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Food for Thought
Read: Proverbs 22:9
Meditation: While driving the van one December Sunday morning
to get children for Sunday School I came upon a sight that just did not
look right. In fact, it looked so "out-of-place" that I pulled
the van to the side of the road, stopped and snapped a picture of a
well-fed chocolate colored dog carrying the remains of a ten pound
salmon in its mouth. What a sight! It looked so peculiar. I could have
envisioned a seagull, an eagle or a cat carrying such a meal but a
dog? Then I pondered my mission that morning. Dianne, a van load of
children and I were on our way to practice our presentation of Christ's
birth.
There are people in this village (and probably in your area too) that
see Christians as rather strange beings. They view us getting up early
on Sunday mornings, going to Sunday School, Bible Class and worship.
They see us picking up a friend or neighbor along the route. To them, we
may look as strange as a big brown dog carrying a salmon carcass down a
village street on a Sunday morning. That dog was on a mission. Maybe it
was going to finish eating the salmon. Maybe it was delivering the fish
to a cat for Sunday brunch. We were on a mission that Sunday morning. We
were getting ready to share the critical message of Jesus' birth among
family and friends on the Makah Reservation. We want them to know all
about His birth, death and resurrection since He is our Savior. We love
Sunday School where God feeds us with His Gospel, where we give Him our
offerings and where we sing praises and pray to Him.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for feeding my spirit through
Your Word. In Your name, Amen.
Rev. Dale Heinlein
Pastor, Makah Lutheran Church
Neah Bay,
Washington
Counting Coup The Virgin Birth
Read: Romans 8:3
Meditation: "God went for the jugular when he sent his
own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and
unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human
condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order
to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always
was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law
always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it." The Message Bible
When Lakota people faced their enemies they boldly sought to touch
them and escape unharmed. Each act of bravery was rewarded with an
eagle feather. It was an honor to endanger yourself and live to tell
about it. Lakota warfare was not mainly interested in killing and destroying.
There was honor in Lakota warfare.
Crazy Horse, an Ogallala Lakota holy man, had a vision that told him
he would never die by a white man's bullet. He never did. He fearlessly
rode into battle and defied the American Army to kill him. Sadly one of
his own countrymen, working for the US Army, stabbed him in the back
with a bayonet and he died shortly after. Though he died, Crazy Horse's
courage lives on in the retelling. God backed down from no one when He
sent His own Son, born of a virgin, to live in this world at war with
Him. "God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son" says
Eugene Peterson in his bold translation of Roman 8:3. Jesus
"entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set
it right." Our salvation is no ivory tower tip toe through the
tulips thing. Jesus challenged Satan and sin and defeated them
completely. Jesus counted the ultimate coup.
Prayer: Dear Father, Your Son Jesus left the heavenly realms to take
on the darkness of this world. Boldly, He faced our enemies; sin, death
and the Devil and defeated them all. Grant us grace to live courageously
and faithfully to Your word in all of our circumstances. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Adrian Jacobs
Ministry Staff
Brantford, Ontario
Move Over, Family Let Me In!
Read: 1 John 5:19
Meditation: I went to the funeral of one of my brothers recently.
We did not know each other well, nor had we grown up together. It had been
33 years since I had seen his children, my niece and two nephews. This was a
family I knew about but really did not know.
Suddenly, here I was, "Aunt Alice", in the middle of this family
in California. We sat and talked after the funeral. I heard the family
stories. I added a few stories about their father and grandfather. I felt
almost like an interloper do I really belong? They evidently thought I
did; they made me feel very welcome. It felt so good sitting there, being a
part of a family I hardly knew I had. As each one of the adult children
left, he or she went around the room hugging their aunts, uncles, cousins,
and siblings goodbye. Not only do I have this "new" family but a
loving one as well!
Of course it made me think of God's family. One of my favorite times
is sitting on the boat with my Alaskan family during or after a potluck
and time of worship.
Or, picture this: it is evening and the Vacation Bible School kids and I
are sitting on the floor around a candle in the semi-dark. It's story and
prayer time on the boat and little Cindy snuggles up to me as close as she
can get. Family God's family.
Our "ultimate family" is the one that has God as Father. We belong
to
that family because we trust in God. Even if our own family is
dysfunctional,
broken, or at odds, our relationship to God is intact, everlasting, and comforting. Give thanks for that as you sit by your Christmas tree this
year.
Prayer: Dear God, We rejoice because we can call You Father. Thank
You that because we believe we are part of Your family here on earth and in
heaven forever. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Alice Borg
First Mate, M/V Christian
Wrangell,
Alaska
Gifts
Read: Romans 12:1
Meditation: "Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's
mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God" We bring gifts by worship. While money is not abundant, my area of
Alaska is blessed by the music abilities of several Athabascan men. We
partner in ministry as a team to declare Jesus and the Gospel story in
interior villages. I am privileged to help bring their music ministry skill
to communities in our area and share the testimony of God's forgiveness to
us in Christ.
What is your talent? God has blessed you in your personal life. Do you
glorify Him with your time and talents? We give ourselves in order that God
makes us a new creation. God loves us as His creation so much He sent His
Son to be the one sacrifice, our sacrifice, to make the way back to God open
to us. What do we give to show praise and honor to Him? Do we give Him the
extra we have leftover after the material wants?
