Invitation to Lent

God knows the way that I take;

When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

My feet have closely followed his steps;

I have kept to his way without turning aside.

I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

— Job 23: 10-12

Job’s story just doesn’t make sense.  He is a good man who insists he has done no wrong, and yet every conceivable bad thing has happened to him.  His property destroyed, family members killed, and finally cursed by a dreadful disease, he leaves town and camps out at the local dump where he goes to be alone in his misery.  When his friends come out to cheer him up, they just end up criticizing him and making his pain worse than before by insisting that God must have had a good reason to do what He did to Job.  Assuming that God is punishing Job, they sit and speculate what kind of awful things Job must have done to deserve it.

There are those people think of Lent as a time when we’re supposed to “take our punishment” and  dig down deep into our souls to dwell upon the sin that we know is in there.  But we will seek a more profound, positive and productive way to live the season.  Lent is an invitation — our launching pad into the renovated lifestyle of the “God Movement.”  We who have been called by Jesus to live his love deeply in the world are invited to discover new ways of being.  We who are awakened to the awareness of our sin are invited into the circle of confession, repentance, and forgiveness that characterizes the life of the Spirit.  We who are baptized and claimed for God’s kingdom are invited to share our stories and embrace those who are hurting.  Lent helps us do all that. In it’s call to live a life shaped and disciplined by the cross, God’s presence is revealed in pain and suffering and we learn how to love those with the deepest need God’s blessing in their lives.

At the 10am services this Lent, I will present INVITED TO LIFE — a series of messages about the ways God invites us to live our faith.  We will hear stories such as —

• February 26    Fresh out of the ark, God invites Noah to live as God’s friend
• March 4         Abraham and Peter are invited to widen the scope of their faith
• March 11      Moses and the Israelites are invited to turn their beliefs into a lifestyle
• March 18      Jesus invites the world to walk the path of healing and eternal life
• March 25     The disciples invite visitors from a far country to come see the Lord

In addition to regular Sunday services and Ash Wednesday worship on February 22 followed by mid-week worship and soup suppers, Marcia Weil will lead a short Bible study each Sunday morning before the 10am service. 

Palm Sunday, which falls on April 1 this year, we will be turning April Fools day on its head.  We’re calling it APRIL FRIENDS DAY, making a special invitation to bring our friends and neighbors to worship at Atonement so that they may hear God’s personal invitation to  join the “God Movement.”  We want to do better than Job’s friends, who just sat around and put him down.  At the end of that story, God shows up and reveals his glory and majesty to Job and his friends.  We pray that our friends and neighbors can have that blessing of knowing God in their lives.  Let’s invite them all to experience the God who invites us all to life!

Peace,

Pastor Scott

Beyond church

...they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes, and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.  And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
                                       — Acts 2:46-47

There is God, lying in a manger.  Wrapped in cloth, sleeping peacefully.  Then waking, crying for food.  As the baby Jesus is held, cuddled, burped, and changed — so is God.  What  a mystery!  What a surprise!  What an honor — to find God right here among us, under the same roof and in our world.  But then, isn’t it his world?

             Our faith has always taught that God cares for and comes to his people.  Even before Christ came, this was the message of the prophets and the experience of the patriarchs.  This was the good news — that instead of turning away from us and leaving us to fend for ourselves against hunger and disease, against death and the devil, that we have a Savior, a Father, a friend and defender who fights with us and for us.  Instead of loneliness and isolation, we have the promise and the presence of a God who you’d never think would want to give up heaven for the meager delights of a world like this.  But here he is.  With us.  Immanuel.

So in this incredible time of year with the one and only Christmas story fresh in our minds and hearts, we are set to begin a new year by taking that message to the world.  The trees will come down, but the message of hope is “ever green,” always spring-like and fresh.  What new ways will we find to grow in God this year?  How will that Bethlehem baby become our living reality in 2012?

