Dec 23, 2016 | News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
How does a path become a path?
It is quite simple actually. One person walks in a particular direction. Through woods or weeds or waist high grass. One person walks in a particular direction and soon others follow. In the beginning, it is sometimes hard to determine where the path is. But with each step, the pathway becomes more defined.
Soon the steps of a thousand people beat down the vegetation. Bare dirt and stone make it clear that others have passed this way. This pathway where others have traveled, leads somewhere.
If everyone felt it necessary to walk their own way, then there would be no pathway. A leisurely walk would become a test of one’s navigational skill and many would be lost.
Danielle took this photo last Sunday. Fresh snow on the sidewalk that leads to the doors of our church. What do you notice? Footprints small and large, heels, dress shoes and boot prints, the trail of a walker or two.
The path to TLC has become a pathway for many. This is a safe place. Others have walked the pathway that we might be here today. Our parents and grandparents, our charter members and new members have walked this pathway.
In this season of Christmas we are reminded that the path which leads to Bethlehem, to the water, to the bread and wine, to Jesus, is a safe pathway for all of God’s people. In this season of Christmas, we are reminded that the stable in Bethlehem was crowded with an un-wed mother, a blue-collar carpenter, common barn animals, unclean shepherds, and star gazing foreigners.
Look at those foot prints in the snow. Those are the foot prints of our brothers and sisters. Rich and poor, black and brown, ex-cons and recovering addicts, gay and straight, democrat and republican. Either all are welcome or all will be excluded.
I am thankful to be walking the pathway of life with you!
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Jim
Christmas Eve Services at 4, 7 and 9 pm.
Christmas Morning service at 9:00.
Dec 18, 2016 | News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
Christmas is just around the corner and I am so excited. Tomorrow, I will be dressing up the Preschoolers in nativity garb. The little ones make the cutest sheep, angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph that you will ever see. On Sunday at the 11:00 am Service, the Sunday School will be presenting their Christmas program.
Don’t forget this Sunday is Christmas Sweater Day. Dig those sweaters out of the moth balls and have fun at TLC.
On Christmas Eve, we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus with three unique services. A delightful Children’s Service will be held at 4:00 pm. There will be several special music offerings from our Splash Children’s Choir, from our Middle School Students, and from Karl Olsen. We will sing your favorite Christmas Carols and with the help of our children we will build a live nativity.
At 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, the sanctuary will be aglow with the flames of 400 candles as we sing Silent Night, share Holy Communion, revel in the Christmas Gospel, and be blessed by a variety of special musical selections.
On Sunday, December 25th you are invited to join us for a reflective Christmas Morning Service at 9:00 am. There will be a festive coffee hour following the service. Bring Christmas treats, cookies or sweets to share.
Christmas is just around the corner and I am so excited. Thank you for sharing the joy of this Holy Season with me.
Ho Ho Ho! – Pastor Jim
PS: I just have to say this. The 8th Commandment DOES apply to Social Media. For your own good, and for the good of your neighbor–Please do not break any commandments!
OK—the 8th Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” What does this mean? We are to come to the defense of our neighbor, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.
In Social Media and in life—“if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all.”
Dec 13, 2016 | News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
This will be Cam’s first Christmas and my first Christmas as grandpa.
I think about her often. She lived in a modest home, built by her father. She walked with a limp. I was with her when she broke that leg. When I stayed overnight we made fudge together. She taught me how to play poker. She was the first person I knew with a remote on her TV, and yet she never did get a dishwasher or a microwave.
She volunteered tirelessly. Her hospitality was comfortable and gracious, no pretense. Her door was always open. There was always room at her kitchen table. The coffee was always on.
She was my Grandma Elliott. She raised three children in the Great Depression. She carried the family on her back when my Grandfather was ill. She loved me. I always knew that; and she loved Christmas.
She loved Christmas, the tree, the decorations, her family gathered at her house. The cards, the food, the music, she loved Christmas. She loved the story. The promise of life stirring mysteriously in the womb of a virgin. The journey by donkey from Galilee to the sleepy village of Bethlehem. The stable, the shepherds, and the angels. A Christmas star bearing witness to the light of the world. The lamb of God lying in a feed trough. The journey of the Wise Men as they brought gifts to an infant king.
It was just a few days before Christmas when she died. I was with her that day too. She was struck down by some strange disease that attacked the immune system. She had contracted the disease through a blood transfusion. The doctors did not even have a name for the disease at that time.
I remember that Christmas vividly. Presents under the tree from a Grandmother who was gone. Fudge she had made sitting on a plate. An empty place at the table. No limp. No poker. Her smile and laugh were only a memory.
Christmas still came that year, it always breaks through the darkness of winter. Christmas came and the story was told. My Grandmother loved the story. Don’t lose the story this year. Don’t be so distracted that you miss the story. Come to church and hear the story read, preached, and sung. Invite friends to join you at TLC.
For unto you a child is born and this is good news for all the people of the world.
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Jim
PS: The Memorial Service for Byron Birdsall will be on Friday, December 16th, 2:00 at TLC.
Nov 30, 2016 | Events, News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
Weekly Word from Pastor Jim
This Sunday at TLC you are invited to wear your favorite Seahawk, Husky, Cougar, Bronco, or even Patriot gear. Actually, we will be talking about John the Baptist this Sunday. So, if you are so inclined, you could wear a leather girdle and eat a few locusts.
