Mount Olive Lutheran Church

Without Fear?

By

Life in Christ, discipleship following the Risen Lord, removes our fear both of taking the way of the cross ourselves and of telling by our words and our deeds “what we have seen and heard.”

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
   The Confession of St. Peter
   texts:  Acts 4:(1-7) 8-13 (9-22); Matthew 16:13-19 (20-26)

Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Jesus and the angels always say “Don’t be afraid.”  It’s not that easy.

We fear witnessing to what God has done in our lives and in the world.  We’re afraid of offending others, of risking being shut out, of being embarrassed.  We keep it to ourselves.

We fear walking the path of the cross.  We’re afraid of what it would be like to live where we didn’t always win.  What it would cost to be sacrificial in our loving.  Our culture teaches us to fear being taken advantage of, so we do.

We fear being open with those who don’t believe as we do.  We’re afraid that if we don’t fight for what we believe and defend what we say, we might lose salvation.  The Church has taken Jesus’ command to Peter, repeated a couple chapters later to all his disciples, to “bind” and “loose,” as our imperative to declare who’s in and who’s out, because we’re afraid of being out.

We should look at Simon Peter.  Something changed in him between these two confessions we heard today, something about his fear.  If we could do the same, we might see the path of discipleship much more clearly, and maybe even find courage to walk it.

There’s a huge difference between the Peter of the Gospel and the later Peter, the one in Acts.

Before the cross and resurrection, Peter confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of God.  But when Jesus described what that would mean – trial, suffering, death at the hands of the authorities – Peter rejected that path and rebuked Jesus.  That didn’t end well for Peter.  From Rock of the Church to Stumbling Block in record time.  Peter feared a path of loss and suffering, and on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, he fully turned from this path, vehemently denying his Lord.

But in Acts, after the resurrection, Peter and John stand before the very same council that condemned Jesus to death, not many weeks after those events.  Threatened and told to quit doing healings and preaching in Jesus’ name, they refuse.

In a short time, Peter has become willing to lose everything, even to die, to tell others of God’s love in Jesus, to preach the Good News.

Meeting his risen Lord transformed him.

After the resurrection, Peter met his Lord Jesus and was forgiven in a breakfast picnic and conversation on a beach in Galilee.  There he discovered three things.  First, he was forgiven and still loved forever by the one he had betrayed.  Second, he re-discovered that he loved his Lord very much.  Third, he was told if that was true, then he had lambs to feed and care for.

If you look at Peter’s life before and after, it’s what he does with his fear that changes.  His fear kept him from following, from being faithful, from being courageous.  Not anymore.  Now he knows his risen Lord and has been filled by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Know this, though: it’s not a question of our having fear or not having fear. 

Peter and John in Acts today had to have been a little terrified standing before the same council that sent Jesus to the cross.  They sound really brave, refusing to stop teaching about Jesus.  But imagine the looks they exchanged with each other as they walked out of that council chamber, relief combined with terror.  “Can you believe what we just did?”

Peter always had fear; with the Spirit’s help he just learned it didn’t have to control him.

This can be our path as well.

There will always be a part of us that is afraid.  But does fear drive our lives, control our actions, keep us from our path?

Not since we’ve met our risen Lord.  Not since we’ve eaten at his Table each week, and heard that we are loved and forgiven, loving him in return.  Not since we’ve heard our call to feed his lambs and care for his sheep, and have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This relationship of faith in Christ that is ours is stronger than our fear, so it doesn’t control us.

When we aren’t controlled by our fear, we can witness like Peter.

“Tell what we’ve seen and heard.”  That’s what they defiantly said they’d continue to do. Believers walked about with confidence in the love of God that destroys death and gives the power to live in the Spirit, and told about Jesus, his death and resurrection.  Thousands of people came to believe.

That could be us.  If our fear doesn’t control us we can tell what we’ve seen and heard, witness by our lives and our words about the love of the Triune God we have known, the forgiveness we have experienced, the life of the Spirit that fills us and changes us.  When our faith in Christ is stronger than our fear, we live lives that witness to what God is doing to save the world.

When we aren’t controlled by our fear, we can risk like Peter.

When Peter rejected Jesus’ path in today’s Gospel, he was rejecting it for himself.  You don’t follow a Messiah with the understanding that might lead to death.

Yet after the resurrection, Peter willingly took the path of Christ, the path of the cross.  The disciples were willing to risk all for the sake of sharing God’s love in Christ, life and limb, friends and family.  They must have been afraid.  But in faith they walked the path.

That could be us.  The path of the cross means we will be changed by God, to be different.  That’s frightening; the idea that the Spirit might transform us is a huge unknown.  But when our faith in Christ is stronger than our fear, we can trust the love of the Triune God to change us into something better, something like our Lord.

The path of the cross can mean we will be taken advantage of by others, even by those closest to us.  If we seek not to win but to love, not to control but to serve, we risk a lot.  But when our faith in Christ is stronger than our fear, we learn that this path of self-giving and sacrifice is empowering, life-giving.  Instead of having empty victories over people we didn’t need to defeat, we find the joy of a shared life of love and grace.
 
When we aren’t controlled by our fear, we can even be open to new things from the Spirit, like Peter.

Even after the resurrection, Peter sometimes let fear control him.  At first he wasn’t ready for Paul’s spreading of the Gospel to the Gentiles.  If he was supposed to “bind” and “loose,” he wasn’t ready to loose the requirements of circumcision and kosher foods.  Eventually his Lord helped him cope with those fears, too, and he became someone who saw God’s grace in Christ for all people, not just his own.

