Ash Wednesday Sermon Feb. 22, 2012

Readings and Sermon by
Pastor Duncan McLellan
>Click to Listen

The Scripture Lesson: Psalm 52

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right.

(Selah)

You love all the words that devour, O deceitful tongue.
But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your
tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,
“See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the
abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
I will thank you forever, because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

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Pastor's Message from the Sunday Bulletin

Pastor's Message (from the Sunday Bulletin)
This last week, our Bible-in-a-Year readings took us through the end of Exodus and into the beginning of Leviticus. We read about how the Tabernacle was to be constructed, how the priests were to be dressed, how various offerings were to be made, and when God’s faithful people were to make pilgrimages to his holy house. As I was reading these chapters day after day, I kept thinking to myself: “what would it have been like to live like that? What was it like to have every detail of your religious life prescribed for you, to have the presence of God physically manifested before your eyes day after day, and to have to have your proximity to God based on your ethical and ceremonial righteousness?

I have no idea. And, to be honest with you, I am glad that I have no idea.

Thankfully, Christ comes to us and does not demand or ask that we build him a tabernacle, go through a priest to talk to him, or provide him with burnt offerings at various times throughout the year. He does not make us go outside the camp (or town or city) when we sin. Rather, when we sin, he invites us to come to him to receive his forgiveness.

St. Paul writes: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Reading the Old Testament books of Exodus and Leviticus made me realize how much freedom we really have! We have been set free from the Law that continually condemned us, showing us our sin over and over. We have been set free from a system that demanded we be holy, and have been given over to a Savior that has made us holy.

-Pastor Duncan 

Sermon - Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012

Gospel reading and sermon by
Pastor Duncan McLellan
>Click to Listen

The Gospel Lesson: John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “T ake these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 

Vacation Bible School

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!
Vacation Bible School is now scheduled for the week of June 25th - 29th!
Stay tuned for more details to follow! 

Lutheran World Relief

Lutheran World Relief
Lutheran World Relief is experiencing an increased need of supplies. A brand new bar of soap signals dignity and cleanliness. Zion Early Childhood Center is collecting soap for Lutheran World Relief throughout the months of February and March. We are hoping to collect 300 bars (last year we collected 363) of any brand soap in its original wrapping. All bar sizes are accepted; however, bath-size bars (4 – 5 oz.) are highly preferred. Please help us reach our goal by placing your donations in either the church narthex or greenhouse areas.

You may remember the church collected one more bar than the school last year. Maybe the school will collect one more bar than the church this year! ☺

If you have any questions see Barbara Oechslein or call 412-221-1584. 

Baby McLellan

BABY MCLELLAN

It’s Wednesday, the 18th of January, early afternoon. I’m in the parsonage basement being watched by two dogs of varying size. Having just finished a summary review of Genesis 10-12 and talking with Tracey and Rhonda about upcoming church and youth events, I’m ready for a break. No, it’s not that there’s too much work to do. It’s not that I’m tired, bored, or anything but positive about all that has to get done today, the direction of Zion, or life in general. I’m ready for a break because I’m having a harder time focusing on what I’m doing than at any other time in my life (except maybe the week before I got married).

You see, Alissa is due to give birth to our first child in three days and I can’t stop thinking about the God-given miracle that is our unborn child. I want to share some thoughts I’ve had about being a parent-to-be in this month’s newsletter. My reasons for doing it are simple: I want to impress on you, in some way, what has been impressed on me during the 8 months that we’ve known Alissa has been pregnant. For those of you who have children, I hope to give voice to what you know to be true. For those of you who do not have children, I hope to illustrate, in some way, just how miraculous and wonderful your own creation in the womb was, and how God lovingly and with all wisdom knit you together in your mother’s womb.

When Alissa told me that she was pregnant, my first reaction was: “are you sure?” After all, we’d only been not trying not to try for a month. The first shot on goal always gets blocked. Or so I thought. But every pregnancy test Alissa took showed a + and not a - . We were going to be parents.

At three months in, we got to see our child on an ultrasound machine, alive and kicking. At four months, Alissa could feel the kicks. And at that time we had another ultrasound where we were able to see the hands and feet, eyes and heart, all operating as they were designed to. The kicking got more frequent and more powerful. This surprised no one; Alissa played soccer through college. The hiccups started and our baby has gotten into the ritual of kicking up a storm around 9:30 pm. Now, as we are only 3 days away from the medical community’s best guess as to when we will move from an “innie” to an “outie,” the movements are slower and more forceful, the heartbeat slower and more powerful, and the features of the baby are even sometimes visible through the skin on Alissa’s stomach.

I’ve been “prolife” as far back as I can remember. But after seeing, feeling and even hearing a baby grow in a woman’s womb, I cannot understand how anyone would think it is ever the best option to not bring this already-living person into the world. As God spoke to the prophet: “BEFORE I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”

But maybe even more than that, I cannot understand how anyone who has experienced what I have could come to the conclusion that we are all the result of the equation: random chance + time. The more we discover about the human body and how it grows and forms in the womb, the more complex it be- comes. The more we learn about how a human being grows in the womb, the more we realize we do not know. We are an infinitely complex creation. A countless number of infinitely complex events have to take place at the right time and in the right way for a human being to be born healthy (or be born at all). I am convinced the only entity that can make something so complex come together so often so perfectly is God.

Those of you who have children know what I am talking about. Those of you who have been blessed in other ways know that you have been created by the hand of God in a way that can only be described as miraculous.

All the best,
In Christ, Pastor Duncan

PS- please remember that our child is a miraculous blessing and gift from God down the road when his or her expressions of discontent and displeasure “enhance” your time in worship!☺