We think you may have some great ideas about how to share the good news in your neighborhood.  We have noticed that each subdivision, mobile home court or development has its own personality and its own special kind of community life.  Each little pocket of people presents its own challenge in how to reach those people, but we think you might have some great ideas on how to reach out to people in your own area.  We will be asking for your help in 2012 to get better organized to reach out. 

When the first Christians wanted to reach out to their friends and neighbors, they met together in homes each week in addition to attending formal worship at the temple.  Their house meetings were social gatherings where fellowship, prayer and bible study took place.  As I look at where the Christian community is strongest, it seems that home groups like these are the best way Christians can reach into their communities.  Some of you may be willing to host just such a gathering in your home or at some other meeting place in your community.

             Some of you may have other ideas for ways we can impact the many neighborhoods that make up the area we serve.  That area is huge and diverse, stretching from Zephyrhills to Lutz and from Dade City to New Tampa.  This year, we will be calling people together from different parts of this large area to brainstorm ideas and help us get organized for outreach.  I’m anxious to hear your thoughts and ideas, and to join you in blazing some new trails into our communities with the message of God’s love, grace, and peace.

A Year of Promise

“…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…”
-          Luke 4:19

            She called because she had been doing a fundraiser for a battered women’s shelter.  People had been very generous supporting her, and she had some donated items leftover.  She wanted to know if our church could use them.  “Now I want you to know, I’m not a Christian,” she told me.  She said she was a pagan who believed in God, and believed Jesus was a good guy but did not believe in the Christian religion.  “Then why are you calling us?” I asked.  “Because I see the work you do, and everyone knows your church helps people.”

            How great is that?  It seems we have a reputation.  It seems we are “on the map.”  People are sitting up and taking notice of Atonement Lutheran Church.  No longer quiet and camouflaged, no longer hidden back from the road, no longer so mysterious to most of the community, we are in the papers, on the news, and a part of what is happening.  What would you like people to be saying about your church?  That we are fun? …friendly? …dedicated to our community?  I’m hearing all of these things and more.
            God is good and we are finding new ways to share God’s love.  While the community changes and the look of Lutheranism in the Tampa Bay area shifts, our congregation is playing an important role as an active sign for our area that Jesus cares for everyone.  Welcoming all people of all ages and backgrounds shows each visitor that our faith is real.  Inviting friends and neighbors brings new people to the Lord’s table and gives them a chance to discover God’s love.  Keeping our facility open for meetings by community groups along with the outstanding work of the Helping Hands food pantry has made us known throughout the north Tampa area.  Having police cars out front with their lights on Sunday mornings hasn’t hurt either.
            Still in the spirit of Thanksgiving (shouldn’t we keep that spirit all year long?), let me share just a few things that I am especially thankful for this year:
Å      dedicated members working hard on council, serving groups, in the office and on ministry teams
Å      a creative Sunday school program with Jan Gerle, Julie Kaufmann, “Bitsy” the dog (reminding us all to Depend On God) and other helpers
Å      Audra Eldridge leading a delightful Kindermusik program Tuesday and Thursday mornings
Å      the talented Agnir family: Ruby our highly-qualified choir director
Å      a growing confirmation class full of smart, inquisitive youth
Å      our lively and colorful newsletter edited by Carol Reams
Å      assistance in ministry from Marcia Weil and our deacon candidates
Å      great partnerships with Peace Lutheran (Pastor Michael Birra), Resurrection House (Margarita Romo) and First Unity of Pasco (Pastor Enrique Amoros)
Å      new traditions, including a “Trunk or Treat” Fall Festival and our “Stock Our Shelves” Pancake Breakfast Extravaganza
Å      great partnerships with Luther Springs who staffed our Day Camp and hosted our Spring Safari Family Camp
Å      enthusiastic new members
Å      great help and partnership from Thrivent and our rep. Deb Kretchman
Å      outstanding youth leadership from Brenda Lenz and Cotta Ungerer, as well as help with confirmation from Laurie Chiaramonte and Carla Haberland
Å      consistently quality music from Ken and the choir
Å      the example and inspiration of our saints who have gone to glory

LOOKING AHEAD

            We know 2012 will bring some big changes.  There will be a few “dreams coming true” as our property begins a long-awaited transformation.  New landscaping and parking will give us a newer, fresher look.  Much-needed repairs on the building should keep it in shape for the future. But more than that, this will be a year where we have new opportunities to let our faith shine. 