That could be us.  We remember that the heart of Christ, shown in Matthew 18, the very chapter when these commands are given to all the disciples, is that divine forgiveness and grace is limitless and astonishing.  Christ Jesus shows that the true keys to the kingdom are God’s breathtaking unwillingness to lose anyone, and the Church’s faithful living of such forgiving grace in the world.  When our faith in such love from God is stronger than our fear, we become people who live that love and forgiveness and insistent welcome in the world.

We’ll never fully be without fear, and that’s OK.  We belong to the Risen Christ who loves the world.

So we step forward anyway, in our fear and in our faith, remembering whose we are and what he has called us to be and do.

We step forward together as Christ’s people in the world, so that when any one of us is afraid, the others can help strengthen his knees or hold her hand.  We step forward with the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit in us, so that God’s love will calm our hearts and give us the courage to witness with our lives to the eternal love of God for this world and for all people.

We might be afraid at times, but we are in the loving hands of the Triune God, and nothing can take that from us.  So let’s step forward together and see what God will do.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen

The Olive Branch, 1/14/15

By

Accent on Worship

“That they may be one”

     The week of January 18-25 is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an octave (eight days) set at this time in January for over a century.  This octave dates back to prayers for unity of a divided Church beginning in the Reformation, through Anglican and Roman Catholic emphases starting over 150 years ago.  This week is an opportunity for us to pray for what Jesus prayed in John 17, that the Church be one even as the Triune God is One.  The days that bracket this octave, the Confession of St. Peter on Jan. 18, and the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25, fall on Sundays this year, so the week looms a little more prominently than in other years for us, and provides an opportunity for us to recall this important task.

     I would invite all sisters and brothers at Mount Olive to consider adding Christian unity to their prayers during these eight days.

     Our witness to the grace and love of God for the whole world made known in Jesus’ death and resurrection and lived out in the lives of the faithful is diminished by our hatred and fighting within the Body of Christ.  When we ignore or neglect or despise those with whom we disagree who are yet bound to us in Baptism, we grieve the heart of God.  Offering prayer brings our hearts in line with the heart of the Triune God, and opens our lives to the Spirit’s grace which can move the Body of Christ ever closer together.

     Here is a helpful plan for our prayer that has been suggested and is found online, which I commend to you.

January 18: pray for the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, and other Eastern Churches
January 19: pray for the Roman Catholic and Uniate Churches
January 20: pray for the Anglican, Old Catholic, and allied churches
January 21: pray for the Lutheran, Moravian, and Methodist Churches
January 22: pray for the Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed Churches
January 23: pray for the Baptist, Amish, Mennonite, Hutterite, and Christian (Disciples of Christ) Churches
January 24: pray for the Pentecostal and charismatic churches
January 25: pray for the nonmainstream communities; and for theologians and councils seeking to promote Christian unity while preserving Christian truth.

     “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”  John 17:11b

In Christ,
Joseph

Sunday Readings

January 18, 2015: Confession of St. Peter
Acts 4:8-13
Psalm 18: 1-6, 16-19
I Corinthians 10:1-5
Matthew 16:13-19
 ______________________

January 25, 2015: Conversion of St. Paul
Acts 9:1-22
Psalm 67
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 21:10-19

Sunday’s Adult Forum: January 18, 2015:

 Pastor Crippen will facilitate a discussion on the ELCA Statement, “The Use of the Means of Grace.”

Congregation Visioning Event

     A congregational event to unveil the work of the Visioning Lead team will be held on Sunday, January 26, after the second liturgy.   We will review the material that the committee has written and begin to plan how all of us will bring that work to life.

     You will receive in the mail this week a copy of the Visioning Team’s “expression of vision” (as well as your annual contribution statement). Please take a moment to review this important information from the Visioning Team before this event.

     There will be a light lunch served, and activities to occupy the kids are being planned.  We know your time is valuable, so including lunch, we’ll be here no more than an hour and a half. Please come!  We need everyone’s voices to be heard!

Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads

     For their meeting on January 17 (postponed one week because of the Conference on Liturgy) , they will read The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. For the meeting on February 14, they will read Wise Blood, by Flannery O’Connor.

Centering Prayer Continues

     Centering Prayer continues in the new year, Wednesdays ,at 6:15 p.m.

     Centering Prayer is an ancient monastic tradition that brings one into the presence of God through silence. The format of the time together includes a short reading from the Psalms or other Scripture, 20 minutes of silence, and then 5 minutes to come together at the end.

     Please join us at 6:15 pm on Wednesday evenings.

     Questions? You can find a brochure describing Centering Prayer in the rack by the display case in the narthex or call Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 612-875-7865.

Pledging Update: Mind the Gap

     In our committee’s November 6 letter to members and friends we outlined the reasons Mount Olive’s 2015 revenue and expenditure budget is some 7% higher than last year’s. By early February we’ll report how actual contributions compare with those a year ago. Meanwhile, we’ve been closely watching pledges, hoping that they will, collectively, total at least 7% higher than last year’s. We have mixed news to report. As of January 11, we’ve received 95 pledges totaling $387,843, averaging $4083 per household, some 11% above last year’s per-household figure. But that total dollar figure—only 98% of last year’s pledged total—is about $35,000 shy of the amount that would represent a 7% increase, in part because we have 13 fewer pledging households. If you’ve been intending to pledge but haven’t gotten to it, you’re not too late. We’ll have pledge cards available outside the church office the next few Sundays; or you can email your pledge to welcome@mountolivechurch.org, indicating a dollar amount and whether it’s weekly, monthly, or whatever. Together, let’s bridge that $35,000 gap!

