Dear brothers and sisters in Christ–

Things are not always what they seem…

Most of the people at the Chicago Children’s Hospital did not know her name.  They just knew her as the sweet, elderly lady in the vivid red suit who wanted to make sure that every sick child had a teddy bear to hug and caress.

She kept bringing the stuffed animals, purchased with her own money, to give the sick children.  That is why she was simply called “The Teddy Bear Lady.”

Her name was Gladys Holm, a retired secretary for an insurance company, who lived alone in a tiny apartment on a salary of $15,000 per year.  She lived modestly and frugally, and loved to save and invest – for the purpose of giving and helping people, especially children.

When she died at age 86, her will simply directed that the bulk of her estate be given to the Children’s Memorial Hospital in the amount of $18 million!  No one had the slightest idea that the tall, happy woman delivering teddy bears to ailing children had such wealth.

As they began to piece together more of her life’s story, they discovered something else.  They learned that the gifts of teddy bears were really a ruse.  She gave away teddy bears to learn more about the financial resources of the families of the children.  When she learned that the parents did not have hospitalization or enough to cover medical expenses, she very quietly had taken care of their bills.

Can you visualize that?  Can you imagine? The teddy bears were only a ruse.  Her real hunger was to find out more about needy people.  It was love focused on others.  This lady saved most of her income from most of her life to help others.

The same can be said about Jesus and the cross.  You can say His death was a ruse.  His death was not the end, but it was the beginning.  Satan thought he won, thought he was victorious, but it was Christ who was victorious over death, for three days later, Jesus Christ rose.  He rose!

At first glance, the reality of the cross was not seen.

The same is true for the “Teddy Bear Lady.”  She was not what she seemed.

What is not what it seems in your life?

Do you have a hidden sin you need to overcome?

Do you have a hidden grudge that needs to be forgiven?

Do you, in terms of the 8^th commandment, put the best construction on things?

May God lead and guide you as you meditate upon these thoughts, and may His will be done.

Lenten blessing,  Pastor Hartwig

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The new month is upon us and a new month of activities and challenges approach. Let us pray, “Thy will be done.” As we pray and reflect on those words, we remember that Jesus gave us those words to help us boldly and confidently approach our heavenly father. As we look to God and pray the Lord’s prayer time after time, we need to remember that each time we are asking “the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Is 40:28) :

To remember us in His will.

To remember us in His divine providence and protection.

To remind us that we need His healing and health.

To remind us that without His Son we would be lonely and lost.

To remind us that His will is that we have the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

“Not as I will, but as You will,” Jesus prayed to His Father the night before He went to the cross for our salvation. And that is our prayer as well this Lent as we seek to do God’s will in our lives, as we draw near to the observance of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection during Holy Week.

As we enter the Lenten season this February remember, “Thy will be done.” Remember, because Christ has remembered you. He has remembered you and gives His steadfast love to you in His Word and Sacraments. “The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love” (Ps 147:11). Our hope and trust are in God’s will. Our hope and trust is in Jesus.

“Not as I will, but as you will.” A new month is upon us and new challenges are coming. The Narthex renovations continue moving forward bringing with them the joys and challenges of a live-in renovation. Plus, many activities are scheduled for February including Basics of the Faith, Trivia Challenge, Ash Wednesday, and Theology 101. I am sure many challenges are coming in your own personal life as well—challenges with family and friends, challenges with time and schedules, challenges with keeping up with life. So, pray, “Thy will be done” and trust in the God who renews your strength. Trust and wait on the God who lifts you up to soar on the wings of eagles.

Your Servant in Christ,

Vicar Scheele

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Time never seems to slow down, especially as we enter the beginning of a new church year and the end of the calendar year. Christmas decorations are going up, cookies are being baked, presents are being bought. Christmas cards and letters are being planned out (or sent out). More shopping is taking place. Family plans are being made. In fact, so many preparations are taking place that we often lose track of all the different activities and events. A brief glance at your church calendar confirms more of the same. We have multiple events going on every week and many weekends that are double booked. Ultimately, December is a time of preparation, a time to prepare our hearts and minds for the arrival of Immanuel, God with us.

As we enter the Advent season, we are reminded to look at how God is the great reversal and how He brings us from death back to life. However, God, as the great mover, also moves us forward into paradise. Where, finally, Christ our Lord will bring us home to Eden.

