Watch Night Service

Watch Night

Tuesday, 12/31 at 6pm

Watch Night is a service held on New Year’s Eve.  It provides the opportunity for Christians to review the year that has passed and to make confession for the sins of their past. We then find refreshment and restoration in the grace, mercy and forgiveness of our Savior Jesus.  We also prepare for the new year by listening and resolving ourselves to take on a new life.

Watch Night services have added significance in the African American community.  Many slaves were said to have gathered in churches on New Year’s Eve in 1862 to await news and confirmation of the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, on January 1, 1863.

This Watch Night we do something similar.  The sins of our past are confessed and washed away in the forgiveness of sins and at the Supper of our Lord.  We set our minds to live anew life for Jesus starting now.  And we lift up our eyes to the skies from where our Savior will come.  We look to him to return and to set us free from this veil of tears.

O Come, Emmanuel

EMMANUEL

O God among us, come

ANTIPHON:

O God among us, come

Great king who gives the Law

To gather nations nigh,

O Lord our God, Redeemer,

To save your children, come!

REFLECTION:

O Immanuel, O God with us is the last of the Seven Great O Antiphons and where our expectations and and hopes joyfully culminate. He is here! He has come among us! A miracle and a wondrous mystery.The infinite as an infant. The foundations of mankind’s salvation. God has come nearer than any mind could have imagined, closer than any heart dared to hope. Our response to this glorious truth is to simply come and worship God manifest in the flesh. He is glorious!

May your heart be filled this Christmas season with wonder, hope, peace, joy, and love for Immanuel, God is among us. And may we all respond with the ancient Aramaic call, Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 16:22).

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with joy

And our minds with perception of your presence

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christmas at Mount Lebanon

This Christmas, cry out with us.

We’d love to have you in worship with us.

We’d love to celebrate Christ’s birth with you.

Christmas Eve at 6 pm.

Christmas Day at 9:30 am.

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Christmas is a festival for exiles who are longing for home and waiting to go there. If you think back, that was the purpose of the ancient festival that is called “Passover.” The Passover was a festival for those who once were slaves but now were not. It was the festival that called the people to remember the exodus from Egypt and to long for another exodus. In the same way, Christmas is a festival for exiles who are longing to go home. It is a festival that looks back to the Messiah who came; the God wrapped in clothes. It is a festival that looks ahead to his return when he will give us another exodus, this time into his eternal kingdom. Yes, Christmas is a festival for exiles who are longing for home.

And what do the exiles cry? “Come! Come, Emmanuel! Come, Dayspring from on High! Come, King of the nations.” They cry out for help!

Christmas has always been the festival of exiles who are crying out. That’s what Christmas was for Zechariah and Elizabeth. When Zechariah’s tongue was loosed, and he held John in his arms, he couldn’t help but sing the song that exiles sign: “God has come and visited his people; he has come to redeem and rescue us. He has come to give us salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Lk 1:28, 72). He knew he didn’t fit in; he was oppressed on every side. He was an exile longing for home.

So was Mary. When she sang her song of Immanuel, when she lifted her supreme Magnificat, she couldn’t help but sing about her God making things right again, lifting up the lowly, and knocking down the proud and the mighty from their thrones (Lk 1:52). And what is it that Luke tells us about Simeon and Anna? He tells us that they longed for the consolation, the redemption, and even the restoration of Israel. These were all exiles longing for home.

And so were those who read the letter to the Hebrews. They were Christians who were living in the midst of a culture and a world where they didn’t fit. They didn’t fit in with the Roman world – its gods and its culture. They didn’t fit in with the Jewish world – its god and its culture. And there was great pressure on them to conform, fit in, and go along to get along. They were exiles, foreigners, an island of light in the middle of an ocean of darkness. These were all exiles longing for home. The little letter to them was meant to encourage them and to unwrap God for them.

Christmas is the festival of exiles who are longing to go home. I don’t think that I have to work very hard to prove this to you. We live in aworld that is constantly pressing on us to fit in. The laws and the ethics of our land often run so contrary to the Word and will of God. I don’t need to show you how because you know all too well how true this is. More than that, the things that people around us value, run so counter to what our God teaches us to value. Our very gathering for Christmas Day worship is so counter-cultural. It’s not the thing that most people do or even think about. Christmas Day is a time for family, a time for gifts, a time for pj’s, and a time for eating. And all of those things are wonderful gifts from our God. But that’s not what this day means to us – not at its core. This is a day for us to unwrap to God, to remember again who it is who lies in the manger.

