Trinity Happenings and Pastor Keith's FRIDGENOTES

2013-05-18T21:31:00.000-04:00

SERMON for Confirmation 2013:

Years ago someone once told me: “Pastor everything in my life is changing and the church is the one place that I can come where I know what to expect. Don’t let things change. I have enough change in my life. Please, not the church.”

I think that they left us disappointed.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…

Do you think things were about to change in the lives of the disciples? Yes, they did and then they continue to change and not in small ways, but in amazingly huge, life-altering completely re-defining ways – the one constant always being Jesus.

Just as they have changed at the church I grew up in – just as they have changed here and continue to change here. The Book of Acts from which we read today and from which we will be reading and preaching all summer long shows us a church in a constant state of change. Not change for changes sake, but a church that responded to the leading of a Spirit that refused to let the church just be. It wasn’t enough for the church to stay in Jerusalem – it moved within decades in all directions, across the Mediterranean and into Rome and Spain and eastwards and to the south and north. It wasn’t enough for the church to only welcome Jewish Christians and the Spirit led the mission to welcome those who grew up worshipping pagan gods and so the church became a church of Jews and gentiles. And these changes did not come easily or without conflict.

Any church in which the Holy Spirit is an active participant better get ready for change. And not just any change – we’re not talking about eliminating the age for first communion or killing Sunday school or changing out wafers for bread or swapping out hymnals for bulletins – or singing hymns written by people who are still alive rather than living in the 16^th century, though all of those things and more stirred up some trouble in their day, here and elsewhere. Such things hardly count as a warm up for the Holy Spirit. Really. Listen: When the Holy Spirit is involved we better buckle our seat belts because the Holy Spirit flat-out does not respect a congregation’s self-declared speed limits or traffic signals – heck, the holy Spirit would likely challenge the definition of “road” that most congregations set for themselves and make its own way – a road in the wilderness – a way for the Lord and not for our comfort, our familiarity. It drives wherever, whenever, and however it wants and it invites the congregation in faith to follow.

How do we know if something we are doing is the work of the Holy Spirit? Because God blesses it: Lives are changed. Lives are transformed. The Gospel is proclaimed and lives and breathes and is embodied in ways that follow in the footsteps of Jesus and his teachings. How do we know if something we are doing is of the Spirit? Because when you look back on it, you realize upon reflection that every life for which we embodied the love of Jesus, we now see Jesus looking back at us.

And following the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness quite frankly should excite the bejeezus out of us because whatever the Spirit is doing is about God and God’s Kingdom: Kingdom work – holy and righteous and true. Look, who seriously doesn’t want to be a part of that? Coming to worship is a part of that – but as compared to all the Holy Spirit is about in and through the lives of Christians like you and me - being church is about the whole of our lives – it is a way of being and living in the world. What happens is falling prey to the temptation of living in the past where the Holy Spirit was at some point in history, but the Spirit has moved on and keeps calling out, calling people forward.

Folks, listen again to a bit of today’s reading: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…

Those disciples did not witness the Holy Spirit as spectators - they received the Holy Spirit and their lives were never the same again. How could they be? The Holy Spirit changes things – relentlessly refuses to let them be as they were. The Holy Spirit is like the ultimate Extreme Makeover for us and for our lives. Takes us as we are and goes about the deep and faithful work of re-making us into the image of Christ so we can embody Christ in the world.

Luke, Alexis, and Le-Ann – we are not asking you and your generation to keep the church as it was or to preserve it as it is is – but to help us as the Holy Spirit gives you ability to become the church that we need to be as faithful followers of Jesus.

Look, the Holy Spirit does not toy with the children of God, it relentlessly refuses to let us be. When we find within ourselves the tension of what we want and what we need, of what the church was and what it must become that’s when we know that the Spirit is truly at work in us and we are taking that work seriously.

Let me say that again:

When we find within ourselves the tension of what we want and what we need, of what the church was and what it must become that’s when we know that the Spirit is truly at work in us and we are taking that work seriously.

Amen!

2013-05-18T16:06:00.003-04:00

first published at www.livinglutheran.com

The Holy Spirit

Older now,

more cognizant of breath,

and steps, and achy knees and all their kin,

Of death.

