Dear People of God,

In my sermon this past Sunday, I made reference to the Old Testament and Epistle Readings which were not read as a part of our worship service (a decision made because of the length of the Gospel Reading).  Those readings were:

Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Epistle: Romans 8:1-11 (And as I mentioned in the sermon, in the times we find ourselves in, reading the whole eighth chapter of Romans is a wonderful source of comfort.)

I thought that I would send out a devotion to you all through email based on these passages as this week goes on. First, on the reading from Ezekiel.

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Ezekiel 37:3
And [the Spirit of the Lord] said to me; “Son of man, can these bones live?”  And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”

Honestly, the numbers are scary.  Turning on the news, you seem to know that in this moment, the question is not “Will the numbers go up?”, but rather “By how much have they gone up?”  And the more difficult thing to realize is that when we hear the numbers–whether we’re counting the infected or the dead–we are not talking about numbers, but the real people who make them up. Each number counted is a child of God’s creating, precious and beloved to Him.

The “vision” we see through the numbers of this pandemic is perhaps not too much unlike the vision that Ezekiel had of the valley of dry bones.  What must it have been like to see that vision of the dead?  Might it have stirred the emotions like the pictures we’ve seen of Italian churches filled with coffins waiting for burial?  Can these bones live?

We pray that for those who have died in the faith of Jesus, these bones will indeed live, knowing Christ’s promise that for us who believe He is our Resurrection and our Life through whom we will live forever.  But, we also need to remember that something has to come before that.  And that something is what God calls Ezekiel to do in the vision he has.

“Prophesy to these bones,” the Lord tells Ezekiel.  Speak the Word to them.  Tell these tired, worn, dry, dead bones that God has promised to give them life.  And this is the Word that we have received from God, which we continue to speak to one another and to the world so that we may both know and have God’s promised gift of life.  This is the Word which is our hope when we feel tired, broken, alone, fearful–when we feel that all we can say is, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”

And in reply, God has another message.  He tells Ezekiel: “Prophesy to the breath…and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”  The Hebrew word for breath and wind is the same word that is used for Spirit.  It is a beautiful reminder to us that the Holy Spirit which our God has given to each of us in Baptism is the very breath of God which brings us not just that physical life as He first gave to Adam, but that gift of eternal life which is planted and renewed in us through the life-giving Spirit who dwells within us.

“Can these bones live?”  Yes, because of the living breath of God’s Spirit within us, who restores us and our lives, who restores our hope in God in our darkest hours, and who is the seal and promise of that life that is to come where we will come at last to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Let God’s Spirit continue to breathe in you as you hear the Word of the Lord restoring you, giving you life and hope and peace, and filling you with joy even in these dark times.

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Speaking of devotions and such…In my last update I mentioned resources available through Concordia Publishing House (www.cph.org) and Lutheran Hour Ministries (www.lhm.org).  I would like to pass on another possible resource for your time at home.

Illustrated Ministry:

We used their art back in 2017 when we created our “Reformation 500 Congregational Artwork” that hangs in the overflow area at church.  They have created free resources for creative devotions during this time, based on the weekly readings, starting with the Third Sunday in Lent, and adding new material for the next week every Friday.  Just go to their website, fill out a brief form, and they will send you a link to their resource archive.

https://www.illustratedministry.com/flattenthecurve

I pray that this will be yet another way to let the Spirit’s breath continue to sustain us during this time.

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Know that I miss you all, that you all are in my prayers, and “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.”

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear People of God,

I hope and pray that this message finds all of you safe and healthy in these days.

Was wanting to touch base with you all about a couple of things…

First, we will once again be holding our Sunday Worship online. So far, we have heard from some of you and we’ve received only words of thanks for getting the service out to you all this way. Thanks for your patience, and hopefully we’re all learning together about these new media means, even as we continue to worship and praise the Lord and hear His Word, even though we are separated from one another.

The service will be livestreamed through Facebook Live. You can access the video feed on our Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/trinityelcmountrainier/
The bulletin for the service can be found for you to print out beforehand or follow on your computer on the church website: www.tlcmr.org

Hope to “see” you all at church!