            There will be chances to dedicate gifts towards a new building which will help us serve and reach more people for Christ.  This multi-use building will give us new space for worship, fellowship, and our food ministry.  Plans include a room with large, flexible space and a full commercial-grade kitchen, as well as more storage for Helping Hands.
            With a new year comes a perfect opportunity to grow in stewardship.  We can’t outgive God, who has given us all things.  Luther reminds us of a few of them in the Small Catechism.  In reply to the question, “What is meant by daily bread?” he reminds us what God gives us day by day:  “Everything that belongs to the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”
            Moving into this new year, it’s the perfect time to prayerfully consider growing in your response to all that God has given you.  Our offerings are the way we give thanks – they are the gifts of our hearts to our ever-giving God.  Think for a moment - of all the money you make in a year, how much of it goes to maintain and support your own life, and how much do you give away to help others?  Many people don't know what percentage of their income goes to charitable giving, or what percentage they give to their church.  I hope you will take a moment and find that percentage for your own household.
            Then ask yourself some questions:  Does this percentage represent an honorable gift to my Lord and Savior?  Am I comfortable giving this amount?  Am I perhaps too comfortable giving this amount?  What would it take to move up a percentage (to move left one column) in my weekly giving?  What would it take to make a “leap of faith” to giving a tithe (10% column) or beyond?  Would 10% of my income be an appropriate amount to give, considering what God has done for me and my real needs?
            Your answers to these questions are very personal.  They are between you and God.  This year we have not asked people to make a pledge or turn in commitment cards.  Instead, we leave it up to you and God how much you decide to give financially in 2012.  I have been joyfully giving 10% of my income to the church for many years now, and find it a great way to honor God in my life.  By giving a 10% tithe, I tell my Lord “thanks” for all he gives.  Tithing is my constant reminder that I need HIM much more than I need that money.
            One more opportunity that I hope you will take this year, and this is something that could change your life even MORE than tithing.  Consider reading through the Bible with me, day by day and chapter by chapter.  I am planning to read the Bible every day this year using the Bible reading plan included on this website, and I invite you to join me.  If you stick to it, you will have read the whole thing by the end of the year.  If you miss a day, just pick up on the following day and catch up on what you missed when you can.  I have done this now for three years and every time I do, I learn something new and the Bible comes alive for me in new ways.
            Finally, I want to thank you for another year of friendship, ministry and love.  You have a unique place in this congregation and in our future together.  God gave you special gifts and I know you will find new ways to share them at Atonement.  This year you all reminded me (in such a sneaky way) that it was my 5 year anniversary at Atonement and my 20th as an ordained pastor.  It’s funny, because I feel like we’re just getting off the ground.  On behalf of your family of faith and my own family, I ask that God continue to bless our life together in Christ as we head into this year of promise, 2012.

The Coolest Job

We feel we must be continually thanking God for you, brothers;quite rightly because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the love that you have for one another never stops increasing...
— 2 Thessalonians 1:3

    Veterinarian  Marlene Siegel joined us in October at our Blessing of the Animals before worship.  Her daughter Alyssa Harrell also stayed for Sunday school to talk about her new book, Demi of the Dolphins.  So there we were, gathered in bright Florida morning sunlight, with members and friends and our dogs and cats and lizards at hand to help us thank God for these living gifts.  After the ceremony, Marlene said to me: “You have such a cool job.”  And you know what?  I had to agree.

