June 3rd, 2022

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Come, Holy Spirit!
Kindle in us the fire of your love!

GREETINGS IN THE CULMINATION OF THE 50 DAYS OF RESURRECTION REJOICING!

Our 50 days of Easter ends with the celebration of the Day of Pentecost.  Red is the color of this festival Sunday.  Red reminds us of fire as we remember the tongues of fire descended on the crowd in Jerusalem and the promised gift of the Holy Spirit is given.  God is faithful and fulfills God’s promises. 

If you have red, please wear it on Sunday to show your team spirit, to remind all of us that the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us as God fulfills our baptismal promises.  God is with us.  The Holy Spirit is within us, animating us as close as our breath.  The Holy Spirit urges us to move out into the world with God’s good news revealed to us in Jesus.

I will wear a silk scarf that was a gift from our Bangladesh missionaries, Utpal and Stacey Saha from their visit in May of 2018.  They are supported out of the World Mission Prayer League who has workers in 20 countries throughout the world along with a team dedicated to supporting the work that happens throughout the world. We have supported the Saha family with our loose offerings from our Christmas and Easter for many years.  In March, the council directed just over $3,000 to close out the Missionary Fund and be given to support them as our giving for Easter and Christmas was down due to Covid.    

Stacey & Utpal Saha, live in Bangladesh.  Utpal has a Christian reading room outside of LAMB for the purpose of sharing the Word with people from other backgrounds and he also works closely with the church, especially in developing and making use of the 'shelter home' that the church built near LAMB.  He runs a weekly Bible Study for seniors there in addition to participating in the other outreach activities. LAMB is an organization that works in health and development in Northwest Bangladesh since the mid-1970s. Their focus is to serve God by serving the poor. 

Stacey’s background is as a nurse-midwife, and her 'day job' is in management information and research- with her main research interests in providing equitable maternity services; child nutrition and gender-based violence.  She is also involved in their regional Nurses' Christian Fellowship, and more recently, in SALINE training for nurses and other health care workers.  SALINE is a training to help health care workers share their faith sensitively and appropriately in the workplace- to be salt and light. 

The Holy Spirit reaches near and far and works through each and everyone of us.  Breathe in.  That is how close the Holy Spirit is to you, empowering you to bear God’s image in this world, in your family and in our community. Make God smile!

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

May 26th, 2022

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!

GREETINGS IN THESE 50 DAYS OF RESURRECTION REJOICING!

Gloria Ruby, Richard Tiegs and I attended Southeastern Iowa Synod Assembly under the theme, “Go Tell the World”.  It was a wonderful gathering encouraging us to tell our stories of Jesus.  And we left with swag.

If you were at worship, you saw the conversation cards dispersed in the sanctuary, fellowship hall and even the bathrooms.  Instead of searching for Easter Eggs, search for that question that just might help you to share your story or wonder about what God might be up to in your life and in this community.

· How do you discover the needs

of your neighbors?

· Tell a short story about someone who influenced your faith.

· How does being a part of this congregation help you live out your faith day to day?

· What’s your favorite hymn or worship

song and why?

· What is one change you can make to be ready for God’s work through you?

· What deepens your faith and love for God?

· What ministry of your congregation do you think makes God smile?

· Where, when, or how do you see

God in others?

· If God gave you one job for this time and place – what might it be?

 Journal or converse with these questions or ones you might see laying around church.  Trust the Holy Spirit to walk with you as you explore and wonder.

The other piece of swag we received was a green megaphone to boldly proclaim God’s good news in Jesus Christ.  We put words to the love that God has poured out upon us and made known to us in Jesus.  The megaphone can also be a popcorn holder and I am hoping we can create our own megaphone/popcorn holder to hand out to our neighbors.  Let’s spend some time in prayer, listening to the Holy Spirit and put some words on a megaphone.  What do we want to tell our neighbors as we invite them to join us for National Night Out on the first Tuesday in August?  Listen well, talk to each other and let’s see what gift we have to offer the community and makes God smile.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

May 20th, 2022

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!

GREETINGS IN THESE 50 DAYS OF RESURRECTION REJOICING!

How can we help but wonder what God is up to as we keep looking at death or our dead ends with hope for new life in this season of resurrection?  I hope you will keep looking. As I look, I am surprised where I see signs of death and resurrection.

