Dear brothers and sisters in Christ —

On December 4, 1965, The Byrds reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with song “Turn, Turn, Turn.” The lyrics – except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines – consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes.

3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

It is the Word of God that stands behind the message of this song, and as I have had in my personal life a plethora of joys and sorrows in the last year, it is the Word of God that stands behind my thoughts.

• • When I am hurt and I want to hurt back, I repeat, “‘Vengeance is mine,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)
  • When I am sad and grieving the death of my mother and of Pastor Zimmermann, I hear, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
  • When my first grandchild was born, I thought, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)
  • When I baptized my granddaughter, I invoked His name, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
  • When my children were married, I said, “the two will become one flesh” (Matthew 19:5)
  • When the arduous journey to complete my doctorate came to an end, I knew, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

In joys and sorrows, in weeping and laughing, in living and dying, in every season, let the Word of God inform your thoughts!

Blessings,
Pastor Hartwig

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ —

It is truly a blessing that we get to come together in worship to receive the wonderful gifts of God. We

receive forgiveness, salvation, and life everlasting through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Recently here at Our Redeemer we had a reading in church on “doubting” Thomas. It connected wonderfully with our theme for this year “Lord I believe, Help My Unbelief” and I wanted to take this chance to encourage you once more. Doubt truly does have a way of sneaking into our lives when we’re vulnerable and feeling lost. Just look at Thomas. Jesus, his trusted teacher and messiah, had just been killed on the cross. Thomas as well as the rest of the disciples were devastated at this. So when Thomas makes his demand to see Jesus, when he doubts the disciples, to us it may make sense. At least at first.

That’s the thing about doubt. It feels like it makes sense, like its natural to doubt. But we know as Christians that it is not natural. It is sinful. And in our sinful nature it becomes normal to doubt. Thanks be to God that we are not left in our doubt. Like Thomas we can proclaim “My Lord and My God!” As John wrote at the end of his book, “These things are written that you may believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” We have a glorious, wonderful hope in the resurrection of Christ and we hear about that hope every Sunday in church. In this Easter season we proclaim that Christ has indeed risen! We can bring all of our doubts and sin to the foot of the cross. Sin, death, and the devil did not get the final word. Jesus our Lord said it best when He stated on the cross, “It is finished”. No matter what life may have in store for us we have a loving God who gave His one and only Son so that we may believe and have eternal life! May we keep this truth in our hearts and in our prayers.

Blessings in Christ, Vicar Garrett

Dear Christian friends –

I want to eat at Subway.  No, Wendy’s.
I want to go grocery shopping.  No, watch a movie.
I want to take a nap.  No, go for a walk.
I want to do this.  No, I want to do that.

Daily, we all change our minds.
But God doesn’t.
God does not change His mind about His promises to us.

“For I the Lord do not change,”
spoke our Lord through the prophet Malachi in chapter 3, verse 6.

This statement is confirmed by Paul who wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 1:19-22:
“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.  For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.  And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

God does not change His mind about His promises to us.

All that God has promised us has been or will be fulfilled through His only Son Who has taken our sins in His body on the cross and who has risen from the dead, guaranteeing that we, too, will rise from the dead and will live forever with Him in Heaven.

We respond with the great “Amen!” “Yes! Yes! Yes! It shall be so!”

In Christ alone, God fulfilled all His Old Testament promises of redemption.
In Christ, we stand unwavering in faith.
In Christ, we are His own.
In Christ, we look forward in hope and joyful anticipation to seeing our Savior face to face!

We live as redeemed people of the victorious Lamb of God. So, when we walk through the valley of the
shadow of death we say with confidence, “Lord, I believe. Help, my unbelief.”

Easter is coming, Pastor Hartwig

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ —

What a glorious thing it is that we get the opportunity to come together in worship with one another as we go into this next Church season. This month of March is marked by Lent. Now during this church season, many of us in the Christian church will give up something for the season of Lent. This is a good thing to do, but we must be sure we’re doing it for the right reasons. Giving up something for Lent is not the same as say, making a New Year’s resolution, as you may have a couple of months ago. The goal of giving up something pleasurable in Lent is to turn our attention to Christ. Lent is marked by the fact that we recognize as we should every day in our Christian Life, but especially now, that we are poor miserable sinful beings. That we fail in thought word and deed. It is a season marked with repentance. We are reminded of our Lord beaten and broken on the cross. We fully recognize our need for a savior. So, we put an emphasis at this time on a repentant heart. As stated in the book of Acts,

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)

This is the promise we have in Jesus as we look toward the resurrection with repentant hearts. There will be a day when he returns to judge the world and usher in a new heaven and new earth. As we worship here at Our Redeemer let us be sure to look to Christ in all times and in all places. For Christ is the life of the church and he is the one who moves our hearts toward repentance. May we pray for each other and repent with one another diligently as we focus on this aspect of Christian living.

