The Heart of a Pastor

Bible Sunday

Bible Sunday went great yesterday (Sunday, Sept. 30).

For those who are wondering "Bible Sunday?"; yesterday Salem Lutheran Church presented Bibles to two 3rd graders.  Along with that presentation, pew Bibles were presented, dedicated and used for the first time at Salem.  It was a Sunday I was looking forward to for the last couple years.  I get excited about young people getting a new Bible (and for some their first).  These 3rd graders, for the past few weeks, had been bugging me and asking me when they were getting their Bibles.  One could tell they were excited and this made me even more happy and excited.  When the moment came to give the parents the Bibles to present to their children, my heart was racing.  It was a powerful moment for me (and hopefully for the families and children involved).  And for one family, especially, I knew this was very important.  The dad had a chance to go to the Vikings/Packers game to watch history in the making (Brett Favre breaking the touchdown record), but instead decided that her daughter receiving her Bible was more important.  Way to go dad!

Following the presentation I asked the parents to sit down but I kept my two 3rd graders up front with me.  Now was the time to reverse roles.  Salem Lutheran Church presented Bibles to these two 3rd graders now in turn these 3rd graders unveiled and handed out the new pew Bibles to the congregation.  Some knew what was coming, but others were totally surprised and seemed pleased (judging from their reaction).  As the kids handed out the Bibles I explained how worship would work now with these Bibles but people were more interested in checking them out.  Which was fine.

After the Bibles were handed out I told the congregation to make sure everyone was touching a Bible so we could offer up a prayer and dedicate these Bibles to the glory of God to be used in worship.  After the prayer we continued with the worship service by reading reading of scripture.  Even though we had forgotten to include page numbers in the bulletin most people still used the new Bibles for the scripture reading (we had included the "Celebrate" inserts in the bulletin).

Following the service I got a few comments from people indicating that they thought this was a great idea.  Over all people seemed very pleased with our new Bibles.

My hope and prayer now is that people will get more excited about scripture.  Maybe people, when they come to worship early, will spend time finding the texts for the day and start reading the text around it.  Maybe, just maybe, they will see, hear and experience something they hadn't before.  Maybe, just maybe, they will go home and get their Bibles out and finishing reading the chapter/book we started in worship.  Maybe, just maybe this will be a spring board for families to engage in family devotions (each week we will be including the daily lectionary readings in the bulletin leading up to next Sunday's texts).

Over all, Bible Sunday was a good day for me and hopefully for everyone else.  Of course time will tell what the reaction will be but when scripture is involved, how can it be anything but positive.  After all, we are reading the greatest love letter of all time. 

Let's make every day "Bible Sunday". 
-edh-

Cell phone vs. Bible

I got this as an email forward from the church secretary here at Salem.  I normally don't send forwards but considering Salem is celebrating "Bible Sunday" next Sunday I thought this was appropriate.  I think I will include this in the bulletin on Sunday as well. 

CELL PHONE vs. BIBLE
I wonder what would happen
if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell
phones? What if we carried it around in our
purses or pockets? What if we flipped through
it several times a day? What if we turned back
to go get it if we forgot it? What if we used
it to receive messages from the text? What if
we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave them to kids as gifts? What if
we used it when we traveled? What if we used it
in case of emergency? This is something to make
you go....hmm...where is my Bible? Oh, and one
more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't
have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected, because Jesus already paid the
bill. Makes you stop and think, 'Where are my
priorities?" And...no dropped calls!
(Source unknown)

I hope you enjoyed that.  Take care and God bless!

-edh-

The joy of September

Well...the joy of September is here.  As always, the second Wednesday of the month from September through May is always the busiest for me.  Thankfully I did a ton of prep work yesterday so I am ready to go.  At 12noon we have our ministerial meeting.  I am beginning my second term as president and third term as treasurer and second term as secretary.  Basically I am the "king" of the Jackson County ministerial.  Scary I know, but no one else will do it...so I am it.  The other part of the reason I continue serving the ministerial in this capacity is because the other pastors have told me that the community now knows who the contact person is and it is easier to keep the same person instead of changing every year.  As long as they want me to serve in this way I will continue and if someone else steps forward I will gladly turn over the reigns.  Until then I wonder if I should have people call me, "Your Majesty" :)

Anyway...allow me to continue if you are done laughing at me...at 2pm Release Time begins.  On Wednesdays the schools "release" the 3rd through 5th graders (who have registered) to go to their respective churches for an hour of Bible class.  This year I have 3 third graders and 2 fourth graders (these two kids are not from Salem).  It should be a lot of fun.

Starting in 2 weeks (but not today) I will have confirmation at 3:30pm until 4:30.  So I will have a 1/2 hour break between Release Time and confirmation.  Today at 6:30 I have an Endowment committee meeting and then at 7pm the Deacons meet with the church council meeting at 7:30pm.  I should be ready plop down on my couch at around 9:30pm (if all goes well).

WELCOME TO SEPTEMBER, ERIC!!!

A request
On Sept. 30 Salem is planning on giving our 3rd graders Bibles.  This has been a tradition for us for some time now (as it is for many congregations I know).  We haven't done this for three years because we haven't had any 3rd graders for a while.  Also on that day I am planning on introducing the congregation to the new pew Bible we have purchased.  This will be a big change for people; moving from a printed insert to a Bible.  Ooooh...this may cause some controversy...I will keep you updated on this.

Anyway...my request is this:  Do you have a Bible Sunday for your 3rd graders?  And if so, what do you do?  How to you present the Bibles?  What Bibles do you give?  Do you have an inscription inside the Bible? etc.  I am looking for ideas here to help make this a memorable day for our kids.  Also...one thing I am thinking about is after we present the Bibles to the 3rd graders I will ask the 3rd graders in turn to present the pew Bibles to the congregation.  I thought this would be a neat experience for everyone.  What do you think?  Any ideas for me?

Thank you for "listening" and stopping by.  May the joy of the Lord kick you in the butt today to be a light to someone who sees only darkness.  Take care and God bless.
-edh-

Harry Potter

Wouldn't it be nice if people got as excited about the Bible as they do about the release of a Harry Potter book?

Wouldn't it be great if people would camp outside the local Christian book store to wait for the newest release of the latest study Bible?

Wouldn't it be awesome if people would go out and spill the beans about the Bible's story causing people to still rush out to get their copy?

Wouldn't it be nice if people would discuss the implications of Jesus' death (and resurrection) for us rather than wondering if Harry Potter (a fictional character) is going to die and what that is going to mean for fans?

Wouldn't it be nice if the world really understood what is truly important in life?

Wouldn't it be nice...