Or is it the first and best of what we have time and talent. Can you
share
the love of Christ with family, friends and neighbors? Will you take the
time to share Jesus Christ with others? Is there someone in your circle
who has not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ? Now is the time, this
season of Advent, to show your light to others.
Prayer: Lord help me to be Your servant. Take my gifts to be
dedicated to Your praise. May I always see the opportunities to serve You,
for Your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Dan Treakle
Lay Minister, Pilot
Fairbanks, Alaska
The Story Never Changes
Read: Luke 1:30-31
Meditation: As we were boarding the van after Sunday School, I
asked one of the girls what part she had been assigned for the Christmas
Program. She
replied, "I don't get to be Mary". "I'm Sorry", I said,
"have you ever been
Mary?" "No" she simply stated. As I tried to make her feel
better about not having gotten the part of Mary, I continued to ask her what
part she had received. Her answer was always, "I don't get to be
Mary". This went on for some time until finally I came to understand
that there was actually a part for a girl in the Christmas Program who
doesn't get to be Mary. (She really wants the part of Mary and thinks that
she would be perfect for it, but she doesn't get chosen for the part.)
Each year the story of Jesus' birth is presented in a different way, but the
story never changes. This year a girl would learn that being Mary is not the
most important part of Christmas. She learns, along with the rest of us,
that the most important part of Christmas is that Jesus came as a baby to
save us from our sins. He is the Savior of the world! Jesus came giving hope
to all people. The story that never changes is told in many places so others
will know of Jesus being their Savior. those who tell the story and all
those who hear the story are blessed.
Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus,
to be our Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Dianne Heinlein
Youth Ministry Coordinator
Neah Bay, Washington
The Necessity of Faith
Read: John 20:29b
Meditation: I have been to Alaska many times over the years to
visit our ministry sites. I have always enjoyed the beauty of Alaska, the
majesty of the
mountains and glaciers, the seas and wildlife. They have to be seen to be
fully appreciated. And that is why so many fully loaded cruise ships go
there every summer. Visiting Alaska for nature lovers is a kind of holy land
experience. It is a place that proclaims the glory of God's creative power
and genius.
The telling of the story of Christmas each year is a little like visiting
Alaska. There are wonders like the star that guided the Magi, the angelic
hosts singing heavenly praises, the little inn at Bethlehem, Joseph and
Mary; all wondrous scenes that seem so long ago and far away. You'd like to
go there one day and experience it for yourself. That is why many people do
go to the Holy Land and Bethlehem. But not most of us. So each year we
re-enact Christmas scenes in thousands of churches all across North America
to tell this ancient story so that people can see what it must have been
like. We need to do this because God has made us story people. We understand
a story much easier when it is portrayed before us. At the same time, we are
called to faith to believe in what we have not seen or touched. Proof of
Jesus existence the little manger, the swaddling clothes that the baby
Jesus was wrapped in, the furniture Jesus made as a carpenter, a piece of
the cross all have eluded us. But by God's grace working in us through
the Holy Spirit and the testimony of Scripture we can experience the
Christmas story though we have never been to the Holy Land. This faith too
is the work of God's miracle in our lives. A faith centered on God's Word
and inspired in us by the Holy Spirit working in our hearts connects us to
Bethlehem and the promise of Jesus' birth 2000 years ago. Through faith in
His birth, life, death and resurrection we experience true joy and peace.
Faith that comprehends God's love in Jesus saves us. "For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast."
Eph. 2:8,9.
Prayer: O gracious Father, during this season of Advent may we once
again
embrace the story of Your Son Jesus coming with joy and anticipation.
Thank You O God for Your graciousness in inspiring in us true faith in the
miracle of Your Son's life, death and resurrection. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Rev. Dr. Don Johnson
Executive Director
Grungy Corners
Read: Luke 2:10
John 8:12
Meditation: Light is good news. Light is good news even when it
reveals dark grungy corners that desperately need cleaning; even when it
spotlights the cancer requiring treatment; even when it exposes hidden
areas of our lives
that need confession and forgiveness.
When asked what the M/V CHRISTIAN does, I often answer, "We share
the Good News of Jesus' love in Southeast Alaska." I like to think
of the boat as a floating lamp chugging around the Islands shining the
light of Good News into the darkened corners of bays and burgs. I like
bringing Good News. I dislike bringing bad news. So I wonder, "Is
there any bad news I need to bring, or would I then be bringing darkness
rather than light?" I am reaching the conclusion that I am the
bearer of Good News. The news of Jesus' death and resurrection for the
forgiveness of our sins is Good News even if it brings conviction.
Because sometimes the result is rebirth into the family of God. That is
always "good news of great joy", like the birth of Jesus into
our world.
So the M/V CHRISTIAN happily bounces around SE Alaska aglow with Good
News, praying to reflect the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We
leave the bad news to politicians, editors, and fear mongers. Perhaps
I'm naive but it sure makes working for the Lord more fun
and keeps
people happy to see the blue church boat come bouncing into their lives.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for coming into our dark world,
lighting up our lives, and leading us into new life. In Your name, Amen.
Rev. Elvin Borg
Skipper, M/V CHRISTIAN
Wrangell, Alaska
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