February 2021



 

Judge Yourself

 

The ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, famously said that we need to know ourselves (Phaedrus, 229e). The New Testament adds that we also need to judge ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:31, 2 Corinthians 13:5–9).

     The Bible teaches that we need to know how bad we really are – “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (February 17) and marks the beginning of a special time each year for Christians to learn this anew. Since we will not be gathering in our church building this year for the Ash Wednesday liturgy and imposition of ashes, an online examination will be provided instead.

     In preparation for that examination, prayerfully consider this passage from the Lutheran Confessions: “Original sin… replaces the lost image of God in man with a deep, wicked, abominable, bottomless, inscrutable, and inexpressible corruption of his entire nature in all its powers, especially of the highest and foremost powers of the soul in mind, heart, and will. As a result, since the Fall man inherits an inborn wicked stamp, an interior uncleanness of the heart and evil desires and inclinations” (The Book of Concord, ed. T. Tappert, p. 510).

—Pastor Marshall




PRESIDENT'S REPORT....by Cary Natiello

 

Hello again First Lutheran Church members,

 

I was not able to attend our annual meeting on January 31, 2021 because I traveled to Mexico with my wife to visit her 92 year old mother who broke her hip and is slowly recovering.  I hope that the meeting went well and that many of you were able to attend.  It is also my hope that you felt united in the decisions that were made at the meeting.  By the time you receive this issue of The Messenger, I will be back home and God willing, COVID free.

     On Wednesday, January 20, I listened to the inauguration speech that President Joe Biden gave, speaking of unity and the need to help each other during these trying times.

     I wanted to share some of his speech that gave me some hope for our future as a nation (not exact quotes, but close enough I think)…

 

    With unity we can do great things, important things. We can right wrongs.  Through civil war, the Great Depression, World Wars, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice, and setback, our better angels have always prevailed.  In each of our moments enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward and we can do that now. History, faith and reason show the way…of unity. 

    We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors.  Without unity there is no peace, only bitterness and fury, no progress, only exhausting outrage.

We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.  We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we're willing to stand in the other person's shoes.

    Some days you need a hand.  There are other days when we're called to lend a hand. That's how it has to be, that's what we do for one another.

    In the work ahead of us we're going to need each other.  We need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter.  We're entering what may be the darkest and deadliest period of the virus.  We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation.

    As the Bible says, “Weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5).  We will get through this together.

 

My prayer is that united we stand to help our neighbor, and as a nation, it is what propels us to a better future for all.

 

Blessing to you all. 




 

STEWARDSHIP

Our Giving 2021

 

As we look forward to a new year we have some hope. The hope of returning to worship in the building, the hope that the pandemic and its ramifications will be greatly reduced, and the hope that life as a whole will return to some kind of predictable rhythm. 

     Giving to the church has dropped off in the last few months and we have been encouraged to do what we can to make up the difference. The ELCA’s Generosity Project asks us to consider some important questions as we think about being the best stewards we can of what we have in our individual households. So let’s take a look at some factors involved with stewardship during such unpredictable times. 

     First, do our households know how much we share and give of our time, possessions and wealth? Does each person in the family have the same idea of how to share and give? Children learn by the examples they see at home. The WHY of giving is because it is good to do so, and we are given that example through Christ’s life.

     Next, try to recall when you have been the recipients of generosity. Whose generosity are you most thankful for?  Does the giving of others inspire us to be more generous? In the feeding of the 5,000, those afterward marveled, believing that Jesus, “Must be the Prophet who is come into the world!” (John 6:14)  So, the WHO of giving is important to consider with Christ again being our best example.

     Then there is the WHERE we practice our generosity. Do we support First Lutheran Church with the first fruits of our generosity? Do we support other organizations, besides those in our own extended ministries? Perhaps we can ask God to equip us and help us recommit to supporting First Lutheran Church with our first fruits, while still participating in other worthy ministries.

