Bennett's Confirmation: June 9, 2024

 

Yesterday I had the honour and privilege of confirming Bennett M. at Skudesness Lutheran Church.

Bennett spoke of his confirmation project, which was the building of a faith chest, and what his faith means to him.

I presented Bennett with a Bible, and gave him his Bible verse, Psalm 46:1: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." This psalm also inspired our ancestor in the faith, Martin Luther, who based his most famous hymn on it: "A Mighty Fortress is our God." The congregation also presented Bennett with a Bible. So now he'll have plenty of opportunities to continue reading the Bible! 

Bennett's parents (mom the auto harp, dad the 12-string guitar) accompanied the congregation for the hymns. Bennett's sister played the piano accompanying us for the liturgy. 

The text for my sermon was a non-lectionary one: 1 Timothy 6:11-12, 20-21, words of encouragement and instruction: "But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid profane chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge; by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith. Grace be with you."

All-in-all, it was a wonderful, edifying, joyful, blessed day. 

Brief Book Review: The Heart of Christmas

The Heart of Christmas 

Author: Compiled by Sarah Bubbers, 

Publisher: Collins Fount Paperbacks, 143 pages, including Foreword, In Case You Didn’t Know, Acknowledgements, Crisis at Christmas

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Author

At the time of this publication, Sarah Bubbers had studied English at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, then was an editorial staff person of a London publisher—working on children’s books, religious books, and fiction. Then she became a freelance editor. Her twin baby sons were born during work on this volume.

Contents

The volume consists of four chapters: 1 Away in a Manger A Child’s Christmas; 2 Love Came Down at Christmas God’s Wonderful Gift; 3 O Come, All Ye Faithful Christmas Remembered; 4 See Amid the Winter’s Snow The Challenge of Christmas. 

Each of the chapters begin with citations from Luke’s and Matthew’s accounts of Jesus’s birth. The chapters then include several stories, poems, reflections, hymns, and “Kid’s Quotes” of seven year olds, such as: “Christmas comes so that we can have peace, love and hope all year round” (p. 43). And: “At Christmas I think about poor Santa who gets soot on him” (p. 43). 

Some of the “classic” Christmas stories appear in the volume—for example: “Carol Singing” from A Child’s Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas; “Christmas in Prison,” by Richard Wurmbrand; and “Christmas at Mole End,” from The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. 

There are other inspiring, humorous, and insightful stories by contributors from a variety of backgrounds, including: clergy, politicians, writers, broadcasters, actors, and so on. One of my favourite reflections is “Christmas in Israel,” by Walter Barker, who also provides a brief description of the Jewish Hanukkah festival. 

Under the title “In Case You Didn’t Know...” Bubbers provides biographical sketches of this volume’s contributors. 

What I appreciated most, however, is that the book’s royalties went to help a London charitable organisation called Crisis at Christmas, which began working in the field of homelessness in 1967. Moreover, the authors and publishers shared their works free of charge. 

This wee volume is ideal for families celebrating the true spirit of Christmas. 

Prayer of the Day-Collect for 3rd Sunday of Advent Year C

Holy One: In this season of joy and rejoicing, there are many family members, friends and neighbours in our midst; as well as countless millions of poor and oppressed people around the globe who find little joy or occasion to rejoice. May your Holy Spirit’s fruit of joy and rejoicing spread into the hearts, minds and lives of all humankind as we prepare to celebrate the coming of our Messiah Jesus; in whose name we pray.

Clergy Comment column

Here is my article published in the March 29, 2018 Camrose Canadian Clergy Comment column.

   Hope and joy. What or who gives you hope and joy?

   The Bible mentions hope and joy well over 100 times. Stories of hope and joy abound in the Bible. For example, in the Hebrew Bible there are stories like those of Abraham and Sarah, thanks to God’s promise and intervention, being able to conceive and give birth to a son Isaac in their senior years. There is God liberating the Israelites from Egyptian slavery as they miraculously make their Exodus into the Promised Land. In the New Testament, there is Mary being chosen by God to miraculously give birth to the long-awaited Messiah. There is the promise fulfilled that Jesus is the Messiah and Saviour of the world by conquering the powers of sin, death and evil through his life, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection. The Christian faith therefore is, among other things, one of hope and joy.

   In the movie Good-Bye Girl, a relationship develops between a woman and a man. The man leaves, and promises to return to her later. She doesn’t believe his promise, and thinks he’s left her until she realizes that he has left behind his most important possession—his guitar.  It was a sign of his promise and his full intention to return.

   The Bible is God’s promise to us of Jesus the Messiah’s return—both his resurrection after three days in the grave, and his return again at the end of time. As Christians, we celebrate that hope every Sunday as we worship together.

   We also are a people of joy. Joy however, as many may think, is far more than a fleeting emotion. Joy goes down deep into our being since it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, listed by the apostle Paul in his Letter to the Galatians 5:22. Joy deep within us, thanks to the Holy Spirit, reminds us that Jesus is always with us in our day-to-day living.

   Author and scholar C.S. Lewis wrote a book titled, Surprised by Joy. Lewis didn’t come into the Christian faith eagerly. Rather, he had the impression that Christianity was a faith that brought people misery and sadness. He was surprised by joy to discover otherwise. Joy comes in realizing that the gift of being in relationship with Jesus gives deep meaning and quality to life, even when one least expects that to be the case. Such was the case for the first disciples as they met the risen Jesus. “And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” (Luke 24:52)

    

Reformation Sunday 2015

Tomorrow we Lutherans—and perhaps other denominations—celebrate

Reformation Sunday. Here is some food for thought from our hero, Martin Luther: On humour and joy: “If I am not allowed to laugh in heaven I don't want to go there.”

   On justification by grace through faith: “Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it.”

   Perhaps it was Luther’s steadfast conviction regarding the latter quote that he could affirm the former one.  

Creative Challenge 265: Colourful

Abstract

 

This week I decided to go with one of my digital art pieces, which I did last month rather than a photo. It intentionally, I hope, has a "stained-glass effect." When I think of colour [yes, one of my Canadianisms is that I spell it with an u] I am reminded of several things. The beauty of God's creation, with all of the diverse, panoramic shades of colour; the different thoughts and emotions that colour evokes within us human beings; and the sheer joy of the gift of having eyes to see and be inspired by colours. You can check out the other entries here.