Evaluation of Email Devotions

Friends, please help me evaluate the idea of composing email devotions.

 

To refresh your memory, here are the details:

 

Goal:  There are three goals for composing these emails.  First, by composing these emails, it is my hope that the people of Saint John's and Bread of Life will be built up in the faith through a popular and accessible medium.  Second, by composing these emails, it is my hope that they will be shared with friends and acquaintances of the people of Saint John's and Bread of Life so that by the sharing of the Gospel they may become confident in the salvation won for them by Jesus Christ and would respond with thanksgiving.  To put it short, it is my hope that this will be an outreach tool.  Third, by composing these emails, it is my hope that my theological reflection and communication skills will be improved.

 

Frequency:  Every day, Monday through Friday.

 

Format:  Mondays -- Worship, Tuesday -- Current events and trends, Wednesdays -- Bible Passage, Thursdays -- Hymn of the Day, Fridays -- Catechism

 

With this in mind, please answer these questions.  Please be brutally honest.  I have broad shoulders.

 

1. Did you appreciate these email devotions?
2. Would you continue to appreciate them, or would you rather not get them?
3. Would others in the Saint John's/Bread of Life community appreciate them?
4. Is the frequency just right, too much, or too few?
5. What do you think about the format?
6. Would you recommend them to an unchurched friend?
7. Any other observations?

 

--
Pastor Christopher Jackson
Saint John's Lutheran Church

516 Pasadena Drive, Lexington, KY 40503.  Phone and fax:  859-277-6391  Cell: 502-316-2255  Email: revcjackson@gmail.com

http://www.stjohnslex.org    http://bluegrasslutheran.blogspot.com

Email Devotion -- Friday, July 20

Okay, this is a day late.  However, on Fridays, our devotion would focus on the Small Catechism.

 

The First Commandment

You shall have no other gods.

What does this mean?

We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.

"All things."  These are interesting words, and they help us to see the predicament in which we humans live.

On the one hand, God is the creator of all things.  He made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, both seen and unseen.  And for these things we should thank and praise Him, fear, love and trust in Him.  Part of this is partaking in the bountiful goodness that God has given us, delighting in His gifts.  While Christians must be ready to be deprived of all things, even their lives, for the sake of the Gospel, at the same time they can and even should delight in the wonders and blessings of creation, for to despise the works of God are to despise Him.

On the other hand, how easy it is for us to shift from delighting in the world to worshipping it.  The woman who puts on makeup and does her hair can be nurturing and delighting in the beauty God has given her.  This is good, but how easily this can slip into vanity!  The man who lifts weights can do so to nurture God's good gift of strength.  How easily this slips into pride.  The worker who has been given business sense can use this to serve society by setting up high quality and efficient business practices.  How easily this sense can be used to destroy others' careers for the sake of one's own.

It is easy to slip from thankfulness to God for His gifts and into idolization of these gifts.  Truth be told, until Christ returns we cannot ever be rid of our idolization of His gifts.  Because of this, our sinful humanity beckons us to hide from God, it invites us to not fear, love, and trust in him.

Thanks be to God that Christ has reconciled us to God through His passion and death and that by His sending of the Holy Spirit, we are constantly being reoriented away from setting up idols and toward worship of the living God, our Father. 

--
Pastor Christopher Jackson
Saint John's Lutheran Church

516 Pasadena Drive, Lexington, KY 40503.  Phone and fax:  859-277-6391  Cell: 502-316-2255  Email: revcjackson@gmail.com

http://www.stjohnslex.org     http://bluegrasslutheran.blogspot.com

Email Devotion -- Thursday, July 19

On Thursdays, the email devotion will meditate on Sunday's Hymn of the Day:

 Where Charity and Love Prevail (LSB 845)

 Verse 2:
With grateful joy and holy fear
His charity we learn;
Let us with heart and mind and soul
Now Love Him in return.

Deuteronomy and the Gospel of Luke both record the summary of the Law:  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Apart from Christ, it is not possible to fulfill these commands, for our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds are turned against God and toward our own gratification.  Apart from Christ, our emotions, bodies, minds, and moral wills cannot lead us to the love of God, but they rather become idols that we worship instead of God.

But, in Christ things are different.  When the Gospel encounters us, the Good News that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, God redeems not just us, but He redeems as well our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds.  He draws all these to Himself so that they no longer are self-serving idols, but become thanksgiving offerings, and tools in the service of our neighbor.

--
Pastor Christopher Jackson
Saint John's Lutheran Church

516 Pasadena Drive, Lexington, KY 40503.  Phone and fax:  859-277-6391  Cell: 502-316-2255  Email: revcjackson@gmail.com

http://www.stjohnslex.org    http://bluegrasslutheran.blogspot.com

Email Devotion -- Wednesday, July 18

On Wednesdays, our devotion will discuss a passage from that week's Lectionary readings.