Yes, of death.

And in the mirror I see from time to time,

dimly, a stranger’s eyes

and squinting, turning from side to side,

through the haze of eye drops melting away

into longing,

longing for flames dancing,

an unexpected wind, the rustle of wings,

a day unfolding into something more:

deeper roots,

trunk and branches full-leafed

stretching into skies ablaze with

all the colors of creation,

casting out the grey

that proudly hides the lines,

a soft man’s scars, earned for little cost,

the labor of years, well and good.

Older now and seeking,

burdened by the tension of belief and unbelief,

the years undoing every thread,

it seems;

a journey for companions,

who speak of words

gathered into stories

carried in sacred procession,

all glory, all hope therein,

and there the stories dwell waiting,

waiting, for the full weight of each syllable

given life,

until its echo at last refuses to fade

to then reveal the impossible richness of their meaning;

O Holy Spirit, enter in!

We tread here

as one at the border

of the thing itself, transfixed:

One seeking

but a moment within the deeper mystery:

eager lips that kiss The Blood of Christ,

to recall the breath of life that birthed us,

humility the ground of our being,

everything, all knowledge, carried away,

we weeping for the Spirit

to recall to us the One who calls to us,

weeping that it might

lift our eyes beyond the limits of our own reflection,

O Holy Spirit, enter in!

2013-05-15T20:26:00.003-04:00

[From Pastor Keith's The Living Gospel BLOG at http://thelivinggospel.blogspot.com]

Long Key Nature Area, Davie, Florida, May 9, 2013

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
Matthew 18:20

Our faith is a faith that lives and breathes in community.
When we emphasize a private faith and our personal relationship with God, we run the continual risk of diminishing Christianity's call to experience our faith among and with others.
Keeping rather than resolving the tension between a personal and communal faith is the reality in which we should live in order to encounter the full wonder that is the body of Christ of which we are all an equal part.

God among and with us,
You gather us together as a shepherd gathers the sheep.
Let us never grow weary of being a community that lives for you
by living with and for one another .
In Jesus Name. Amen.

2013-05-15T08:29:00.003-04:00

Kristin Berkey-Abbott and Pastor Keith have new postings up at www.livinglutheran.com

Kristin
http://www.livinglutheran.com/blog/2013/04/resolve-to-retreat.html

Pastor Keith
http://www.livinglutheran.com/blog/2013/05/the-holy-spirit.html

2013-05-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

INTERNATIONAL POTLUCK
Just a friendly reminder that our International Potluck is ONLY ONE WEEK AWAY. If you'd like to contribute a dish representing your COUNTRY OR STATE please leave a comment or send a message to vdvega@bellsouth.net by WED. MAY 15 !!! THANK YOU SO MUCH

2013-05-12T23:00:00.004-04:00

Remember:
May 23rd Budget Presentation 7PM
June 2nd Semi-Annual Congregational meeting during worship to vote on the 2013-2014 Budget

2013-05-12T22:57:00.002-04:00

Baccalaureate Service
Have you submitted the name, school, and degree (if applicable) for your high school or college grad for Trinity's upcoming Baccalaureate Service June 9th at 11AM? Have you invited them to join us for special prayers and blessings during the service?

2013-05-12T22:48:00.004-04:00

Pastor Keith will be leading the monthly Bible Study at Crispers (University and Stirling road in the Target shopping center) this Friday May 17th at 7PM - please join us!

2013-04-29T12:08:00.002-04:00

So Rich Melheim's awesome little new book "Holding Your Family Together" launches tomorrow. We had the blessing and joy of having Rich with us just a week ago both in our home and at Trintiy Lutheran and it was an amazing time. For the past... year our congregation has been using much of Rich's livelong creative work as the cornerstone of our audacious "Worship Together" Cross+generational worship service. Trsut me - it rocks! Please consider doing one of the following

1. SHARE the link below on to your Facebook/Twitter page with a nice word about it "Here's a fun and practical Mother's Day Gift/Father's Day Gift/Gift for a new family/gift for a family seeking to more strongly bind themselves in love and faith from this amazing guy and friend Rich Melheim...take a look!"

