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Listen

May 3, 2020 By Vicar at Mount Olive

As we learn to be community in new ways during physical distancing, we can look to the example of the early church who cultivated community amidst the uncertainty following Jesus’ death by trusting God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit.

Vicar Bristol Reading
The Fourth Sunday of Easter, year A
Texts: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; John 10:1-10

Beloved in Christ, may the love of God be with you this day and all days. Amen.

Have you seen any chalk messages around your neighborhood?

You might have spotted some out your window or on an evening walk on your block. It’s become a trend during the pandemic. Sidewalks are covered in rainbow-colored chalk messages that say things like: “We’re all in this together” or “Don’t be afraid” or “This too shall pass.” My favorite one I saw recently said, “I can’t wait to hug you.”

The chalk trend is a sweet way to cheer one another up in difficult times, but it’s also deeper than that. It’s a philosophy of community. The messages remind us that although we are physically distancing, we are not socially distancing. We are coming together by staying apart. We are taking care of, and being cared for, by strangers we’ll never even meet.

Even once the stay-at-home orders are lifted, this practice of physical distance is going to be with us for a long time, as we continue to cope with the coronavirus. We will need these reminders that the distance is actually a form of community. We’ll need these reminders on our sidewalks, in our conversations, in our prayers. This is what love of neighbor looks like right now. This is a new way to be community together.

This Easter season we’ve been reading in the book of Acts how the early church discerned what it meant to be community together in a new way.

Things were changing for them, and they were facing a lot of uncertainty as they struggled to understand Jesus’ death and resurrection. How would they know how to move forward in the absence of their teacher and leader?

What we read in Acts is that they learned to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus was not physically with them any longer, the Holy Spirit moved among them and within them. That Spirit was a gift of Christ’s ongoing presence, poured out on the disciples.

But the apostle Peter says it goes further than that. Peter told the crowds that came to hear him: the promise of the Holy Spirit is for you, and for your children, and for those who are far away. The Holy Spirit is a gift for everyone to whom God calls! (Acts 2:39) The Spirit is not constrained by time or place. It’s not exclusive or limited; it’s abundant and generous. The disciples navigated the uncertainty after Jesus’ death because they trusted that abundant Spirit, which Jesus had promised would continue to guide them.

Through this faithful group of Christ-followers, God drew more and more people in, and they cultivated community together.

In Acts, we hear how radical the vision of togetherness was for these believers. They worshipped together daily and shared meals. They supported one another socially, spiritually, and economically. They accounted for every person’s needs. They shared everything.

Loving one another in this way sounds unrealistic in the midst of a pandemic, when you can’t be together and have all things in common. You can’t share meals and worship. You can’t even share handshakes and hugs. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be Christ-centered community.

You can care for the needs of others. You can support one another socially, spiritually, and economically. You can praise God with glad and generous hearts, study God’s word, and pray in your home, as Acts tells us the early church did. You are doing all of those things, and God is still working through you every single day. The Spirit is still speaking to you as you navigate how to be community in the midst of these circumstances.

When Jesus talked about how the community of believers should depend on God for guidance, he often used the image of a flock of sheep being led by a shepherd.

We heard this in our Gospel reading from John today. The shepherd leads the sheep by voice, calling to them and guiding them. The sheep can’t see all that well, but they can listen. They recognize and follow the voice of their shepherd. And they know to run away from other voices that might try to persuade them down a different path.

Following the voice of the shepherd can’t keep the sheep from all harm. They can’t huddle in the safety of the sheepfold forever. At some point, they need to go out and find pasture where they can eat, and they trust the shepherd to lead them there, to the green pastures and the still waters. (Psalm 23:2)

When you imagine yourself as one of God’s flock, navigating the dangers of the world, you might experience God as the shepherd who calls to you and leads you to the good fields. You might experience God as the gate that welcomes you back in to a place of safety. You might experience God as the gatekeeper who protects you while you rest, keeping out anything that would harm you. Jesus uses all of these different images to help people understand the ways that God cares for them.