Colossians 1:13 (ESV): "He has transferred us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son."

This passage is interesting for two reasons.

First, it is an example of the biblical understanding of human freedom. With regard to human freewill, Martin Luther is famous for comparing humans to donkeys that are ridden either by Satan or by Christ. Sure, the human will is free, but it is free either to Christ or to Satan, and it is bound either to Satan or to Christ.

Second, it is interesting in that it demonstrates the Father's role in salvation. Very often we put hard lines between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We say things like, "We were created by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit." This is all true. And yet, the Son and Spirit were involved in our creation. The Father and Spirit are involved in our redemption, and the Father and the Son are involved in our sanctification.

Thank the Lord, our Father, for transferring us to His Son's Kingdom by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, left to ourselves, we would have a harsh master, Satan. But, the Lord has had mercy upon us and has given us a kind one, one who does not burden us but takes up our burdens.

--
Pastor Christopher Jackson
Saint John's Lutheran Church

516 Pasadena Drive, Lexington, KY 40503. Phone and fax: 859-277-6391 Cell: 502-316-2255 Email: revcjackson@gmail.com

http://www.stjohnslex.org http://bluegrasslutheran.blogspot.com

Email Devotion -- Tuesday, July 17

On Tuesdays, our devotion will discuss current events and trends and how they relate to theology.

Deuteronomy 8:3 (ESV):  "And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

 "Geeks of the world unite!"

A recent article in the Washington Post described how self proclaimed "geeks" and "nerds" are coming together in an unprecedented way.  A group of people who once met only in internet chat rooms and over games of Dungeons and Dragons are now putting on entire concerts series with bands that sing and rap about the experiences common to geeks and nerds.

Associated with this article is a video of a "geekcore" rapper by the name of MC Chris (no, it is not me.)  He says that a big part of the geek experience is the derision of others.  Cruel words that the "cool" or "popular" people fling towards them affect how geeks understand themselves.

 This is just another proof that the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is untrue.

Words, the words of others, transform us.  They shape us and mold us, and this is why it is important that we be where God's Word is, and that we speak God's Word to each other.  This is why Martin Luther in the Small Catechism recommended that we speak every morning and evening the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed.  This is why the Lord has commanded us in the Third Commandment to gladly hear and learn His Word.

As it does to geeks and nerds, the world speaks harsh words to us, words that kill us.  God speaks to us, however, words that give us life: "For the sake of my Son's death, I forgive you."

--
Pastor Christopher Jackson
Saint John's Lutheran Church

516 Pasadena Drive, Lexington, KY 40503.  Phone and fax:  859-277-6391  Cell: 502-316-2255  Email: revcjackson@gmail.com

http://www.stjohnslex.org    http://bluegrasslutheran.blogspot.com

Monday Devotion: Worship is sacramental

On Mondays, our devotion will focus on the topic of worship.

Acts 2:42,46a (ESV): "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers . . . . And day by day, [they were] attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes."

The introduction in Lutheran Worship, the "blue hymnal" begins with the words "God speaks, and we listen."

What this is saying is that worship is primarily sacramental. In other words, worship is primarily God's gift to us of His Word, Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Savior, whom He gives to us through the reading and exposition (sermon) of the Holy Scriptures and the Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord's Supper. In worship, Jesus Christ is present among us, bringing healing of soul and body, the forgiveness of sins.

This is an important reminder to us of the true meaning of worship, because very often we make worship about us. Usually, we think of worship as our gift to God of adoration and praise. And, we certainly do adore and praise God in worship. However, this comes out of gratitude for what God gives to us in worship, His Son.

In Acts 2, we see that this was the emphasis of the Apostolic Church. Having just received the sacrament of Holy Baptism, they studied the Apostles' teaching, what would become the New Testament. They studied the Old Testament at the Temple. They broke bread together, an expression which means that they received the Lord's Supper together.

This should be an important reminder to us, because too frequently we value worship not for the presence of Christ through Word and Sacrament, but we rather value it for other reasons such as sentimentality, excitement, energy, etc. Let us turn away from such impulses but rather look to Christ, our Lord and Savior, the King of all Creation, who comes to us personally and communally in the worship of the Church, His bride.

Email Devotions

I am considering publishing daily email devotions for Bread of Life, and I am considering publishing them here as well.

So, for the next week, I am going to running and experiment to see if this would be appreciated. Let me know what you think!

Our Storefront

Much progress has been made since these pictures have been taken. However, here is where we started from: