Dear Trinity Family,

As I was preparing for this Sunday’s worship, there were a string of thoughts on my mind, some of which found their way into Sunday’s sermon, while others simply inspired. (And it should be said that if every thought or inspiration were put into any given sermon, they would become much longer than the “usual sermon”.) The following devotional thought, such as it is, is based on a hymn which sat in the back of my mind as a bit of unbidden inspiration during my sermon writing which I would like to share with you as a preview of sorts for our worship together this weekend.

This Sunday, October 11th, marks, to the very day, the 89th Anniversary of the founding of our congregation when it held its first worship service at the Odd Fellows’ Hall on the corner of 34th Street and Bunker Hill Road (the brown brick building still standing on that corner today). In 1931, the liturgical date was the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, and according to our congregational history, Vicar Edwin Pieplow preached on the text from Genesis 7:1–“Come thou and all thy house into the ark.”  The Gospel reading provided for that Sunday in the lectionary used in those days was Matthew 22:1-14, the Parable of the Wedding Feast. It so happens that this year this same Gospel is appointed on this Sunday of our Anniversary celebration, and will serve as the text for my sermon.

While writing the sermon, my thoughts were quietly inspired by a hymn text which I remembered singing in college and seminary, as well as studying in a seminary hymnology class.  “O Kingly Love, That Faithfully” was written by the 20th Century Lutheran Hymnwriter and Theologian Martin Franzmann (1907-76).  This hymn was written in 1966, prepared to be a part of materials for congregations to use as a part of the celebration of the 450th Anniversary of the Reformation in 1967.  The tune, KINGLY LOVE, was composed for the text by Lutheran composer, Richard Hillert (1923-2010), who was also the composer of Setting One of the Divine Service in our hymnal, with its well known and loved setting of the Hymn of Praise, “This Is the Feast”.

Unfortunately, the hymn was not included in those Reformation celebration materials, but it was published first in the 1969 Worship Supplement (#757), and later in the 1981 hymnal, Lutheran Worship (#346). In the Worship Supplement, the hymn was listed as being for Reformation, as well as being the “Hymn of the Week” for Trinity 20, with its text being a sung proclamation of the themes found in the Gospel for that day.  The hymn speaks eloquently of God’s constant call of love for His people to come to Him, especially as that call came through the sending of His Son. Jesus and His inviting call to the world is shown in the hymnwriter’s image of the “trumpet none could silence or mistake”, through which the “living breath” of God’s Spirit blew “for all the world to hear, living and clear” the “ancient, true, and constant melody” of God’s song which calls us to Him and His “kingly, lavish, seeking, and holy and ruthless love” which brings and gives us life and shapes us into the new people and new creation we are called to be.

I pray that meditating on this text will be a way for us to prepare for the Word we will hear and celebrate together this weekend. Blessings to you all and I look forward to being with you in worship this Sunday.

You can find a recording of the hymn here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvnAy8AmdOQ

Here is Franzmann’s text (from the Worship Supplement, 1969):

O kingly Love, that faithfully
Didst keep Thine ancient promises,
Didst bid the bidden come to Thee,
The people Thou didst choose to bless,
This day we raise
Our song of praise,
Adoring Thee,
That in the days
When alien sound
Had all but drowned
Thine ancient, true, and constant melody,
Thy mighty hand did make
A trumpet none could silence or mistake,
Thy living breath did blow for all the world to hear,
Living and clear:
The feast is ready–come to the feast,
The good and the bad,
Come and be glad,
Greatest and least,
Come to the feast!

O lavish Love, that didst prepare
A table bounteous as Thy heart,
That men might leave their puny care
And taste and see how good Thou art,
This day we raise, etc.

O seeking Love, Thy hurrying feet
Go searching still to urge and call
The bad and good on every street
To fill Thy boundless banquet hall.
This day we raise, etc.

O holy Love, Thou canst not brook
Man’s cool and careless enmity;
O ruthless Love, Thou wilt not look
On man robed in contempt of Thee.
Thine echoes die;
Our deeds deny
Thy summoning:
Our darkling cry,
Our meddling sound
Have all but drowned
That song that once made every echo ring.
Take up again, O take
The trumpet none can silence or mistake,
And blow once more for us and all the world to hear,
Living and clear:
The feast is ready–come to the feast,
The good and the bad,
Come and be glad,
Greatest and least,
Come to the feast!

