By Paul Koch –
Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?
Yes.
Let it be done for you as you believe.
In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
By Paul Koch –
Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for the decorations, songs, gift buying, and parties. It’s time to celebrate that most wonderful time of year—it’s Christmas time. That means it’s finally time for you to kill the Elf on the Shelf.
By Paul Koch –
“Will you instruct both young and old in the chief articles of Christian doctrine, will you forgive the sins of the those who repent, and will you promised never to divulge the sins confessed to you? Will you minister faithfully to the sick and dying, and will you demonstrate to the Church a constant and ready ministry centered in the Gospel? Will you admonish and encourage the people to a lively confidence in Christ and in holy living?”
By Cindy Koch –
Turning sideways, no one could see the little hole in the hem of her favorite dress. Sometimes the other kids would make fun of her when they noticed her clothes up close. Not always clean, not always in the best shape, she was painfully aware of which posture to take in each of her three outfits, so no one could see the imperfections. Today, a bent leg, pinning her right hip against the brick school wall would protect her from the scrutiny of the other third graders during recess. This one, though, was her favorite because it had long sweatshirt sleeves. She crossed her tiny arms, imagining she had a warm, wooly blanket wrapped around her, counting down the seconds before the bell called them all back to a bright, ordered classroom, out of the gray, unfriendly mist.
By Cindy Koch –
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner. But I only can conceive of a tiny piece of my sin and failing before You. I know there is a right and a wrong that You desire, but I continually choose the wicked path. I don’t really even understand the good that You want from me. Even my best works and my most pure thoughts are soaked with evil and selfishness. My every thought, action, and deed works against Your wisdom. I can’t recall, nor will I ever know, every sin from my past that has offended You and my neighbor. I know that I am stumbling in unrighteousness even now as I say these words out loud. I know that I am a sinner, but I do not fully understand how deeply corrupted I really am.
By Tim Winterstein –
Troubled Water (2008, streaming on Amazon Prime) is really a brilliantly made film. You know the whole thing is going to collapse and fall apart between Thomas and Agnes, but you don’t know when. That tension builds and builds, even when there is nothing tense happening in a given moment. And the way the story is put together brings even seemingly unimportant events to their true significance.
By Paul Koch –
I often joke around with some of my colleagues that the reason I default to the historic liturgy of the church along with an established lectionary system is that I’m lazy. I don’t want to try and figure out some sort of creative thematic series, so I just open up the book and follow the next lesson that is prescribed. I don’t have the confidence to write out my own confession or proper preface nor the time to do so, so I just use what has been used since long before I was ordained into the ministry.
By Cindy Koch –
It is a terrifying thing to consider that you don’t really know yourself. As far back as you can remember, your voice inside your own head has been your friend and council, unbeknownst to the world outside. You have had silent conversations in the middle of actual conversations within your own heart, soul, and mind. Trusting your familiar voice within has been the only constant in this ever-changing lifetime. Everything on the inside is safe and protected until the day someone says it. You have been lied to. You don’t really know who you are.
By Tim Winterstein –
First of all, in another life, I would have wanted to be an Icelandic shepherd. Second, Rams (streaming on Netflix) is a beautiful—truly—meditation on family, place, and history. There is the dark humor that comes with two brothers (Gummi and Kiddi) who live next to each other, doing anything and everything they can to avoid actually speaking with each other—up to and including training the dog to take messages back and forth.
By Tim Winterstein –
If Hitchcock remade Fight Club, it would probably look a lot like The Machinist (2004). If you haven’t seen it, but you’ve seen Fight Club, then I probably gave away the major plot twist. But even if you know the major twist, this is a devastating film about the destructive power of buried guilt. I had seen The Machinist before, but I honestly didn’t remember much except that he works in a machine shop and is struggling with something. I probably watched it on a VHS rented from a Blockbuster (RIP) in Washougal, Washington during a summer when I worked the night shift at a Safeway and then in a hot, dusty, stifling concrete plant in Portland. Not much else to do during my first summer not returning home from college.