     The HOW of giving is also worthy of consideration. Weekly or monthly pledged support of the church is one way. The St. Nicholas Faire is an entertaining and fun way of giving and helps us to responsibly live in our community. Our skills and talents can also be used to give in the various ways we can, e.g. carpentry, financial skills, healthcare, music, etc. Our church is multitalented!

     Then there is the HERE & NOW. This involves times when we felt unusually generous and led by God to do more or give more. Asking God to make us aware of how we can be open to giving and sharing unexpectedly is a worthy prayer. This will allow us to be stretched and used by God in different ways.

-Benjamin Dobbeck, Church Council

 

 


 


Luther on Ruth

 

By Pastor Marshall

 

After Ruth’s husband, Mahlon, dies, Naomi tells her she is free to return to Moab. But Ruth famously refuses, saying, “where you go I will go, your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Luther saw in Ruth’s confession a break from Judaism, for “although she did not belong to the holy people – for she was a Moabitess – she was nevertheless saved because she clung in faith to the God of Israel” (Luther’s Works 3:133). With her abiding faith, Ruth could say to Naomi that “even though I am not of your people, your God will not cast me aside [but] will take care of me” (LW 2:276). Others see in this “no miracle, no heady manifestation of God’s power, no fanfare,…. no conversion” on Ruth’s part (E. F. Campbell, Ruth, 1975, p. 82). But others see Ruth’s faith as “a deliberate choice [giving up] the traditional Moabite deity Chemosh” – being a radical move “even more memorable than Abraham’s for she acts without a specific revelation from God” (K. D. Sakenfeld, Ruth, 1999, p. 33). Indeed, “Ruth’s renunciation foreshadows Jesus’ teaching: to be his disciple requires one to renounce all family ties for the sake of the kingdom of God” (R. L. Hubbard, The Book of Ruth, 1988, p. 118). Hers is a “costly decision” (E. J. Hamlin, Ruth: Surely There is a Future, 1996, p. 20). It “rejects common sense and any shred of self-interest” (C. C. James, Finding God in the Margins: The Book of Ruth, 2018, p. 43). “Ruth goes over Naomi’s head by appealing to [her] God – the God Naomi has just identified as the enemy [Ruth 1:13]” (C. C. James, The Gospel of Ruth, 2008, p. 48). Luther would like Ruth’s daring disposition – believing that all Christians should be rebels (LW 13:414).

 

 

 




 

Philippians

The Apostle Saint Paul

 

“I press on to make it my own, because

Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

(3:12)

 

by Pastor Marshall

 

Martin Luther sees the contrast in this verse between make and made to be one by which we “toil and exert ourselves that we may finally comprehend… the incomprehensible glory [of our salvation]… as we have been comprehended” by it. And we do that with “a weak faith,” knowing “the consolation that God [welcomes the one] who is weak in faith (Romans 14:1).” So we keep on toiling and exerting even though those efforts are “a slender grasping and a tiny spark of faith” (Luther’s Works 5:230–231) – and we know that “this does not happen in peace and calm rest, for it is a battle which does not end without wounds and blood” (LW 76:284). But we keep on toiling for we want the “fullness” of faith, in order to grasp Christ “more certainly, and not to doubt” him (LW 12:359) – “that I may see what good things have been put into the shrine of faith” (LW 75:237). For indeed, “whoever has begun to be a Christian, this is what remains: to consider that he has not yet become a Christian and to seek to become a Christian” (LW 67:213).

     That’s because we’re mixed and need purifying. For “filth always wants to sit in the heart alongside where Christ should be seated, and it wants to defile His seat” (LW 57:108). What’s in us that “belongs to faith and to Christ is completely pure,... but what is still our own is completely sinful” (LW 21:205). So we have a lot to do. And no one is a “master of this art, but we all remain disciples” (LW 12:407). Disciples know that this struggle is like going after “a wonderful taste or odor that they greatly desire and pursue; and they are amazed that they cannot grasp it or comprehend it as they would like” (LW 14:37). But we do not give up – keeping on “doing good works, fulfilling your station or office diligently and faithfully, and undergoing all sorts of suffering for the Gospel” (LW 21:205). These efforts matter because “in this life we shall never learn all there is to know” (LW 58:451). And without them the disciple “stops growing, that is, starts declining” (LW 25:153).