(C) 1969, Concordia Publishing House

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3C0iB4yD4M&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3fs7o8UW8fHR_vGEkHEHOI5whkGHUfP9773Yx0VoMTIsiQqui-zpFN9pw

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

Dear Trinity Family,

As we go into our third Sunday of holding in person worship at Trinity, things seem to be working very well. My thanks to everyone for their help and understanding as we get used to this adjusted normal by wearing masks, cleaning hands, and keeping physical distance. We’ve been doing well and I know we’ll continue to do so.

Since last Sunday, Prince George’s County has entered into a “Full Phase Two” of its reopening plan along with the rest of the state. This means that Places of Worship may hold indoor gatherings of no more that 50% of their capacity. Based on only our “nave pew capacity” of 126, this places our limit at 63, which completely covers our average Sunday attendance. While this is cause for us to rejoice, let us continue to remember our brothers and sisters in other churches who are still not yet able to open their doors for worship as fully as we are. Let us pray for the day when all believers will again be able to worship together in the Lord’s House.

Again, as we come together for worship, we ask all of our members to continue to follow our Stay-Safe Rules while at church. We also want to remind our members who are unsure of returning quite yet for worship that we love you, we respect your choices, and we will be glad to see you again when you do return.

We are continuing to livestream worship on Facebook Live, and worship services are archived for later viewing on the video section of our church Facebook Page.

Our Redeemer/Trinity Food Distribution ministry is going well and is helping clients of our Compassion Center and others receive the food they and their families need. We thank you all for your generous donations to keep the pantry stocked. This Sunday, July 5th, you can once again drop off food to support this ministry. Please bring your donations to the Compassion Center entrance at Redeemer between Noon and 1 PM.

God’s blessings and peace be with you all this holiday weekend. Enjoy and be safe! And hope to see you at worship either in person or online this Sunday!

In Christ’s love,
+Pastor

Dear Trinity Family,

This week’s news is perfectly summed up in the words of the Psalmist David:

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!'” (Ps. 122:1)

We are indeed glad as we look forward to returning to our church home after three months of being away from it and from each other’s fellowship.  It will be a great joy to see many of you again, and to share in the blessings of lifting our praises and prayers to the Lord, hearing His Word, and receiving the precious gift of the Lord’s Supper together once more.

With that being said, we do realize that the cause of this time of separation from each other is still with us.  While we open the doors again, we are not yet able to “fling them wide open” as we still must follow attendance limits and other distancing procedures.  We also realize that the virus is still active, so there is still a need for continued caution.  While some of us may be open to making a return to church now, there are still those who feel the need to continue staying at home.  As we said before the stay at home orders went into effect, each of us will need to use the God-given gift of wisdom that we have to make the best decision that we can for our own health and well-being.  If you do not yet feel that the time is right for you to come back to worship, be at peace with that decision, knowing that your church family loves you, is praying for and with you, and looks forward to the day when we can all be together again.

For those who are coming back (or when you are ready to come back), information concerning how our worship gatherings will look like during this time of “adjusted normal” is available for you to review on the church website here.

(This information will also be available in the Sunday Bulletin for the next couple of weeks as well.)

Speaking of the Sunday Bulletin, it is also available for you here on the church website to get the latest news from Trinity.

As we will continue to livestream our Sunday Services, the bulletins will also continue to be published online especially for use by those who will be joining us in worship through Facebook Live.

God’s blessings be with you all this weekend, and I look forward to seeing you all at worship this Sunday, either in person or online!

Peace in Christ,
+Pastor

RESUMING PUBLIC WORSHIP … After 13 long weeks since we last met together on March 15th, County Executive Alsobrooks has allowed churches to resume indoor worship services at 25% of building capacity, beginning June 15th.  Based upon “pew space” in the nave, we have a capacity of 108, which places our limit at 27 persons. (Because of actual building space, which would include the balcony, overflow, and other areas in the church, our building’s capacity number could actually be greater.)  Even at 27 persons, this number does allow us the opportunity, based on our average attendance, to be able to invite all those of our members who feel comfortable to return to in person worship to do so.

Please read through the following announcements so that you will know what we are doing for us to be able to worship safely together again.

WHEN YOU ARRIVE … You will be met at the door by a table holding copies of the Sunday Service and Bulletin, as well as hand sanitizer.  Please then take your seat for worship.  Pews in the Nave have been marked off for use, and we ask you to please distance yourselves accordingly; persons from the same household may sit together.  Seating is also available in the balcony and the overflow as needed.  We also ask you to please resist the great temptation to socialize before the service.  We know we all want to do this because we’ve been away from each other so long, but for the time being, it is best for us to limit our interactions with one another while indoors.  Feel free to have “properly distanced fellowship” outside after service.