—Donn McLellan, 
Director of Stewardship

More Helping Hands Are Needed to Feed the Homeless

     Members of Mount Olive provide the evening meal at Our Saviour’s Shelter the second Sunday of every month.  This important ministry meets a real need right in our own neighborhood.  You can serve in these ways:

Food preparation – We’ll cook the meal in our kitchen Sunday afternoon.
Food transportation – We will bring the food eight blocks north to the shelter.
Serving – We’ll meet the residents as we serve the meal to them.

     You can find the sign-up sheet for 2015 in the East Assembly Room, near the Sunday coffee.  Come and be part of this chance to help.  Questions?  See Elaine Halbardier or Connie Olson.

 An Evening with Donald Jackson

      Concordia University St. Paul invites all to a rare U.S. speaking engagement by Donald Jackson, renowned British calligrapher, illuminator, and artistic director of The Saint John’s Bible. This event will be held on Thursday, February 12, 2015, from 7:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. at Buetow Music Auditorium, Concordia University St. Paul, 1282 Concordia Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104.
     This event is free and seating will be on a first come first served basis.

     Concordia University St. Paul is honored to present An Evening with Donald Jackson.  Mr. Jackson is one of the world’s foremost Western calligraphers. As a scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Mr. Jackson was responsible for the creation of official state documents. In 1985, he received the Medal of The Royal Victorian Order (MVO). Mr. Jackson is an elected Fellow and past Chairman of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators, and in 1997, was named Master of the 600-year-old Guild of Scriveners of the city of London.

     Concordia is pleased to host an exhibition of all seven volumes of the Saint John’s Bible Heritage Program on our campus during the month of February 2015, and two of the volumes (The Pentateuch and The Gospels and Acts) from August 2014 through July 2015.

Every Church a Peace Church Monthly Potluck 

Date: Monday, January 19, Time: 6:30 Potluck
Place: Hospitality Hall, St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis
Topic: Martin Luther King and the Nonviolent Jesus
Speaker: Mel Reeves

     Mel Reeves has been a human rights activist for the last 30 years. He has been involved in struggles against South African Apartheid and struggles for worker’s rights, and has helped lead several efforts to get justice in some well-known cases of police brutality. He has been a long time anti-war and anti-racist activist. Most recently he worked with Occupy Homes and is the adviser to a fledgling young peoples’ alternative political party.

RIC Festival Service to be Held Saturday, January 24, 2015, 4:00 p.m.*

     This annual service will be held at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 285 North Dale Street, St. Paul, MN 55103. Rev. Jim Erlandson will preside, and Rev. Bradley Schmeling will preach. A soup supper follows the service.

* please note change new service time!

Granlund Exhibit at Mount Olive

     Mount Olive will host an exhibit of sculptures by the famed artist, Paul Granlund, beginning in mid-February and going through mid-April.  The exhibit is sponsored by Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts program.

     Paul Granlund wanted his sculptures to be viewed and enjoyed from all angles and even touched.  The exhibit will be on display in the Chapel Lounge and assembly areas.    We encourage members to invite guests to visit.

End of Life Planning: Join the Conversation

• Sunday, February 1: 9:30 am – Adult Forum on End-of-Life planning with Pr. Crippen

• Saturday, February 7: 9-Noon at Mount Olive – Kathy Thurston and Rob Ruff will present perspectives and direction on end- of -life planning including the POLST and Honoring Choices Advance Directive.

     Start the conversation and gather resources so that you can prepare or review your own Advance Directive.

     What should I know about health care directives?

• All individuals ages 18 and older should have a health care directive to appoint an agent and address basic quality of life and medical questions.

• The directive is a “living document”.  It should be updated as life circumstances change and when any of the “Five Ds” occur:  Decade; Death of a loved one; Divorce; Diagnosis; Decline.

• A health care directive is a legal document which serves as the basis for medical decision making.

• A copy of your health care directive should be shared with your agent (surrogate), family, loved ones, and health care and long term care providers.

• A health care directive can be changed as you grow older or as your life circumstances change.  Always share any changes with your health care agent, family and health care providers.  Destroy old copies that are no valid.

Saturday, Feb. 7, Presenters
*Rob Ruff – Director of Chaplaincy Services at Regions Hospital, Chaplain for Palliative Care Team; Mount Olive member

*Kathy Thurston RN PHN MA – Manager of Care Coordination and Case Management AXIS Healthcare, part of Allina Health; Mount Olive member

Oh Baby, What a Deal! 

     Target is offering an amazing coupon this week in the paper ads and online (can be sent to your phone or computer).    

     If it is at all within your means, buy $100 worth of diapers and earn a $25 gift card for yourself!
That’s quite a deal for the Diaper Depot and all gifts are tax deductible (with a receipt). We use Target brand diapers and most needed sizes are 3-6. Thank you!

Peace With Justice Forum

     All are invited to a Peace with Justice Forum on Sunday, January 18, 12:30-2:00 p.m., at Central Lutheran Church, 3rd Ave. and 12th St. in Minneapolis (next to the Minneapolis Convention Center).

     This forum will be a conversation on what the ELCA says about
Gun Violence, led by Rev. Dr. Ron Letnes and Jay Thacker.

     Come join the discussion of some biblical references to personal weapons violence, gun violence facts, and a discussion of the policy position of the NRA. Take a look at the Second Amendment, and hear some suggestions on what each person can do to decrease gun violence. There will be ample time for people to share their own thoughts, feelings and personal stories.

     Lunch is available for $7, and  validated parking is also available in the Central parking lot/ramp on the south side of the church.

     This forum series is sponsored by the Twin Cities Lutheran Peace with Justice Committee.

News from the Neighborhood
Anna Kingman

     In effort to share in the relationships being built through our interaction in the neighborhood, we will hear from the people who find support, relief, and help through Mount Olive.