And how has God already made us his own? He “released us from sin; he bestowed power on us, strength to exercise virtue; he bestowed on us readiness, patience; at our baptism he bestowed on us the Holy Spirit” (John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians, trans. P. Allen, 2013, p. 245). Struggling to affirm and build upon these endowments is the “true nature of Christian existence on earth” – a struggle that brings us “nearer the goal, but so long as [we are] in the body, that goal still lies ahead” (F. F. Bruce, Philippians, 1989, p. 120). This struggle will fail without “deep fervor” (B. Thurston, Philippians, 2009, p. 130). That fervor enables “running, wrestling, striving, and fighting.” The struggling disciple “can seek, because he has been found; he can know because he has been known; he can apprehend because he has been apprehended.” These struggles oppose the “smiling presentations of the gospel as the way to be healthy, wealthy, and wise” because they insult those “who wish to be taken more seriously than that” (Fred Craddock, Philippians, 1985, pp. 61–62). For that true struggle “the active response to grace is gratitude, to mercy is repentance, and to love [the] resolve to love in return” (G. Hunsinger, Philippians, 2020, p. 114). Knowing this, however, can be “a terrible void.” That’s because the struggle is unending – and gratitude, repentance, and love can wane. So the endowments have to be primary. That God has first made us his own is the “substance, fullness, possession, joy, [and] assurance” of our life with him (Karl Barth, Epistle to the Philippians, 40th Anniversary Edition, trans. J. W. Leitch, 2002, p. 108).

 

 

 



Thinking About Kierkegaard

 

Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) “is widely considered the most important religious thinker of the modern age” (Peter E. Gordon, “Kierkegaard’s Rebellion,” The New York Review of Books, November 10, 2016) He published over twenty-five books in his short life, as well as a seven volume journal after his death. That massive collection of notes and papers has been called The Soul of Kierkegaard (Dover Press, 2003). In it he writes from 1853 that Christianity gone awry – he calls it “Christian wilting” – mistakes “the artistic for the Christian, human upbringing for Christian character, human cleverness for Christian recklessness, human superiority for Christian worth, the charming magnificence of appearance for the plain everyday dress of truth, a secular, not to say pagan, Sunday-Christianity for New Testament Monday-Christianity; it mistakes artistic seriousness in playing Christianity for the real earnestness of Christianity, the idyllic enjoyment of quiet hours for New Testament painful decision; it mistakes enjoyment for suffering, winning the world for renunciation of the world, heightening life’s enjoyment for painfully dying to the world…” (Journals, ed. Hongs, §1:825). What follows is an attempt to think through this passage, nearly phrase by phase, to enhance our appreciation of it.

 

Jane Harty: Is Kierkegaard criticizing sacred classical music masterpieces, rich liturgical vestments and paraments, beautiful stained glass, and awe-inspiring architecture (in other words, the “artistic”) as distractions away from authentic Christianity?

 

Ron Marshall: Yes, but only if they indeed distract Christians from suffering for Christ and following him (Kierkegaard’s Writings 20:255–57). Most of the time he thinks art does that because it favors enjoyment over the struggle that comes from wrestling with the truth (Journals §2:1823). In that sense he thinks that beauty and eloquence are dangerous for the church (Journal §1:818). They provide a respite from the troubles of ordinary, daily living (KW 17:165, Journals §6:6957) which is the difficulty we need if we’re to be drawn more closely into Christ (KW 15:292). Just think how the church favors soothing, melodious music over discordant, harsh pieces; and sculpture with serpentine lines over angular, random, sharp edge protrusions.