2. BLOG a line or two about it on your blog.

3. POST a review of the book on Amazon by Friday. (This week is the week that matters to get this awesome book moving and on people's radar screens.)

4. CONSIDER purchasing the book for yourself and a friend! $11 and change on Amazon for a copy - a great investment for a stronger family faith!

The reality of a book release is like the reality of a movie release. Everything hinges on how the book does the first week. Enjoy it and Blessings!

http://www.amazon.com/Holding-Your-Family-Together-Simple/dp/0830766316

2013-04-23T20:27:00.002-04:00

PASTOR KEITH'S PHOTO
AND BIBLE VERSES
Pastor Keith is archiving past photo/Bible verses and adding new ones at his new BLOG designed just for them. Folks have been asking for a one-stop place to see them all. Give him some time - about half a dozen there now and counting. You can put in your email address at the end of the BLOG and the Google-owned Feedburner will mail you daily updates.
http://thelivinggospel.blogspot.com

2013-04-20T00:14:00.003-04:00

AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH SERVICE
Sunday we take time to enter into Autism Awareness Month through our text "Let the Little Children come to me and do not hinder them...." and at 11AM in music through a solo written by Susan Werner and sung by Tina Hines with Piper on Bass and Barbara on piano "My Different Son." And we will have special prayers and hear a reflection about a parent's experience in raising an autistic child. pease join us and invite your friends!

2013-04-17T12:35:00.001-04:00

THE ROAD TO EMMAUS: SEEING JESUS

WE ASKED THE "WORSHIP TOGETHER" FOLKS TO VENTURE AROUND THE HALL AND GARDENS TO FIND THINGS THAT REMINDED THEM OF JESUS. THESE PHOTOS ARE THE RESULTS OF ONE LITTLE GIRL'S EXPERIENCE OF FINDING JESUS. THANKS NATALIA!

2013-04-17T12:28:00.001-04:00

Pastor Keith's most recent reflection is up at on the ELCA's Living Lutheran site www.livinglutheran.com.

We are blessed to have two people chosen for publication there. Kristin-Berkey-Abbott's wonderful spiritual reflectons reguarly may be found there as well as in The Lutheran Magazine and Seeds for the Parsish, a resourse newsletter that is mailed out to thousands of church leaders. Way to go Kristin!

GEARING DOWN FROM EASTER

For ashes, dust and earth,
for Sunday after Sunday,
draped in purple and thorn,
faces set toward Jerusalem,
for Three Great Days, and the Greatest of Days,
we poured out.
We poured out
as if without care, caring,
we as water
from mountainsides flowing, endless,
the very best of who we are,
the passion that fires our imaginations,
hours sacrificed, our Lenten disciplines and all that
and more.
And more than dirty feet, one last meal,
the cross barren, pancakes and lilies,
and pretty music abounding
across seas of fragrant hyacinths and
hardy daffodils,
and children eager,
baskets full of colored eggs,
we poured ourselves out.
Listen, does our mind hear still
the bells ring and chime
and all those alleluias,
dormant no more, shaking dust from rafters
seeking egress to dance in festive splendor:
He is risen! He is risen!
All now memory,
a yesterday, boxed and put away,
near the white lights and tinsel,
a headline, a short paragraph of thanks, a photo or two.
Strip the bulletin boards, change the paraments,
the altar, a spare lily or two limping for another Sunday sitting there, sad.
We are ready to sit a spell ourselves, put up our feet,
simplicity the rule of the day, catch our breath,
just breathe. We did our part.
And yet,
have we sacrificed in vain,
the good show, the happy faces,
the counters happy counting, money, bodies, sausage sold
with pancake platters?
To what end have we told the story,
our story,
we, knit within its hope
in our own baptismal waters?
Do we dare leave Easter, unchanged,
without the discomfort that comfort brings, hope embodying hope,
drawing us out into a world expectant and we expected
to embody what we heard, what we know, what we believe,
who we are?
Do we dare?

2013-04-16T15:02:00.000-04:00

RICH MELHEIM VISIT
AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE FOR ALL!

Rich made it to Boston on Monday - and is fine. He checked in with us later in the day.

He shared the following about his experience with Trinity with a number of pastors online on Monday:

I'm learning a little every day. Sunday [at Trinity Lutheran, Pembroke Pines]

I learned that 5 year olds can teach their own parents about God in beautiful and articulate ways if you put them in the same space and set a system in place where you ask THEM to relate common things to God.

I'm also learning that worship and Sunday school can be blended into one cross+generational experience that parents, children and surrogate adopted adults and elders can enjoy together.

I'm also learning in more and more profound ways that churches who try to do television-era worship ("I put on a good show and hope you sit and watch/listen) in an internet-era world will be playing an increasingly frustrating game.

If you have 3 worship services right now, might you consider tithing one of them to the generation that is, not the generation that was?

If you have 2 worship services and a competing Sunday school, might you consider canceling the Sunday school and blending elements of cross+gen worship into one of the two time frames?

And whether you can get away with killing Sunday school before it kills the church or not, might you consider preaching on the same story you are teaching, and calling parents and kids together to engage in nightly faith encounters?

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO TURNED OUT FOR THE AFTERNOON WORKSHOP AND EVENING "COMEDY HOUR" and THANK YOU TO THE "WORSHIP TOGETHER" PARENTS, CHILDREN, YOUTH, SINGLES, COUPLES, AND GRANDPARENTS AT TRINITY WHO HAVE TAKEN AN IDEA AND USED IT TO TRANSFORM THE WAY THAT FAITH IS SHARED AND ENCOURAGED!

I REMAIN IN AWE AND HUMBLED AS YOUR PASTOR AT WHAT GOD IS DOING IN OUR MIDST!

Ever in Christ
Pastor Keith

2013-04-07T20:50:00.003-04:00

EASTER MORNING 2013
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH,
PEMBROKE PINES!

2013-04-06T18:47:00.004-04:00

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
VOLUNTEERS MEETING
SUNDAY APRIL 7th 12:15 PM
CHARTER HALL

2013-04-05T13:23:00.001-04:00

FROM THE DESK OF PASTOR KEITH

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Lent, Holy Week, Easter - what a blessing to share among ourselvess and with the many visitors who either came or were invited by your thoughtfulness!

In a flurry of spring maintenance we are acccomplishing a number of things - some small, some not so small - some should have been done long ago but never got on the radar so to speak - like fixing the front door to the sanctuary so that it stays open without the need for a door stop (that seem to wear out every other month). The Air Conditioners have been all checked out to ready them for the coming hot and wet season. Mowers have been fixed. Charter Hall is having rust corrosion removed from its outside walls, which have been primed and are in the process of being painted. The side walks have been pressure cleaned by John Walker. We have contracted for rust removal from the buildings and a rust prevention system installed to protect the sancuary in order to keep its outside appearance both up to code and appealing. The gardens have been receiving a much needed spring refresh and soon a quiet bench will be placed within the main section for those who desire a pace to sit and reflect. We are receiving estimates to fill the potholes in the parking lots before the rainy season adds to their deterioration.

The largest of the projects, the repair of the Charter Hall roof leaks and replacement of the rotted wood fascia unfortunately just got more complicated and more expensive. Over the years and hidden from view, the leaks and the now gone termites who delighted in the damp wood of the sub-fascia (the wood behind the white fascia boards along the edge of the roof) severely damaged the sub-fascia. This was discovered when repairs commenced this past week and caused the repairs to go on hold while alternative plans are contemplated. This damage must be removed and replaced prior to any roof repairs continuing because the sub-fascia helps to hold the overhang in place. An updated cost for the repairs is in process and we will share this information as soon as it is available in a letter and special offering envelope. Meanwhile, we are placing "Charter Hall Roof Repair" envelopes in bulletins. Until repairs are completed, please refrain from using the southwest corner door (by the piano) of Charter Hall.