Second, I’d like to recommend a couple of websites which may be of help to you as aids for devotion and to keep your spiritual lives going during this time.

Our church’s publisher, Concordia Publishing House (www.cph.org) has a special section of their homepage with various resources for worship, study, and devotion.  Of interest to some may be:
The free study guide, “A Longer Look at the Lessons”, which we use for our Sunday Morning Bible Class
The devotion from Portals of Prayer posted daily
You can even get this Sunday’s children’s bulletin to print off and color and do the activities.

Also, Lutheran Hour Ministries (www.lhm.org) is another resource from our well known LCMS ministry with devotions, other resources, as well as the messages from the Lutheran Hour.

As the days go on, I’ll be trying my best to share more resources like these with you so we can continue to be built up in our faith together.

I pray that everyone has a blessed and safe weekend, and as always, “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another.”

Peace and blessings,
+Pastor

Dear friends in Christ,

This past Sunday, the Introit of the Day from Psalms 25 and 27 had these words to encourage us:

My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.
One thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.
For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of His tent;
He will lift me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

As I prayed these words together with you all as we worshiped by means of internet and video, I was reminded of the love and protection of our God, the One on whom we keep our eyes set, knowing that He is caring for us and keeping us safe in ways that we may not yet realize.  We follow as best we can the directions of our leaders in government at all levels. We use the knowledge and common sense that God has gifted us with. But what we cannot see is the hand of God, yet we know that He is here with us, and that with His help and aid, we pray that even in this moment that He will allow us finally to see the good He is doing, especially as He draws us ever closer to Him.

The other thing that the Psalmist speaks of these words is his joy found in not only the protection and deliverance that God provides him, but also the opportunity that he takes advantage of in being able to go to the house of the Lord and give thanks to the Lord for all His kindness.  It is strange not being able to do exactly that together in our dear church home.  I am glad that we are able to get together online, but it’s still not quite the same.  But until we can come together again, let’s continue to praise the Lord anyway, wherever we may find ourselves, for our God is indeed with us everywhere. So, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever!”

Just a few announcements:

1) Because of the order from the Governor ordering all non-essential businesses to close, we may find it difficult to keep to our plan to have someone in the church office on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We will try to keep things going as best as we can the way that we can.

2) We plan to hold our Midweek Lenten Devotions and Bible Study tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM from the Multi-Purpose Room at church.  We will livestream it on Facebook Live, which is available from our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/trinityelcmountrainier
You can also find the link, as well as an order of service at our website: www.tlcmr.org

3) Thank you to those who have continued to send in your offerings by mail.  Your gifts still remain a part of your worship of the Lord in giving back to Him of what He has given you, and, especially at this time, help us to keep our ministry together going.

4) It would be an understatement to say that I have been missing seeing all of you.  We are all trying as best we can to stay connected, even while we are apart.  I encourage all of us to reach out to one another in our church family.  Call each other up on the phone.  Send an email or text.  Post something to them on Facebook.  Whatever you do, it will just say, “Hi, I’m still here, and I hope you’re doing well.”  And be sure to do the same thing with your neighbors and friends.  We need each other.

Although much of what I’ve been doing has been concentrated on keeping our worship and study opportunities as “normal” as possible in these less than normal days, I have been trying to think of ways for us to try to connect virtually.  Perhaps we may look into having an online meeting (maybe on Zoom or another similar platform) to give us some time to fellowship with each other, “see” one another, check in on how everyone is doing, and pray together.  If this seems like something you would be interested in, please let me know and we’ll try our best to set it up.

I plan once again to go live on Facebook for a brief announcement and devotion moment after I send off this message.  Feel free to view either live or sometime later.

As we continue through these days, may God’s peace be our comfort and hope.  And “May the Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another!”