How many jobs give you anything like the variety of experiences you get being a pastor? In the morning I could be meeting with local business people, in the afternoon standing by a bed in an Intensive Care Unit, in the evening practicing songs with the praise band.  In between I’m praying and reading Scripture, teaching classes and playing games with the youth, helping with service projects and mission trips, planning for the future with ministry teams, carrying in food donations, praying with homeless people, and eating heavenly food at a potluck dinner.  But not all churches have so many things going.  What a privilege it is to be so wrapped up in a congregation that is so wrapped up in serving!

    And then there are those moments at that baptismal font which, like God’s cupped hands held out, enfolds a little new life with God’s grace.  And at the table each week where God works a miracle and comes down to us all, and we hand Him out in bread and drink Him in wine and a procession of hands reaches out to take Him — some old and rough, some young and glowing.  And there again at the end of life when we realize it has all been a gift, and something breaks through our sadness when we see that the person we know and loved as a friend on earth has gone on to become something more beautiful than anything we knew them as here.  And I get to be part of that, again and again.
Pastors are blessed seeing the Spirit constantly at work.  It’s so easy to see when we gather for our services, but it doesn't stop...it goes on from there, spilling out into all of life.  Tasks and events and meetings, things which can seem so routine and un-spiritual, take on a different significance when we are doing them as a community of Christ.  It’s not the business or the busy-ness, but the people that make up ministry.  Through the teamwork and the tasks, our service for Christ becomes a kind of worship in itself.  Liturgy (in Greek, leitourgia) means “work of the people.”  We are changed as we engage in it.    We see the startling way God takes a person and makes them into a disciple.  We witness the transformation that happens when the eyes of a heart are opened and one really sees how, in the midst of joy or sorrow, God’s hand has touched their life.
    Here at Atonement, people have shared amazing stories of how God has changed their life, brought them back from the brink of disaster, healed loved ones, given new direction, and brought friends and spouses to find each other.  Here at Atonement, people have worked as volunteers, coordinators, teachers and team leaders, gofers and planners, finding ways to help make ministry happen here.  Here at Atonement, people greet visitors and go out of their way to introduce themselves, connect people with new friends and make people feel at home.  Here at Atonement, people watch out for each other, checking up on people who have missed church a few times, calling on those who may need no more than a listening ear.  Here at Atonement, people put aside personal differences and work side-by-side and face-to face for the ministry of the gospel and the future God is calling us to build. 
    I guess what I’m trying to say is — you inspire me.  I get the feeling the Apostle Paul must have had when he wrote letters to the thriving young churches he helped start.  Seeing them grow in grace and understanding, welcoming new people, teaching the faith and spreading the Word about Jesus — these small, new groups of people he had shepherded were becoming strong witnesses for the Lord and beacons of hope for the world.  They were places where people could come, find acceptance, hear the truth and be saved.  I believe Atonement is that kind of place.
    Another person said to me this week, “I love how the people at our church are so real.”  A good way to put it, I thought.  You are keeping it real.  Real as a worried man and a pregnant woman, riding together far from home, seeking a place to come in out of the cold.  Real as a silent night, starlit and still, with some distant echo that sounds like angel song.  Real as the baby born that night, wrapped snugly in the best they had, watched and wondered at in the tired aftermath of birth.  Real as the hope that calls us to live each day with joy, doing what we can to get out the Good News that God is real and a child has been born for us.

Perfect Tens

Apart from being beautiful, what do you do for a living? I hope you know CPR, because you take my breath away.
You must be lost, because heaven is a long way from here.
Are you from Tennessee?  Cause you’re the only “10” I see!