In our December preparations, we will enter into reverse, to focus on what God has done for us, how He has used the history of His people and the history of Our Redeemer to bring us to where we are today. We are in the midst of a year of “Thy will be done,” a year where we can bask in the glory of God’s forgiveness, life, and salvation in our midst.

Yet we will also focus forward on Christ’s second coming. We work diligently to spread the Kingdom of God. We work through our Christian witness to the community in our daily lives and in our family. We look forward because although the Kingdom of God is among us, it is not yet completely revealed, and the final and glorious Day of the Lord is still a promised hope.

That future hope is where we will be called home, where we get to behold our Savior with our resurrected bodies in a new heaven and earth, where God will be our shepherd and we will be led and fed by Him. Jesus will be a prince among us, because He is Immanuel, God with us.

Time never slows down, especially as we wait on the Lord. He is coming and He is coming soon.

Your Servant in Christ,

Vicar Scheele

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

What does Thanksgiving mean to you?

A little girl might say, “It means a big turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and green bean casserole.  And you can’t forget pumpkin pie.”  I think we all agree with her.  Who does not welcome and enjoy a good dinner?  I think the attendance at the Prime Time Dinner proves this.

A young man might say, “Thanksgiving means football.”  I guess he’s right too.  Football in most homes is part of the day’s celebration – or the day after.  “Go Hawks!  Beat the Cornhuskers!”

To others Thanksgiving means an extra day off, it means a day to travel home, it means a day to spend with family.  Still yet, for others, Thanksgiving means harvest – grain bins full, combines retired for the year, and apple baskets full.

As I write this letter, there is an apple sitting on my desk.  It is left over from this weekend’s Basics of the Faith class (20-some people attend).  If you were here, I would ask, “Isn’t this apple beautiful?”  What color!  A swirl of delicious red and granny-smith green wash the apple.  Who mixed the paints, who handled the brush to give such color to this apple?  God!

God, in His infinite love and wisdom, has provided through the unfailing laws of nature for the growth, sweetness, coloring, and beautifying of all the products of the fields.  This apple is but one of many harvests.

For a meal nutritious and a mean battle on the gridiron, for time at our home or a welcoming home, for a yearly full harvest and daily bread given, we have so much to praise God.

Praise then, is the great meaning of Thanksgiving.  God, our heavenly Father, sends us every good gift.  From His bountiful hand come our daily mercies.  We should praise Him every day.

At our Thanksgiving table we break the bread that we receive from the altar of God, from the Thanksgiving Eve service, and we go around the table to share our thanksgiving and praise for God.  Each year, I am thankful for my wife, my children, my family and the opportunity to serve as pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Iowa City, Iowa.

This past weekend you showed your thankfulness for me.  I received so many nice cards, letters, notes and gifts.  Thank you for them.  They were encouraging and edifying.  That is what Thanksgiving means – to give thanks and praise to God.

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6)

Rev. Brent Hartwig

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

October is upon us and our theme of “Thy Will be Done” is ringing in our ears. We look forward to another month of His will for our church as we move forward with a busy schedule, starting with LWML Sunday and finishing with the 500^th Anniversary of the Reformation.

As Martin Luther lived the Reformation, “Thy Will be Done” was a phrase that echoed in his ears. He fervently prayed those words multiple times every day in the Lord’s Prayer. Luther understood that God’s will is done even without our prayer, but Luther also understood that we need to pray for His will to be done among us also. Luther rightfully believed that prayer was one of the means God gave us to fulfill His will. Therefore, we must pray to God to give us the strength and the power for God’s will to be done among us also.

Our theme verse for this year also echoes those same ideas. Hebrews 13:20-21 says, “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

In those verses, notice the lead-up and the conclusion to “Thy will be done.” In the lead-up, the focus is not on our own works, mental preparation, meditation, or spirituality. Instead, the focus is about what God is doing and has done to “equip you with everything good” so that “you may do His will.”

After pointing out God’s works, the writer of Hebrews doesn’t just leave us hanging. Instead, he concludes by clarifying how God’s will is done among us also. We aren’t on our own, instead we “do His will… through Jesus Christ.” In other words, thanks to Jesus, by the power of Jesus, and through Jesus, we do God’s will.