 

Jane 2: What is the essential difference between what Kierkegaard calls “human upbringing” and “Christian character?”

 

Ron 2: Human upbringing has to do with gradual improvements designed to help us fit into society (Journals §5:6076). Christians should instead stand outside of society as critics heralding Christ’s different way of life (Journals §4:4175).

 

Jane 3: What is “Christian recklessness?” Is that the leap of faith?

 

Ron 3: Yes and more. He did indeed call faith that “rashly risked venture” which leaned toward “foolhardiness” (Journals §2:1438). But he also thought that the daily Christian life was marked by confrontations with opponents over personal convictions and broad social trends and norms (Journals §5:5049).

 

Jane 4: Isn’t “Christian worth” also about some kind of “superiority” of character, in comparison to those of other faiths?

 

Ron 4: Yes, if it were actually possible for Christians to live Christian lives. But Kierkegaard believed that Christians could only aspire to such a life – and not actually live it. (KW 22:139–41). So while he thought that the Christian ideal was the best (Journals §6:6843, p. 484), he didn’t believe that any Christian’s life was better than anyone else’s. Personal humility mattered deeply to him (KW 21:77).

 

Jane 5: The “magnificence of appearance” and “plain truth” are contrasted. Can’t the truth also be magnificent?

 

Ron 5: Truth wasn’t primarily theoretical for Kierkegaard. That complexity could look magnificent. But living a truthful life mattered more – which for him was about imitating or following Christ (Journals §2:1905).

 

Jane 6: Can you explain the difference between “secular, not to say pagan, Sunday-Christianity” and “New Testament Monday-Christianity?”

 

Ron 6: Kierkegaard worried about Sunday worship being dead-ended. He wanted to make sure that after worship was over, the Christian would struggle to try to become a better follower of Jesus. He told a parable about this, comparing people to worshipping geese who never cared to change and weren’t worried about it (Journals §3:3067).

 

Jane 7: Can “artistic seriousness” and the “earnestness of Christianity” work together? In our time, the term “chancel prancing” has been invoked, but isn’t that just name-calling?

 

Ron 7: For Kierkegaard Christian earnestness had more to do with struggling with faith and people than struggling with inanimate objects as in the plastic arts – that is, paintings, sculpture and architecture. He thought the same could happen in human art forms (music and dance) but not as clearly. An example of disregard for Christian earnestness in musical art would be the exposé Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music (2005) by Blair Tindall.

 

Jane 8: Can you give an example of musical art that does not disregard Christian earnestness? For example, does it count that J. S. Bach signed his sacred music scores with Soli Deo Gloria, or is that superficial? What about composers that don’t identify as Christians but use Christian texts, for example John Rutter? Or instrumental music without texts that expresses both sorrow and joy in a deeply felt, serious way, like Beethoven or Chopin? What counts for Christian earnestness in art and music for Kierkegaard?

 

Ron 8: Kierkegaard didn’t write a treatise on faith and art. All that we have are pieces here and there about it in his writings. We do know, however, that he thought Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, had Christian importance as a warning against rampant sensuality (Journals §3:2789). Because of that he said he owed everything to Mozart (Journals §3:2791).

 

Jane 9: What is the “painful New Testament decision” that Kierkegaard refers to? Is that again the “leap of faith” and if so, why is it painful?

 

Ron 9: No, it has more to do with hating yourself, dying to yourself, denying yourself and losing your life for Christ’s sake (Journals §§3:3771, 33781). All of them take a toll on one’s self-esteem. And that causes psychological pain.

 

Jane 10: How can one mistake “enjoyment” for “suffering?” Isn’t that just masochism?

 

Ron 10: It’s actually about a blatant falsification and replacement that you wouldn’t think would work, since it’s so coarse and obvious. But it has. So rather than enjoying suffering, Kierkegaard’s point is that suffering has been eliminated and replaced with enjoying life’s pleasantries (KW 21:22–24). He thought that this was a huge mistake and that very few in the church cared about it (KW 23:129–37).