But that’s why you’re here. You’re here today to unwrap God, to ponder the majesty and the mystery, to rejoice that God became man for you. You’re here in a silent protest against the culture that presses against you. You’re here to sing praises to the God who came for you and will come again for you. You’re here waiting to go home like ancient Israel did as they waited for God to come for them. See, Christmas is the festival of exiles longing to go home.

That’s the way that Zechariah went to the temple to carry out his duties. He went to the temple with the hope that God would come and rescue him, his family, and his people. He went to the temple singing a song of longing for salvation from all of his enemies and for all those pressed against him. That’s the way that Simeon and Anna woke up every morning. They got up each morning, rising early, heading to the temple, and waiting for the day that they would hold in their hands the Savior of the world. They couldn’t wait for God to come and bring them exile.

This is the song of hope that resides in the heart of the writer to the Hebrews as he lifts Jesus up for us and shows us how great he is and what he will do (Read Hebrews 1:1-9). Yes, he will sit on his throne, and all his enemies will lie under his feet. That’s the song that John sings in his opening doxology; there, he exalts Jesus as truly God who came to live in our neighborhood, to live among us, and to show us God (Read John 1:1-18). Yes, this is even the song of Paul as he delights in showing us God who emptied himself to fill us, who gave up heaven for a time so that he could give us heaven (Read Philippians 2:5-11). These are all exiles who are waiting to go home.

Yes, dear people of God, we are citizens of this city, part of this tribe – a tribe of every nation, language, people, and ethnicity. We are part of this great number that no one can count. We are part of this city. We are part of this kingdom that crosses time and space. We stand with Zechariah, longing for salvation from our enemies. We rise with Simeon, longing to see this salvation with our own eyes. We are numbered among these exiles, these aliens; we belong to this island of light in an ocean of darkness. And this is the festival we celebrate to our King, the one who came – God in the flesh.

Yes, we are the people of King Jesus. We are his people. He has come and visited his people. He lived among us for a while, truly sharing our flesh. He has redeemed us, and we are his. With his own blood, he bought for us God. We are the people of King Jesus, who truly radiates God. Like light from the sun, Jesus is light from God. Like heat from a fire, Jesus is warmth from God. He truly radiates God and shows who God is and what he is like. If you want to know what God is like, then get to know your King Jesus. We are the people of King Jesus. He is the One together with whom God created this world and sustains it still. The one who puts bread on your table and protects, even rescues, you from your enemies. We are the people of King Jesus. The one who humbled himself that we might be exalted; the one who is exalted now that we might have an exodus, a way out and a way to his eternal kingdom. We are the people of King Jesus. He gives grace in place of grace already given. We are the people of King Jesus, and he has come to save us.

Christmas is the festival for exiles longing to go home. And we are the people of King Jesus. He has come to set us free.

So, cry out to him. Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

Waiting for Wisdom

SAPIENTIA

O Highest Wisdom, Come

ANTIPHON:

O Highest Wisdom, come.

While reaching end to end

In sweetness ordering all,

To us, O mighty Savior,

Discerning judgment teach.

REFLECTION:

We are now in the season of Advent. “Advent” means coming or arrival. This means that it is a season of anticipation, longing and hope. We look forward to and long for the coming of Christ even while we celebrate the fact that he came.

This Sunday, we sit right at the edge of our celebration of Christmas. It just a few days away now. It is so close we can almost taste it. Oh, how good it will be when he walks through the door and ushers us into eternity.

Wisdom speaks to us through the Scriptures and tells us, “Blessed are those who wait at my door…for those who find me find life.”

Check out the Mount Weekly for all the blessed opportunities we have to wait at the door to wait for Wisdom and find life!

Merry Christmas!

PB

O Come, Clavis David

Midweek Advent Devotion

Wednesday

12/18/24

4:30 pm and 6 pm.

Mount Lebanon School Christmas Service

12/19 @ 6 pm.

CLAVIS DAVID

O Key of David, Come

SCRIPTURE:

Revelation 3:7-13

ANTIPHON:

O Key of David, come.

Unlock what none shall bind,

And lock what none shall loose:

The captives in the darkness

Imprisoned, now set free.