Profiles: Bradford
     Bradford said he was just walking by Mount Olive when he thought “why not ask?”  He, his wife, and 2 kids live not far from here, but he is walking in the cold because both of his cars recently broke down and are unrepairable. This caused him to lose his temp-to-hire job down in Chaska when he didn’t have transportation. Now he is jobless and desperately trying to pay off the back-rent and January rent so that his family won’t get evicted. He admitted that this is frustrating for a 55 year-old man with young kids to be struggling in this way, but he was very hopeful that things would work out. Throughout our conversation he said that he trusts that God will make small miracles happen, as he experienced in that moment. If anyone needs help with odd jobs, painting, or shoveling, I’ve got a contact for you!

It’s STILL Cold!

     As long as the weather stays cold, warm clothes are still needed!
     Please continue to donate hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves to the box by the West Assembly area. They will continually be given away at the Community Meals as the cold weather demands.
     Thank you!

Get Involved!

Opportunities to BE involved highlight:  Diaper Depot

     The Diaper Depot served 438 families last year, adding close to 225 new families to our roster. This is a unique and important ministry in the cities that reaches far and wide. Many service centers send people our way as a resource for struggling families. Because we offer one package per child, per month, we build a continuing relationship and easy, helpful interaction.
The Diaper Depot is open Tuesdays, 4:30-6:30 pm, and Thursdays, 1:30-3:30pm. If you are able or interested in helping for a shift or learning more about it, please contact Anna at:  neighborhood@mountolivechurch.orgShe will help you to get involved!

Getting to Know our Neighbors

     Part of sharing in community is understanding one another through language, culture, or experience. As we explore our community and get to know our neighbors, let’s start with some helpful language lessons. English: “How are you?”
Spanish: “Como esta” (como  es-tah)
Review: “Nice to meet you”-“Mucho gusto.”

Go out and be fearlessly friendly folks!

No more snow this winter?  

     Wishful thinking on my part?

     Our sexton, William, is doing a great job of keeping the sidewalks clear for us this winter season.  However, if we get hit with a major snow event yet this year, it would be helpful to have a list of volunteers who would be willing to lend a hand and shovel if needed.  If you feel so inclined, please call the office or email me with your name and contact number.  We’ll prepare a call down list that William can use if necessary.

     Thanks for your consideration!

– Brenda Bartz, Property Director

The Olive Branch, 1/14/15

By

Accent on Worship

“That they may be one”

     The week of January 18-25 is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an octave (eight days) set at this time in January for over a century.  This octave dates back to prayers for unity of a divided Church beginning in the Reformation, through Anglican and Roman Catholic emphases starting over 150 years ago.  This week is an opportunity for us to pray for what Jesus prayed in John 17, that the Church be one even as the Triune God is One.  The days that bracket this octave, the Confession of St. Peter on Jan. 18, and the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25, fall on Sundays this year, so the week looms a little more prominently than in other years for us, and provides an opportunity for us to recall this important task.

     I would invite all sisters and brothers at Mount Olive to consider adding Christian unity to their prayers during these eight days.

     Our witness to the grace and love of God for the whole world made known in Jesus’ death and resurrection and lived out in the lives of the faithful is diminished by our hatred and fighting within the Body of Christ.  When we ignore or neglect or despise those with whom we disagree who are yet bound to us in Baptism, we grieve the heart of God.  Offering prayer brings our hearts in line with the heart of the Triune God, and opens our lives to the Spirit’s grace which can move the Body of Christ ever closer together.

     Here is a helpful plan for our prayer that has been suggested and is found online, which I commend to you.

January 18: pray for the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, and other Eastern Churches
January 19: pray for the Roman Catholic and Uniate Churches
January 20: pray for the Anglican, Old Catholic, and allied churches
January 21: pray for the Lutheran, Moravian, and Methodist Churches
January 22: pray for the Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed Churches
January 23: pray for the Baptist, Amish, Mennonite, Hutterite, and Christian (Disciples of Christ) Churches
January 24: pray for the Pentecostal and charismatic churches
January 25: pray for the nonmainstream communities; and for theologians and councils seeking to promote Christian unity while preserving Christian truth.

     “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”  John 17:11b

In Christ,
Joseph

Sunday Readings

January 18, 2015: Confession of St. Peter
Acts 4:8-13
Psalm 18: 1-6, 16-19
I Corinthians 10:1-5
Matthew 16:13-19
 ______________________

January 25, 2015: Conversion of St. Paul
Acts 9:1-22
Psalm 67
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 21:10-19

Sunday’s Adult Forum: January 18, 2015:

 Pastor Crippen will facilitate a discussion on the ELCA Statement, “The Use of the Means of Grace.”

Congregation Visioning Event

     A congregational event to unveil the work of the Visioning Lead team will be held on Sunday, January 26, after the second liturgy.   We will review the material that the committee has written and begin to plan how all of us will bring that work to life.

     You will receive in the mail this week a copy of the Visioning Team’s “expression of vision” (as well as your annual contribution statement). Please take a moment to review this important information from the Visioning Team before this event.

     There will be a light lunch served, and activities to occupy the kids are being planned.  We know your time is valuable, so including lunch, we’ll be here no more than an hour and a half. Please come!  We need everyone’s voices to be heard!

Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads

     For their meeting on January 17 (postponed one week because of the Conference on Liturgy) , they will read The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. For the meeting on February 14, they will read Wise Blood, by Flannery O’Connor.

Centering Prayer Continues

     Centering Prayer continues in the new year, Wednesdays ,at 6:15 p.m.