 

Jane 11: “Winning the world” is contrasted with “renunciation of the world.” But we are not called to hide ourselves away in monasteries or convents, correct? Don’t we have to fight for the oppressed in the world, to win justice for them?

 

Ron 11: Yes, Kierkegaard cared about helping the needy (KW 16:315–30). But he didn’t think we could win the world over by doing so. For even when we successfully help people, the world remains a “vale of tears” (Journals §§2:1439, 4:5031).

 

Jane 12: Just to put a fine point on it, for Kierkegaard we should try to help people not because it will make any difference in this “vale of tears,” but simply out of obedience – is that correct? Would Kierkegaard recognize that there is some Christian joy in service, that the work (including his own) is its own reward?

 

Ron 12: No, showing mercy makes a difference to the one being helped. But it will not win over the world – making it a merciful place overall.

 

Jane 13: Is “painfully dying to the world” a criticism of the American right to the “pursuit of happiness?”

 

Ron 13: Yes. Kierkegaard didn’t think that superficial happiness in material things and cheap relationships was Christian. He thought Christian happiness was joy saturated with sorrow (Journals §3:2908). He also thought that joy is mostly rooted in heaven after we die and live again in eternity (Journals §3:3098).

 

Jane 14: As American Christians (a very large and conflicted group), how do we honor Kierkegaard’s legacy in practical ways, or should we just dismiss it as criticism of the 19th century Danish Lutheran Church?

 

Ron 14: I think Kierkegaard’s practical legacy for our time is his handy summary from 1851 – “Infinite humiliation and grace, and then a striving born of gratitude – this is Christianity” (Journals §1:993). 

 

 


 

The Presentation

of Our Lord —

Tuesday, February 2nd 

 

“The divine Word is opposed by  all the factions…. For Christ must be a target or sign to be spoken against, as it is written in Luke 2:34, and yet He is also a precious sign. Thus the Church of God was also one and singular from the beginning, and yet she was in great turmoil, for she had a clear and singular doctrine. Nevertheless, they all lie in wait for us…. There is all this ranting and raving against us, and they are madly furious at us. This is the ‘dwelling,’ as the psalm says, ‘among your enemies’ (Psalm 110:2). The flock that truly has God’s Word must suffer, but the others… they can tolerate.”

 

(Luther’s Works 68:265)


 



Job 9:12

Monthly Home Bible Study, February 2021, Number 336

The Reverend Ronald F. Marshall

 

Along with our other regular study of Scripture, let us join as a congregation in this home study. We will study alone then talk informally about the assigned verses together as we have opportunity. In this way we can “gather together around the Word” even though physically we will not be getting together (Acts 13.44). (This study uses the RSV translation.)

     We need to support each other in this difficult project. In 1851 Kierkegaard wrote that the Bible is “an extremely dangerous book.... [because] it is an imperious book... – it takes the whole man and may suddenly and radically change... life on a prodigious scale” (For Self-Examination). And in 1967 Thomas Merton wrote that “we all instinctively know that it is dangerous to become involved in the Bible” (Opening the Bible). Indeed this word “kills” us (Hosea 6.5) because we are “a rebellious people” (Isaiah 30.9)! As Lutherans, however, we are still to “abide in the womb of the Word” (Luther's Works 17.93) by constantly “ruminating on the Word” (LW 30.219) so that we may “become like the Word” (LW 29.155) by thinking “in the way Scripture does” (LW 25.261). Before you study then, pray: “Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in Our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen” (quoted in R. F. Marshall, Making A New World: How Lutherans Read the Bible, 2003, p. 12). And don’t give up, for as Luther said, we “have in Scripture enough to study for all eternity” (LW 75:422)!

