Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
Can you think of a couple whose marriage has been an obvious blessing in their lives, and whose marriage has also been a blessing in the lives of family and friends and community around them? Thankfully, I know many couples whose years of marriage and commitment bless the lives of all those around them.
This Saturday our DCE, Jamie Jennemann, will be married to Philip Walters at St. John at 1:00 p.m. While many marriages have their problems, God’s plan is that marriage is a blessing for the husband and wife who join together under God’s love. I’m sure you join me in praying those blessings for Jamie and Philip.
Ephesians 5:21-33 gives a sometimes misunderstood picture of marriage.
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--30 for we are members of his body.
31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery-- but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
The picture of marriage here is a relationship where husband and wife submit to one another (v. 21) out of reverence to Christ. The wife respects her husband (v. 33). The husband loves his wife to the point of death (v. 25). There is much more to learn from this verse, but ultimately God’s plan is that husband and wife are blessed as both care for and serve one another.
Many who read this verse, however, miss what God says to us in verse 32. I am talking about Christ and the church. A healthy marriage is a picture of the relationship of Jesus and the Church. And, Jesus’ relationship to the church helps us to see how marriage is supposed to work and can work.
Guess what?! The power and strength to make the marriage between Jesus and the church work is . . . love demonstrated in forgiveness! Forgiveness and love, strengthened through Jesus, bless and strengthen our marriages and our relationships as well.
Thank you, Lord for your forgiving love!
Lord, bless the homes of our congregation and our community with your loving forgiveness!
God’s blessings, Jamie and Philip!!
A Forgiven and Blessed Child of God,
Pastor Jonathan
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.
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SUNDAY SCHOOL HAS STARTED AT ST. JOHN!!!! Opening worship begins at 9:30 a.m. in the church.
Plan now to attend!!!
LWML Health Kits – Lenita Deda and Linda Harm are heading up an effort by our LWML (Lutheran Women’s Missionary League) to collect health kits for distribution with the quilts. These will be collected by LWML Sunday, October 12th and sent to Lutheran World Relief (LWR - the largest social service agency in the world!). The ladies are looking for the following items:
Call Linda at 746-5933 or Lenita at 745-3413 for more information. (Please, LWR is requesting NO toothpaste.)
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT TO KEEP UP TO DATE ON KRISTIN KOPPERUD’S patient and faithful wait on a heart transplant, you can click the following link and find out how she is doing.