Dear Friends in Christ,
“Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never
be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my love be grown in you and
you in me?”
“The Summons” text- John
Bell ELW #798
This is a hymn that I was taught from the congregations of First Evangelical, North Salem and St. Paul’s here in Upper Sandusky. God has touched my heart greatly through this song. God has touched my heart greatly through you.
This invitation to come and follow the Lord comes to us at our baptism as we are loved, accepted and chosen to be God’s children. This call continues in each of our lives as we are invited to use our own unique gifts for loving others and sharing the Gospel in this world.
Being in interim pastor has been the way I’ve been answering God’s call to follow for the past 11 years. It has been a challenge and a joy, and I don’t regret for a moment answering God’s call. That’s my story, but the call comes to every one of us in different ways, to do different ministry in our lives. What is God’s call for you? I’m not going to list all of the possibilities here because God is much more creative than I am, and I don’t want someone to think that just because I didn’t list it, their call is not real. God’s call is always real, no matter what form it takes at different parts of our life. Listen… God is calling you. God’s work. Our hands.
The line in the hymn that speaks lovingly to me as I prepare to leave you is “Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?” I didn’t know you when I came here, but in the time we’ve spent together God has shaped my ministry and I am a better pastor because I’ve been able to serve among you. God stretched, shaped, (had to knock me flat for a while ;-D ) and wisely formed my ministry, even as God was stretching and shaping you. What an amazing privilege to be part of that experience with you. I am grateful to have been able to serve alongside Pastor Julianne, Pastor Henry, the councils, the LIP Board (now the LIFE Programming Committee), the study group, the Cooperative Ministry Board and all of you in different ways. I am sad to have to say goodbye, but it is time, once again, for me to answer the call to “go where I don’t know and never be the same…”
I am excited for your future, and for the opportunity that you will have to get to know and care for Pastor Joe and Sandy. I am excited for the ways I see you continuing to grow in love and service together as Lutherans in Faith for Everyone. I can’t wait to see what God is up to through you here in this place. I encourage you to answer God’s call, no matter how big or small you might think it is. God knows what He’s doing, and he wants to do it through you. Will you answer his call?
“ Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my
name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps
show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.”
Gratefully together in Christ,
Pastor Andrea
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
I fell in love with that greeting when I heard that phrase as an introduction to a sermon from our new pastor when I was a child. To my young ears there was something amazing about those words that always filled me with a moment of peaceful assurance. It has always been more than just the “introduction” to the sermon for me. It is a promise of God’s grace which cannot be taken away from us.
A few years ago, when the members of First Evangelical Lutheran were going through a difficult time, it was especially important for me to offer that greeting prior to my sermon each Sunday. I always hoped that others would hear in those words the comfort that I found. It was a reminder that nothing can separate us from the love of God. .
Now, as we prepare for more changes in our congregations, these words are a wonderful reminder for us that God’s grace will fill up any empty spaces as we look ahead. We need not worry about what may come because God holds our future just as God has held our past and holds our present! Good news for God’s people!
I write this as I prepare to take a short vacation with my family. When I return my good friend and colleague Pastor Andrea will have moved on, and I will be awaiting, with all of you, for the arrival of Pastor Joe. Even though much will have changed within the week, these words assure me that God’s grace will never change. Amen!
God Bless,
Pastor Julianne D. Smith+, LIFE interim
“A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’ Isaiah 40:3-5
, NRSV
Every Advent we hear the call to ‘prepare the way of the Lord’.
The interesting thing in this passage of scripture is that people are not
the ones being called to prepare here. This declaration was from
God to the heavenly host, alerting them that God was on the move.
As Dr. Mark Allen Powell of Trinity Seminary has said, a good modern song
parallel for this would be “Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley
low enough, ain’t no river wide enough to keep me from getting to you.”
The people of God had waited centuries for the anointed One,
the Messiah to come and save them. But God was not just sending another
king or prophet. God was on the way and nothing was going to stop the Lord
of Heaven and Earth from coming to the aid of the people that he cherished.
First century Palestine was, indeed, another time and place
very long ago. But the rumors of wars, fears of economic struggles,
battles with horrible illnesses, pain and chaos are not foreign to us.
