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HOPE LUTHERAN: A STORY OF HOPE & PROMISE

December 2003

Dear Mission Partners in the ALC ...

Hey and Good morning! A hearty Christmas wish for abundant blessings on you and your congregations. The kindness of your gifts throughout this past year to Hope Lutheran in Platteville has been so wonderful that I hardly know where to begin with thanks and praise.

Hope Lutheran continues to worship together. We are meeting in an elder care facility just outside of town that is known as The Lyghthouse. The Lyghthouse is owned and operated by a lovely woman named Roxanne Lyght. She has been quite generous with us, allowing us to meet on Sundays and to have a Bible study on Thursdays and all for the exorbitant fee of $0.00! The residents share worship with us which has allowed us to count them proudly into our membership.

Hope celebrated its first birthday on June 9, 2003. We are proud to announce that, as I know some fellowships that began at the same time have had to fold, in part I’m sure due to financial reasons. And so it is that we thank you once again for helping us stay afloat ... to grow spiritually and to continue to share the gospel in various and sundry ways.

Hey...here is our award winning little girl! Her name is Valerie, and she was the only girl in her troop to work for and earn the Girl Scouts God and Family Award. We are so proud of her.

Enclosed is a picture of a young girl in our congregation. Valerie is a ten year old special ed student who was adopted by one of our member families. When I came to Hope Lutheran, Valerie’s communication skills were negligible and the school system declared that she would never be a whole lot different ... she would never be able to read or write. The picture you see is Valerie receiving the God and Family Award which she earned due to exhaustive study and tutoring by her mother, and prayerful support of the congregation. She recited the 10 Commandments for the congregation and told everyone what they meant. Valerie was the only child in her troop to earn (or even show an interest in) this particular award. We are so proud of Valerie (who by the way reads from the children’s Bible often at worship and has learned to write).

Without the help and commitment–spiritual and financial–of those of you in Augsburg Lutheran Churches, our ministry would have been a much harder struggle. We thank you and love you, and we praise God for your love and concern.

Because of Him ...

Pastor Cher Clay.

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ALC SYMPOSIUM IN OMAHA FEBRUARY 3-4, 2004

 Sexual Boundaries & Biblical Confession: The Crisis for Church and Society

Dr. Dennis Bielfeldt and Mr. Lou Hesse are the featured speakers at the upcoming symposium sponsored by Augsburg Lutheran Churches (ALC) and Claus Harms House. Dr. Bielfeldt is the pastor of Pioneer Lutheran in White, SD, and a professor of philosophy at South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD. Mr. Hesse is a confessing Lutheran farmer in Washington who also serves on the ELCA Sexuality Study Committee.

The symposium will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004, at Lutheran Church of the Master in Omaha, NE, and conclude with lunch on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004. For more information, contact Pastor Mike Williams at 712-764-5678, or email him at gobigrev@metc.net.

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AUGSBURG WELCOMES THREE NEW MEMBER CHURCHES

Augsburg Lutheran Churches welcomed three new member churches this fall:

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - open
2001 Cloyd Blvd.
Florence, AL 35630

The Harbor - Pastor Mark Beebe
8 Buckingham Plantation Drive
Bluffton, SC 29910

Faith Lutheran Church - Pastor Glen Peterson
P. O. Box 273
Humboldt, SD 57035-0273

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AUGSBURG JOINT COUNCIL TO MEET JANUARY 27-28, 2004

The Augsburg Joint Council will meet at the home of CH & Mrs. John Rasmussen in Vass, North Carolina, on January 27-28, 2004. The 2004 budget, fund raising plans for Augsburg’s mission churches, ministry standards, and plans for the Augsburg Convention will be adopted.

Dr. & Mrs. Dennis Bielfeldt will host this year’s gathering July 25-28, 2004, at “The Old Sanctuary” located at 910 Fourth Street, Brookings, SD 57006.

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Dr. LARRY GEDDE’S “TOP TEN” FOR AUGSBURG

10. Resist the temptation to be everything to everybody, all the time.

9. Take Luther’s Small Catechism seriously.

8. Build relationships with other Lutheran groups.

7. Build relationships with other non-Lutheran “confessional” groups.

6. Pursue the clergy supply issue with great energy and immediacy.

5. Think through an organizational structure that may be confusing.

4. Be crystal clear in your stance on religious/cultural issues.

3. Encourage Lutheran Youth.

2. Focus on mission.

1. Get on with it.

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December 26 — Saint Stephen (1st. cent.) Kai Munk (1898-1944)

As the following excerpt from one of his sermons illustrates, Pastor Munk—the Danish playwright, poet, and preacher who lived under Nazi occupation and was martyred for his preaching—retained a wonderfully puckish sense of humor found among some Danes . . . which also allows them to laugh at people who take "historic episcopacy" and it's liturgical rules which “must” be scrupulously observed in order to be efficacious. The Danes have politely refused to "enter" the so called Historic Episcopacy.

The translator, John M. Jensen, was related to members of the Danish underground, as are some members of Augsburg Lutheran Churches.

Long live the resistance!

John Fahning

Kaj Munk’s Last St. Stephan’s Day Sermon—December 26, 1943

The Christ Child is the world's Savior and Prince of Peace because He is the world's greatest war Lord. Apparently there is the most glaring contrast between the Christmas gospel and that for St. Stephen's Day--between the Christ Child and the first Christian martyr. But in reality there is the closest connection.

The pagan Christmas with eating and drinking and parties and family joy may well be contained in the Christian celebration, but it can never take the place of it. Jesus Himself took an interest in family life, and He attended parties; but He was, nevertheless, ever on the way to the cross. Let us sing Ingermann songs and eat goose and play with our children about the glittering Christmas tree; but we must never forget that the coming of Christ to earth means dauntless struggle against evil. And if we kneel by the manger in other than sentimental moods, we shall become aware that one hand of the little Child is open and kindly, the other clenched in blood.

We wish one another Merry Christmas. And we mean: may your Christmas goose be delicious--or your meatballs, if that is the best you can afford this year; may you have fuel to keep your house warm; may you have friends and loved ones about you; may your tree glitter in its wonted beauty and the hymns sound with their old power. And may there, through it all, be one song in your heart: 'My Jesus, I want to be where Thou alone wilt have me.'

Yes, but there are so many doubts and questions that spoil my Christmas joy.

Well, but who promised you joy? It may be better that you have a poor Christmas. Don't be like a spoiled child and think of God as a great Santa Claus who has in His bag some sort of electro-magnet with which to give your brain cells such a shot that everything becomes gloriously clear to you, and that you can be happy, in harmony with yourself and the world. My friend, perhaps your doctor can do that for you with a stimulant that will send the blood to the brain and clarify your mind so you see things in bright perspective. This has nothing to do with real joy. True Christmas joy, no matter how much or how little of it you may comprehend, means that you have Christ, and that you go where He wants you to go.

Thanks to John Fahning for giving permission to include his post from the Augsburg Lutheran Churches discussion board in this newsletter. This excerpt is from Four Sermons, translated by Dr. John M. Jensen, and published by the Blair Publishing House in April 1944. The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau has published it in “For All The Saints,” Vol. 1, p. 137.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

May God’s richest blessings be upon you this Advent season as you prepare for the coming of the Lord, and our best wishes for a blessed and joyful Christmas.

The Augsburg Joint Council




Let’s get on with it!

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