I read an article about some good news for newborn babies and their parents with a possible discovery of the cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  Dr. Carmel Harrington, a sleep expert whose son died of SIDS has spent the last 30 years searching and exploring this terrifying disorder that took the life of her son in 1991.  They have discovered a biochemical marker that could help detect babies more at risk for SIDS.  Public health campaigns have helped to dramatically decline the incidence of SIDS and yet it remains the major cause of sudden and unexpected infant deaths in western countries contributing to almost 50% of post-neonatal deaths.

This mother looked long and hard at a terrible death and was part of the effort to bring new life with possible intervention and answers for parents who have lost their babies to this syndrome as she says, “These families can now live with the knowledge that this was not their fault.”  Not 30 years ago but about 22 and 24 years ago, I remember well watching my babies sleep, watching for that rhythmic breath with prayers for them as simple as “now I lay them down to sleep, I pray dear Lord their souls to keep, keep them safe all through the night and wake them with the morning light.” 

Digging through my purse in search of something, my Epiphany word fell out among the mix. The slip of paper revealed the word, “Determination.” A good word for the Easter season as I look at death and hope for resurrection.  Determination is what I heard in the mother’s story.  Determination is what I hear in the stories in the book of Acts this Easter season.  Determination is God’s word as well.  God is determined to love this world and all its peoples.  Through death and resurrection, God’s love springs forth in the most surprising ways and places.  God is determined.  I see it throughout the biblical story, and I see it in my own life and over the years and in this community of faith and the world God created. 

Sometimes I wonder if what I am doing matters, especially the little things, the mundane, repetitive, daily kind of activities.  They seem at times a dead end that goes nowhere but faith, trust and determination have me look again and new life springs forth.  Where have you seen death and resurrection lately?

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

May 12th, 2022

GREETINGS HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen because Jesus lives.  I hope you are sharing your stories of resurrection, of looking in the empty tomb and then turning to see new life again in these 50 days of Easter.

With this cold, wet and windy Spring meeting tropical tempts overnight, flowers and blooming trees are just popping.  We can almost see new life spring forth.  The colors of spring are so beautiful.  God is such an amazing artist with all the shades of green leaping forth sprinkled with whites and various shades of reds, pinks and purples.  The earth proclaims resurrection.  Keep looking and ask the Holy Spirit to help you see.  We know the disciples had a hard time recognizing the risen Christ at first.  Jesus can be mysterious in revealing himself.

For Mother’s Day, I received a book, “The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England’s Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus.” by Andrew Klavan.  He was baptized into Christ Jesus late in life- in his 50s.  It is delightful to read of the excitement of his newly discovered faith and it breathes new life into my own faith journey. 

Klavan speaks of his deepened relationship with God augmenting his clumsy talent for living. Being more Christ-like has transformed him into a more peaceful monster finding joy in little things and being alive to life in the moment and twice alive to the people and things he loves, like family and friends and books.  Each time he reached a little deeper understanding of some passage in the gospels and attune his mind more to Christ, it was like swallowing a spoonful of crazy happy sauce.  His joy increased.

He is driven to know Jesus more and taught himself koine Greek using all the tools of technology we have at our access these days.  I am impressed by his drive and determination, and I am looking forward to the read ahead of me.  His newfound joy in Christ breathes fresh air into what I too often take for granted and gives me pause to look again and find the joy and delight in life with Jesus and Christian community.

Christ is risen!  I wonder and I see new and exciting things and life is so good because Jesus lives.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack

May 5th, 2022

GREETINGS HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen because Jesus lives.  We have these 50 days of Easter to look into the empty tomb, to look again at death and the new life that springs forth.

As we listen to the resurrection appearances, the disciples had a difficult time recognizing Jesus.  And those who never looked, never saw him.  The disciples had to spend some time together, eat together and when the time was right, they recognized Jesus’ presence.  He revealed himself to them.

Spend some time with Jesus, doing what you usually do but with an expectation that Jesus will come and be present with you.  Recognize his presence in the familiar places of your life.  During this season of looking and expecting, I’ve watched some movies and seen the themes of death and resurrection come to life before me.

Watch a movie you have seen before and look for themes of resurrection and new life.  Watch “Encanto” and look again at themes of resurrection.  Go to the new movie, “Brother Stu” and see death and resurrection themes over and over again.  These stories of our time help us to recognize how Jesus comes to us in the familiar places of our lives, bringing new and resurrected life.

Jesus lives and I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen.  Remember to share your stories and wonderings.

Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,

Pastor Connie Spitzack