MASKS … As in many other indoor venues, we are asking that you please wear a mask as much as possible while inside the church building.  We realize that there will be times when you may need to take the mask off (such as to receive Communion), but to promote everyone’s well-being, we ask you to wear them.  If you do not have a mask from home to wear, we do have a limited supply of disposable masks available.  Please ask for one.

BULLETINS … Per reopening suggestions, hymnals have been removed from the pews, so the order of service has been fully printed in the Sunday Bulletin.  After the service, please take these home with you for your personal devotions, keeping up with the latest Trinity news, and to recycle.  Thank you.

OFFERINGS … We will continue to not pass the offering plates as a part of the worship service at this time.  A basket is available on the “literature table” in the rear of the nave to receive your offerings as you enter for worship.  You may also continue to mail in your offerings to the church office as well.

SHARING THE PEACE … We will continue to share the Peace of the Lord with one another corporately; the response to the Pastor of “And also with you”, is directed to everyone (“And also with y’all”).  That being said, you may feel free to “share the peace” with those around you through a wave or a smile as we continue for a while in our distancing.

HOLY COMMUNION … As we can now gather together in person around the Lord’s Table, we will once again offer the Lord’s Supper as a part of our regular worship.  Holy Communion will be offered to those present through use of individual hosts and cups (wine and grape juice will be offered).  The distribution will take place in a “continuous fashion”. Each pew will be directed forward by section (pulpit side, lectern side, overflow and balcony).  As you come forward, please keep some distance in between persons.

In concern for everyone’s well-being, Pastor and his assistant will have cleaned their hands before the distribution with hand sanitizer and will wear masks.  Pastor will distribute Christ’s Body and bless all those not receiving at the center of the rail (where the Font is usually located).  Turning to the left, the assistant will have the tray of cups with Christ’s Blood available for you.  At the end of the rail will be a place for you to place your empty cup.  Please then return to your seat by use of the side aisle.

RESTROOMS … For the time being, and to help us in managing the amount of cleaning which needs to be maintained, we kindly ask that those in the building do not use the restrooms on the fellowship hall level of the building.  The restroom in the church office lobby is available for your use.  However, if there should be an “emergency need” to use the restroom downstairs, please let Pastor know so that it can be cleaned.  Thank you for your understanding.

TO SUM UP … All of these items (and a few others) are summarized in our “Trinity Stay-Safe Rules” which you will find here online and posted at church.  If you have any questions or concerns about any of these things, please speak with Pastor or one of our MPG Members (Helen & Waymond Joynes, Julie Gilroy, Michael McCoyer, Vincent Peele, Paul Ritter) to let your thoughts and questions be heard.  We look to having your input.

FOR THOSE NOT YET QUITE READY TO RETURN …

As exciting as it is for us to be able to reopen the doors of the church building to our Trinity Family for worship together, we also realize that because of the situation that this pandemic has brought, we are not yet at an ending of it all.  Like many of our leaders have pointed out, we know that the pandemic is not over, and though things have gotten better, we are not able to say that anything we do as individuals or groups is 100% safe.  All of us remain vigilant about our safety for both our health and the health of others.

If you do not as yet feel ready to return to worship in person, because of age or medical condition or any other reason, we understand completely.  Be at peace with your decision and know that we hold you in our hearts and in our prayers, waiting to greet you when you do return.

Also, we kindly ask any who are sick or showing the symptoms of the virus to please stay home from coming to church, and if needed to get under your doctor’s care.

ONLINE WORSHIP … As we begin the reopening of our church building with the gradual relaxing of limits on public gatherings for churches, we will continue to offer the option for worshipping online, especially for those of our Trinity family who are unable to be with us, or who are not as yet ready to make their return.  Please join us on our church Facebook Page, or through the link available on the church webpage to help those who are not on Facebook to join us.  Also on the church webpage, you will find a link to the current worship service bulletin which you can view or print to aid your participation in the service.  We hope that this method of “gathering together” will continue to be a blessing for those who have need of it.  If there are any problems, comments, questions, or even complaints, please contact Pastor by phone or email and let us know what we can try to do to be better.

PRIVATE COMMUNION … For those who are shut-in or who may be fearful of coming out in these days, please contact Pastor so we can have conversation together and—depending on health, conditions, and schedule—make arrangements to come and bring you Communion.

Also, appointments can be made for individuals or families to meet with Pastor Schiebel at the church to celebrate and receive the Sacrament together.  Please call the church office (301-864-4340) or email Pastor (trinity-elc-pastor@verizon.net) and we’ll set up a mutually convenient time to be together for this time with the Lord and one another.

