Posted by Christ the King Lutheran Church on April 27, 2012 under Pastor's Message | 
One Sunday of the Easter season is named “Good Shepherd Sunday.” It remind me of the children’s game, “Follow the leader.” Do you remember trying to keep up when the person out front did a variety of actions? Everything we were asked to do, the person out front had already done
Jesus as the “good shepherd” is a little like that childhood leader, calling us to repeat the pattern of his life. It centred on a daily relationship with his God and Father, a willingness to pass on the mercy and forgiveness that God offered, and a willingness to get involved in all the details of ordinary life. As we read the four gospels in the New Testament we get a picture of man of compassion, a man who noticed the people disconnected from the community, a man who wept for those who turned away from the love of God. That’s the kind of shepherd / leader who invites us to come close and to walk in the way he walked.
There are lots of leaders in the world who have other purposes for followers, leaders who aren’t wise, leaders who aren’t looking out for our best interests. “Good Shepherd Sunday” reminds us to pay attention to the people we are following and the way we are walking. If we’re going the wrong direction, U-turns are allowed!
May you know the presence of Jesus the Good Shepherd in your life this day.
Blessings,
Pastor Susan
Posted by Christ the King Lutheran Church on March 9, 2012 under Pastor's Message |
I’m fond of purple: just check my wardrobe and my pictures of sunsets. I’m partial to lilacs and violets, but have to admit I’m not too excited about grape jelly. Purple also signals the season of Lent in our church, because purple has connections to a mood of reflection and repentance, and connections to royalty.
It used to be so expensive to make purple dye that only kings and queens could afford to use fabric of that colour. That’s one of the reasons that we sometimes describe a person as “born to the purple,” or “born in the purple” referring to royal birth, special birthright or privileged heritage. But there’s also a suggestion of limitation, of life being set in one specific direction.
That’s what Jesus tells his disciples as they travel the road to Jerusalem: “I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” Openly he tells them that pain and death await him, but they don’t want to hear or understand. They don’t want to know about the cross, because they have dreams of a different kind of glory. It’s hard for them to understand that his painful and shameful death can have a positive result. Yet as he suffers the separation from God that our sins cause us to suffer, a new pathway is opened to a restored relationship. By the cross Jesus says, “I’ve suffered it all, and nothing need keep you away anymore from my God and Father.”
It is not the way the disciples wanted to put things right. It is not the way we would choose because it doesn’t depend on our own goodness or effort. Instead it is the mysterious and merciful gift of God, love and forgiveness poured into our lives by the action of the Holy Spirit. Rest in that as you ponder the purple of Lent.
“God of the covenant, in the glory of the cross Your Son embraces the power of death and breaks its hold over Your people. In this time of repentance, draw all people to Yourself so that we who confess Jesus as Lord may put aside the deeds of death and embrace the life of Your kingdom.
Amen.” (Thanks to Pastor Elhert, Mount Olivet, Edmonton for sharing this prayer)
Pastor Susan Horton
Posted by Christ the King Lutheran Church on December 20, 2011 under Pastor's Message |
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE Saturday, Dec. 24th at 7:30 at Timberlea School with Glowstick “candles”
No Worship Service at the school Sunday, Dec. 25th or Sunday, Jan. 1st. One worship option is the 10:00 Service at St. Thomas Anglican on Signal Road.
Christmas decorating means sorting through the ornaments which often have stories to go with them, memories of people and places. For years I used a little garland from our first Christmas tree – it was so small that one garland was the only decoration it needed. Then there are the gifts for special occasions, the hand-made efforts, and perhaps ornaments we inherited. There can be joy and sadness as we hang them once again. Such ornaments get packed away, sooner or later (one year it was February before I undecorated a table top tree). But there’s another kind of ornament that is meant for year round display – the believing Christian.
The Letter to Titus, a pastor on the island of Crete, outlines roles and expectations for members of the Christian community. “Pay attention to your life,” the letter says, “so that you may be an ‘ornament to the doctrine of God our Saviour’” (Titus 2:10). In other words, “You have been saved by God, through Jesus, so live like it, showing what is good, true, honest, and kind.”
Think about it: You are hand-picked by God to be displayed, to bring beauty, to bring joy, to offer the story of Jesus. You are an “ornament” that God has no desire to pack away for a significant part of the year. You may be a bit battered, but your memories of God’s words and God’s faithfulness matter to the people around you.
Blessings on your Christmas celebrations. Whether you gather with a large group or a very small number, count on Jesus to show up too.
Pastor Susan
Posted by Christ the King Lutheran Church on November 25, 2011 under Pastor's Message |
Am I blue? Then it must be the church season of Advent. Many churches used blue hangings during the four weeks leading up to Christmas, a royal blue that reminds us that a king is coming. Since a king is coming we need to prepare.
How shall we prepare? With a deep breath and a deep prayer that the God of all hope will open our hearts to presence of Jesus in the people and events around us. That presence isn’t dependent on presents, or trees, or baking, or the best party on the block. That presence is God’s surprising advent in our world, moving into the neighbour as a baby so that we wouldn’t be scared to say hi.
Jesus’ coming as a baby reminds us that life contains lots of waiting times – waiting for the baby to come, waiting for the baby to sleep through the night, waiting for the baby to walk and talk and quit throwing food on the floor. The Advent season recognizes that waiting. We repeat God’s promises and we recognize that there is often an unknown space of time between promise-speaking and promise-keeping. But delay does not mean promise-breaking.
The bible readings assigned for the Sundays of Advent include two great promises: the first one: “God who called you is faithful”; the second one: “God will strengthen you to the end.” Those are words of hope, promising that we are not alone after all, no matter what the circumstance.
In a poem called Grounds for Hope, poet and theologian Gerhard Forde wrote, “light is lord over darkness, truth is lord over falsehood, life is lord over death.” Those are Advent words, waiting words, good news words for one who has found God faithful to the end.
This year, don’t fret about the waiting. Invite Jesus to share it with you, and prepare to be surprised.
Pastor Susan Horton
Posted by Christ the King Lutheran Church on October 28, 2011 under Pastor's Message |
For days, or weeks even, people have been asking, “What will you be on Hallowe’en? What will you dress up as?”I think there’s a more important question: “What will you be the day after Hallowe’en? Will you just go back to your regular clothes and your regular routine, with some extra sugar thrown in?”
Or, when you pack away the mask, could you let go of some of the other masks that you wear, the ones that hide your fear, or your anxiety, or even your faith in Jesus? Can you take the risk of being who you really are? Can you take the risk of sharing the concerns and dreams that fill your mind and heart? Beyond that, can you take the risk of listening for the dreams of God?
The Bible presents us with many images of God’s dreams for wholeness, compassion, and connection. In John 17 Jesus offers his prayers and dreams for the unity of all the believers in him. Years ago Twila Paris included the idea of God’s dreams in a song called “I Will Listen.”
Could it be that [God] is only waiting there to see
If I will learn to love the dreams
that He has dreamed for me?
Over the next few weeks, I pray that you will take some time to listen for those godly dreams as you pray, as you read the Bible, as you participate in Christian conversation. God’s idea for you life may be more than you imagined.
What will you be….in Jesus?
Pastor Susan
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6th – special guests will join us for worship, people who are in Alberta to attend are in Alberta to attend the North American Forum and Hearings on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology, organized by WCC and KAIROS, Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Nov. 7-11 in Calgary.