     Centering Prayer is an ancient monastic tradition that brings one into the presence of God through silence. The format of the time together includes a short reading from the Psalms or other Scripture, 20 minutes of silence, and then 5 minutes to come together at the end.

     Please join us at 6:15 pm on Wednesday evenings.

     Questions? You can find a brochure describing Centering Prayer in the rack by the display case in the narthex or call Sue Ellen Zagrabelny at 612-875-7865.

Pledging Update: Mind the Gap

     In our committee’s November 6 letter to members and friends we outlined the reasons Mount Olive’s 2015 revenue and expenditure budget is some 7% higher than last year’s. By early February we’ll report how actual contributions compare with those a year ago. Meanwhile, we’ve been closely watching pledges, hoping that they will, collectively, total at least 7% higher than last year’s. We have mixed news to report. As of January 11, we’ve received 95 pledges totaling $387,843, averaging $4083 per household, some 11% above last year’s per-household figure. But that total dollar figure—only 98% of last year’s pledged total—is about $35,000 shy of the amount that would represent a 7% increase, in part because we have 13 fewer pledging households. If you’ve been intending to pledge but haven’t gotten to it, you’re not too late. We’ll have pledge cards available outside the church office the next few Sundays; or you can email your pledge to welcome@mountolivechurch.org, indicating a dollar amount and whether it’s weekly, monthly, or whatever. Together, let’s bridge that $35,000 gap!

—Donn McLellan, 
Director of Stewardship

More Helping Hands Are Needed to Feed the Homeless

     Members of Mount Olive provide the evening meal at Our Saviour’s Shelter the second Sunday of every month.  This important ministry meets a real need right in our own neighborhood.  You can serve in these ways:

Food preparation – We’ll cook the meal in our kitchen Sunday afternoon.
Food transportation – We will bring the food eight blocks north to the shelter.
Serving – We’ll meet the residents as we serve the meal to them.

     You can find the sign-up sheet for 2015 in the East Assembly Room, near the Sunday coffee.  Come and be part of this chance to help.  Questions?  See Elaine Halbardier or Connie Olson.

 An Evening with Donald Jackson

      Concordia University St. Paul invites all to a rare U.S. speaking engagement by Donald Jackson, renowned British calligrapher, illuminator, and artistic director of The Saint John’s Bible. This event will be held on Thursday, February 12, 2015, from 7:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. at Buetow Music Auditorium, Concordia University St. Paul, 1282 Concordia Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104.
     This event is free and seating will be on a first come first served basis.

     Concordia University St. Paul is honored to present An Evening with Donald Jackson.  Mr. Jackson is one of the world’s foremost Western calligraphers. As a scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Mr. Jackson was responsible for the creation of official state documents. In 1985, he received the Medal of The Royal Victorian Order (MVO). Mr. Jackson is an elected Fellow and past Chairman of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators, and in 1997, was named Master of the 600-year-old Guild of Scriveners of the city of London.

     Concordia is pleased to host an exhibition of all seven volumes of the Saint John’s Bible Heritage Program on our campus during the month of February 2015, and two of the volumes (The Pentateuch and The Gospels and Acts) from August 2014 through July 2015.

Every Church a Peace Church Monthly Potluck 

Date: Monday, January 19, Time: 6:30 Potluck
Place: Hospitality Hall, St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis
Topic: Martin Luther King and the Nonviolent Jesus
Speaker: Mel Reeves

     Mel Reeves has been a human rights activist for the last 30 years. He has been involved in struggles against South African Apartheid and struggles for worker’s rights, and has helped lead several efforts to get justice in some well-known cases of police brutality. He has been a long time anti-war and anti-racist activist. Most recently he worked with Occupy Homes and is the adviser to a fledgling young peoples’ alternative political party.

RIC Festival Service to be Held Saturday, January 24, 2015, 4:00 p.m.*

     This annual service will be held at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 285 North Dale Street, St. Paul, MN 55103. Rev. Jim Erlandson will preside, and Rev. Bradley Schmeling will preach. A soup supper follows the service.

* please note change new service time!

Granlund Exhibit at Mount Olive

     Mount Olive will host an exhibit of sculptures by the famed artist, Paul Granlund, beginning in mid-February and going through mid-April.  The exhibit is sponsored by Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts program.

     Paul Granlund wanted his sculptures to be viewed and enjoyed from all angles and even touched.  The exhibit will be on display in the Chapel Lounge and assembly areas.    We encourage members to invite guests to visit.

End of Life Planning: Join the Conversation

• Sunday, February 1: 9:30 am – Adult Forum on End-of-Life planning with Pr. Crippen

• Saturday, February 7: 9-Noon at Mount Olive – Kathy Thurston and Rob Ruff will present perspectives and direction on end- of -life planning including the POLST and Honoring Choices Advance Directive.

     Start the conversation and gather resources so that you can prepare or review your own Advance Directive.

     What should I know about health care directives?

• All individuals ages 18 and older should have a health care directive to appoint an agent and address basic quality of life and medical questions.

• The directive is a “living document”.  It should be updated as life circumstances change and when any of the “Five Ds” occur:  Decade; Death of a loved one; Divorce; Diagnosis; Decline.

• A health care directive is a legal document which serves as the basis for medical decision making.

• A copy of your health care directive should be shared with your agent (surrogate), family, loved ones, and health care and long term care providers.

• A health care directive can be changed as you grow older or as your life circumstances change.  Always share any changes with your health care agent, family and health care providers.  Destroy old copies that are no valid.

Saturday, Feb. 7, Presenters
*Rob Ruff – Director of Chaplaincy Services at Regions Hospital, Chaplain for Palliative Care Team; Mount Olive member

*Kathy Thurston RN PHN MA – Manager of Care Coordination and Case Management AXIS Healthcare, part of Allina Health; Mount Olive member

Oh Baby, What a Deal! 