REFLECTION:

This antiphon uses a symbol traditionally associated with kingly rule and authority. The one who has come, Jesus, is David’s long-awaited heir, who is the key to the kingdom. He is the holy one who wields David’s key. He opens, and no one can close; he closes, and no one can open. All power and authority are in him and him alone. This Advent season, we call on David’s Key to release us from our sins and unlock the chains that bind us. We ask him to lead us out of darkness and to burst our bonds apart (Psalm 107). May you look to him and invite him to visit you with both the comfort that comes through his deliverance and the confidence that arises from his steadfast love.

PRAYER:

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with love for one another

and our minds with wise counsel

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

See you Wednesday!

Wisdom's Delight

SAPIENTIA

O Highest Wisdom, Come

REFLECTION:

The countdown is on. Each Sunday that passes in this season of Advent brings us one Sunday closer to our remembrance and celebration of Christmas. Hope begins to grow. Expectation and joy begin to increase. This only grows when we consider who Wisdom truly is: He is Christ, the Lord. The One who sits on heaven’s high throne. The One who gives all gifts for body and life, even for soul and eternity. The One who is the eternal Son of God, truly God and truly human being, in one person. Today, we learn another thing. He was there at the very beginning, creating this world together with the Father and the Spirit, delighting in what was being created and finding joy in us, the crown of God’s creation. He is Wisdom, the one who is delighted with us.

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT

This Sunday, we see that Wisdom was not only there before the world was created but also at creation. He was constantly at the Father’s side, rejoicing in his presence and delighting in humankind.

ANTIPHON:

O Highest Wisdom, come.

While reaching end to end

In sweetness ordering all,

To us, O mighty Savior,

Discerning judgment teach.

PRAYER:

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with your love

And our minds with your wisdom

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Nate

Be sure to check out the Mount Weekly linked below for all of the other awesome stuff going on.

O Come, Radix Jesse

Midweek Advent Devotion

Wednesday

12/11/24

4:30 pm and 6 pm.

RADIX JESSE

O Root of Jesse, Come

SCRIPTURE:

Isaiah 11:1-10

ANTIPHON:

O Root of Jesse, Come.

This ensign raised for all

To whom the nations pray,

Before whom kings keep silent:

To rescue quickly come.

REFLECTION:

This week of Advent, we remember that God has remembered his people in the root of Jesse. A living root sends up a shoot or branch; thus, the root of Jesse was a root from which more descendants would come. The image refers to the family tree of Jesse, which leads to King David and ultimately to Jesus Christ as the son of David. Through the prophet Samuel, God had promised David that his offspring would establish an eternal kingdom, something that the Apostle Paul reinforces in Romans 15 (7-9, 12) acknowledging Jesus as this root of Jesse in whom the Gentiles are to place their hope.

This Advent season, we ask him to fill our lives not only with this memory of God’s plan of salvation arriving through this root of Jesse. Remembering is important and good, but let us also ask that this meaning would run deeper in our hearts, as a good root should, that we might abide in him. The root of goodness and beauty and truth is found in Jesus Christ. He is the root of it all! And as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can we, unless we abide in him. As his branches, may we live close to Jesus who is the vine, who is the root. Abide in him and experience his comfort and presence.

PRAYER:

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with more of your presence

that they would overflow with love for all nations.

Fill our minds with understanding to serve them

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

See you Wednesday!

Come and Worship

SAPIENTIA

O Highest Wisdom, Come

REFLECTION:

We are now in the seasonof Advent. “Advent” means coming or arrival. This means that it is a season ofanticipation, longing and hope. We look forward to and long for the coming of Christ even while we celebrate the fact that he came.

Today, we meet John the Baptist who cries out, running ahead of Jesus, preparing the way for him. And what does he say? What does he tell us about Jesus, true Wisdom of God? He declares the greatness and eternity of Jesus, of Wisdom: “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me” (John 1:15). That was his clear and loud testimony. “I am not worthy to stoop down to untie his sandals” (Luke 3:16).

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT

This Sunday, we bow down in worship before the eternal Son of God, Wisdom himself, our Savior. We gaze back into all eternity when the true Wisdom of God, was begotten of the Father, God from God and Light from Light, very God from very God. O Come! Let us worship him.

FIRST ANTIPHON:

O Highest Wisdom, come.

While reaching end to end

In sweetness ordering all,

To us, O mighty Savior,

Discerning judgment teach.

PRAYER:

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with your love

And our minds with your wisdom

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Nate

Be sure to check out the Mount Weekly linked below for all of the other awesome stuff going on.