If either of these are not workable for you, we may suggest making a “Spiritual Communion” as a part of your devotions and online worship.  A meditation and prayer for this purpose is available on the church website here.

Dear Trinity Family,

A blessed Friday to one and all!

Well, the day has finally and blessedly arrived!  Yesterday, County Executive Alsobrooks announced that Prince George’s County would be entering into its Phase Two of Reopening, and this would allow churches to open for indoor services at 25% capacity, beginning on Monday, June 15th. This permission allows us a high enough number to invite our regular attendees to return to Trinity for in person worship services again if they so desire. In consultation with the Ministry Planning Group (MPG), we have set Sunday, June 21st as “Return to Trinity” Sunday. Worship will begin that day at 9:30 AM.

As we move towards reopening, there is much to be informed about on how church and worship will “look like and feel like” when we return. There is a lot of information in this Sunday’s bulletin, available here, about these plans as we come back to our church home. Please read through them, and if you have any questions, please reach out to Pastor or one of our MPG members.

News then for this weekend…

Please look again for the email sent out yesterday, or in the Sunday Bulletin, for news about our resuming food distribution for clients of our Compassion Center. Note especially the needs that we need to keep the pantry stocked for the coming weeks.  There will be a time to drop off food donations at Redeemer on Sunday afternoon between Noon and 2 PM.

Since the County Executive’s new orders do not go into effect until Monday, this Sunday we will continue to offer worship online only. We thank all of you for staying connected together through these virtual means and we pray it has been a blessing to you. We will continue to livestream the services when we return for those who are still unable to be with us and as a way of continuing to reach out to those who have “found” us online during these past weeks.

I pray that all of us have a safe and enjoyable weekend, and I hope to join you all in worship this coming Lord’s Day.

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,

A blessed Friday to one and all!

It’s time once again for the weekly update on goings on at Trinity, and honestly, not much new to report as the county’s limits on religious gatherings continue. We look forward to hearing from the County Executive a change to these limits so we can open our doors to a larger group to come and worship. But until then, we wait.

As a part of our getting ready for reopening, we would like to thank Joy Sandiford and family for their donation of Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer which we will be putting to use both in our preparing for and when we gather again.  Thanks for your gift!  If other members have or are able to share cleaning supplies that would be useful to keeping our church home clean for when we meet again, they will be greatly appreciated as these supplies are often hard to find.

We rejoice along with our brothers and sisters at Our Savior Lutheran in Laurel who will be celebrating the Ordination and Installation of their new Associate Pastor, Joshua Hileman, who is coming to them from after his graduation from Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis. Praise God for answered prayers for new laborers in His harvest fields!

We are scheduled to have a Zoom Fellowship this Sunday afternoon at 4 PM. We hope you can join us. Connection information will be sent out in a separate email. If you did not receive the email and would like to join us, please email Pastor at trinity-elc-pastor@verizon.net so he can send you the connection link.

All of the other news is available in this Sunday’s Bulletin which can be found here

To close, some thoughts about this coming Sunday…

The Feast of the Holy Trinity both closes the festival half of the Church Year and opens the long season of “Ordinary Time”. It is a celebration of the great mystery of the Triune God–one God in three Persons–as well as a celebration of how this God is revealed to us in His great and glorious works seen in how God has created us, redeemed us, and made us holy.

This Feast is also special for us as a congregation because it is our “Festival of Title”, our “name day”. Our congregation received its name from our “mother church”: Trinity (now First Trinity) Lutheran in Washington, DC, who started what became our congregation as a mission to reach out to the emerging suburbs of Washington in 1931.

As we remember our congregation’s name–named for the One True God–we are also reminded that not only does our parish bear this Name of God, but each one of us bear this same Name as well as we were baptized into this Name–the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

When one “wears” someone else’s name, like being named after some dearly loved relative in one’s family tree, there is almost a hope and expectation for you to “live up to that name”.  How much more is the expectation that we “live up” to God’s Name that we bear in our life and living?  It seems to be too high of a goal for us to be able to fulfill.  But that fact doesn’t exempt us from trying.

Perhaps in the days we find ourselves in, maybe the best thing for us is to see how God’s attributes show themselves at work in our lives.  We know that God is Love.  How is that love at work in our lives?  How are we loving God?  Are we loving others as God has loved us?  In answering these questions we will come to discover how much we are living up to being bearers of God’s Name, how much we need to repent of our failures to live up to that Name, and how we are strengthened and renewed by God to truly love one another as God loves all.

May God bless us and give us grace to be worthy bearers of His Name in the world!

God’s blessings on your weekend and look forward to “seeing” you at worship on Sunday!

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,

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