In accordance with our desire to provide more and more timely information, I intend to use "From the Desk" as a weekly column and I also invite you on behalf of the Trinity Congregational Council to attend the new Meal and Ministry events. On Meal and Ministry nights (once every other month) all are invited to share a potluck meal in Charter Hall and with Trinity's various ministries offered the opportunity to share updates during the meal including the Council, and with the option of ministries meeting after the meal for whatever they might like to accomplish. For example, Council will be holding its meeting after these meals. The frist of these Meal and Ministry Events wil take place on Tuesday May 7th at 6:30PM. All Welcome! Please RSVP on your worship slip.

Ever in Christ,

Pastor Keith

Trinity's 2013 Council:

President Kristin Berkey-Abbott

Vice President Ron McCoy

Secretary Earline LaCroix

Treasurer Carl Berkey-Abbott

Richie Cannezzaro Denise Payne Tina Hines Alex Berger Pastor Keith

Eileen Manella Reed Talbert Kayla Frey

Associate Treasurer Marilyn Cannezzaro

Financial Secretary Dottie Cerrone

2013-04-04T13:23:00.003-04:00

Comedian, international speaker and family
counselor Dr. Rich Melheim, author of the new book
“Holding Your Family Together” will be is coming to:

Trinity Lutheran Church
7150 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines FL
... April 14, 2013

to lead an afternoon of family systems
strategy for church leaders and offer an evening of
comedy mixed with practical parenting for families.

1 - 5 PM FAITH5™ Church Team Training
Join Dr. Rich Melheim and his hosts from Trinity Church, for an afternoon of exploring how to transform your church one family at a time. In four hours Rich will give you step-by-step strategies to involve parents in family ministry from cradle to graduation. “We’re looking for people with a passion for redesigning family ministry into families DOING
ministry,” says Rich. “Every week in every church and every night in every home.”

Afternoon workshop...
1:00 FAITH 5: Rethinking Family Ministry as Families DOING Ministry Every Night in Every Home
2:30 Parenting, Family Development with Fun and Flair
3:00 Children’s Ministry with Parents at the Core Every Night
3:30 Youth Ministry as Youth Doing Ministry Every Night
4:00 Creating Cross+Gen Family Worship with the Arts
(What might a worship service look like if families were equipped at church through and immersion in the arts for their nightly engagement with the text and one another? Bring a team and experience what might be your next model for worship!)
4:45 Getting Started: A plan to get going with every night ministry

Free Evening Family Activity...
6:30 PM Holding Your Family Together Comedy Event (Free for all!) All parents AND kids in town are invited to this fun family event. It’ll be 1/2 stand-up comedy, 12% practical parenting advice, 3/4 sneaky parent recruitment and 100% just plain fun or your money back. (Oh yeah. It’s free.) In the end, the majority of families in the room will commit to investing a few minutes every night for the next six weeks in these simple family faith encounters. (PS: Bring a pillow for the pillow fight following the event and learn about the neurology, psychology, sociology and theology of combining exercise and fun with FAITH5 for maximum results. Seriously! Bring a pillow!)

Register online for the afternoon seminar and download free
information from the book at www.faith5.org.

Dr. Rich Melheim is an author, cartoonist, speaker, log cabin
builder, educational systems designer, record producer, amateur
neurology junkie & consultant on creating non-profits with forprofit
subsidiaries. Rich had counseled parents on family issues on CNN, WNBC, KTLA, WGN, and 50 network news shows in between.
Rich holds a BA in Journalism, and MDIV in Theology and a
Doctorate in Semiotics and Future Studies. He new book,
“Holding Your Family Together” is due out this month from Regal
Publishing, and available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and
other quality stores near you.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++.

We will have pizza for you at 6ish if you are hanging around or come early to the evening event! ++++++++++++++++

There are two seperate events - the 4 hour afternoon training event and the 2 hour evening family comedy event. Pastor Keith needs to register attendeees for the afternoon team training event - Christian Ed will pick up the cost - and the evening family event is free. But we need to know ASAP which event(s) you plan on attending

Meditation on This Sunday's Narrative Lectionary

2013-04-03T04:00:00.000-04:00

by Kristin Berkey-Abbott

The readings for Sunday, April 7, 2013:

Luke 24:13-35

optional reading: Psalm 30 or 30:11

Today we read of the sojourners on their way to Emmaus. This story gives us an important window into the lives we are to have as Christians, particularly when it comes to the sharing of a meal, and our basic obligations when it comes to hospitality.

