you a wonderful weekend, and look forward to “seeing” you in worship this Sunday.  As always, may we all stay safe, healthy, and trusting in the Lord whose “mercy endures forever”.  And, “may the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another”!

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear friends in Christ,

As we keep these great Three Days of celebrating and remembering God’s great love shown us in Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection, may the Lord bless us with the gift of faith and move us to give thanks for the salvation we have through Jesus Christ.

It would be an understatement to say that in all of my years of ministry, and even in all my years of life, that this is the “strangest” Holy Week that I and any of us have ever celebrated. That being said, however, there is a comforting thought in all of this. This Holy Week will be “strange” because of the situation we find ourselves in owing to the Coronavirus pandemic. What will not be “strange” though, but rather comfortably familiar, is that this Holy Week will be the same as it always has been before—the time we as God’s People have to reflect on God’s great love and His gift of salvation given to us through the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Perhaps then it would be better to say that this Holy Week will be “different” rather than “strange”. This moment calls on us to do things a little differently than we are used to or would prefer. Worshiping together online is certainly not the same as gathering in the house of the church. Our songs of praise won’t ring out as joyously as they would when they are sung together. Our fellowship is distant, but fortunately not broken. And perhaps most of all, the act through which we remember the Lord’s death and proclaim His resurrection and His coming again in glory—His Holy Supper—is something which we are not able to share in with each other fully at this time.

This message then is an encouragement for all of us to keep this “different” Holy Week together, both through our opportunities for worship together, and also through opportunities that we can have in our own “domestic churches” at home through devotions and other activities.

Keeping Holy Week in Worship:

Worship in these Holy Days is scheduled to go on as planned, even with the changes that were made necessary because of the pandemic. We are thankful that technology has given us the opportunity to have time “together” in worship, hearing God’s Word, and in prayer. Our thanks to all those who have been viewing our services, and extra special thanks to those who have helped to bring these services to us, especially Skip Hall, our Parish Musician, and Paul Ritter, who has assisted in being “behind the camera”.

The following will be our schedule for services that will be livestreamed from Trinity during Holy Week (available on our Facebook Page): www.facebook.com/trinityelcmountrainier

Palm Sunday:
Sunday Morning Worship – 9:30 AM

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Holy Week:
Holy Week Vespers – 3:00 PM

Holy (Maundy) Thursday:
Vespers of Holy Thursday – 3:00 PM

Good Friday:
Vespers of Good Friday – 3:00 PM

Holy Saturday:
Noonday Prayer of Holy Saturday – 12:00 Noon

Easter Sunday:
Sunday Morning Worship – 9:30 AM

As you can see, we will provide worship each day of Holy Week this year, rather than just on The Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday and the days of the Triduum (Three Days): Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Each day’s worship will allow us the opportunity to walk together with our Lord through the events of His final week in Jerusalem. And we pray that it may be spiritually enriching for us all to be able to do so.

The timing of the weekday services was chosen for two reasons. The first was practical.  For those who may be home, 3:00 PM seemed a good time for the livestream to happen. The service would then also be available for those who would need to view it at a later time that day. The second reason was one of symbolism: 3:00 being the hour of Jesus’ death, which seems a very suitable time for us to gather and remember our Lord’s Passion.

Orders of Service will be available on the church website—www.tlcmr.org—to aid you in participating in these worship moments. Pastor will also be preaching at each of these services.

Keeping Holy Week at Home:

There are many ways that families and individuals can keep Holy Week at home. We would like to share with you some ideas and materials that can assist you during these days in having a prayerful time to remember and give thanks for Christ’s Passion and Resurrection.

A “Different” Palm Sunday:
Traditionally, Holy Week would have begun with the Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem and the distribution of palm branches. Since we will not be together for worship, we will also not be able to receive palms or palm crosses this year. Thanks to some friends on Facebook, I ran across a fine idea that they shared for a home Palm Sunday activity, thanks to a Roman Catholic Deacon’s blog:
https://thedeaconsbench.com/a-beautiful-idea-for-palm-sunday/

It sounds like a wonderful idea, and one that has biblical and historic precedent. Looking at the Gospels, only John says that there were palm branches carried by the people as Jesus entered Jerusalem. Matthew says that the people had taken branches from the trees. In Mark, the people cut leafy branches from the fields. And Luke surprisingly doesn’t mention any branches at all. There are also places where palms are not easily or readily accessible, and so there are some churches where the tradition is to use branches from other native trees, either green or flowering. In some places, that would be olive branches; in others, yew or boxwood; and in northeastern European areas, pussy willow branches.

If you would like to do this as a family “Branch Sunday” project, and you take pictures of the end result, please send them on to me at trinity-elc-pastor@verizon.net and I will be sure to share those photos with our Trinity family in an email early in Holy Week.

