Christmas Eve

The hustle and bustle of another busy Christmas season is coming to an end shortly.  And I know I probably say this every year but it seems this Christmas season was busier than others.  For pastors this is indeed a busy time, especially for those who have mid-week Advent worship service (I don’t have those).  And as I look back on the past month I get more and more tired.  But no need to worry…as it happens during Holy Week…on Christmas Eve I get a boost of adrenaline that takes me through Christmas Day worship.  But can you say “Eric will be napping on the way to Iowa tomorrow”.

Today is Christmas Eve and I am preparing for a 5pm worship service at Salem and a 9am Christmas Day service at Belmont.  My sermon is written…I just need to review, practice and tweak it some.  The worship service is set…I just need to run through things and make sure all my “props” are there and ready.  The music will be coming (Connie’s family is providing the brass accompaniment tonight).  And all the worship participants are set to go.  My biggest task I have left to do today is to make some bread in the bread maker for supper tonight (Italian Herb bread is on the menu).  All in all…not too bad of a day coming up (maybe that is the adrenaline).

But before I go and continue my preparations I want to leave you with a couple things:

(1) MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all and thanks for a great year.  I will be posting a year-in-review later on but I just want to say now that I am thankful for the many friends I met through this blog.  I am also thankful for the many commenters and others who stop by.  This blog is for you and that is my motivation for writing this; knowing that God is using me to preach his Word to people all over the world.  What a blessing this has been.  May you experience the love of God through your many gatherings and may you have safe travels and joyous homecomings.

(2) I want to share a story with you I heard on the news this morning.  Check out this Star Tribune link for the complete story.  Basically…there was an apartment fire in Burnsville, MN recently where nearly 200 residents lost everything.  Yesterday a person donated about 1 million dollars to the victims (nearly $17,500 per person…today the people can pick up their checks).  Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville is serving as a collection site to provide for the basic needs of these families.  This story touched my heart as it is an example of the Spirit of Christmas at work.  Praise be to God.

Once again…have a very blessed Christmas and be safe…all the while praising God, always and forever.  Amen!

-edh-

The Spirit of Christmas

Don’t freak out…I know it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but I wanted to share with you my thoughts on the Advent sermon series I am pondering.  Sometimes it is hard to believe, but Advent is right around the corner and of course Christmas is close behind.  And since that is our reality, Advent planning needs to begin (if it hasn’t already).

I haven’t done an Advent sermon series since 2005 when I preached a series on 1 Peter (something I came across in some publication).  This year…my series is a little different.  The title of the series is “The Spirit of Christmas” with the following sermons topics:  “The Spirit of Hope”, “The Spirit of Life”, “The Spirit of Peace”, “The Spirit of Sharing” and ending on Christmas Eve with “The Spirit of Love”.  This idea came from a Hanging of the Greens worship service we are doing on Nov. 30; a service I found in a Hanging of the Greens book.

Each Christmas season, one of the things that really gets me going is seeing people totally miss the true spirit of Christmas.  It seems that with each passing year, Christmas becomes more and more commercialized (if that is even possible).  Each year I feel moved to submit a letter to the editor in our local newspaper to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas.  Each year I hear stories of how businesses and retail stores tell their employees that they can’t say “Merry Christmas” to the customers.  Heaven forbid if we offend anyone with those words.  So this sermon series really speaks to me and hopefully it will speak to others as well.

I haven’t totally thought out the scripture references for each theme (maybe you have some ideas for me), but hopefully I will have that done within the next week.  I am thinking a one day retreat away from my office might be in order.

In any case…I wanted to through this out to you and see what you think.  Is anyone else doing a Advent/Christmas sermon series?  Have you ever done one before?

God’s blessings to you as you prepare for the Christmas season.

-edh-

Monday morning check in – 3/17/08

HAPPY ST. PATTY’S DAY!!!  Oops, I don’t think we are supposed to be celebrating saints during Holy Week…

…well…let’s try this…

…HAPPY MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK (Hmmm…doesn’t quite roll of the tongue…does it?).  Oh well…

…It’s Monday of Holy Week and I feel a sense of…well…I am not sure if I have the right words here.  Last week I wrote that I was Tired and Excited.  This week it feels like I have more energy and drive within me.  I don’t feel as mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually tired as I was last week.  I guess that is not too surprising since Holy Week and Easter is one of my favorite times of the year (Christmas being the other).  But one thing that does make me a little nervous is that my secretary has been sick since Wednesday night.  That meant on Thursday (bulletin day) I was playing "pastor" and "secretary".  And let me tell you…I have a whole new appreciation for what Vicki does.  I have always known that she is an incredible person and does valuable ministry here, but when I was thrust into her position for a while I got to see (and feel) some of the pressure she has to deal with.  All I can say is this:  "Vicki…you are a very important and valuable person to the ministry of Salem Lutheran Church.  And if no one else says it, let me say it here for all the world to hear:  I appreciate you so much!  But don’t feel you need to hurry back.  Take care of yourself, get some rest and take it easy.  I look forward to seeing you across the hallway very soon."

Quick side bar
Even though, "technically", we are not supposed to celebrate saints during Holy Week can I still wear green and not get into "trouble"?

Palm Sunday
Yesterday I continued my tradition of beginning worship with a Palm Sunday celebration and ending it with the reading of the Passion Story.  It is always a powerful time for me (and from what I hear, for others as well).  But one thing I noticed (and my wife and I talked about this afterward) is that there were a lot of kids getting a little restless during the long Passion reading.  After worship, Connie and I brainstormed the idea that next year we take the kids out before the Passion Story (on Palm Sunday) and Connie would read a children’s version of the story downstairs while the parents/adults stayed with me for the Passion reading.  The thought is that as the kids processed in with palm branches they would recess out with their palm branches.  I have never been a big advocate of removing children from worship, but I think I would make an exception here.  Does any else have thoughts on this?

God blessings to you this St. Patty’s Day (oops…I mean Monday of Holy Week) and I wish for you a week full of love as we hear about the Passion of our Lord and the gift of eternal life for each of us.

Take care!
-edh-