Blessings in Christ,
Vicar Garrett

Dear Christian friends:

Here comes February and St. Valentine’s Day and the world’s focus on love.

It can be said that love is the foundation. It is the foundation for a relationship and trust is the way to keep that relationship straight and true. To love Christ is to trust Christ, but trust is a two-way street. Can God trust us and do we trust in Him? The depth of our faith and commitment will answer both questions. When we experience God, our trust grows. God wants us to trust in Him, and He wants to trust us. Trust does powerful things.

Our goal as believers is to have a relationship of mutual trust. Through faith, we acknowledge that God is trustworthy. God entrusts us with time, talents, and money, and He wants us to be trustworthy in the use of our gifts.

Trust enabled ordinary people to do extraordinary things in Scripture.

• Because Abraham trusted God more than his own feelings, he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.
• David’s trust in God gave him the courage to stand up to Goliath.
• The Widow of Zarapeth was willing to give up the last of her flour to God’s prophet Elijah.
• And the Widow gave her mite, her last two coins.

Trust does powerful things. Noah trusted the Lord with his life. When God told Noah to build an ark, he built one even when there was no sign of rain, in fact, before rain had ever fallen from the skies! After the flood, Noah built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed many animals. Noah trusted the Lord enough to sacrifice animals which he would need for his future.

Trust does powerful things. As our trust grows in the Lord, His trust in us will grow and we will become effective servants for the Lord.

In Christ, Pastor Hartwig

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ —

Jesus is born! Let us rejoice! It is truly a blessing for us to be able to come together and worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with one another.  We’re coming to the end of our Christmas and New Year celebrations and looking ahead to a new year. Whether 2022 was one of your best years ever or one of the hardest years you’ve had to face so far, the New Year comes with a sense of new beginnings. One where we can look back at the previous year and see where we succeeded and where we failed. Then we look forward to the next year which will come with its own challenges and joys. As the years change one thing we can hold on to as God’s children is that he is unchanging.  Human kingdoms may come and go but the kingdom of Jesus is forever. As Daniel saw in his vision;

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7: 13-14)

Our savior was born in a manger in Bethlehem. The savior who is truly Lord of lords, King of kings, and the light of lights brings hope to his creation; no matter how good or bad last year was; no matter how much sorrow or joy you faced. The solemn promise of our Savior Jesus Christ is with you. You are guaranteed the forgiveness of sins, salvation, and life everlasting. Furthermore, just as the Lord your God came in the form of a baby in Bethlehem, He will come again in glory to make all things new. We, as Christians, get to hold on to this wonderful hope no matter what we’re facing. So, as we head into a new year with our resolutions, our hopes, and our prayers, let us continue to pray for the strengthening of our faith and for loving one another. Let us continue to sing praises to our God no matter what sin and this world put in our path.

Blessings in Christ,
Vicar Garrett

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Advent is a season of preparation, and the Scriptures emphasize our need to prepare for the Lord’s coming. “Be watchful! Be Alert!”  You do not know when the time will come (Mark 13:33).

Today we are consoled, as were the people of Israel during a time of great duress by the prophet Isaiah. “Comfort, comfort, my people.” (Isaiah 40:1). Further, St. Peter reminds us that the Lord does not delay in keeping His promises, and someday, be it a year, a millennium, or a “million” years, He will come. So be ready!

How, then, do we make ourselves ready for Him?

The herald of the Lord, John the Baptist, calls us, beyond the centuries, to repent. We must seek forgiveness from the Lord and, if need be, from one another. Our merciful Savior has assured us how we can be forgiven – Confession and Absolution.

What, after all, is more important? Decking the halls with boughs of holly or offering the Lord a purified soul cleansed by absolution? Be in the Divine Service to hear the absolution, and if you are troubled by a particular sin, meet with me for private Confession and Absolution.

There are so many meaningful plans and traditions of this season. And many of them are rooted in the valid message of this season. I pray that as you prepare your hearts and minds for Christmas, you hear the Advent message. Jesus is coming. Again!

“Be watchful! Be Alert!”

Happy Advent!
Pastor Hartwig

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ —

It is truly a blessing that we get to come together in worship to receive the wonderful gifts of God. We receive forgiveness, salvation, and life everlasting through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. As we move into November the leaves finish turning color and we move into the season of thanksgiving. As God’s beloved children we truly have so much to be thankful for during this time. As the Psalmist writes;

¹ Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
² Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
³ and gathered in from the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north
and from the south. (Psalm 107: 1-3)

As redeemed children of God, we remember in this season that all we give thanks for is through Him who has saved us from our sins.  All our blessings are through Him and what wonderful news this is.