By Joel A. Hess –
Cover-up, cover-up, cover-up! It seems that every week a new scandal in the Church is revealed. A couple of weeks ago, Willow Creek revealed the creepy behaviors of its leader. Sadly, this past week no one was shocked to be told of a massive cover-up of pedophile priests.
By Tim Winterstein –
[SPOILERS]
Another recent film is often compared to Taxi Driver, but it’s both better and worse than First Reformed. I had a free Redbox rental, which is as good as Movie Pass for seeing movies on which I’m not sure whether I want to spend actual money. So I rented You Were Never Really Here, a story that I liked more than First Reformed, though it’s not nearly as beautiful. I will watch almost any movie that features Joaquin Phoenix, because he’s brilliant. And he needs to be in this movie, because it’s so understated that anyone unwilling to think a little will lose patience very quickly (as many reviews on IMDB prove).
By Paul Koch –
We’ve probably all heard the story that our Lord told about counting the cost. It’s been retold in various ways over the years, but it is still a good thing to learn. He said, “Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” Or, “What king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?” The cost of any endeavor is a real thing; it cannot be overlooked. No one wants to look like a fool having started off on some great campaign only to succumb to failure because the cost was too high, and they were unable to bear it. The unwillingness to consider the cost is problematic at best and catastrophic at worst.
By Paul Koch –
A few weeks back, I was honored to be able to preach for the ordination service of a long-time friend and son of our congregation. It is always exciting to attend an ordination. Though I’ve been to quite a few, over the years I still find myself listening carefully as the new candidate speak the same words that I did many years ago. They are vows or declarations of intent concerning how you will conduct yourself in the office of the Holy Ministry with the help of God.
By Joel A. Hess –
A couple of weeks ago, my wife underwent an interview for a job at our local autism center. She came back a little flustered about a particular question. It was the classic question of a job interview. Do you have any weaknesses? She actually gave an honest answer! God bless her. Of course, that’s why I love her.
By Paul Koch –
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He spoke into being all that there is; the sun, moon and stars, the water and land and all the creatures that fill the earth. Everything was good, everything was in harmony. There was no death, no destruction, no tears or sorrow. And the pinnacle of His creation was man, creatures made in His own image. Creatures that are able to create. But on the seventh day, God rests. He rests from all the work He has done. He sets the day aside as a holy day, a day specifically for rest. Rest is not a necessity we are driven to when worn out. It isn’t something that is forced upon us when we simply can’t go on anymore. No, rest is part of the gift of creation itself. Rest is to abide in the gifts of God. It is to do nothing because God himself has done it all.
By Joel A. Hess –
I still remember when the Rubik’s cube came out and had everyone puzzled for at least a little while. Then one day at recess when I was in third grade, everyone marveled at a young genius named Todd. Todd had cracked the cube. We gathered around him near the monkey bars as he showed off his cube. It was in complete disarray. He then left the crowd and hustled near the fence. Soon he returned with the puzzle in complete order. Wow! Soon we learned the trick. Todd ripped off each little piece with his pocket knife and then simply put them back in the right place. He destroyed and rebuilt it! Like Captain Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru, Todd became a legend. Of course, we all quickly did the same much to the chagrin of our teachers.
By Paul Koch –
The great and powerful king of Judah, King Uzziah, has died. He, of course, wasn’t the first king to die and he wouldn’t be the last. Perhaps with his passing the hopes and dreams of his people have crumbled. On the other hand, perhaps it is a moment of renewed resolve. But despite the coming and going of humanity’s great kings of the earth, there is one King whose throne is never vacant. There is a King that does not change with the times. So, in the year that Uzziah dies, Isaiah the prophet of God, finds himself in the throne room of God standing before the eternal King.
By Jeff Pulse –
Our text for Holy Trinity Sunday is from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 6:1-8. The reason this text is chosen for Holy Trinity is the rare triad in verse 3: “Holy, holy, holy.” The Early Church considered this to be a Trinitarian formula (and I would agree). However, during the Arian Controversy, they stepped away from that use as Arias used this text against them as he supported his heretical position. It took a while, but the Church has returned to that Trinitarian interpretation, and thus it is in the pericopal system for Holy Trinity Sunday.
By Cindy Koch –
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye’” (Mat 7:1-5)