Jesus lives a life that is the perfect submission and fulfillment of God’s will. God’s will is for you to have life and salvation. Jesus gives you the power to do “that which is pleasing in His sight.” Jesus is the center of God’s will. Jesus is the center of “Thy Will be Done.” And just as Luther pointed out 500 years ago, it is still all about Jesus.

Let us then always pray to Jesus, so that God’s will is done among us also.

Your Servant in Christ,

Vicar Scheele

Dear Christian Friends:

Thanks to the Byrds, the words of Ecclesiastes 3 are familiar to much of the world:

“For everything there is a season…” Turn, turn, turn…

Like it or not, the summer season is over.  Fall has fallen upon us.  It is September!

Soon we will hear the snap of the football, the excitement of the crowds at the gridiron.

Soon we will be harvesting apples, carving pumpkins, running corn mazes.

Soon we will be admiring the rich and varied colors of the leaves

— vivid reds and rusts, bold yellow and golden leaves.

Some sigh with regret that the relaxing, fun-filled, less-structured days are over.

Others, refreshed and invigorated, have eagerly plunged into the routines of fall again,

excited about new challenges and enthusiastic about projects and activities that lie ahead.

Even though the ebb and flow of our lives change with the variation of the seasons, some things remain constant.

One of those constants is, of course, God’s presence with us: “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” promises the Father. “So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Another is God’s complete control over the seasons. We may become impatient, but God’s timing and His response are always right.

Another constant is the privilege to be about our Father’s business. As long as we remain on earth, God has a purpose for us. The Apostle Paul exhorts us, “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).

In every season, throughout the history of the Church, there have been scoffers and those who “will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3). We leave them to God; we are called simply to be “ready in season and out of season.”

We do this directly and indirectly. We use the gifts God has given us to witness to His saving grace as we go about our daily lives. “In season and out of season” we joyfully proclaim His gift of salvation to all who will hear.  May fall be a season of proclamation for you!

In the love of Christ, Pastor Hartwig

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As I walk through the Hy-Vee down the street and many other stores around town, I see that school supplies are beginning to hit the shelves. Last year when we arrived in Iowa City, school was just starting and we saw the hustle and bustle throughout the streets. Driving downtown, we saw the thousands of students walking to and from class as they engaged in their own learning.

This year, as your Vicar, I have learned many things—from the writing and preaching of a sermon to Bible study preparation, from leading those Bible studies to conducting nursing home services. You have taught me what it means to lead God’s people. In the conversations with you before and after church, in the office, or even running into you at the store, you have taught me what it means to care for and listen to God’s people.

Many things were learned throughout the past year, not limited to the place to park and not park for a Hawkeye football game or how to collect, label and distribute water bottles in the 4^th of July Parade. I have seen Christ Caring through you, His people, as you went out on Christ Cares Sunday to volunteer and care for those in our community.

I have become familiar with the city of Iowa City. My feet have trod the many paths and running trails in the neighborhood, both on my own for a brisk morning run and for a leisurely walk with Cassie and Theo at the end of the day.

In addition to the many things I have learned this year, I have also seen the many parts that make up Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. You all have your unique gifts and abilities that God has given to you. As you gather together here at Our Redeemer, you gather as parts of the Body of Christ.

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27

You gather at this place of worship to receive the forgiveness of sins, receive God’s good gifts, and offer praise to God for what He has done for you. As you gather, you build one another up as brothers and sisters in Christ, all members of the same body.

We recite at the end of each service, “Here at Our Redeemer, we are about….equipping disciples, to make disciples, for Jesus.” As many parts of the body of Christ, you go forth to make disciples for Jesus. Thank you for sharing the year with me where I could be about equipping disciples, to make disciples for Jesus. I look forward to taking the experience of this past year and building on it in the next year of classes at the Seminary, and the many years after wherever the Lord sends me to serve a congregation.

Thank you for the many opportunities to get to know you and share the love of Christ with you. Cassie and I appreciated the warm welcome we received when arriving at Our Redeemer and we look forward to that same hospitality to be shared in fostering Vicar Scheele’s family in their year here.

In Christ,

Vicar Andrew Wolfgram

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ –

Just as Jesus came not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28), 
     we are called to serve Jesus by serving others.

