{"id":1279,"date":"2011-10-30T22:25:12","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T05:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1279"},"modified":"2011-12-06T22:41:03","modified_gmt":"2011-12-07T05:41:03","slug":"pastors-pen-november-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/?p=1279","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Pen November 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Then the LORD answered me and said:
\nWrite the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.
\nFor there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
\nIf it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.<\/em>
\n– Habakkuk 2:2-3<\/p>\n

Beloved of God,<\/p>\n

November is a bridge month.<\/strong> Beginning with the feast of All Saints<\/span><\/em>, it moves us through the final weeks of the church year to our Thanksgiving Day<\/span><\/em> observance, and then deposits us in the arms of Advent<\/span><\/em>\u2014the season of hope, longing, and renewed expectation.\u00a0 A richly embroidered worship life awaits our congregation this month\u2026come & see! One of the most joyful occasions takes place on November 20th as new members join our fellowship and our mission; one\u2014baby Luna<\/em>\u2014through the Sacrament of Baptism.\u00a0 You can read about this and much more in the pages below.<\/p>\n

Another important occasion comes on November 13th when the ReVision Task Force hosts an open forum on the draft Mission Plan.\u00a0 The prophet Habakkuk learned the importance of a clear vision.\u00a0 \u201cMAKE IT PLAIN,\u201d God told him; plain enough that a runner can grasp its meaning in the time it takes him to race on past.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure our draft plan will pass that test, but I do hope it will lead us toward a bold and clear embrace of the gifts, skills, and resources we put to use for the sake of God\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n

God told Habakkuk to translate what he saw into words; words which spoke of endings. <\/strong>Our new Mission Plan calls us to do the reverse: to translate words on paper into action by bringing some long established capital goals to completion and<\/span> ushering in new beginnings in several areas of our common ministry.\u00a0 Look it over carefully when it arrives in the mail.\u00a0 Pray about it.\u00a0 Talk about it at home.\u00a0 Then come on November 13th to join the conversation.<\/p>\n

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the way of your only son\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ADVENT OPPORTUNITY<\/em><\/strong>!<\/em> As we look toward the season of Advent (November 27), I would like your help in identifying themes for building a four part worship series for the season.\u00a0 \u00a0Here\u2019s the invitation<\/strong>:\u00a0 Spend some focused time between now and November 13th thinking on the way(s) you long for God to \u201ctake on flesh,\u201d to become incarnate,<\/em> in this world.\u00a0 Your reflection might be specific, or it might be general; it may encompass all humanity, or it may come from a very personal desire; it might reference the mission we\u2019re about together or a personal call to be or do.\u00a0 You are then invited to take the \u201cfruit\u201d of your reflection and to share it with me via email, letter, conversation, or phone call by November 13th.\u00a0 My intention is that your input will serve as a catalyst for a sermon series this Advent.\u00a0 Please take me seriously!\u00a0 Let\u2019s see where God might take us.<\/p>\n

One final word. <\/strong>Chris and I have deeply appreciated the words, prayers, and other expressions of caring we\u2019ve received from you in the wake of our sister in law Diane\u2019s sudden death.\u00a0 The way we care for each other in times like this speaks powerfully about how love becomes incarnate in our community life.\u00a0 It\u2019s a privilege to be part of such a congregation.<\/p>\n

With gratitude,<\/p>\n

Pastor Erik<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then the LORD answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-newsletter","category-pastors-pen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1301,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions\/1301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peacelutheranseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}