O Come, Adonai

Midweek Advent Devotion

Wednesday

12/4/24

4:30 pm and 6 pm.

ADONAI

O Lord of Israel, Come

SCRIPTURE:

Exodus 3:1-15

SECOND ANTIPHON:

O Lord of Israel, come.

Through bushes breathing fire,

To Moses you gave Law;

O Come, redeeming Ruler,

with arms outstretched to save.

REFLECTION:

The second of the “Great O"‘ Advent Antiphons, O Adonai, speaks to the divine name of God that, over time, became too sacred for mankind to utter. This sacred name was replaced with Adonai (My Lord) so that unworthy human beings could say God’s name without blasphemy. The beauty and hope of Advent is that the unknowable, wholly other, infinitely holy Lord became known to us. He bore a name on this earth, and he chose to inhabit human flesh and dwell among us. He chose a people, a language, and a place. He chose his arms to become outstretched so that he might save and deliver a people.

As this antiphon prayer considers the marvelous glory of God manifested to Moses in the burning bush, we see God’s presence within it yet the bush is not fully consumed. The great Lord Jesus would one day come and be fully God yet also fully man. An Advent miracle!

This Advent season, may your heart experience peace because the great Lord Jesus Christ entered our world and our lives and made what was once unknowable knowable - our redeemer Ruler has made a way for us to dwell in his presence in full.

PRAYER:

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with your love

And our minds with your wisdom

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

See you Wednesday!

Pastor Nate

The Gifts Wisdom Gives

SAPIENTIA

O Highest Wisdom, Come

REFLECTION:

We are now entering the season of Advent. “Advent” means coming or arrival. This means that it is a season of anticipation, longing and hope. We look forward to and long for the coming of Christ even while we celebrate the fact that he came. We call out to him through this antiphon to come. But for what do we call him to come? We long for Wisdom to come to order all things in might, power and wisdom. We look fo rWisdom to come to meet our needs. We hope in the coming of Wisdom to give us our eternal inheritance.

We cry out, “O Highest Wisdom, Come!”

THIS SUNDAY: THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

This Sunday, we see that Wisdom has all the riches of heaven in his storehouse. He is pleased to give these gifts to us today in our lives and eternally in heaven. Come, O Wisdom!

FIRST ANTIPHON:

O Highest Wisdom, come.

While reaching end to end

In sweetness ordering all,

To us, O mighty Savior,

Discerning judgment teach.

PRAYER:

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with your love

And our minds with your wisdom

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Nate

Be sure to check out the Mount Weekly linked below for all of the other awesome stuff going on.

Wisdom behind the Throne

During these services to wrap up the year, the weekly email will include an overview and some points to ponder in preparation for the coming service.

During the coming weeks leading up to Christmas, we will cry out, “O Come!” The title of our series comes from the O Antiphons. These are short sentences and prayers that historically have accompanied the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from Dec 17-23. These sentences embody a a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative “Come!” embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah.

Our Sunday services will follow the theme: O Come, Wisdom.

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SAPIENTIA

O Highest Wisdom, Come

FIRST ANTIPHON:

O Highest Wisdom, come.

While reaching end to end

In sweetness ordering all,

To us, O mighty Savior,

Discerning judgment teach.

REFLECTION:

During our Sunday services in preparation for Christmas, we celebrate and reflect on the wisdom of God, which is Jesus. This wisdom is not common, but one that is from on high. His gospel is not shallow, but one that is deep and passes understanding.His is a wisdom in which the greatest intellect would be drowned! Scripture teaches us that Christ himself is wisdom. As Wisdom from on high, he comes to us to give us rich gifts, most of all life through his death and an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
We cry out, “O Highest Wisdom, Come!”

CONCLUDING PRAYER:

Lord God,

Fill our hearts with your love

And our minds with your wisdom

So that our actions will be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,

Guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit. Amen.

THIS SUNDAY: CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY

We see that Christ truly is Wisdom behind, above, and through every throne. Yes, it may seem to most that Christ and the message of his cross is foolishness and weakness, yet he is truly the Wisdom and Power of God. And, since that is the case, he is the power behind all thrones since he sits on heaven’s highest throne.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Nate

Be sure to check out the Mount Weekly linked below for all of the other awesome stuff going on.

What if...