The message of hope in Advent is not simply the power of positive thinking
or wishful optimism. The hope of Advent is grounded in the God who risked
everything for the sake of His beloved ones, and the hope of Advent came
to it’s fullness in the cross and empty tomb. The child who received
gold, frankincense and myrrh was not your usual royal baby, but one who
was ‘a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief’. This is a Messiah
for the real world where things hurt and don’t make sense and people die
before we want them to.
The themes of Advent, or waiting and light in the darkness, or
preparation and hope all point to the Lord whose love is beyond our imagining,
whose presence is closer than our very heartbeat, and whose strength and
hope sustains us even in the most dark and confusing times.
Prepare the way of the Lord. God loves you and will let
nothing stand in the way of coming to you and me. May God’s Spirit
help us to open our hearts and our lives to this bright hope and deep love,
so that we may share that hope and love with a hungry and hurting world.
Have a blessed Advent and Christmas,
Pastor Andrea
PS- We pray that you each will have a joyful Christmas and a rich
new year of blessing and hope.
We are so grateful for you all~ Merry Christmas!
Pastor Andrea, Jonathan, Becca, Ian and the puppy girls (Peaches
and Peanut).
As we enter November we are in the middle of a time of great change. We will be electing a new President soon. Our economy is in a time of many ups and downs. As a congregation we have chosen to enter into a new partnership with two other congregations and now a new Cooperative Ministry Board is up and running and a new joint call committee will soon be working to start calling new pastors. Add to this the changes that each of us face in our daily lives in so many ways, both small and big, and everything can be overwhelming.
I think that's why holidays and rituals are so important. We may say
"Oh, I thank God every day" and that is good. However, there are times
like these where having a special day set aside that doesn't change can
be a real gift. Every year in this country, the fourth Thursday in November
is set aside as a day of thanks. It gives us a break from the changes and
gives us something unchangable. Well, almost...
Things happen even during the holidays that can turn our traditions
upside down. Illness, divorce, disasters, job losses, and death can even
overturn the holidays. People that were at the table last year may not
be there this year, and everything familiar can suddenly seem lost.
There is One, however, in the middle of all of this whose presence is unchanging. The mercy and love of God endure forever. That means that no change in our country, no change in our community, no changes in our congregations, or even in our homes will ever change the mercy and love of God. The cross of Christ declares that not matter how difficult things get, God will never abandon us. The empty tomb proclaims that God can transform even the darkest hours and bring new life. God's love for the world is all-reaching and unchanging.
During this season of giving thanks, may God's Spirit open our eyes to the great love and mercy of God that reaches out to us every second of every day. May we be reminded that his love and mercy endure forever. Let us thank God through our words and through our actions as we reach out in love to others.
Thank you, God, for your unchanging love!
Together in Christ, Pastor Andrea Starn, Interim
ps- Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers for my health as well. My health condition remains the same, but after tests at Cleveland Clinic it has been determined that I have POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardic Syndrome), which means that when I'm upright such as standing or sitting, the blood doesn't get to my brain properly and my heart begins to race. This is not something I can take medicine for, but need to manage in other ways. This week I have started Cardiac Rehab to improve my circulation, and am following some other specific directions for eating, etc. by the Cardiologist at Cleveland.
Your faithful prayers and care have sustained me in this long journey more than you know, and North Salem and the Lutheran Churches in Upper will always have a very special place in my heart because of the love and understanding you have shown me in this difficult time. Thank you so much. ~ P.A.
Another Thank You: Thank you to everyone for surprising me with a special celebration of my 15th anniversary of Ordination in September. You all are good at this! I was VERY surprised and grateful. The reception was great and the gifts of a North Salem plate, the wooden replica of North, and one of your cookbooks were really special. We are looking for the right place in our home to showcase the plate, and the wooden church is in our China Cabinet. (The cookbook is already being used for yummy recipes!)
Thank you again for making this day and the celebration of this anniversary special. It means a lot. Peace, Pastor Andrea
~
North Salem Lutheran Church,
Upper Sandusky, OH