Have your started your Christmas protests yet?

You know what I mean ...

 "It's too commercial!"

 "All this is going to put us in the poorhouse!"

 "I will never get it all done!"

"I hate the expectations of gift giving, etc. etc."

"Extra worship services to attend?"

"We can't get to every concert, show or party."

"And I am supposed to help others at Christmas, too?"

"Not another Christmas letter to write!"

 "These relatives are driving me nuts!"

"The mall traffic is crazy!" 

"Deadlines!!"

"Travel headaches!"

                "Baaah Humbug!"

This year, why not stage a protest.  Stage it in your own heart.  Make the decision that you will put Jesus first and allow Him to guide your choices of time, money and priorities this season.  Don't let any part of the season take away the joy, the celebration and the meaning of Christmas.  You know the true meaning... don't let it get lost.   "Let every heart prepare Him room."  Occupy Advent in your heart and the rest of the holiday busyness will fall into place with less stress and better balance.  God comes to us in the still small voice of a Child in a manger.  Invite others to worship the holy Child with you this season.  It matters for eternity.  See you in church -

                                                                                                        

                                                                                      Polly Wegner, DCE

Thanksgiving

I love the idea of Thanksgiving being a verb in addition to a noun.  Even in this time of economic uncertainty, I see people sharing the human experiences, loving their families, working hard for their employer, and doing their best to look out for their neighbors.  (Example: the massive response we have seen to flood relief efforts in our state.)  Through pain and tough times, there is laughter and kindness and camaraderie.  There is the desire to do better, to be more appreciative of what we’ve got, to share love and to spread joy.  I thank God for this attitude of thanks giving/thanks living.

Why do we observe this Fall holiday each year?  Certainly not because we need an excuse for gluttony (“gobble ‘till you waddle”) or because it signals the beginning of the Christmas season.  The Thanksgiving holiday can easily degenerate into a hollow-day if we do not know Who or why to thank.  In returning to God our thanksgiving, we acknowledge that life, food, and indeed all our blessings come from the hands of a gracious God. 

God doesn’t need our thanksgiving, but we need to thank!   “How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?”  (Psalm 116:12) We need the annual reminder that we have been entrusted with much.  We need the annual reminder that God expects from us wisdom in allocating the bounty of this earth and compassion in caring for others.  Gratitude naturally leads to such stewardship of life, to a thanks giving life.

                                                                                                        

                                                                           Happy Thanks Giving Everyone!

                                                                           Polly Wegner, DCE

Lost It All?

As I write these thoughts just one week has passed following the massive flooding in Colorado.  The force and amount of water has caused terrible destruction throughout our state, sweeping homes away, flooding others, breaking our infrastructure, and has even swept lives away.  We are in shock and awe at the sudden and force of destruction.  Many (including myself) are still cleaning up.    On the news and in some conversations referring to what is now gone, I hear the term “lost it all”.  Our dear neighbors lost their home as a mudslide broke in one side of their house and went out the other.  You could say they lost it all.  As people check with insurance agencies and are told there is no coverage for flood, they might exclaim we have lost it all.  As families mourn a death that has come as a result of this flood, in their pain they feel they have lost it all.  The loss is truly great and not to be minimized, but to say “lost it all” is a mistake.  Romans 11:29 tells us that God’s promises to us, God’s love for us, and God’s gifts to us are under full warranty – never canceled, never rescinded.  His greatest gift to us is Jesus and in Jesus we have everything.  No one has lost it all.  No matter how terrible our circumstances, we can say “I am still God’s child.  My life is more than this life.  This suffering will eventually pass.  God will make something good out of this.  Jesus is my all.  I will stay faithful and trust God no matter what.”  Our life is more than this life, more than this broken heart, more than this difficult time.  God won’t break a promise.  He will get us through this.  If you’d like to talk to someone, or need a helping hand at this time, please contact us at Peace.

                                                                     Polly Wegner, Director of Discipleship

                                                                     pwegner@peacelutheran.net

                                                                     303-424-4454

How are we Known?

Max Lucado tells the story of a woman in a small town who was a single mother with a frail sick baby.  Her neighbor stopped by every few days and cared for the infant so the mom could do her needed errands.  After some weeks the neighbor shared more than time; she shared her faith, and the mom became a Christian.  Friends of the young mother objected: "Do you know what you are doing, what Christians stand for?" they contested.  "Here is what I know," she told them.  "They held my baby."

To extend Christ's love to our neighbor sometimes is as easy as holding a baby.  We don't have to have a theological answer for every question in society.  Just be nice.  Another quote (I wish I could credit who first said it) says “Don’t tell me what a friend I have in Jesus until I see what a friend I have in you.”  Seeing a need and meeting it in the name of Jesus is the mark of a disciple following Jesus' example.

"And they'll know we are Christians by our love."

                                                                                 

                                                           Polly Wegner, Director of Discipleship

                                                           pwegner@peacelutheran.net

                                                           303-424-4454

Peace: Religious Disease Center?

Physical diseases posed no problem for Jesus.  When He encountered them, He healed them with a word.  Religious diseases were another matter.  Things like legalism, judgmentalism, hypocrisy, elitism – these took a different type of cure.  The Pharisees, a highly religious group of Jesus’ day, suffered from all of them.  And they encountered Jesus’ wrath because of it. 

We have our own religious diseases.  We have contracted many of those carried by the Pharisees.  What if Peace Church was a hospital for sinners, a religious disease center?  A place where we can get information to confront the disease.   A place where we can confess and cleanse ourselves of religious disease, and ask the Great Physician to bring His healing.  Peace can be that place for you and for anyone who you may invite along.  Through Christ we can receive spiritual healing.  Sit with me at Peace as if it were at the feet of Christ.  Hear His Word, receive his forgiveness, and be well.

                                                                                Polly Wegner,

                                                                                Director of Discipleship 

                                                                                pwegner@peacelutheran.net

                                                                                303-424-4454