OK, so maybe we don’t need to use cheesy pick-up lines to let people know we like them.   But when we come to church, we’re on God’s turf.  It’s our job as God’s people (and we are God’s people, aren’t we?) to make sure God’s welcome is shared with everyone.  We want each visitor to know without a doubt they are surrounded by people who will care about them, welcome them, and are ready to become new friends. 
Worship is not quite like anything else we experience in life these days.  When you go out to a restaurant, you normally don’t peer into the booths on either side of you to introduce yourselves to other diners.  At a movie, you probably keep to your family and friends and rarely strike up conversations with other moviegoers.  These are the usual daily public experiences where we go about our business and do our own thing.  But worship isn’t about doing our own thing — it’s about doing God’s.
In worship we experience and share the gifts of God here on earth.  Jesus wants so much for us all to know him, he came into this world and spent a lifetime loving people God’s way.  He was so desperate that we all would know him, he was always reaching for a new image to explain it: I am the gate, he said, the door, the light;  the way, the truth, and the life; the Good Shepherd, the vine and the bread… I am the resurrection and the life.  He said it in so many different ways because there are so very many ways to share Jesus.  A smile, a kind word, a moment learning a stranger’s name — these all can mean a lot to someone who is seeking God in their life.
                 So keep your eye out for when a new person or family enters the sanctuary on a Sunday morning.  If they sit near you, don’t look away and keep talking to your friend in the seat in front of you — take a moment to introduce yourself and say, “Good morning, glad you’re here!”  When you share the peace, scan the room for that new person standing all alone, silently watching everyone else around them greeting just their friends.  Then make your way toward them through the crowd, on a mission from God to make a new friend.
Everyone we see Sunday morning is beautiful — all perfect 10’s in the eyes of God, all needing a warm, safe place to rest and hear the Good Shepherd’s voice.  If we take them as they come and embrace them with the love of Christ, not only do we give joy to God, we make new friends.

Regarding November

With the constant hot temperatures behind us, there’s a crispness in the air and folks are finally venturing outside in the afternoons.  Florida is becoming paradise again.  How appropriate then, that our services in November point us towards heaven.  We have been moving in worship week by week through stations of the spirit.  Though we’ve “been there done that” long ago with Christmas and Easter, there is still more of our story to be told.  In fact, you could say the best is yet to come.  In fact, November’s themes bring us to a glorious climax as we contemplate our ultimate destination on All Saints’ (Nov. 2) and the ultimate destiny of all things on Christ the King Sunday (Nov. 20).  Our weekly scriptures and celebrations throughout the year have shown us God’s kingdom approaching and encroaching on this world.  It’s time to take a look at what will happen when that kingdom arrives and heaven becomes present reality.  Those we thought we lost to death still live (as Jesus points out in Matthew 22:31-32), and we are with them when we praise God and live the life of God’s kingdom together.  And at last, the kingdom comes (“even without our prayers,” Luther reminds us), takes over all things (check out chapter 21 of the book of Revelation), and (as Dame Julian Norwich puts it), “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
            If this is the direction God is moving, we’d better get on board.  Now is the time to consider what it means that God has made you one of the saints.  When you were baptized, God put you into the divine story and made you a part of Jesus’ “occupy earth” movement.  We are camped out on this planet until the kingdom comes, protesting pain and suffering, standing together to proclaim good news to the lost, to feed hungry people, to share the love of Jesus and reach a world that doesn’t know what it’s about.
            And so we begin this November with All Saints’ Sunday, remembering saints who’ve gone before us, especially members of our own Atonement family…
                                                Carl & CJ Haberland
                                                Lois Peterson

                                                Jane Winters

                                                Joyce Reimer.

Recalling the legacy of love they left us and the mercy of Christ that will at last bring us all together into that kingdom, we ask: What can we offer now to build on their legacy and keep the light shining?