That hospitality is the often overlooked side of the Emmaus story. The travelers have walked seven miles together. For those of you who are wondering, that might take the modern walker, walking at a fast clip, a bit over two hours; in Biblical times, with unpaved roads with poorly shod feet, I'm estimating it would take half a day.

When they get back to their house, they don't say to Jesus, "Well, good luck on your journey."

No--they invite him inside. What remarkable hospitality. They share what they have. They don't say, "Well, I can't let you see my house in its current state--let's go out to dinner." No, they notice that the day is nearly done, and they invite a stranger in to stay the night.

Those of you who have read your Bible will recognize a motif. God often appears as a stranger, and good things come to those who invite a stranger in. For those of you who protest that modern life is so much more dangerous than in Biblical times, and so it was safer for people like Abraham and the Emmaus couple to invite the stranger to stay, I'd have to disagree.

We are called to model the same behavior. Jesus calls us to a Eucharistic life, which requires a major readjustment of our mindset around the issues of food, drink, time, and hospitality.

One thing we can do in our individual lives is to adopt a Eucharistic mindset. Never has this been more vital. Most people have ceased cooking for themselves, and many Americans are eating at least one meal a day while they drive.

Rebel against this trait. Look for ways to make meals special. Cook for yourself, even if it's something special. Invite your friends and loved ones to dinner. Occasionally, invite a stranger.

But it's about more than dinner, more than hospitality, of course. Without that hospitality, those strangers never would have known their fellow traveler. It is through the meal that the Emmaus Road sojourners realize who has been walking beside them.

What miracles might come into our lives when we open them to the ancient practice of hospitality?

2013-04-01T23:35:00.001-04:00

FOR JUSTICE!

Come out to the April 9^th Commission Meeting to Support BOLD Justice’s Work to address Unemployment in Broward County!

On March 18^th, BOLD Justice, of which Trinity Lutheran’s Justice Ministry is both a partner and full participant had their 6^th annual Nehemiah Action Assembly. The Justice Ministry has been working throughout the year to address the issues of low elementary reading scores and high unemployment in Broward County. Nine County Commissioners were invited to the Assembly for the purpose of asking them to support a county-wide jobs ordinance which would increase job opportunities for Broward County residents who have been out of work for over 6 months and who have other barriers to unemployment. Three out of the nine commissioners attended and all committed to support such an ordinance.

To address the six additional commissioners who chose not to attend, BOLD Justice participants will be attending the April 9^th Regular Commission meeting in order to drop off petitions that were signed at the Nehemiah Action Assembly. Details for this meeting are listed below. BOLD Justice would like to have as many people as possible there to show our commissioners that we are disappointed that they were unable to attend. So, even if you were unable to make the Nehemiah Action, and you are available during the daytime, please come out to support our Justice Ministry in this very important issue!

Date: Tuesday, April 9^th, 2013

Time: 9:30am – Meet in the Lobby

Location: Broward County Government Center, 115 Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale, 33301

2013-04-01T17:47:00.003-04:00

[From Trinity Member, and Forest and Elaine Fritz's daughter, Christine Leon-Laurent]
Hello friends and family..
As you may or may not know, in the past I have been a Guardian ad Litem, which is an advocate in the court system for victims of child abuse and neglect. Now I am involved with this great non profit organization LiFE Abundantly. The mission of Living in Freedom and Empowerment (LiFE) is to empower individuals (women, men, teens and children) to live lives free of abuse, disrespect and unhealthy relationship patterns, achieving this through education, intervention, resources and community collaboration. I wanted to be able to contribute to the people they are working with but I am not a therapist, I will leave that to them. I saw the best way I could contribute is by raising funds. I am inviting everyone to participate in a 5k run that I am organizing on April 6th at Markham Park. All proceeds will help provide counseling & services for victims of child abuse.

