Volume 1, Number 7 Thursday, February 21, 2002
Monthly Meeting is scheduled for December 8, 9:30 a.m., to continue our work of developing a regional website for Missouri Synod Lutheran churches in our area. Plan to be with us. We need your help. Meanwhile, work on developing the site is proceeding. We are completing registration with major browsers this month. Our new home page is ready to go. We will be reviewing our new contract with Resurrection, Spring.
Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy – On November 19 the voters’ assembly of Resurrection, Spring approved a resolution to begin a two year-long process to reclaim the meaning of the Third Commandment for their personal, family and congregational life. Sabbath is the Hebrew Biblical word for ‘Rest.’ The Sabbath commandment has spiritual, physical and social implications.
The process of training a minimum of twelve leaders will begin shortly after the new year. CrossTies is developing study materials. Trainees will study Old and New Testament texts on the Sabbath. They will also review the long history of worship in the Christian church. To deepen the understanding that Jesus is our true Rest they will study carefully the first four Beatitudes. Working with these leaders, CrossTies will develop a process for helping all members of the congregation to discover the implications of the Sabbath. The process will climax in 2003 when Resurrection’s pastor, Rev. Steve Sohns, returns from a four months personal sabbatical.
We hope to make this same process available to other congregations and pastors once the details of this pilot program have been worked out. Watch the Crosstiesministries.org website over this coming year for further details.
Sermon and Bible studies for Sunday’s lessons – Once again, here is a reminder to check out the new features on the CrossTiesministries.org website. We now offer sermon outlines for the busy pastor and for personal study based upon one of the Lessons for Series A of the three-year worship cycle. These are developed by Rev. Richard Bolland of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Check under the Sermons heading. Added sermon studies from others are welcome. Please forward them to Dr. Al Franzmeier. In addition to these studies, we now also feature the popular study questions developed by Dr. Lou Jander, Mission and Ministry Facilitator for Area D of the Texas District, LC-MS. Find these at http://www.crosstiesministries.org/worship.asp.
May you enter this new year with joy and expectation – Permit me, a personal comment along with my Christmas and New Year greeting.
To be frank with you I have never been keen on celebrating New Year’s Eve, staying up until midnight, popping champagne and partying or whatever people choose to do. Besides the fact that I don’t do well at any time of the year in the middle of the night, I find that my new year begins several weeks earlier. Let me explain.
When I served in the parish ministry I was always a bit frustrated when trying to prepare any kind of New Year’s Eve worship service. This was especially true since I followed the Church Year. This year Christmas falls on Tuesday. There are some beautiful texts and prayers for the First Sunday after Christmas. I’ll be leading worship on that Sunday, Dec. 30, at Our Savior, Pagosa Springs, Colorado at the invitation of Pastor Bolland. I look forward to that opportunity. Anyway, getting back to New Year’s Eve, I discover that the Church has no specific Service in the church year schedule for that event. There is a Service appointed for January 1, New Year’s Day. It is called The Circumcision of Our Lord. And the Service appointed for December 31 is called The Eve of the Name of Jesus. There is, however, no specific service celebrating the beginning of the secular new year.
The reason for that should be obvious to all Christians. For us, the New Year has already begun. It begins with the First Sunday in Advent. Our Lord came just as he promised. We celebrate that. And we remember that he is coming again very soon. Even so, come Lord Jesus. So our New Year began this year on December 2.
The short prayer for the New Year’s Eve Service sums it up well. That’s why it is called the Collect, it collects our thoughts for this time of the year and it expresses my prayer for all of you reading this letter:
“Lord God, heavenly Father, because you sent us your only-begotten Son for our salvation and gave him the name of Jesus, grant that we may begin the New Year trusting in his saving name and live all our days in his service and praise to the glory of his holy name; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
In Jesus’ name, have a Blessed Christ Mass celebration and a very Happy New Year!
Pastor Al Franzmeier
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