     Target is offering an amazing coupon this week in the paper ads and online (can be sent to your phone or computer).    

     If it is at all within your means, buy $100 worth of diapers and earn a $25 gift card for yourself!
That’s quite a deal for the Diaper Depot and all gifts are tax deductible (with a receipt). We use Target brand diapers and most needed sizes are 3-6. Thank you!

Peace With Justice Forum

     All are invited to a Peace with Justice Forum on Sunday, January 18, 12:30-2:00 p.m., at Central Lutheran Church, 3rd Ave. and 12th St. in Minneapolis (next to the Minneapolis Convention Center).

     This forum will be a conversation on what the ELCA says about
Gun Violence, led by Rev. Dr. Ron Letnes and Jay Thacker.

     Come join the discussion of some biblical references to personal weapons violence, gun violence facts, and a discussion of the policy position of the NRA. Take a look at the Second Amendment, and hear some suggestions on what each person can do to decrease gun violence. There will be ample time for people to share their own thoughts, feelings and personal stories.

     Lunch is available for $7, and  validated parking is also available in the Central parking lot/ramp on the south side of the church.

     This forum series is sponsored by the Twin Cities Lutheran Peace with Justice Committee.

News from the Neighborhood
Anna Kingman

     In effort to share in the relationships being built through our interaction in the neighborhood, we will hear from the people who find support, relief, and help through Mount Olive.

Profiles: Bradford
     Bradford said he was just walking by Mount Olive when he thought “why not ask?”  He, his wife, and 2 kids live not far from here, but he is walking in the cold because both of his cars recently broke down and are unrepairable. This caused him to lose his temp-to-hire job down in Chaska when he didn’t have transportation. Now he is jobless and desperately trying to pay off the back-rent and January rent so that his family won’t get evicted. He admitted that this is frustrating for a 55 year-old man with young kids to be struggling in this way, but he was very hopeful that things would work out. Throughout our conversation he said that he trusts that God will make small miracles happen, as he experienced in that moment. If anyone needs help with odd jobs, painting, or shoveling, I’ve got a contact for you!

It’s STILL Cold!

     As long as the weather stays cold, warm clothes are still needed!
     Please continue to donate hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves to the box by the West Assembly area. They will continually be given away at the Community Meals as the cold weather demands.
     Thank you!

Get Involved!

Opportunities to BE involved highlight:  Diaper Depot

     The Diaper Depot served 438 families last year, adding close to 225 new families to our roster. This is a unique and important ministry in the cities that reaches far and wide. Many service centers send people our way as a resource for struggling families. Because we offer one package per child, per month, we build a continuing relationship and easy, helpful interaction.
The Diaper Depot is open Tuesdays, 4:30-6:30 pm, and Thursdays, 1:30-3:30pm. If you are able or interested in helping for a shift or learning more about it, please contact Anna at:  neighborhood@mountolivechurch.orgShe will help you to get involved!

Getting to Know our Neighbors

     Part of sharing in community is understanding one another through language, culture, or experience. As we explore our community and get to know our neighbors, let’s start with some helpful language lessons. English: “How are you?”
Spanish: “Como esta” (como  es-tah)
Review: “Nice to meet you”-“Mucho gusto.”

Go out and be fearlessly friendly folks!

No more snow this winter?  

     Wishful thinking on my part?

     Our sexton, William, is doing a great job of keeping the sidewalks clear for us this winter season.  However, if we get hit with a major snow event yet this year, it would be helpful to have a list of volunteers who would be willing to lend a hand and shovel if needed.  If you feel so inclined, please call the office or email me with your name and contact number.  We’ll prepare a call down list that William can use if necessary.

     Thanks for your consideration!

– Brenda Bartz, Property Director

Spirited

By

The gift of our Baptism into Christ is primarily the entrance of the Holy Spirit into us, growing faith and calling us into our ministry and service in the world.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
   The Baptism of Our Lord, year B
   texts:  Mark 1:4-11; Acts 19:1-7

Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

What a strange thing for these Ephesian believers to admit.  Clearly getting doctrines straight before baptism was not a high priority for the disciples of John the Baptizer who made it all the way to Greece.  It’s hard to know which is more surprising: that John still had disciples going around as far as Ephesus proclaiming a baptism of repentance, well after he completed his task to prepare people for the Messiah; or that these evangelists didn’t even bother to tell the people much about Jesus.

We can’t know what they told.  But since one of the few things John actually said about Jesus’ ministry was that Jesus would baptize believers with the Holy Spirit, one wonders: if they didn’t get to that part of John’s teachings, what, if anything, did these wandering preachers preach?

“We haven’t even heard there is a Holy Spirit.”  This seems critical for us.  Do we understand our baptism as connected to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives?  Or do we live as if we’ve never heard there is a Holy Spirit?

We sometimes focus on the wrong things when it comes to baptism.

When we talk about baptism we seem to most often talk about rules.  Who should be baptized?  How much should they know before they are?  Is it OK to baptize babies?  Is the baptism of other communions of the Church as valid as ours?  Is the Table of the Lord only for those who are baptized, or can others come?  What of those who aren’t baptized, are they in danger of not being saved?

All such questions focus on baptism as status and seem to consider this Sacrament our chance to sort who’s in and who’s out, to control the gate, keep the room free of riffraff.  The absolute monstrosity of centuries of the Church declaring that those who died unbaptized could not be brought to eternal life, in defiance of anything the Scriptures say, is only one example of how we consider baptism as a means of control: of the Church, of others, even of the Triune God.  It is ridiculously arrogant to believe we have any say over whom God loves, saves, blesses, or raises from the dead.  God will do whatever God wants to do.