In Christ’s Love,
+Pastor

Dear friends in Christ,

Just a quick update regarding this weekend…

Barring any last minute changes to Governor Hogan’s orders regarding the epidemic, we plan to stream our Worship Service from Trinity on Facebook Live at 9:30 AM on Sunday Morning. Information and instructions are available on the home page of our church website: www.tlcmr.org

Pastor and Skip (and perhaps some invited individuals who do not have computer access, or who will be helping with the video, but only up to 10 of us) will be together as we worship as a church family through these technological means.  We hope that it is a blessing for all of us to gather around God’s Word and be encouraged through our fellowship, even while we are apart.

It seems that the word is getting out to our Trinity Family during these days, and thank you all for reading as well as passing along information to those who may not be able to receive these messages.  Pastor will continue to keep things updated through email by also posting them on the church website and on the church Facebook Page and Group.

Pastor plans to “go live” today at 5:00 PM from the sanctuary just to review this message and to give a brief devotion and prayer.  Feel free to join us live or to watch later by using the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/trinityelcmountrainier/

God’s richest blessings and peace be with us all!

In Christ’s Love,
+Pastor

Dear friends in Christ,

Greetings to you in the Name of the Lord Jesus!

Each day brings new and different news and changes to everyone’s lives and routines as a result of the epidemic we find ourselves in.  Yet, we also take comfort in the truth that we have through faith that our God remains the Changeless One and that He continues to uphold all things in His hands, including each one of us.

There is a lot that needs to be shared with you all, so please bear with us.  To keep this message from being too long, I’m going to try to give basic information and more details will be made available in further messages to follow.

1) In-Person Public Worship:
Because of the latest restrictions by the Governor limiting public gatherings to 50 persons and the CDC recommendations to limit gatherings to 10 people, we believe it best that we suspend public worship at this time.  The Ministry Planning Group (MPG) has decided that worship is suspended until the State of Emergency is lifted.  When that occurs, we will be announcing when we will resume worship services.

2) Video Public Worship and Study:
Pastor has been working hard at learning how to use the technology we have available to provide ways for us to remain connected and in worship together.  We will be using the capabilities of Facebook Live to stream worship, study, and other messages.  This framework will also allow this to be done either from the church building or from Pastor’s home, depending on the need.

With regards to this, here is some information to help you access this video outreach:
a) If you are on Facebook:
Please “like” our church Facebook Page: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mount Rainier, MD. This will allow you to be able to “follow” us and receive notifications when we are “live”.  (You can also join our church Facebook Group under the same name; we plan on using both the page and group for announcements, etc.)

b) If you do not use Facebook:
When we plan to “go live” for an event, we’ll send an email out on our announcement list with the event’s date and time and a link to the church’s Facebook Page.  We will also have the link available on our church website–www.tlcmr.org.  Using that link at the “live” time will enable you to view the feed in real time.  It will also allow you to view it later as well.

More information will be coming as Sunday draws closer on how we will be “worshiping electronically”.

3) Holy Communion:
As we are a “sacramental” church, we want to be sure that this time of change doesn’t deprive us of the Lord’s Gift of Himself in the Eucharist.  We will be announcing plans for members to make appointments to meet with the Pastor at church to share in Communion together, or for those who are unable or fearful about coming out to make other arrangements for Pastor to bring Communion.

4) Offerings:
Although it seems as if the world is grinding to a halt, life has a way of showing us that it is still going on, especially as the bills come due.  And just as that is true for us in our personal lives, it is also true for our congregation as well.  We ask that you please continue to remember the needs of our ministry at this time, not only with your prayers, but also with your giving.  You can give your offerings through the mail, sending them to the church office.  You can also bring your offering with you at your future “Communion Appointment” or when Pastor makes a visit.  Our hope is to be able to make a weekly deposit of all gifts that come in by these various means.

5) Other Needs:
Here at Trinity we believe ourselves not to be just a gathering of believers, but also a family who loves, cares, and looks out for one another.  If you are in need of help with different tasks during this time–running errands for shopping or hot meals–please let Pastor or one of the MPG members know so that we can make arrangements to assist you.

6) Staying in touch:
Since we are having to find and use ways to keep informed with each other about our church family, it is important that we have correct and current contact information, especially phone numbers and emails.  (And if you have us using a work email, please consider giving us your personal email to use.)  Please be sure that the church office has that information.  Most of these email notices will also be posted on our Facebook Page and Group, as well as on our website.

