March 3, 2017
Lenten Devotions – Who are the “Needy?”

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:37-40

We see them standing at the entrance of the parking lot of the grocery store – or the entrance of the parking lot of the mall – we see them in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and most likely all around this country. And when we see them with their signs made of cardboard saying “Help me – will work for food” – or “Disabled Vet and homeless – please help” – there is a visceral reaction or feeling that runs through our entire body – at least that is what happens to me. This feeling usually revolves around some thought like “They are just hoping people will give them money” – or “If we follow them home, they probably live in a nice house.” I see it as the true dilemma for a Christian – called to respond as Jesus suggests in Matthew 25 saying “When you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

And so we are at a stalemate: do we help, or do we not help? – and are we judging just by going through that exercise?

As the presiding Bishop of the ELCA said recently, we are not the morality police. Our calling is to give to those in need, according to our ability and our faith.

Please collect one small bottle of laundry detergent and pray for G-d to give you the courage to look for those who need our help and to give according to our ability.

Pastor Dave

March 2, 2017
Lenten Devotions – The Lord’s Table

For my Lenten devotions, I am going to be focusing on Stewardship of time and resources. In particular I want to talk about how each one of us can spend more time each day in the process of increasing our faith, learning more about scripture, establishing good faith formation habits, and deciding where to use our gifts of ministry. Also, as part of my devotions for Lent I will be asking you to purchase one item per day to be used for our Trinity’s Table ministry. For the first week of Lent, I am going to go easy on you and ask that you collect one small bottle of laundry detergent each day until Saturday, March 4. Bring those four bottles to church on Sunday.

“The Lord said to Moses: Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me.” Exodus 25:1-2

Exodus 25:23 “Make a table…to be before me at all times”

This is the scripture we use for our ministry we call Trinity’s Table. It is a table that is to hold the bread of presence in the Tabernacle. It was an offering to the Lord. As such, the ministry of Trinity’s Table (TT2) comes from this understanding – that all things have come to us from G-d, and we are to share what we have returning them to G-d by offering them to those who do not have enough. And there are plenty of people who do not have enough in this world. This is why the ministry of TT2 is so important to the life of our congregation, and the lives of those in our community. The donations have been overwhelming, but the need is constant, and so the donations are constantly needed.

The Lord tells Moses that the people are to bring offerings to the Lord. When we give to the ministries of Trinity, we are doing just that. Collect one bottle of laundry detergent today and bring it to church on Sunday.

Pastor Dave