But this odd story from Ephesus points out another reason why these questions distract us from a really important thing.  Ephesus reminds us that Baptism is really all about the Holy Spirit.

That’s the experience of Baptism in the early Church: the presence of the Spirit was central.

The pattern of baptism in the early life in Acts was that evangelists would baptize “in the name of Jesus” – it’s not clear if the Triune Name was being used yet.  Then the apostles would come, lay hands on them, and pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the believers, as Paul did today.

So in Acts 8, Philip preaches to Samaritans who “accept the word of God,” and baptizes them.  Later, Peter and John come and lay hands on them so they receive the Holy Spirit.  All of this we do at once in our baptisms today.

Sometimes it didn’t work that way, though.  In Acts 10, the Holy Spirit fills a group of Gentiles before anybody does anything.  Peter wisely recognizes that if the Holy Spirit has come, there is no reason to withhold baptism.  For the early Church, the presence of the Spirit of God was so deeply connected to their understanding of Baptism, they sometimes needed to baptize after the Spirit got there, to catch up.  The same thing happened at Pentecost.

Likewise, Jesus’ baptism is when we see the Spirit of God come upon him.

We don’t know why Jesus needed to be baptized, certainly not for repentance and new life.  We do know what happened, though: the Holy Spirit came upon him and his Father’s voice called him beloved, one in whom he was well pleased.

As he walked out of the waters of the Jordan, filled with the Spirit of God, he had an understanding that he was God’s anointed, God’s beloved Son.  With hair and clothes dripping, he kept on walking out into the desert to meditate and fast and pray for 40 days on this new life ahead of him, this ministry.  From his baptism, and the inflowing Holy Spirit, it all began, the teaching, the healing, the calling, and the path to the cross and resurrection.

This is the only thing that matters for us, too, because that same Spirit is poured into us.

We don’t need Baptism to protect us from God’s impotence or carelessness; Christ Jesus has shown us the Triune God is neither.  If anyone will be saved, God will do it, and nothing we do or don’t do will change that.  Baptism is never a question of our safety.

Baptism is, however, a clear place where we proclaim the Holy Spirit comes upon us and we are changed.  Like Jesus.  Sent into ministry.  Like Jesus.

Let us be clear also: the Holy Spirit is not limited by our ritual, our actions, not even by this commanded Baptism we do as Christ’s Church.  The Holy Spirit can and does go wherever she wills to go, and moves in and with people far beyond our reach and knowledge and control.

But we are promised by our Lord that the Holy Spirit will in fact come to us in baptism and change our lives.  We see that happen to Jesus, and that’s what we should be expecting for ourselves, and for Sophia today.

Baptism for us, like Jesus, is our time of in-Spiration, when we are Spirited by God to live our lives of discipleship.

John baptized a baptism of repentance, inviting people to turn from their old ways and follow in God’s path.  Baptism into the name of the Triune God is far more than that, it is the Holy Spirit joining us to the life of the Triune God, giving birth to us as children of God.

But the life after both kinds of baptism is the same: a new beginning going in God’s direction instead of our own.  It’s no accident that when we baptize, or affirm our baptism, we begin by turning away from evil and the powers of evil that are against God.  In Christian baptism we understand John’s call to turn around and start new.

What is different is that our baptism has the same gift given Jesus in his baptism, the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The presence of the Holy Spirit empowers our beginning, our repentance, our new life.  The Holy Spirit gives us the grace and strength to walk in God’s ways and not our own.

We begin to look different to others, and even to ourselves, because the Spirit is transforming us, creating fruit and life in us that others can see.

That’s our grace and gift in our baptism.  We go from the font Spirited to live new lives in the world, part of God’s grace and healing of the world begun in Christ and continued in us.

When we come to the font now, placing water on ourselves in remembrance of our first washing, we want to keep our eyes open for this Spirit of God.

Our baptism is our Pentecost, as it was for Jesus, and our remembrance and living into our baptism is our constant joy in the grace of the Holy Spirit working in our lives and in the world.

We not only have heard there is a Holy Spirit, we live as children of God who expect that having the Spirit fill us will change us, and like Jesus, send us out into our service and ministry.  We not only have heard there is a Holy Spirit, we expect to see signs of the Spirit’s work in us everywhere we look.  The more we expect this, talk of this, look for this, the more we will see it.

So let’s keep our eyes open to the work of the Spirit, be unafraid to tell each other what we have seen.  For the Holy Spirit has given us new birth, and the Father has called us beloved children, and our whole ministry and service in Christ now lies before us.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen

Spirited

By

The gift of our Baptism into Christ is primarily the entrance of the Holy Spirit into us, growing faith and calling us into our ministry and service in the world.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
   The Baptism of Our Lord, year B
   texts:  Mark 1:4-11; Acts 19:1-7

Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

What a strange thing for these Ephesian believers to admit.  Clearly getting doctrines straight before baptism was not a high priority for the disciples of John the Baptizer who made it all the way to Greece.  It’s hard to know which is more surprising: that John still had disciples going around as far as Ephesus proclaiming a baptism of repentance, well after he completed his task to prepare people for the Messiah; or that these evangelists didn’t even bother to tell the people much about Jesus.

We can’t know what they told.  But since one of the few things John actually said about Jesus’ ministry was that Jesus would baptize believers with the Holy Spirit, one wonders: if they didn’t get to that part of John’s teachings, what, if anything, did these wandering preachers preach?