7) A final word…
To help make sure that our video system is up and running, I’ll be going live to share a video message with you all.  Please use this link to access it: https://www.facebook.com/trinityelcmountrainier/

God’s blessings and peace be with each of us in this and the coming days.  We’ll be in touch!

In Christ’s Love,
Pastor

Dear friends in Christ,

Today as we gathered in worship, we prayed together the words of Psalm 84:

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

I was personally struck by these words as they passed my lips, reminding myself of the joy we are able to receive when we gather in the Lord’s house to be strengthened by Him, His Word, and His Gifts, and by the consolation and encouragement of fellow believers.  As reminded us all today, we need each other in this time, just as the world reminds us that we need to work together to get through this. But even more than that, we need the Lord, because He will be the One who will help us in this time of need.

It was good to be with those who came to worship today, and we pray that those who were not able to be with us were united with us in spirit as we lifted up our prayers and praises to the Lord. Even in the midst of these changing and uncertain moments, we have all found ways to be united with God and with each other either physically or spiritually.

After worship, we were able to have conversation with one another about our feelings and perspectives on the current situation and its impact on what we do together as a Trinity family, especially in regard to worship.  Taking in all of the comments, the Ministry Planning Group (MPG) met together to make further decisions about the coming days.

1) We will continue to hold our gatherings for Worship on Sundays mornings and for Bible Study on Wednesday evenings.

Again, following the current instructions of the Governor, we feel that our Parish Family is able to continue to meet because we are under the threshold of 250 people for holding public gatherings. We will continue to follow the news and updates from the government if any of their instructions might change and require us to adapt our plans.

2) We will continue the precautions that we have begun with parts of our worship: Suspending the Sharing of the Peace, collecting the offering “at the door”, use of individual wafers and cups for Communion, and use of hand sanitizer by Pastor and worship assistants and members.

In addition to these things, I know that many of us are individually practicing, as best we can, certain protocols of “social distancing” to protect ourselves and one another from this virus. Please continue to do so.

3) We will continue to use the gifts God has given to us in wisdom, discretion, and common sense as we are guided by the Lord to follow more faith than fear.

With this in mind, we want to stress two points that are very important at this time:

a) As in any family, if you are sick or have any of the symptoms that have been put forward as manifest of the current virus, we are sure that for your good and for others that you will refrain from going out, even for worship.  This is especially important as our society tries to get a handle on controlling the spread of the virus and reducing the number of new cases.

b) If you are in any way worried or concerned about going out because of fear of contracting or perhaps unknowingly spreading illness, also be at peace and know that your concern for others is part of looking out for the spiritual welfare of both yourself and others.

In either case, we will be in prayer for one another that the Lord will bring us and the world safely through this moment and allow us in peace and with joy to return to His house to worship together freed from the fear of this epidemic.

4) Because of this current situation, it should also be said that Pastor may not be able to make certain visits during this time, especially to nursing centers and homes and to some extent even hospitals, except in emergency situations.  It is important then to be sure to let Pastor know of any emergency spiritual needs as soon as possible.  His personal cell phone number can be found at the bottom of this message.

As to other pastoral calls, please contact Pastor to make arrangements.  We’ll do our best to make such visits possible based upon everyone’s comfort and health status.

5) And lastly, please be sure to continue to check your email or our Facebook Group (Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mount Rainier, MD) for more news and updates as this continues to be a rather fluid situation.  Please also feel free to pass this information along to those who may not receive these email communications.

As always, please feel free to contact either Pastor or one of the members of the MPG with any of your thoughts, questions, or concerns.  We will get through this together, but more importantly, we will get through this with the Lord and His help. God grant us all His mercy, His wisdom, and an abundance of His peace and love!

In Christ Jesus,
+Pastor

From Pastor Schiebel:
As Christians, we owe our loyalty to both Christ and His Church as well as to our own country and its government.  We understand that government is indeed a gift of God to us, and that we are commanded to honor it and the leaders whom we have elected to govern and serve our nation (see the Fourth Commandment and the Table of Duties: Of Civil Government & Of Citizens in Luther’s Small Catechism).