And if all those metaphors confuse you, and you’re asking how God can be a shepherd, a gate, and a gatekeeper, know that you’re not alone. After all, the disciples themselves admitted that they weren’t sure what Jesus was talking about. So he gave them the bottom line.

Jesus says what matters is this: God wants life for you.

And not just the kind of life that’s sufficient or good enough. God wants the kind of life for you that’s abundant, like a cup running over, flooded with blessing. (Psalm 23:5) God wants this for you, and for the people you’re isolated with, and for the people you miss and want to hug, and for the people you’ve never even met. Even when it feels like you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, you are not alone in this. The whole flock surrounds you and the good shepherd leads you.

Keep listening for the voice that speaks abundant life to you. Keep listening for the voice that calls you into courageous love for the world. Keep listening.

Amen.

Filed Under: sermon

The Fourth Sunday of Easter, year A + May 3, 2020

May 3, 2020 By Pr. Joseph Crippen

Jesus calls himself the Gate of the sheep, and the Shepherd.

Reader today: Janet Meeks, Assisting Minister

Attached is a pdf for worship in the home on this Sunday. All the links to sound and video are embedded in the pdf, so all you need to do is open it up, and as you pray, go to each link as you are ready.

Liturgy pages for 4 Easter A – 05-03-20

If you’d rather print these liturgy sheets and use the links in this post, here are the individual links to each part:

Prelude: Sheep May Safely Graze, J. S. Bach

Opening Hymn: ELW 362, At the Lamb’s High Feast

Prayer of the Day, First Reading, Psalm, Second Reading, 4 Easter A

Gospel Acclamation: ELW 388, Be Not Afraid

Holy Gospel: John 10:1-10, 4 Easter A

“Listen,” sermon by Vicar Reading

Hymn of the Day: ELW 520, Dearest Jesus, At Your Word

Closing Hymn: ELW 502, The King of Love My Shepherd Is

Postlude: “I Nothing Lack,” improvisation by Cantor Cherwien

Looking ahead to Tuesday: Attached here is a copy of the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, year A, for use in the Tuesday noon Bible study. Links to that virtual study are included in the Olive Branch each week.
5 Easter A Readings – Tuesday study

