Four Things on Friday
November 29, 2019
An Interesting Podcast
– 2 for the price of 1
Virtue in the
Wasteland has become my go-to
pod cast. These two professors from Concordia, Irvine have conversations that
range from deeply profound to ridiculous. Jeff Mallinson has a D.Phil. from
Oxford, and Dan Van Voorhis, earned his doctorate from St. Andrew’s University,
in Scotland. Interestingly, Van Voorhis was Mallinson’s student during his
undergraduate studies. Obviously, in these episodes they explore Thanksgiving
(Mallinson’s favorite holiday), but it’s not just the traditional story of
Squanto and the Pilgrims. Check it out and spend some time thinking about this
holiday that originated with religious roots, but is now primarily a secular
celebration.
Quote I’m
Pondering
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – St. Paul, 1
Thess. 5:16-18
One Good Thing
This Week
We got a wonderful picture of the diverse body of Christ
this past Sunday. We baptized a little boy named Kayyou (and, no, I’m not sure
I spelled that right). His dad is a grad student at Kent State, but he and his
wife are from Ethiopia where they are members of the Ethiopian Evangelical
Church Mekane Yesus – a Lutheran church body with which the LCMS is in
altar/pulpit fellowship. Kayyou was born here in the states far from Mom and
Dad’s home church, but not far from their brothers and sisters in Christ!
Through our connections with Lutheran Campus Ministry of Kent, they came to us
to have Kayyou baptized. I’m certain that there were cultural differences in
how the baptism was handled, but in the end Kayyou was washed in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and he is now a child of
God!
Our Scripture
readings for the First Sunday of Advent are:
Over the years I have learned that those who read the
Scripture lessons and spend a little time thinking about them before church on
Sunday get more out of the service. You may have noticed that, up to now, our
Gospel readings have largely come from Luke’s account. As we enter a new church
year, we will find that most of our readings come from Matthew’s account of
Jesus’ life.
The sermon is: Advent: Because No One Knows
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