It’s such a beautiful letter. So, moving and touching. With a deep desire for so much forgiveness. Paul writes with such passion and love that he would even pay the debt in the place of the sinner. He told Philemon, “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me” (18). Yes, like I said at the beginning, this is such a tender letter of love and a desire for reconciliation that both Philemon and Onesimus would fight for the family.

     How can I say anything more than that? Our pastoral hearts beat with a desire that confessions would be made, forgiveness would be given, and God’s people would be restored to one another. How sweet would that be for our family here at Mount Lebanon and beyond if we would “fight for the family” and live together like this? How sweet would this be for our families at home and at work if we would “fight for the family?” If we would confess our sins to another when we have sinned against them? If we would forgive their sins when they have sinned against us (even if they don’t confess)?

       What would that say to the community around us if we were known as the church that “fights for the family?” What if we were known as the church that, in love,confronts sin in others and among us – and then forgave it!?! What if we were known as the church that lives together like this?

       Oh, dear people of God, “Refresh my heart in Christ” and let’s live together in love like this.

God grant it to us!

See you Sunday!

Pastor Nate

Be sure to check out the Mount Weekly linked below for all of the other awesome stuff going on.

The Cost of Forgiveness

Many scholars, even Christian scholars, agree that forgiveness includes a wrong that is committed. One writer states that “when an individual forgives, his resentment is overcome not by restraining themselves the right to the resentment, but by making an effort to view the transgressor with understanding, kindness, and compassion, while acknowledging that he has deliberately surrendered his right to them.”[1] In this explanation, she admits that something is owed. Another notes that forgiveness is defined as “a willingness to abandon one’s right to resentment, negative judgment and indifferent behaviour toward one who unjustly injured us.”[2] Again, he notes that a debt is owed to the one who ultimately forgives.

The question that none of them seems to answer is: Who pays the price? If a person were truly wronged and a debt (guilt) was incurred, then who pays for that? God teaches us this very thing when we sin against him. He does not sweep our sins under the rug. He does not tell us that it is okay. He doesn’t just “forgive” it and move on. Instead, he takes guilt from us and gives it to his Son. In this way, his Son pays the price for our sins. His Son pays dearly, with his own lifeblood. This our God did for us not because we deserved it. In fact, we deserved the very opposite. It is grace from his Father’s heart that led him to this. It is something that is given to us. Yet, the question remains: Who pays the price?

The answer to the question must first be found in the cross of Jesus. Further investigation into the lived experience of these participants shows how vital and meaningful his cross is to them in their lives. They found hope, comfort, and strength in his cross. Christ paid the price.  He paid the price for every sin that was ever committed against God and every sin that was or will be committed against another human being. Christ paid the price for all of them at the cross. It was a costly thing for him.

It is also a costly thing for the forgiver. Even when a form of restitution is made after a transgression, the forgiver pays a price. When I forgive my friend for failing to pay back the $500 he borrowed from me, this means I no longer ask him to pay me back. But who paid the price in this scenario? I did. I absorbed the loss of the money I loaned him. My forgiveness turned that debt into a gift to him. This is a concrete way of imagining how the forgiver pays the price. I admit that this is clear, but that in other cases, it is much harder to quantify and describe. Yet, it seems clear that forgiveness is costly. A cost is always paid, first by Christ and then by the one offering forgiveness. This is what Paul calls us to offer up to each other. Finding strength in the cost paid by Christ. And, then, paying the price of forgiveness toward those who offend against me.

[1] Gicheru 285-286.

[2] Egan 388.

Coming Clean

The process of conflict reconciliation has both a vertical and horizontal dimension. It has a vertical direction because it deals with each person’s relationship and standing with God. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ in this vertical relationship. We have reconciliation with God because God has not counted sins against us but has, instead, counted our sins against Christ. And, instead of counting sins against us, he credits Christ’s righteousness to us. We’re good with God.

But there still remains reconciliation in my horizontal relationships. There still remains reconciliation in the relationship with the people who sinned against me. There still remains restoration in the relationship with the people against whom I have sinned.

No one understood this better than Joseph and his brothers. Try to imagine what this conflict was like and how long it lasted until their reconciliation. His brothers sinned against him when they sold him into slavery. It was seventeen years or more before he saw them again. It was even longer before they had any sense of forgiveness and reconciliation between them.

It was undoubtedly painful for them. Two things had to happen to move toward forgiveness and reconciliation: Sin had to be brought out into the open and confronted.It also needed to be confessed, not just to God but to the person against whom the sin had been committed.