Please help me help support this great cause... register today!!!!!
you can register through our website or through Active.com

http://www.lifeabundantlyfree.org/walk.php

http://www.active.com/running/sunrise-fl/race-to-erase-child-abuse-and-neglect-5k-run-2013

2013-03-30T17:53:00.003-04:00

EASTER SUNDAY
MAR 31st at Trinity Lutheran Church, Pembroke Pines, FL

6:30AM Outdoor Sunrise Candlelight Service
- w/ Holy Communion (In the Butterfly Garden)

7:30AM to 10AM Easter Morning Breakfast
- $3.50 per person/max $12 per family

9:30AM Family Service with Communion
- A Family Friendly, highly interactive, Cross-Generational service in which together we will tell the greatest story ever!

10:45AM Children’s Easter Egg Hunt
- Meet in front of Charter Hall

11AM Easter Cantata Service with Holy Communion
- a festive Easter service featuring the Trinity Worship Choir, Trinity Hand Chimes, a sermon by Pastor Keith, the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus, and more

2013-03-28T17:23:00.003-04:00

MAUNDY THURSDAY POETIC REFLECTION
for Holy Week
by Pastor Keith
http://youtu.be/bJLKd-M1_WM

Meditation for Easter Sunday

2013-03-27T08:52:00.002-04:00

by Kristin Berkey-Abbott

The Narrative Lectionary readings for Sunday, March 31, 2013:

Luke 24:1-16

Optional reading: Psalm 118:17, 21-24 or 118:22

Our Lenten journey comes to an end with our arrival at Easter. But what do we do if our mood has not caught up? How do we celebrate Easter when we still have the taste of ashes in our mouth?

You may find the words of the men in the glowing clothes resonating: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Maybe you feel somewhat tomb-bound yourself. Maybe you’ve resisted, but you still find yourself having a morose March, full of melancholy, a spring of sadness instead of new growth. You see the snow falling across the country, winter invading a new season, and you can relate.

It’s good to remember that the miracle of Easter involves actions done to Jesus, that old definition of passion.

Part of my Lenten discipline has been to read my way through Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent by Henri J. M. Nouwen, and he has this interesting discussion of the passion of Christ and its relevance for us: “It is important for me to realize that Jesus fulfills his mission not by what he does, but by what is done to him. Just as with everyone else, most of my life is determined by what is done to me and thus is passion. And because most of my life is passion, things being done to me, only small parts of my life are determined by what I think, say, or do. I am inclined to protest against this and to want all to be action, originated by me. But the truth is that my passion is a much greater part of my life than my action” (p. 125, originally part of The Road to Daybreak).

If resurrection can come out of passion, then maybe I can shift my attitude towards the passions that I suffer. God can take something most horrific and turn it into redemption. And happily, my moroseness is not caused by anything horrible.

In some ways, that’s what makes melancholy difficult. It’s easy to understand why I feel Ash Wednesday intruding on my Easter during years when I’ve watched loved ones struggle with disease, in years when hurricanes have ravaged the landscape, in years of job loss. It’s harder to understand my emotional landscape when I can’t point to much that’s specific that’s making me blue.

If we've heard the Easter story and the Holy Week stories again and again, we tend to forget the miraculous nature of them. Or maybe we’re just subdued, too shy or scared to run out of our gardens to tell everyone else what we've seen, what we know.

Now is a good time to remember the promise of Easter: death will not have the final word. Even if we’re feeling beaten down by sorrow, like the women who came to the tomb to dress the body, we have the promise given to them too. We are not the dead. We will not live forever in the tomb.

Remember we are a Resurrection People. Commit yourself to new life. Celebrate the miracles.

2013-03-26T14:48:00.003-04:00

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
VOLUNTEERS MEETING

SUN APRIL 7th at 12:16PM
ALL OF THOSE INTERESTING IN VOLUNTEERING FOR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL IN ANY CAPACITY ARE INVITED TO PLEASE ATTEND. There will be an opportunity to sign up for the various openings and review the cool stuff already in the works for VBS.
Director is Tina Hines.
Vacation Bible School will take place at Trinity Lutheran, Monday June 24th through Friday June 28th in the evenings