Jesus Speaks about a change/movement in the Old Testament

Jesus Speaks!!! Honestly, this isn’t something new, but what if I told you Jesus spoke in the Old Testament long before He rend the heavens and came down to us. What did he say? What is our response? What does Chuck E. Cheese, Back to the Future, Superman, and the Wizard of Oz have to do with all this? Only one way to find out…

Today’s Meyer Minute on Baptism

Just about every evening before prayers and bed, my email dings letting me know the Meyer Minute has arrived. Today’s edition did not show up until this morning, but that is irrelevant. I usually read them as they come through and it provokes some serious thought. Today’s edition did the same thing so I figured I would share. Especially, since it talks about baptism in a very simple way. A summary from the website says, “The Meyer Minute… a short read but more than a minute’s worth of thought.”

———-Enjoy——–

“My name is Connor.  Bubby and I were taking our bath.   Bubby poured water on me.  He said he was baptizing me.”

“That’s right, Opa.  At church pastor baptizes people.  So I baptized Connor in the tub.”

Interesting.  A long time ago, this time of year, winter, Epiphany, Martin Luther preached about baptism.  He talked about many things, including how many times you should be baptized.  Some people get baptized but then fall away from God.  When they realize they’ve gotten away from God, they think they need to start all over and get baptized again.

“Like I did to Connor?”

Sort of.  Dr. Luther says it’s like taking a trip.  If you get lost, you don’t go back home and start all over again.  You just admit you got lost and get back on the right way.  No need to get baptized again.  Just repent and get back to God’s way of living.  After all, God did His part of Baptism right.  He gave forgiveness.  He doesn’t have to do it over.  We need to get back on the straight and narrow.

“Opa, you’re turning our bath into a sermon!”

“It was on my mind.  I was baptized on this date a long time ago.”

“Opa, did you know Dr. Luther?”

Meyer Minute © 2011

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I will leave you to soak that one in for the rest of the day. If you are interested in receiving these in your very own inbox you can go here.

Enjoy!

 

 

Immanuel Lutheran (LCMS), St. Charles, MO

We decided to head off to a more traditional service this weekend. My in-laws Rod and Carol Held were in town so they were in for a treat.  This trip served two purposes; 1) visiting another church in the area and 2) worship with Concordia, Ann Arbor Almuni.  In this case it was Jennifer Brauer. What a blessing it was to see her again instead of just Facebook tag. All the churches have been within 30-45 minutes from the apartment. Seems the trips are longer due to construction on a major freeway.

We should up a tad bit later than we wanted, but there was Jennifer awaiting our arrival. Greeted with a hug and a smile. Who knew that would be the last one the rest of the service. Service was straight out of the LSB’s Divine Service Setting One. Oh the memories felt good to experience a traditional service again.  However, before service started we had some work as congregation to conduct. If you haven’t guessed it yet another baptism. If I sound like it is a bad thing, please erase that from your mind. I’m ecstatic about the fact we have now witnessed four baptisms in four weeks at four different churches.  Today was the baptism of 3 young children/infants. Warms my heart to see the youth being brought to be washed of their sins.

We sat in the balcony behind the guy who was recording the service. I would suggest if you’re looking for an old fashioned sanctuary complete with stain glassed windows and altar that looks like something out of an old Catholic church. This definitely the place to visit. I was simply giddy when Rev. Allen Schade disappeared to the right and came out of an opening in the wall where the pulpit is located. His message “A Feast of Wisdom” was based off Proverbs 9:1-10.  Just what my spirit needed this morning. We also were present to witness the Confirmation of 6+ families into the church. Growing the church the proper way and following the Great Commission as it was intended.

Yes, Communion.  Funny thought is Rod got lost in the service. Down right hilarious to me. He too was astounded by the surroundings of the church. Very impressive. I might drive back on a off day to take pictures to share what we saw.  All in all a wonderful service, except for the people in the service weren’t very welcoming. To make matters worse, their was entirely too much staring. Luckily, I was later told others have experienced the same type of treatment. It’s unfortunate that type of mentality has existed for such a long time.

In spite of the lack of welcoming atmosphere I would still attend service there again. I can’t explain it, but there is just something about the surroundings and the manner the Word was preached.  It doesn’t hurt seeing Jennifer Brauer again. Jennifer not to worry we will get together soon.

One more note one of our fellow Concordia-MI alumni Bill Ondracka was installed as a Vicar at the 8 am service. Congrats Vicar Ondracka.

Here is the contact information for church:

Immanuel Lutheran (LCMS)

115 S. 6th Street

St. Charles, MO 63301

(636) 946-2656

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I went to church @ Target…

I figured that would catch some of your eyes.  Today we attended church at Christ Memorial Lutheran Church (LCMS).  Funny thing about Christ Memorial, it used to be a Target store.  The congregation purchased (the I assume) vacant building and transformed it into a multi function church location.  Quite possibly one of the more innovative concepts and designs I have seen thus far.  Anyway, back to Target… I mean church.

We were welcomed with smiles and plenty of handshakes.  Always a good thing when visiting a church for the first time. We walked through a small gym and directly into a sanctuary.  The beginning of the service was interesting as I couldn’t really figure out who was the pastor. First person I thought was a pastor was a seminarian. Second person I thought was a pastor was an elder. Finally, the third person (third times the charm evidently) was Rev. Bill Simmons.  He stood up to conduct two baptisms. (If you’re keeping count that is now 3 for 3 in terms of churches we’ve attend doing a baptism on that Sunday).  Interesting tidbit is I don’t think we’ve witness a baptism from the hymnal thus far. Not that it is a bad thing as I enjoy hearing pastors explain baptism to those in attendance, parents, and sponsors.

Next up was a blessing for youth going to college or continuing their education at college.  Smart idea to have people praying for our youth going off to college as they will be tempted like never before. Keeping mind for many of them this will be the first time without the safety net from their parents.  Sadly, this portion really extended the service. I will expound on this later.

No communion evidently this Sunday. Sigh. I’m so used to communion every week, that I feel like I’m cheated attending a church that doesn’t practice Holy Communion every Sunday. Rev. Simmons’s  sermon” A Journey Too Much” was informative and their bulletin provided a sheet to follow along with the main points of the service.  Rev. Simmons was returning from a 3 month sabbatical in Canada with an Indian Tribe. I can’t seem to find my notes from the sermon that had the exact name of tribe.  If you click of the sermon title you can hear what I heard today.

Shortly after Sermon people began to get up leaving. Seems church was running long today due to the Baptism and Prayer for the college students. I found that distracting and rude to those of us who don’t worry about time when it comes to God. Really left a sour taste in my mouth. It is understood that isn’t a every Sunday experience at Christ Memorial.  The service was a contemporary service and the band and vocalists really left it all on the stage for the Lord.

Funny thing is I think Linda scared a few of those still in attendance when she started clapping to the final song. Not to worry, the band and congregation followed suit soon there after. Thats my wife always a leader.  I can see our return to Christ Memorial to worship again. Hopefully, not when so many things are on service schedule.

We toured around to look at the Sunday School/Kids Church rooms. We also saw their workout room with is nice concept. Keep your members fit in mind, spirit, and body. Sorry, they don’t offer Target deals, but will provide you with something more important, The Word of God. If you’re interested in checking out Christ Memorial here is the information.

Christ Memorial Lutheran Church (LCMS)

5252 So Lindbergh Blvd

St Louis, MO 63126

(314) 631-0304

info@christmemorialstl.org