As we seek to learn how to work through conflict toward reconciliation, these two acts are vitally important. Sin must be gently confronted and corrected. Sin must also be confessed. As we dive into the story of Joseph and his brothers, we will deal with these two acts: Confrontation and Confession.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Nate

Fighting from a position of grace

When conflict has happened, we often think to ourselves that something must be done for peace to be achieved, realized, and experienced. In one dimension, this is true.When we stand next to, in front of, or even just around people with whom we have had a conflict, there can’t be peace until something happens. That’s what this whole series is about: pursuing peace and reconciliation after sin has happened between two people, or even between groups of people. Sin must be confessed. Forgiveness must be given and received. Restitution and other steps to restore the relationship must be taken. Reconciliation does require work on the side of both parties. As we stand before people, something has to be done for peace to be achieved.

         This is true as we stand before people. This is also true as we stand before God. Something must be done. Something had to be done. But it was not our doing. It is not something we need to do. There is no box that we need to check. God doesn’t look at us to say, “I’ll forgive you after you…” No, the work is all God’s. The work is all Christ’s. He has done the work to forgive. We have peace with God. We stand in a position of grace and righteousness.

         Standing in this position of “recipient of grace” sets our hearts at ease as we move toward reconciliation with people after a conflict. In fact, this standing in grace is absolutely essential before we move toward the other people involved in the conflict. You are at peace with God. You have received grace from him. You are justified. Just soak this in and experience the peace that comes from this truth.

Don’t forget! TRUNK OR TREAT IS COMING TOMORROW (SATURDAY) FROM 3-5 PM.

See you Sunday! Pastor Nate

The Root of Conflict

      Often in conflict, we are quick to see the speck of sawdust in our neighbor’s eye, but slow to see the plank in our own eye. It’s true. We are prone to leaning into the sin that our neighbors commit. He did this, or she did that. In fact, sometimes we even take it one step further - we’ll even use their sin to measure our own sin. We might use their sin to justify our actions. We may use their sin to minimize our own sin. In all sorts of different ways, we are quick to pinpoint others as the cause of conflict.

       But James, the brother of Jesus, has a different answer. First, he asks them, “What causes fights and quarrels among you?” He wants to know. Why do we have such conflicts? Why do we fight like we do? He asks the question and then gives quite an unexpected answer. The root of the problem is the sinful desires that live inside of you. It’s the idols that we’ve fashioned in our hearts. It’s the price we’ll pay to keep those idols and protect them from destruction. Whether the conflict began with you or you just continued it, your idolatrous heart has played a big part in the conflict in which you are involved.

         But God made the first move to resolve the conflict. He did not just leave you to stew in your own pride and arrogance. He does not leave you to your idolatrous heart. Instead, he confronts your idolatry and sin. Then, having confronted your sin, he forgives you and raises you up from the ashes of your repentance.

         Yes, God has always made the first move in any conflict. He did that when he sought Adam and Eve in their sin and when he made the first promise about the snake-crusher. He did it when he sent his Son, Jesus, for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

         The first move in reconciliation is God’s coming to us to confront us with our idolatry and to reconcile us to Himself through his Son.

Don’t forget!

We will have a congregational meeting tomorrow after worship to call a 2nd Grade teacher.

If you are bringing candy for Trunk or Treat, please bring it to church tomorrow or plan a time to drop it off before Saturday.

See you tomorrow! Pastor Nate

Fighting for Family - Ebook

Dear family,

This morning, we kicked off a new series called “Fighting for Family.” It’s about conflict reconciliation, not resolution. See, as God’s people we aren’t as concerned about resolving a problem as we are saving people, restoring relationships, and keeping people close to Jesus. That’s what this whole series is all about.

We’ll work hard to get the sermon uploaded tomorrow, but for now you can find the sermon as part of the service here.

Here’s what you can expect in this series. The first four weeks are about the vertical relationship and your relationship with God. That’s going to be the overriding emphasis and focus. We’re going to take time to unpack your own hearts and see the root of conflict. We’re going to take time to rest in the peace of our standing with God and enjoy the gift of forgiveness that we have received from God. Before we can talk about forgiving another and moving toward reconciliation, we have to save you from your sins. Then, and only then, can we think about the horizontal relationships.

That’s also why we’re providing the tools that we are. Along with a sermon each week, there will be five devotions and reflection questions. We want to take you further up and deeper into the truth of God’s Word. That takes time. So, I want to encourage you to dig into God’s Word with us.