Reading and Meditating on Christ’s Passion:
To hear the account of Jesus’ suffering, death, burial, and resurrection is the center of these Holy Days. You will find below a PDF file which contains some suggestions for reading through the Gospel accounts during these Holy Days. The file also contains a copy of what is known as “The Passion History”, which is a compilation and harmonization of the four Gospel accounts into one reading, that has been a traditional part of Lutheran devotion during Lent.
Passion Readings for Holy Week

Devotional Reading:
In addition to the Lenten Devotional booklet, “Eyes on Jesus”, which our Trinity Family received before Lent began, we are able to provide a devotion specially prepared for the days of Holy Week. “From Palms to Passion”. The devotional booklet is available as a PDF file, linked below.  This provides you with a reading for each morning and evening from Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday.
From Palms to Passion Devotional

Other Resources:
In earlier messages, we made suggestions on where you can find resources for your use which will aid your prayer and devotion in these days. We are happy to share them again for you here:

Concordia Publishing House : www.cph.org
Plenty of resources for worship, study, and devotion, including special music playlists.

Illustrated Ministry: https://www.illustratedministry.com/flattenthecurve
Coloring sheets for creative devotions.

The Cyber Hymnal: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/index.htm
A resource with thousands of hymn texts and music files to help you sing along.

Lutheran Public Radio: https://lutheranpublicradio.org/
A 24 hour internet Sacred Music station.

Add Your Own Ideas:
Feel free to search the internet for other ideas that you may find. And feel free to share them with us. You can especially share the links in our Facebook group.

+ + + + + + + + + +

I pray that these materials and suggestions, along with your own ideas, will be of help for all of us to keep a prayerful “different” Holy Week together this year. God bless us all!

In Christ Jesus,
+Pastor

Dear People of God,

For those of us still able to remember what day of the week it is, “Thank God it’s Friday!” I’m sure that as we have gone through these days together, one day is not unlike another. But, our God who is always the same is filling these “so same” days with His life, love, peace, joy, and hope by assuring us that He is always with us.

And that seems like the perfect segue into our final devotion for this week from Romans 8, looking at verses 31-39…

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“If God is for us, who can be against us?” – Romans 8:31

The autobiography of Pastor Oswald Hoffman, the second speaker of “The Lutheran Hour”, carries as its title a phrase that he apparently used often, especially at the conclusion of sermons: “What more is there to say but ‘Amen’.” It’s a thought that might bring a smile to the face of those who listen to pastors and their preaching, especially because that may be the word they’re looking forward most to hearing in the sermon, knowing that it’s over.

But there’s another way of looking at this phrase. When we’ve heard the blessed Good News of what God has done and is still doing for us in and through our Lord Jesus, it should make even the most dyed-in-the-wool Lutheran want to get up and shout “Amen!”

Such is the message that Paul brings as he concludes this marvelous eighth chapter of his letter to the Romans, and it is his “Amen” to what he has been proclaiming. Having announced to us the Good News of what it means to be in Christ; to live in, with, and through His Spirit; to know the glory that is yet to come for us; Paul now gives us the beautiful reminder, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” He stacks up everything that stands against us as we live in this world–our sin, the death we must undergo, the evil one who tempts us, even every form of human suffering that we can imagine–and Paul says, “And against it all, God stands with you and you will not fall.”

Yet Paul does not say that because we know that God stands with us as our Shield and Protector, that somehow we are immune from or somehow exempt from suffering.  Quite the contrary.  He quotes Psalm 44:22, “For Your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” Not too pleasant of a prospect to think about, is it? Nor does it engender much confidence in God’s love when you first look at it. It begs the question, “If God is for us”, then why is it that “for [His] sake we are being killed all the day long”?

The answer to this question is unfortunately hidden from us as we undergo our moments of suffering. At those times, we may share in Jesus’ own words from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Yet, because we feel pain, undergo affliction, or sense that we have been abandoned, does not mean that God is not with us. In truth, it is in precisely these moments where our God is present with His love, protection, and care; binding Himself to us because we are His. We may not fully sense it, because our present pain blinds us, but it doesn’t make this truth untrue.

This is the hope that we hang our hope on when all seems hopeless. Our trust is completely in the God who loves us and from whose love nothing in all of creation can separate us. This is our hope for both time and eternity, that when all is said and done, all we will need is love–God’s Love, first and perfectly displayed and given to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Confidently believing this, we trust God’s promise, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

And what more is there to say to that but, “Amen!”

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Again, I hope that these devotional thoughts have been a blessing to you. And in a way, they are sort of a “warm-up” for what we will have the opportunity to experience together next week as we go through the days of Holy Week.

More information on our Holy Week observances, as well as ways to keep these holy days while we are in our homes, will be coming in another email today. I also hope that I will have the opportunity to share another video devotion moment with you later today as well. You can look for it on our Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/trinityelcmountrainier.

God’s blessings be with you all, and “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.”

Peace in Jesus,
+Pastor