Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Click here to learn more about our continuing ministries and how you can provide support.
Portions from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2021 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. By permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #23415.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-732189.
Click here to learn more about our continuing ministries and how you can provide support.
Portions from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2021 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. By permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #23415.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-732189.
Everyone is invited to Good Shepherd’s
Renewal Celebration
Rally Day and Picnic
Come celebrate as we renew the torch of our ministries after quarantining.
We will have a special 9:30am service at the church and then picnic at Kirby Park (pavilion 3) from 11am to 5pm on September 12th.
There will be food, fellowship, and games for all ages.
By Pastor Jim Parks, CLP
Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:1-5 (CEV) “If we believe that Jesus is truly Christ, we are God’s children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children. If we love and obey God, we know that we will love his children. We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.
Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.”
Are you certain about your faith? If you have answered that question with a “Heck, yes!”, then perhaps you may not want to read any further. You see, I am generally wary of people who seem too certain in their faith. Some have even said that if I had more faith, I would be certain. But, certainty of my faith has never really been my experience. My faith has been more a journey of questions, searching, and wrestling than one of absolute answers
That is not to say that I have no belief system. Does God exist? Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? Does God love us? Does God work through us? I could say “Yes” to all those and more.
My wariness is with another kind of certainty. And that is the kind of certainty that establishes moral superiority, labels and exclusions. The certainty that “we” are right and that “they” are wrong. I believe that statements and thinking that reflect “’we’ are good and ‘they’ are bad” is what often threatens to divide the Church and separate us from each other.
I sometimes wonder if certainty, rather than doubt, might be the opposite of faith. Christ doesn’t ask us to be certain. He calls us to be faithful, to be trusting. When I am certain, I have placed myself “at the center of my universe and others revolve around me.” In other words, I become the focus. Trust, however, asks me to look beyond myself. It allows relationships. Trust places God at the center.
Faith is alive, dynamic, and growing. Faith opens us to possibilities beyond what we can presently see and understand. Certainty is more narrow. It naturally defines how we can think and act. It establishes limitations and restrictions on God, each other, and ourselves. Certainty creates boundaries. We all need boundaries to survive. But we must also recognize that the same wall that protects “us” from “them” can easily become the wall that imprisons us.
I know and understand that it is often much easier and less risky to be certain than it is to be faithful and trusting. Trust is hard work. It is more than simply believing. It is an action. Trust does not mean that we do not think for ourselves, that we do not get involved, or that we just sit back and let happen whatever will happen. Que sera, sera. Trust means that we must wrestle with the difficult questions. But we do so with possibilities, risk, and openness—with the possibility that our own opinion could be wrong, with the risk that we might be changed, and with openness to God’s ever-present love and grace for “us” and for “them.”
My hope and prayer is that I will be more faithful than certain, that I will not fear new truths, that I will not settle for half-truths, and that I will not presume to have all the truth. That’s faith, not certainty.
Prayer: O God, I don’t just want to be certain that you love me. I want to believe it. I don’t just want to be certain that all are your children and that there is no “we” and “they”. I want to believe it. I don’t just want to be certain that Jesus is working in and through me. I want to believe it. O God, strengthen my faith and help me to work on my trust level. Through Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Click here to learn more about our continuing ministries and how you can provide support.
Portions from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2021 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. By permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #23415.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-732189.
It has been wonderful being able to see everyone’s face again but we now must go back to making sure everyone is protected. Our area is now at substantial risk of Covid transmission. Per CDC guidelines we are encouraging everyone to wear masks at all services and indoors gatherings whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated.
We ask that anyone who is not feeling well or has been exposed to remain home. Video recordings of worship will continue to be available online as soon as possible Sunday afternoons. If you are not receiving email notifications yet please submit your email to receive updates.
Click here to learn more about our continuing ministries and how you can provide support.
Portions from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2021 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. By permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #23415.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-732189.