We trust that God, through his Word and by his Spirit, will do his work in our hearts.

God Bless it and us!

Pastor Nate

PS Download the ebook here: https://themountmke.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dfee543fcf7a75055d7bfb775&id=8585f58d15&e=84b06628c2

Controlled by Love

         We’re starting a new series this weekend on Conflict Reconciliation. Yet, if we’re going to talk about reconciling with those who have sinned against us, we need to know who we are. It’s about our identity in Christ, as those who are loved by him. That is who we are. We are dearly loved children of God, who have been bought with the blood of Jesus.

         We can’t start this series with “do it because you love ‘em,” because frankly we probably don’t love them at the moment. We may even come closer to hating and despising them during and even after the conflict. They have hurt us. We have likely also sinned against them in some way, whether by thought, word or deed. Conflict between two or more people causes pain, dislike, bitterness, hatred, fear, etc. All sorts of emotions run to the surface. Love for those with whom we are in conflict lies at the bottom of our heart if it is there at all.

         That’s why we have to start here with the love of Christ constraining us, wrapping its arms around us, and controlling everything about us. We have to see that he died for us on the cross and, that there, we, with all of our sin and sinfulness, died to sin. Conflict must cause a sort of death in us. Crucifying the hatred and sin in us. Dying to sin together with Christ, so that we might also live for and with him. Rising to life together with him through his resurrection

         Spiritual growth in the area will not happen because we learn the right steps to take, but in knowing the love of God for us in Christ, in knowing in fuller, deeper, and higher ways what God has done with our sins and hearing how we are reconciled to God. He loves you dearly and deeply. This is true no matter how other people have treated you or what others have done to you. He does not count your sins against you. He has made you wholly new.

         Knowing his love for us is the beginning of our journey. Who are you? You are a child of God who is loved by Christ.

         We’ll be starting by looking at 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.

See you Sunday! Pastor Nate

PS. Can you help with Trunk or Treat? Learn more or sign-up to help here.

Trunk or Treat 2024

Trunk or Treat 2024

Saturday, October 26

3:00 - 5:00 pm.

We care about our community. We care about the kids in our community. We care about the families in our community. We truly want to be a community for our community.

That’s why we’re bringing back “Trunk or Treat” for the second year in a row. Nearly 1000 kids came through our parking lot for a fun and safe event for the whole family.

Trunk or Treat Help us bring a safe space to trick or treat to Milwaukee. We are looking for people to be creative in decorating their vehicle trunks or helping decorate inside the community room. We need help setting up, taking down and, of course, help to provide candy to give away. We are planning for 1000 children! This is a community event and service. We need your help. You can help by providing candy, volunteering to help the day of the event, or by decorating a trunk for the event.

We, first, hope that you’ll make plans to come and hang out with us, even for a part of the afternoon.

We also want to invite you to help make it the success that it was last year. There are lots of little and big ways you can get involved, from decorating a trunk to providing a bag of candy, and lots of places in between.

Please sign-up here to offer up and provide a trunk or support this event in lots of different ways.

Loved and SENT

Open Hands

It’s so easy to do. We so often measure our worth and our meaning by our “net worth.” The idea isgrounded in the very word itself. You are worth whatever value your house. You are worth whatever money you have in your bank account. Our money, property,and possessions can quickly use these measures to define the value of a person.And so the lie creeps in – “I am what I have.” That’s the lie.

But what happens when we lose those things like Job did? What happens in our hearts if we never have those things at all? And so, our hearts sink again.

What happens when we don’t have what we think we need for our callings? We are sent, after all. What happens if we don’t have what we think we need to do that calling?

But call out the lie! We are not what we have. We are so much more. We are worth the value of blood of God’s own Son who gave his life as the redemption price for us. We are totally competent and sufficient in Christ! We are nothing but beggars who are nothing but what we have received by grace! God, our God, has poured so much into us. We are jars of clay so show that the all surpassing power is God’s and not ours. We are sent, filled by grace upon grace from our God.

Freely you have received, freely give.

One final practice in this series will help us combat these identity lies: Open hands. On the one hand, weare nothing but beggars who receive with open hands what comes graciously fromGod’s own hand. And on the other hand, we are nothing but generous kings and queens who give away with open hands what God has so carefully entrusted to us.

See you Sunday! Pastor Nate