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

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent, the 40-day period that is reminiscent of Christ’s 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. We are reminded of the temptation that our Lord endured during this time of solitude.

We can’t help but think of our own temptations. The times that we have given in to what Satan tempts us to do. The times that we fail. Ashes are mentioned throughout the Bible as what people put on when they were sorry for their sins.

“So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” ~ Daniel 9:3

Putting on ashes showed that a person was sorry for their sin. They showed a person’s repentance for their sin. As we put on ashes, we reflect that we are sorry for what we have done, and for what we have left undone. The times that we have not loved God with our whole heart.

When we put on ashes now, we put them on in the sign of the cross. A sign showing who took away our sins. A sign showing where our assurance is. A sign showing who we are in Christ and who Christ has made us to be. He took on our sin and carried it to the cross where He died. We march toward Good Friday with our eyes on the cross, where Christ gave His life for us, but we also look towards the empty tomb, where Christ was raised to new life for us. The ashes show our sinfulness, but also reflect how we were made new as well. Only through Christ’s death and resurrection.

In Jesus’ Name,

Vicar Andrew Wolfgram

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 for a relationship and trust is the way to keep that fellowship straight and true. Essential to a loving relationship with Christ is trust.

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.

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.

Mother Teresa said, “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.” God knows what we can properly take care of and how much He can trust us to use faithfully what we’ve been given.

In Scripture, trust enabled ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

• 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.

Possibly the most familiar Bible story is about Noah. 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. He gave sacrificially even when there were no needy people to give to or churches which needed support.

How can we measure our trust?

Certainly, our trust can be measured by our willingness to give. When we give faithfully and generously, our time, talent, and treasure, we demonstrate the same trust that Noah, Abraham, and David had.

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,

With the start of the New Year, many people set goals to work toward in the next year. Resolutions are made to be better in the next year than we have been in the past. These resolutions may be centered on our health, perhaps losing weight and getting into better shape. Sometimes these resolutions are centered on financial status; perhaps to pay off debt or work toward retirement.

These goals are usually accompanied by a plan of how to carry them out. Health plans typically include a food regimen and a weekly workout schedule to accomplish them. If you have the goal concerning a financial plan, it is usually paired with a budget that you keep to the letter.  Often these goals focus only on ourselves. While it is good to focus on bettering ourselves, are there other goals we can work to accomplish in the next year?

What are ways that we can love our neighbor as ourselves? What if we had the goal to share our faith with someone? We can share the love that Jesus has for us with one another. We can share what has been given to us with our neighbor. Maybe this means looking for opportunities to share the Word of God with a friend at work. Maybe this means saying, “God Bless you” to the greeter at the big box store. We can look for these opportunities to witness.

As with health and financial goals, it helps to have a plan. We have been provided with valuable tools for the task we have been given. God gives us His Word to equip us for witness in the world. Daily reading of God’s Word prepares us to witness.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

We can look for opportunities to always give witness to who Christ is and what He has done for us. As we celebrate His birth, His death on the cross and resurrection for us, we can have a plan to share the good news of what He did for us with others.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Peter 3:15-16 

In Christ’s Name,
Vicar Andrew Wolfgram

Dear Christian friends:

Peace.  Peace on Earth.

The hymn Silent Night speaks of Christ sleeping in heavenly peace.  Bing Crosby and David Bowie sing their popular duet Peace on Earth / The Little Drummer Boy.  The poem turned carol I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day speaks of peace.  Most Christmas cards in the mail focus on peace.  Simply put, especially at this time of year, peace is popular!

And let us not forget the angel who sang of peace to the shepherds.

What did they say? “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”  [Luke 2:14]

The peace in the New Testament is not international. There is no promise of harmony between nations. We learn in Romans 16:20 that the world will not know final rest from war until the God of peace crushes Satan.

The world in which we live, the nation in which we live, is anything but peaceful. Look around. It’s not simply the war against terrorism. Measure the increasing number of protests that are happening.  There is little peace in the lives of men and women everywhere.

The peace of Christmas is about peace with God.

Jesus Christ was born so that we can be reconciled through Him.  Jesus is Our Redeemer!

There can be no peace without God. His intervention is essential, for sin has so marred individuals and society that strife is our constant companion.

The peace of Christmas is not a mere absence of strife, but the active experience of a harmony with God that promotes total well-being regardless of circumstance.

This same peace is the Peace of Christ.  Forgiven we forgive.  At peace with God, we offer peace.  This is what is happening in the middle of our worship service before we commune together.  We have just been reminded of our peace with God through the invocation, confession and absolution, law and gospel of the sermon, and we come together at peace with one another at the communion rail.  We are at peace and we offer the peace of Christ to those in our sanctuary and all we encounter throughout the week.  Let us always be sharing the peace of Christ!

I wish each and every one of you peace and joy this Christmas – the peace that only comes from following Jesus, the peace that is beyond all human understanding.

Merry Christmas!  Pastor Hartwig

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

All Saints Day is upon us yet again. It is a time when we remember those that have passed away in the faith. Feelings for and memories of our loved ones, flood our thoughts again. We remember those that have gone before us to see Jesus face to face this past year.

We look back even further than the year. Many loved ones now dwell in the presence of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When celebrating the Service of the Sacrament, Pastor prays “It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times…Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying.”

The company that is referred to are those Saints that have departed from this earth. We join in their everlasting song of praise to God. We sing with them:

“Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth adored; heav’n and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He, blessed is He, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.”

When we approach the Table of the Lord for Communion, the communion railing doesn’t end but extends to heaven. Our loved ones, who have been brought home by Christ, are in heaven with Christ. At the communion table, we are as close as we can be to our loved ones as we dwell on this side of eternity; we join hands with those in heaven, those in eternity.

