What a glorious day last Sunday (October 29th) was.  What pure, unmitigated joy.  Primarily, of course, was and is and remains the joy of our salvation in Christ Jesus our crucified and risen Savior.  But the service was glorious . . . we used a version (regrettably, for this hopeless Germanophile, an English version) of Luther’s German Mass.  The sermon for the day has now been posted on this website.  It was followed with a German meal:  Wurst (that’s “sausage”) and sauerkraut, potato-salad and, well, yes, while the church didn’t per se serve it, it was rumored that some people brought in a famous German libation known in our circles as “Lutheran lemonade.”  That sort of thing happens.

Part of the reason it was all so wonderful is because I was burdened with almost none of the planning and organization of it.  That task was ably taken on by Rita Marshall and a small legion of volunteers whom she recruited.  I was able to devote myself to service planning and sermon preparation . . . you know, what a Pastor is supposed to do.

There were a lot of special joys.  Some former members came back, including a couple of charter members.  I think we had a total of six of them there, only half of whom are members of the congregation today.  Another man drove over an hour, just because I had met him at a convention of teachers of German.

We praised God for Luther’s heroic stand some 489 years ago.  We praised God for the gift of this congregation’s 30 year existence.  And we look forward to even brighter days ahead.  What a joy it is to live in the freedom of the Gospel, tyrannized neither by legalism nor by the lawless desires of the flesh, able both to enjoy the approbation of God in this world and also  to look forward to the life of the world to come, all purchased for us by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  You can’t put a price on that.

I have no idea who, if anyone, is even reading my rambling remarks.  But if you’re carrying around a load of guilt, and haven’t got a clue what to do with it, I do:  Christ has made full atonement for your sins.  They are paid for, every one of them (yes, even *that* one!)  Believe it!  Believe it.

If I can help you out in understanding any of this, I’ll do whatever I can.  Especially if you live in this area, come see us.  We’d love to have you.

Peace be with you in Christ Jesus!

Pastor H.