On Sunday, December 11 we will be lighting three of the four Advent Candles as we continue to make our way to Bethlehem. In days gone by the color of Advent was purple, but on the third Sunday of Advent a blue candle would be lit. On December 11, you are invited to WEAR BLUE. Blue shirts, blue jeans, blue hats, blue dresses, blue ties, and blue sweatshirts will all be in style at TLC.
On Sunday, December 18, in addition to the Sunday School Christmas Program, we will be having our second annual Christmas Sweater Sunday. (The louder the better.) This might be your only chance to wear that sweater in public this year. At the 9:30 a.m. service that morning, this Grandpa will be holding little Camden James McNany, as he is baptized into the Christian Church.
Christmas Eve is on December 24th this year and we will be celebrating with a family Christmas service at 4 pm. Candlelight Services with Holy Communion will be held at 7 and 9 pm.
The next morning, on Christmas Day at 9 am we will gather for a simple, beautiful celebration of the Nativity. I will have the coffee made early that morning. Please join us.
Finally, I would ask your help as we seek to make our year-end General Fund budget goals. We have given away more than $200,000 this year! Praise be to God. Now it is time to balance our bottom line. Blessed to be a Blessing! I thank you in advance for your Christmas gifts to TLC.
Ho Ho Ho and I will see you in Church!
Love, Pastor Jim
Nov 2, 2016 | Events, News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
My Grandfather died on All Saints’ Day. Harold Lindus was a Norwegian sharecropper. Even though he worked very hard for 70 years, he never owned property. He was a man of deep faith. With my Grandmother Aline, (and a handful of others), they gave birth to Trinity Lutheran Church in DeKalb, Illinois. In the depths of the depression they stepped out in faith and built a little church.
My Grandmother would die on her birthday. After kissing my Grandpa good morning, she walked back into the bedroom and collapsed. A heart attack had taken her life before she even hit the floor.
Left alone in the twilight of his life my Grandfather entered a very difficult season. He was lonely; his emphysema was worsening. Each breath was labored. His body was failing him, and he could not help but wonder if his God was failing him too. This season of doubt was more painful than his disability. He would watch Christian television shows. People were healed. He was not. He prayed. He sent money. People were healed, and he was not.
He was the last person that Felicia and I visited before heading off to internship at Bethany Lutheran Church on Bainbridge Island. Grandpa Lindus was so proud that we were giving our lives to the church that he loved. He pressed a couple of hundred dollars into my hand and said, “I want to pay for the gas. Be safe.” We walked to the car that day with tears in our eyes.
Ten weeks later, on November 1st, 1984 my Grandfather took his final labored breath and joined my Grandmother on the other side. Felicia and I boarded a plane and headed home to the still small church that my Grandfather had started. We had come home to bury him.
When I was a boy my Grandpa Lindus would take me to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs. My Grandfather was a big Cubs fan. My Father, in his rebellion just to tick my Grandfather off, pulled for the hated St. Louis Cardinals.
It is All Saints’ Day, and I spent the evening pulling for the Cubs, and playing on the floor with my Grandson Camden. When he was fussy, I held him tight and we paced the house. We came to a mirror in the dining room. I looked in the mirror and I recognized the faces—his and mine. I had become Grandpa Lindus. Twilight was setting in. God is good and the seasons are passing.
This Sunday we will be celebrating the Saints who have lived, served, and died at TLC in the past year. I hope to see you. I hope to greet you. I hope to share a holy hug with you. Life is short. Life is sweet. Life is fragile. Life is a gift.
I am honored to share the journey with you!
Love, Pastor Jim
Oct 27, 2016 | News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
William Jefferson Clinton was about to be reelected to a second term in the Oval Office. 1996 would see the debut of ESPN, MSNBC, and The O’Reilly Factor. The New York Yankees would win the World Series.
Topping the music charts was Celine Dion singing “Because You Loved Me.” The Spice Girls had the number two hit of the year with “Wannabe.” But sitting alone at number one was the “Macarena.” In 1996, a house in Seattle would set you back $148,000.
The sun rose on October 20th, 1996. It was a Sunday morning in Freeland, Washington. The people of God at TLC had been up early; they were excited to get to church that morning. For the better part of a decade they had dreamed of this day. For the better part of a year they had pounded nails, cleaned up the construction site, dug ditches, cooked food, painted walls, and written checks. After a last-minute battle with the Island County Building department, we obtained our occupancy permit.
On October 20th, 1996 we worshiped for the first time in our Sanctuary. We will be celebrating our 20th Anniversary this Sunday with a grand Reformation Celebration. So how should we celebrate? Blessed to be a Blessing — we are having a food drive for our Island neighbors. We will be attempting to fill our church van to overflowing. We will be sharing from our abundance. We will be giving thanks to God by giving back to the community.
I was looking at the bulletin for October 20th, 1996 this morning. There were many wonderful musical selections and there were lots of flowers. Fifty-two people dedicated flowers that day. Thirty of those fifty-two are no longer with us. Twenty years from now many of us will not be here, but the work of TLC will continue because of our faithfulness today. The mission of TLC is God’s work! We are so very blessed to share the journey with dear saints, to worship in sacred space, to contemplate God’s amazing grace, as we change the world together.
Not sure what the Reformation is all about? This Sunday I will be telling the incredible story of the Reformation. We have so much to celebrate!
See you in Church.
Pastor Jim