            One way is to join your church family in mission to feed the poor.  Our big fundraiser this year takes place Nov. 12, and we’re sending out an SOS with the aim to “Stock Our Shelves.   Last year, Helping Hands food pantry received a $7000 donation, but it’s not there this year.  So we are calling out to the community to join us that day for pancake breakfast, games, music, and all kinds of fun and fellowship as we raise money to support this amazing ministry.
            And November 20 we round out our yearly journey through the story of faith with the Sunday of Christ the King.  That day, we will be doing an “Instructional Eucharist” which walks us through the worship service asking a basic Lutheran question each step of the way: “What does this mean?”  If you’re new to the faith, a little rusty, or maybe it’s been a loooong time since confirmation class, you’re sure to learn something new about the way we worship God.
            And what would November be without Thanksgiving?  This year, Thanksgiving sits neatly between the close of our present church year and the beginning, with Advent, of the next.  What a great time to pause, reflect, count blessings, and be grateful!  All we have comes from God, right?  And all we give came from God.  And everything we need is available to us through God.  So when we give our offerings we give generously, because we’re sharing with the world by giving back to God.  God has made us saints, blessed with divine destiny.  It’s time we live like we’re ready for God’s kingdom, to give as God’s people are supposed to give, and to love as God loves us.  Better get ready – November’s on it’s way!

Dear Friends of Atonement,

“This is how one should regard us,
 as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God.”
-- 1 Corinthians 4:1      

          We are keeping an eye out for the changes that Fall brings our way.  Up north, they watch the colors change on the trees.  Here in Florida, we see the colors change on the license plates.  The snowbirds are on their way, we’ve missed them and we ‘re  glad they’re coming back.

I have heard people remark more than once about how active the snowbirds are at Atonement.  Unlike many congregations where the wintertime visitors limit their involvement to simply worshiping on Sunday morning, many of our snowbirds participate in ministries.  We have snowbirds that sing in the choir and serve in the food pantry.  They’ll help with the youth yard sales and take parts in the Live Nativity.  You won’t just see them show up to eat at fundraising events, they’ll be helping in the kitchen.  Such enthusiasm for serving the Lord inspires me, and I’m so happy we have a congregation where everyone can find a place to use their gifts. 
The Christian faith has this wonderful word for the way we use all our gifts and resources: “stewardship.”  My brother used to be a medical courier.  It was his job to take specimens and samples back and forth between hospitals and labs all over the city.  He had to drive carefully on the streets and freeways, always handling those items like priceless artifacts.  What made those specimens and samples so valuable was that they were unique to those individuals.
God has made you a unique specimen of grace, love and beauty given human form and shape and carefully patterned after His own image. Imagine how unique and important your own gifts are.  There are talents you have, skills you’ve gained, a specific set of experience and knowledge no one else shares.  Your stewardship is wrapped up in how you use the one-of-a-kind “you-ness” God has given you, along with all the gifts and resources around you.
This afternoon, Carla Haberland and I were at Garden Montessori school on Boyette Rd.  Children’s eyes grew bright and they exclaimed, “Miss Carla!” when they saw her, remembering her from their field trip to the food pantry.  Everything around us was kid-sized, so we stood as we heard the story of how their class of 11 kindergarteners voted to do a car wash fundraiser, then voted to have the funds go to the food pantry.  They told us they had fun washing the cars, that they used special environmentally-friendly soap, and that they ended up raising $456.25.  “Let us know, whatever we can do,” the teacher told us as we left. 
What wonderful stewards these children are learning to be – not only learning things like how to care for the planet and clean up after themselves, but how to use your gifts to help others.  They are learning to answer God’s invitation to “let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
Thanks again for all the ways you participate in God’s work.  Every offering given from the heart, every bit of time spent volunteering, praying, visiting, encouraging and supporting others – these are priceless gifts from God that you are sharing with others.  Thanks for answering God’s invitation to shine your light brightly.  Doesn’t matter if you’re a long-time member or a brand new visitor, a snowbird, youth, parent or single… we all have an invitation to involvement.  And it’s an open invitation, so we don’t have to wait round for another one – just jump right in and turn on your light!