And so, as we look back on the past year, we remember all the saints that have gone before to see their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We rejoice that as Christ lives, they too will be raised on the last day.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when e appears we shall be like him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure. ~1 John 3:1-3

In Christ’s Name,
Vicar Wolfgram

Grace, mercy, and peace –

As I write this letter, I am sitting in Luther Hall on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  This is the annual meeting of Vicarage Supervisors.

Why am I here?

• It is not required, but it is beneficial.
• Beneficial for me as the supervisor, as the mentor.
• Beneficial for our congregation as we demonstrate a commitment to the Vicarage program.
• Beneficial for our Vicar as he will receive a Vicarage experience that is ever being refined and improved.

     As a result, Vicarage at Our Redeemer will be “immeasurably more.”

As Christians, we have the opportunity to attend Divine Services, Bible studies, small groups, church events, private reading of scripture, and personal prayer.  Through all of these we grow in our faith, grow in our understanding, and grow in our trust of our Lord.  Through all of these we grow in our sanctified life.  Through all of these we grow “immeasurably more.”

As we begin the capital campaign this fall we need to realize first and foremost that we are not doing a fundraiser.  We sell peaches as a fundraiser for youth ministry.  They count on this.  We sell pancakes as a fundraiser for the Crisis Center of Johnson County.  They count on this.  But what we do this fall is not a fundraiser: it is a capital campaign.  More than that, it is an opportunity to learn and grow in our faith, understanding, and trust in God.  It is an opportunity to stretch our stewardship.  We are not going to have equal giving, but we can have equal sacrifice.  This equal sacrifice will push us to grow “immeasurably more.”

More than Vicarage, our sanctified life, and our capital campaign, we see the work Jesus has done.  Through His Good Friday death and His Easter Sunday resurrection, He has given us immeasurably more than we can imagine.  Seriously, can you imagine your sins are forgiven?  Can you imagine you have salvation and life everlasting?  Well you don’t need to imagine for it is true; it is real.  Through the work of Christ, you have been given, you already possess, immeasurably more.

God be with you,

Pastor Hartwig

Greetings …

from the land of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

from the land flowing with milk and honey,

from the land of Joshua, Caleb, the Judges, and Samuel,

from the land of the United Kingdom, Saul, David, and Solomon,

from the land of the Divided Kingdom, Israel to the north, Judah to the south,

from the land exiled by the Assyrians and the Babylonians,

from the land rebuilt by Zerubbabel and Nehemiah,

from the land where John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:21), and

from the land where Jesus said, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19).

Greetings from Israel!

In the last ten days we have visited 25 national parks and many other locations.

We started in Jerusalem,

traveled East to the Jericho Overlook, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and Masada,

traveled South to the Arad, Beersheba, and wondered in the Wilderness of Tsin,

traveled West to the Shephelah and the Ailajon, Sorek, Eluh, Guvrin, and Lachish Valleys,

traveled North to Mount Carmel, Nazareth, Capernaum, Sea of Galilee,

all the way to Dan, Caesarea Philippi, and Mount Herman.

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

As I write this letter we are following the Jordan River down to Jericho and over to Jerusalem.  The final days of this class will be spent in Jerusalem as we tour sites, visit museums, and finish lectures.

This fall in Bible Study I will unpack some of these locations.  We will explore the geography of this Biblical land, and we will see through the scriptures the impact geography has upon our understanding of scripture.

Please plan to join me Sunday mornings!

Until then, may God’s holy angels continue to watch over you and me.

I cannot simply express the impact that touring this land has had upon me, and I am grateful to the Seminary, our congregation, my family, and those who financial contributed to make this trip possible.  I pray the knowledge and experiences I have gained will positively impact my teaching and preaching.

God Bless, Pastor Hartwig

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When I arrived at Our Redeemer Lutheran, there were “Colorado Peaches” signs outside the church. Those signs later were removed and the peach truck arrived.

Those signs for “Colorado Peaches” have now returned to the property.

Wow! I can’t believe that I have served as vicar for a year! Where has the time gone? Yes, the seasons have changed from summer, to fall, to winter, to spring, and now back to summer. But, where has the time gone?

That is a sign of a great vicarage!

It feels like only yesterday that I was the new guy, who did not know what to expect when I was installed as vicar those three times on August 14 and 15, with the icing on the cake at Mercer Park.

I am truly blessed to have been a part of this wonderful church.

This congregation is truly following Our Lord Jesus Christ’s words: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).

I have been a part of this Great Commission with the City High Homecoming Parade, Christ Cares Sunday, Independence Day Parade, Johnson County Fair and Our Redeemer Preschool.

It has been a blessing to be mentored by Pastor Hartwig. He has certainly influenced my life as a teacher and friend. Also, the staff of Our Redeemer is a class act. God is certainly working within each and every one of them.

This congregation has become like family to Melissa and I. Our Redeemer is a truly welcoming congregation.

I will miss the Elders, Board of Directors, Outreach, Young Adults, Stephen Ministry, hand bells and countless other meetings.

I have learned and grown so much this year. I cannot believe how much I have learned in just teaching Bible studies throughout the year. And yet, there is still so much to be learned. We will never know everything about the Triune God, but we should never stop searching through His Word.

Iowa City and the state of Iowa have certainly grown on me. I used to think walking to the University of Iowa was a long way, but now it’s become my Friday routine. I will forever hold a place in my heart for the Iowa Hawkeyes. But, now I must return for my final year of classes at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and the congregation will be blessed again to have a new vicar, Andrew Wolfgram.

This is not a goodbye, this letter is a see you later.

In Christ,

Vicar Peter Adelsen