Filed Under: Online Worship Resources

Love Made Visible #3

May 1, 2020 By office

Love Made Visible Challenge
May 1, 2020
As we celebrate the Easter season, we call on all Mount Olive members to participate in this Love Made Visible Challenge as we care for our precious world: a time of stewardship, of challenge, a time to move forward together. On to week 3!
Continue to send photos/videos/recipes during our Love Made Visible Challenge to missions@mountolivechurch.org. And sign up now (same link) for next Saturday’s (May 9) Care for Mount Olive’s Rain and Butterfly Gardens. Bring your own mask/glove/tools. You’ll work outside, at a distance from others.
Friday, May 1—Source Food Locally
Worship: “Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits of the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer)
Inform: Twin Cities farmers’ markets—considered “essential” under the governor’s stay-at-home order—are gradually opening, with limited offerings until crops begin to be harvested. The owners of the Minneapolis Farmers’ Market, near downtown, told a reporter they’re increasing spaces between vendors, eliminating samples, and adding sanitizing stations.
Act: Check out the schedule for your favorite farmers’ market, and shop there until it closes in the fall. Try new things. When you shop, follow the latest pandemic rules.
Saturday, May 2—Water
Worship: “You change deserts into pools of water and dry land into water-springs” (Ps. 107:35, ELW).
Inform: Municipal water systems in Minnesota and the nation provide tap water that, with some notorious exceptions, is safe and, in most places, has a pleasant or neutral taste. For most Americans, bottled water is OK in a pinch but not as a daily habit.
Act: Do an internet search for “real cost of bottled water.” If you haven’t already, get a stainless steel bottle and fill up at the tap!
Sunday, May 3—Do With Your Family
Worship: “Triune God, whose will it is that humans live in community, bless family life everywhere and fill all homes with respect, joy, laughter, and prayer. . . .” (ELW, p. 83)
Inform: One of the exceptions to “stay at home” is that we can go walking, running, or biking, whether out our front door or after driving to a park or trail.
Act: Choose a route that’s either new or one you haven’t taken for a long time. With one or more family members, challenge one another to notice significant or interesting things, maybe in nature, architecture, history, or people. Take a picture or video of you and some of your discoveries.
Monday, May 4—Meatless Mondays
Worship: “Let the vineyards be fruitful, Lord, and fill to the brim our cup of blessing. Gather a harvest from the seeds that were sown, that we may be fed with the bread of life” (ELW 182).
Inform: Food writer Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma and other books) says: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Following that advice is good for our planet and good for our personal and societal health.
Act: Try one of the recipes shared by Mount Olive friends. More recipes have come in since last week. See the full listing here: Perhaps try the recipe for “Butternut Squash Gratin with Goat Cheese,” from the Mount Olive Lutheran Church Centennial Cookbook (2009).
Tuesday, May 5—Influence People
Worship: But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).
Inform: “I’m only one person. What difference could I make?” Nearly all of us have had that feeling. The truth is that as individuals we can make a difference. But we have to act.
Act: By phone or email, tell your legislative, congressional, or city council member where you stand on an issue that’s important to you. Give money and/or volunteer for a political campaign. Write a letter to the editor.
Wednesday, May 6—World Connectedness
Worship: “Gracious God, . . . make us quick to welcome ventures in cooperation among the peoples of the world, so that there may be woven the fabric of a common good too strong to be torn by the evil hands of war. In the time of opportunity, make us to be diligent; and in the time of peril, let not our courage fail; through Jesus Christ of Lord, Amen (ELW, p. 76).
Inform: Today individuals, groups, and nations are more globally interconnected than ever, whether we’re talking about flows of goods and services, capital, knowledge and technology, people, or taking on the challenge of climate change.
Act: Reflect on ways global connections and the speed of those connections is affecting you and your family. Do you think of yourself as an actor in this global theater or as playing a mostly passive role?
Make protective masks.
Learn four ways Lutheran World Relief is working to fight climate change.
Help Lutheran World Relief get clean water from rainwater cisterns.
Thursday, May 7—Energy
Worship: “No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light” (Luke 8:16).
Inform: The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed by President George W. Bush, didn’t ban the sale of all incandescent bulbs but did require about 25% greater efficiency for bulbs that traditionally used 40–100 watts.
Act: Take an inventory of your indoor and outdoor lighting. Your highest priority should be installing efficient LEDs in fixtures that both require high lumens (a brightness measure) and are on a lot. Choose an LED “color temperature,” in Kelvins, that you prefer (3000K is traditional, 5000K is really white)
Do you want to do more? Check these resources. This page will be updated and added to weekly.

Filed Under: TWIG

The Olive Branch, 4/29/20

April 29, 2020 By office

Click here to read the current issue of The Olive Branch.

Filed Under: Olive Branch

4/27/20 TWIG: Cantor’s Corner #6

April 29, 2020 By office

On the heels of this past Sunday’s Gospel narrative “The Road to Emmaus,” this week’s Cantor’s Corner focuses on a hymn which begins with a quote from that story: “Abide with us, fast falls the eventide…”
This could be another among those we could consider “rehearsing” throughout our lifetimes – both for the road along the way, and for when “eventide” comes for ourselves, as the text writer experienced. We are never alone. Never.
-Cantor David Cherwien
“Abide With Me”

Filed Under: TWIG

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3045 Chicago Avenue
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  • Home
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    • History
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      • Windows
      • Icons
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    • Worship Online
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    • Servant Schedule
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    • Choirs
    • Music & Fine Arts Series
      • Bach Tage
    • Organ
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      • Neighborhood Partners
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      • Global Partners
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    • Confirmation
    • Louise Schroedel Memorial Library
  • Resources
    • Respiratory Viruses
    • Stay Connected
    • Olive Branch Newsletter
    • Calendar
    • Servant Schedule
    • CDs & Books
    • Event Registration
  • Contact