Our nation’s Constitution in its First Amendment states that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.  This first statement in the Bill of Rights grants religious liberty to every citizen to practice their faith, whatever it might be, according to the dictates of their conscience.  The Government is not an arbiter of faith, and the Church is not a ruler within the civil realm.  As Lutherans, we know this as “The Two Kingdoms”–that God rules over us both through the Church and the authorities that have been placed over us.  We would agree with the constitutional idea of “Separation of Church and State” as being an expression of this “Two Kingdom” theology.

That being said, there are times when Christians, with consciences formed and shaped by God’s Word, cannot in good conscience agree or accept as right that which our government asks of us or what government may deem to be permissible.  Within this free society in which we live, we all, as Christians and as people of faith and of no faith, have the right to voice our opinions and to exercise our privileges and rights in the hopes that we may see laws change.  People of faith do this not seeking to impose our faith upon others or to in some way create a sort of theocracy.  Rather, we work towards gaining freedom–freedom already guaranteed to us that we may be people who are able both to be faithful to our God and His Word and to be loyal citizens of our land.

In our country, we understand that there is a good and proper separation of Church and State.  We understand that there is no “religious test” to hold public office.  We understand that we live in a pluralistic society in which there is to be no preference given to any one group over another.  Yet, this does not mean that as citizens we are then asked to check our beliefs and our consciences informed by those beliefs outside of either public discussion and discourse or even before we step into a voting booth.  People of faith and of no faith have informed consciences shaped by what they believe, and they will use those consciences in expressing themselves through the opinions they hold dear as true.  As citizens, we are guaranteed the right to hold and to express these opinions in words and also in our deeds, including our right to vote.

Our Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod takes no official view upon governmental policy.  Yet, our very existence in this country is because our founders came from their homes in Germany to this land in order to be able to exercise their faith freely and without governmental hindrance, and to do so in both word and in deeds.  We therefore stand in the belief of and seek the right for Religious Liberty, not only for ourselves but also for every citizen of our land.  We also realize that the membership of our Synod’s congregations is diverse–reflecting any number of differing political loyalties and outlooks on laws and policies.  We respect the rights we all have to share the views that each person holds as true.  We also ask for the same respect to be able to express our own views from our consciences informed by our faith.

Martin Luther stood before the Diet of Worms in 1521, asked by the leaders of the government of his day to recant his writings and teaching.  He refused, declaring that his “conscience is captive to the Word of God”.  As Christians in our own day, we have the right to say the same, and to let God’s Word and our faith allow us to make informed decisions, living both as citizens and as Christians.  We are indeed a free people in this land, and as Christians in this land we are also “Free to be Faithful”–as people who are able to be “true to our God, true to our native land” (LSB Hymn # 964, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, stanza 3).

Our Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and Lutheran Hour Ministries have both prepared websites which may be of use to you in helping to understand some of the issues facing our nation, especially the issue of religious freedom and liberty.  Feel free to look at these sites and their resources to help inform you of what we as Lutheran Christians believe, teach, and confess, and to see how our faith speaks to the issues we face.

From the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod:
Religious Liberty: Free to be Faithful
The LCMS launched an education and awareness campaign called “Religious Liberty: Free to Be Faithful” in September 2012 in response to increasing intrusions by government into the realm of the church. The campaign’s main goal is to inspire LCMS rostered members and laity to take informed action to protect the freedom of religion.

From Lutheran Hour Ministries:
The Intersection of Church and State
Religious freedom in America has been an issue of paramount importance since the beginning of this great nation. As the nation has grown and changed, so has the relationship of the federal government and the many religions that comprise the community of faith throughout the land. Questions of the relationship between Church and State have never been more relevant than they are today!

Equipped with this information, please exercise the rights you have as a citizen and vote according to the dictates of your own conscience.  But above all, no matter how you vote or no matter of the political position you may side with, be a faithful Christian who daily prays to God that we may live in this land and have leaders who will allow all of us in our nation to “live peaceful lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:3).  God grant it.  Amen!