 

Week I. Read Job 9.12 noting the question Who can hinder God? What does this say about God? On this read Psalm 115.3 noting the line God… does whatever he pleases. How is that possible? On this read Genesis 18.14 noting the rhetorical question Is anything too hard for the Lord? Read also Luke 18.27 noting the claim that what is impossible with men is possible with God. Does this restrict God’s power to the range of human possibilities? Check out Luke 1.37 noting the line that nothing will be impossible with God. Why does Job concede this unlimited power to God? Does he have any choice? On this read Psalm 62.11 noting the claim that power belongs to God. What’s the issue here? On this read Psalm 78.65 about God awaking as from sleep. Does that mean it looks like God is asleep at the switch and doesn’t exercise controlling power? Psalm 10.13 reports the wicked saying that God can’t catch them. How shall we respond? Read Psalm 10.15 on begging God to break their arms. Is that a good prayer?

 

Week II. Read again Job 9.12 noting this time the word snatches. What does God take away? On this read Psalm 139.10 noting the words lead

and hold. How controlling are those words? Check out Jeremiah 18.6 noting the words potter, clay and hand. If God has this same kind of complete control over us, are we free at all to resist God and act contrary to his will for us? On this read Genesis 6.5–6 noting the words saw, wickedness, only, every, evil, sorry and grieved. Does this sound like the people acted contrary to God’s wishes? But check out also Romans 9.18 noting the words mercy, hardens and wills. Is God back in control in this verse? Read also Matthew 10.29 noting the words sparrows, fall and will. Is the same thorough control in this verse? Or is there some sort of combination? On this read Philippians 2.12–13 noting the three uses of the word work, and also the words obeyed, will and for. How do the beloved and God work together in these two verses?

 

Week III. Reread Job 9.12 noting this time the word say. Are we to talk back to God? On this read Romans 9.20 noting the words man, God and why. Why aren’t people to argue with God? On this read Isaiah 55.8–9 noting the words thought, ways, not and higher. How much of a disadvantage is this for us? Check out Luke 11.28 noting the words hear and keep. Is this strict obedience? If it is, then there isn’t any freedom to go over with God things we disagree about. On this read Job 40.4 noting the confession I am of small account. What sort of a place is that before God? Check out Job 40.7 noting the contrast between question and declare. Why can’t we question God? Read further on to Job 40.9 noting the words thunder and voice. We can explode nuclear bombs and amplify our speech, but what if our natural voices cannot simulate thunder? Does that prevent us from questioning God? Read Numbers 16.32 noting the words ground, opened, swallowed and all. Why can’t we duplicate an earthquake? Is it just a matter of time, waiting for the right inventions and technology?

 

Week IV. Read Job 9.12 one last time noting the same word say. If questioning God is not the way to go, what is? On this read Isaiah 43.21 noting the line I formed… people [to] declare my praise. Why is praising God better than questioning him? What position does worship put us in before God? On this read Hebrews 12.28–29 noting the words grateful, shaken, awe, consuming and fire. How does knowing that God’s kingdom cannot be shaken change the way we speak before God? Read Isaiah 6.1–5 noting the exclamation Woe is me! Read also Revelation 1.17 noting the line I fell at his feet as though dead. Why is this demeaning stance fitting for worship? On this read John 3.30 noting the contrasting words increase and decrease. Why is this inequality fitting? Check out Romans 1.25 noting the line they… worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator. Where’s the mistake in this? On this read 2 Corinthians 4.18 noting the contrast between the transient and the eternal. The mistake is looking to the transient instead of the unseen eternal. Do you agree? Does John 9.39 with its contrast between seeing and not seeing help? Why or why not?

 



ANNOUNCEMENTS:  flcws.org:  The church's webpage is easily found at www.flcws.org — or if you have a cell phone you might enjoy using www.flcws.space.  At the moment our webpage is even more important with our Online Worship pages on Sundays.  Considering we may have a little more time these days, it’s a good time to check out what we might have overlooked before.  Our web page is a good introduction to our church.   

PASTOR MARSHALL’s next ZOOM online Koran Class starts on Monday, March 1st and continues through Monday the 22nd.  Call the office if you would like to be sent a link. 