Christ is our example of servanthood.
     He is our reason for serving.
     He is the One who calls us to serve, equips us to do His will.
     He is the One who forgives our failures to live as servants should.

Our service, when done out of a sense of duty, is a burden.  However, as redeemed children of God, we joyfully serve out of gratitude.  We serve, not as the slave who serves out of fear of punishment, but out of love for our Savior and others.
Service like any other spiritual practice must be practiced!  Sanctification is active righteousness, meaning we must do something.  Servanthood must be practiced.

Most definitely, we practice this in our daily lives as we serve our family and friends.
Most definitely, we practice this in our careers
     as we serve our employer, customers, and co-workers.
Most definitely, we practice this when we as a community serve this community
      at our annual Christ Cares Community Service Sunday.

If you haven’t made plans, plan to join us the first Sunday of June!

Hebrews 10:24 reads, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”  As we do so, we will experience the joy of living lives of service.

In the love of Christ,

Pastor Hartwig

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

The women had seen the empty tomb and so had some of the disciples.  They believed Jesus had risen from the dead. This news spread throughout Jerusalem, the Lord had risen.

But not everyone believed. The evening of Easter, two men were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. A stranger joined them on their walk. It was Jesus in disguise as Scripture says, “But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.” (Lk 24:16)

They were sad and downtrodden. They shared with the stranger all that had happened—about Jesus being crucified. They told the stranger about what they heard from the women at the tomb and the disciples. They didn’t believe that Jesus was raised until Jesus revealed it to them that He was in fact Jesus.

“When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.” (Lk 24:31)

There are many sad people in the world today—people that don’t know Christ.—people that don’t know what Christ did for them on the cross or about His glorious resurrection. They don’t have the joy that we have knowing what Christ did to overcome sin, death, and the power of the devil and give to us forgiveness of sins, salvation, and life everlasting.

Here at Our Redeemer, we are about equipping disciples, to make disciples, for Jesus. As disciples of Jesus, we joyfully proclaim Christ’s victory, by the power of the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent to guide us.

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth.”   ~ Job 19:25

In Our Risen Savior Jesus’ Name,

Vicar Andrew Wolfgram

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ –

This past Wednesday was a race.  You know the kind of day.  My calendar was booked solid; one meeting after another and that doesn’t account for the work that needed done.

Confirmation is just a few weeks away and I had to check and double check the progression of the 8^th graders.  Did they complete their essay?  Did they pass all three exams with 70% or higher? Did they complete the quizzes with 90% or higher? Did they finish enough sermon summaries? Did they earn enough confirmation points?  Is their banner completed?

We had mid-week Bible study, Lunch Bunch, and the afternoon Lenten Service.  Vicar was off to two nursing homes to lead worship services, and I was off to the grocery store.  Yes, the grocery store.

I needed to purchase supplies and food for the annual 8^th grade Seder Meal.  Each year, as the 8^th graders study the Sacrament of the Altar, there is one evening set aside for the Seder Meal.  With Communion ware across the table and the Altar Candles lit upon the table we have our meal.  It’s the meal in which our Lord institutes the Lord’s Supper, where he broke the bread and where he gave his blood to drink.  On this evening the students learn and experience the connections between the Passover meal and Holy Communion.  They also get to try unconsecrated Eucharist Bread and Communion Wine.  Soon they will have it consecrated, where it is the true body and blood of Christ.

The Passover meal on the night before Jesus was crucified was a bittersweet event.  The communion between Jesus and his disciples was always life-giving to them, but our Lord must have had a heavy heart as he shared with them his body and blood and knelt to wash their feet.  The race he had been running was soon to be over, but the most arduous part still lay ahead.

Following the meal, Jesus took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane where he poured out his heart to his Father.  “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.  Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done,” he prayed, “and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:42, 44).  The anguish Jesus experienced is vividly described by the Gospel writer.  But Jesus never wavered.  Resolutely, he ran the race and, when it was over, he proclaimed it over: “It is finished!” he cried.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  He didn’t talk about winning the race – Jesus has already done that for us.  He wrote about finishing the race.  Ever believer is involved in this race, and each of us by finishing gets the prize.

So I will keep running, and may each of us be faithful in the race that God has given us to run!

Lenten Blessings, Pastor Hartwig