“We haven’t even heard there is a Holy Spirit.”  This seems critical for us.  Do we understand our baptism as connected to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives?  Or do we live as if we’ve never heard there is a Holy Spirit?

We sometimes focus on the wrong things when it comes to baptism.

When we talk about baptism we seem to most often talk about rules.  Who should be baptized?  How much should they know before they are?  Is it OK to baptize babies?  Is the baptism of other communions of the Church as valid as ours?  Is the Table of the Lord only for those who are baptized, or can others come?  What of those who aren’t baptized, are they in danger of not being saved?

All such questions focus on baptism as status and seem to consider this Sacrament our chance to sort who’s in and who’s out, to control the gate, keep the room free of riffraff.  The absolute monstrosity of centuries of the Church declaring that those who died unbaptized could not be brought to eternal life, in defiance of anything the Scriptures say, is only one example of how we consider baptism as a means of control: of the Church, of others, even of the Triune God.  It is ridiculously arrogant to believe we have any say over whom God loves, saves, blesses, or raises from the dead.  God will do whatever God wants to do.

But this odd story from Ephesus points out another reason why these questions distract us from a really important thing.  Ephesus reminds us that Baptism is really all about the Holy Spirit.

That’s the experience of Baptism in the early Church: the presence of the Spirit was central.

The pattern of baptism in the early life in Acts was that evangelists would baptize “in the name of Jesus” – it’s not clear if the Triune Name was being used yet.  Then the apostles would come, lay hands on them, and pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the believers, as Paul did today.

So in Acts 8, Philip preaches to Samaritans who “accept the word of God,” and baptizes them.  Later, Peter and John come and lay hands on them so they receive the Holy Spirit.  All of this we do at once in our baptisms today.

Sometimes it didn’t work that way, though.  In Acts 10, the Holy Spirit fills a group of Gentiles before anybody does anything.  Peter wisely recognizes that if the Holy Spirit has come, there is no reason to withhold baptism.  For the early Church, the presence of the Spirit of God was so deeply connected to their understanding of Baptism, they sometimes needed to baptize after the Spirit got there, to catch up.  The same thing happened at Pentecost.

Likewise, Jesus’ baptism is when we see the Spirit of God come upon him.

We don’t know why Jesus needed to be baptized, certainly not for repentance and new life.  We do know what happened, though: the Holy Spirit came upon him and his Father’s voice called him beloved, one in whom he was well pleased.

As he walked out of the waters of the Jordan, filled with the Spirit of God, he had an understanding that he was God’s anointed, God’s beloved Son.  With hair and clothes dripping, he kept on walking out into the desert to meditate and fast and pray for 40 days on this new life ahead of him, this ministry.  From his baptism, and the inflowing Holy Spirit, it all began, the teaching, the healing, the calling, and the path to the cross and resurrection.

This is the only thing that matters for us, too, because that same Spirit is poured into us.

We don’t need Baptism to protect us from God’s impotence or carelessness; Christ Jesus has shown us the Triune God is neither.  If anyone will be saved, God will do it, and nothing we do or don’t do will change that.  Baptism is never a question of our safety.

Baptism is, however, a clear place where we proclaim the Holy Spirit comes upon us and we are changed.  Like Jesus.  Sent into ministry.  Like Jesus.

Let us be clear also: the Holy Spirit is not limited by our ritual, our actions, not even by this commanded Baptism we do as Christ’s Church.  The Holy Spirit can and does go wherever she wills to go, and moves in and with people far beyond our reach and knowledge and control.

But we are promised by our Lord that the Holy Spirit will in fact come to us in baptism and change our lives.  We see that happen to Jesus, and that’s what we should be expecting for ourselves, and for Sophia today.

Baptism for us, like Jesus, is our time of in-Spiration, when we are Spirited by God to live our lives of discipleship.

John baptized a baptism of repentance, inviting people to turn from their old ways and follow in God’s path.  Baptism into the name of the Triune God is far more than that, it is the Holy Spirit joining us to the life of the Triune God, giving birth to us as children of God.

But the life after both kinds of baptism is the same: a new beginning going in God’s direction instead of our own.  It’s no accident that when we baptize, or affirm our baptism, we begin by turning away from evil and the powers of evil that are against God.  In Christian baptism we understand John’s call to turn around and start new.

What is different is that our baptism has the same gift given Jesus in his baptism, the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The presence of the Holy Spirit empowers our beginning, our repentance, our new life.  The Holy Spirit gives us the grace and strength to walk in God’s ways and not our own.

We begin to look different to others, and even to ourselves, because the Spirit is transforming us, creating fruit and life in us that others can see.

That’s our grace and gift in our baptism.  We go from the font Spirited to live new lives in the world, part of God’s grace and healing of the world begun in Christ and continued in us.

When we come to the font now, placing water on ourselves in remembrance of our first washing, we want to keep our eyes open for this Spirit of God.

Our baptism is our Pentecost, as it was for Jesus, and our remembrance and living into our baptism is our constant joy in the grace of the Holy Spirit working in our lives and in the world.

We not only have heard there is a Holy Spirit, we live as children of God who expect that having the Spirit fill us will change us, and like Jesus, send us out into our service and ministry.  We not only have heard there is a Holy Spirit, we expect to see signs of the Spirit’s work in us everywhere we look.  The more we expect this, talk of this, look for this, the more we will see it.

So let’s keep our eyes open to the work of the Spirit, be unafraid to tell each other what we have seen.  For the Holy Spirit has given us new birth, and the Father has called us beloved children, and our whole ministry and service in Christ now lies before us.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen

MOUNT OLIVE LUTHERAN CHURCH
3045 Chicago Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Map and Directions >

612-827-5919
welcome@mountolivechurch.org


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