Home Communion is available to the congregation on request. 

“With the Mind” Zoom online book discussion (J. M. Coetzee, The Schooldays of Jesus: A Novel, 2016), is planned for Sunday, March 14 at 3:30 pm.  Please contact Pastor Marshall by email or phone to be sent a link to join the discussion group.

Postage for the home delivery of The Messenger is donated by JohnsonCN —  Computer Support for Business and Non-Profits - www.johnsoncn.com. 


 




  PARISH PRAYERS 

Remember in prayer before God those whom He has made your

brothers and sisters through baptism.

Beyla Tuomi, Leah, Melissa Baker and Felicia Wells, Dorothy Ryder, Melanie Johnson, Sam & Nancy Lawson, Marlis Ormiston, Connor Bisticas, Eileen & Dave Nestoss, Kyra Stromberg, Bob Schorn, Kari Meier, Angel Lynn, Tabitha Anderson, The Rev. Albin Fogelquist, The Rev. Howard Fosser, The Rev. Kari Reiten, The Rev. Dan Peterson, The Rev. Alan Gardner, Heather Tutuska, Sheila Feichtner, Leslie Hicks, Yuriko Nishimura, Eric Baxter, Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm, Garrett Metzler, Noel Curtis, Antonio Ortez, Garrison Radcliffe, Richard Patishnock, Jeff Hancock, Anthony Brisbane, Holly & Terrance Finan, Wayne & Chris Korsmo, Ty Wick, Lori Aarstad, Dona Brost, Susan Curry, Geri Zerr, Karin Weyer, Robert Shull family, Alan Morgan family, Carolyn & Marv Morris, Lucy Shearer, Wayne Ducheneaux, Julie Godinez, Joey DiJulio and family, Ramona King, Karen Berg, Christine Berg, Patty Johnson, Donna & Grover Mullen and family, Erin, Ethan & Kevin Vodka, Kurt Weigel.

     Pray for our professional Health Care Providers:  Gina Allen, Janine Douglass, David Juhl, Dana Kahn, Dean Riskedahl, Jane Collins and all those suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.

     Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.

     Pray for the shut-ins that the light of Christ may give them joy:  Bob & Mona Ayer, Joan Olson, Bob Schorn, Doris Prescott, C.J. Christian, Dorothy Ryder, Crystal Tudor, Gregg & Jeannine Lingle, Nora Vanhala, Martin Nygaard, Anelma Meeks.

     Pray for those mourning over death:  Pray that God will bear their grief and lift their hearts:  Pray for the family and friends of Carl Schalk, The Rev. Dave Monson, Marie Magenta, Chiou-Jin Chen.

     Pray for our bishops Elizabeth Eaton and Shelley Bryan Wee, our pastor Ronald Marshall, our choirmaster Dean Hard and our cantor Andrew King, that they may be strengthened in faith, love and the holy office to which they have been called. 

     Pray that God would give us hearts which find joy in service and in celebration of Stewardship.  Pray that God would work within you to become a good steward of your time, your talents and finances.  Pray to strengthen the Stewardship of our congregation in these same ways.

     Pray for the hungry, ignored, abused, and homeless this February. Pray for the mercy of God for these people, and for all in Christ's church to see and help those who are in distress.

     Pray for our sister congregation:  El Camino de Emmaus in the Skagit Valley that God may bless and strengthen their ministry.  Also, pray for our parish and it's ministry.

     Pray that God will bless you through the lives of the saints: Martin Luther, Renewer of the Church, 1546; Saint Matthias, Apostle.

Treasury of Prayer

 

O Lord my God, get me ready for the Day of Judgment. Reveal yourself as my judge so that I may not be at ease when the world thinks well of me, nor dismayed when it doesn’t. Help me die to my own desires that I may arise to newness of life. In the name of Christ I pray. Amen.

 

[For All the Saints (ALPB, 1994-1996) 4 vols., IV:1297, altered]