By Pastor Wes Poole
Deuteronomy 11:18-19
You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. – NRSV
Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray. – NRSV
Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t. – Folk singer Pete Seeger
Martin Luther, on Bible study: I study my Bible like I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb–study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings.
Teach your children! It was one of God’s commandments to the ancient Hebrew peoples and it is still just as relevant and powerful a commandment all these millennia later. The continual nurturing of faith that we provide our children and ourselves throughout our lives is one of the most important responsibilities we have as God’s people and as a congregation. It’s also imperative to remember that when we commit to the discipline of studying scripture and growing in the understanding of our faith, we aren’t just cramming for some sort of “Divine Exam”. Our relationship with God in Jesus Christ is established through grace. As a result, “Christian Education”, as we often call it, is a matter of personal enrichment; empowering us to be better disciples and more effective agents of that grace in the world. As we continue to transition to a post-COVID world, your Faith Formation Team is in the process of visioning for the future of our educational ministries at Good Shepherd. There are any number of ideas being discussed, but one thing remains central, helping our people grow in understanding of our faith and devotion to God and neighbor. “Faith Formation” is not just something we do to help teach Bible stories to children. That’s immensely important, but only the beginning. Our faith, both individually and as a community, is constantly in formation; growing, changing, and hopefully deepening. Let us all, as a family of faith, commit to “shaking the apple tree” that is Holy Scripture, and to the life in service to God and neighbor that Jesus modeled for us.
Let us pray…
Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word. As we strive to teach our children “in the right way” and to keep your words in our hearts and souls, inspire us to take what we learn and put it to work in your Kingdom for the benefit of all people. Make us creative and engaged students and teachers; that your Word be made known to the world and transform the lives of those who experience it. We ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Be well, be kind, be safe, and pick up that Bible! You never know what might happen!
Blessings always,
Pastor Wes Poole †
Click here to learn more about our continuing ministries and how you can provide support.
Portions from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2021 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. By permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #23415.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-732189.
By Pastor Wes Poole
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. – NRSV
He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity. – Ben Jonson.
The story is told about an elderly lady who was greatly disturbed by her many troubles–both real and imaginary. Finally, her grandson, a pastor, tactfully told her, “Grandma, we’ve done all we can for you. You’ll just have to trust God for the rest.” A look of absolute despair spread over her face as she replied, “Oh dear, has it come to that?” Whereupon the pastor replied, “It always comes to that, so we might as well begin with that!”
“We might as well begin with that.” Yea verily…honest and forsooth! We all experience our share of life’s troubles. Some are undoubtedly bigger and more troubling than others. Regardless, God promises never to leave us to face them alone. That in itself is not all that controversial a thing to state. Of course, as people of faith we strive to place that faith as firmly in God as we can contrive. It is important to remember though that God almost always works through something, or someONE else. When we come to God for help through a time of trial or crisis, however great or small, we aren’t asking God to work “magic tricks” or to miraculously fix everything, but rather we are asking God to help guide us through. Often as not, it is our fellow sisters and brothers who serve as those guideposts. We see this quite clearly in the medical world. What is scarier than illness? Yet God asserts His presence through doctors and scientists, or the friends and loved ones who pray with us and for us. Whether we’re on the giving or receiving end of God’s Grace, it is in the face of our neighbor where we see God at work most clearly. For the modern day disciple of Jesus, it is vital that we not only acknowledge the grace and kindness shown us, but that we also become ourselves the agents and purveyors of that grace. Luther understood this when he penned his “greatest hit” A Mighty Fortress, which was based on Psalm 46. God is a very PRESENT help in trouble. Right here, right now, present tense, God is reaching out to us. May we always strive to be that present help for others. It is truly the perfect place to begin!
Let us pray…
God of mercy and comfort, help us to recognize your presence through the lives and actions of others. As we experience the grace you extend so lavishly, help us to continue being the agents of your grace in the world. For when we reach out to others in your name, we are all bound closer together, and your healing love is made known in life transforming ways. We ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Be well, be kind, and be safe. See you soon!
Blessings,
Pastor Wes Poole †