Something more that is coming up here at Our Redeemer is the anniversary of the Reformation. We give thanks for that day when Martin Luther brought to attention the grievances of the Church in his fervor for the Gospel. It is because of his work that we were brought together at Our Redeemer and that our church is a place where we hear the Gospel loud and true. It is important to remember that all of our thanks for the blessings and for the reformation should ultimately point us to Jesus. May we be thankful together as we move through the coming month.

Blessings in Christ,
Vicar Garrett

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ —

What a blessing it is that we can gather together each week for worship, for the Divine Service, where God comes to us, to offer to us His precious gifts of grace and mercy and peace. During the Divine Service, either before or after the offering and offertory, we join together for prayer, specifically the Prayer of the Church. Notice this is called the prayer not the prayers. This is because during this time of worship we offer one prayer as one body of Christ. One prayer with several petitions. To some, this can seem like it is just a long time of the pastor talking, but there is a specific reason for why we pray for everything and everyone that we pray for in this prayer.

God commands in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” And this is indeed what we do in the Prayer of the Church. We offer prayers for all of these people.

As you listen to these prayers, pay attention to what we are praying. We pray on behalf of our congregation and the church at large. We pray for pastors and that God would raise up new pastors. We pray for the government (regardless of whether or not we like those who are in office). We pray on behalf of the sick and injured. We give thanks for those who have departed in the faith and pray for peace to their families. All of these prayers are not just the pastor talking, but indeed the pastor offering up all of your prayers collectively together to God.

And this leads to your response to the prayers. There are five general forms of liturgical prayers that are used in the Divine Service.

The first, which was used in The Lutheran Hymnal, was one continuous prayer that the pastor prays and to which the congregation adds their Amen at the end.

The second, known as the Responsive form, has the pastor offering up to God a petition of the prayer, ending it with “Lord in your mercy” to which the congregation responds, “Hear our prayer”. This is the format that his been used the most over the last fourteen years that I have been here at Our Redeemer.

The third, known as the Ektene (pronounce ek-teen) format, has the pastor offering saying what we will be praying (“That the Lord would grant healing”, “For all those who have departed”, etc.) ending with “Let us pray to the Lord” and the true prayer part is the congregations responds “Lord, Have Mercy.” This is the format we have chosen to use for this academic year as we focus on our theme of “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

The fourth, which we rarely use, is the Bidding Prayer, which combines the Ektene and the Responsive form. In this format, an assistant offers up a bid in the Ektene format “That…”, to which the pastor then puts in the full petition, and then the congregation responds with “Hear our prayer.”

The fifth, which we use primarily on Ash Wednesday, is the Litany. Litanies are prayers to our Lord consisting of a series of petitions and responses. The word “litany” itself comes from the Greek word “lite,” as the responsive prayer consists of short pithy phrases. In public worship, one person recites the first part of the prayer, which is followed by a response from the congregation (such as “pray for us,” “have mercy,” or “We implore You to hear us, good Lord”).

So as you listen to Prayer of the Church, I encourage to not only listen for the key words that prompts your response but listen to the entire prayer. Afterall, it is your prayer that is being prayed.

Blessings,
Pastor Hartwig

On Day 4 of the LCMS Youth Gathering we visited the “Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum” and learned about the Gulf Coast oil industry.

On Day 87 of the Gulf oil spill, tar balls, tar mats and a light sheen continue to be reported washing ashore on once pristine beaches. Approximately 572 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline was oiled: 69 miles in Florida, 328 miles in Louisiana, 108 miles in Mississippi, and 67 miles in Alabama. About 1.82 million gallons of total dispersant were applied: 1.07 million on the surface and 749,000 subsea. More than 31.8 million gallons of an oil-water mix were recovered.

It was arguably the worst oil catastrophe in modern history, and on day 87 we heard the news that the spill had been plugged. The spill stems from a sea floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. Tactic after tactic failed making BP and the Gulf oil spill the target of comedians and satirists.

As I understand it, one of the difficulties was the depth of the sea floor. For a poor, miserable oil spill, this was a bad thing. A very bad thing for our environment, our economy, and our energy future! For us poor, miserable sinners, however, the incredible depth of the sea floor is a good thing, a very good thing.

The prophet Micah says:
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of
his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all
our sins into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-19 ESV

As forgiven children of God, our sins are washed away, even drowned to the depths of the sea.

Today, the world has all but forget about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, relinquishing the whole event to a trivia question, but God has already forgotten – forgotten all of your sins and mine.  They’re on the bottom of the ocean floor.

Thanks be to God!  Pastor Hartwig