​We need to spend time in God’s Word…. Over and over we hear this. Blah, blah blah, yada, yada, yada. But seriously, the best things in life are meant to be experienced firsthand, not secondhand. THE BEST THING of all time – the Word of God – must be experienced and studied and ingested for ourselves.
 
But don't we have this covered? Isn’t this why we pay the preacher, read Christian books that others have written, listen to Christian music that others write and sing, wear Christian jewelry, and put up Christian artwork in our homes? That's all OK to a point, but we can't rely on secondhand spirituality.
    
We need firsthand exposure here. We don't do secondhand with other aspects of life. Vacation - we don't say, vacation is such a hassle with all the planning and packing and traveling. I'm going to send someone else on vacation for me. When he/she returns from Hawaii or Disneyworld or Alaska or fishing in Canada, I'll hear all about it and be spared the inconvenience. Would you do that? Uh, no. Vacations are meant to be a firsthand experience.
 
You don't let someone else chew your food, do you? You don't say, Chewing is such a bother. My jaw gets tired and the variety of tastes is overwhelming. I'll hire someone to chew my food for me and I'll just swallow whatever he/she gives me. Would you do that? No way! There are certain things no one else can do for you, certain things you have to do for yourself.
    
And one of those things/the most important thing is spending time with God and his Word. In doing so, we "set our hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." (Colossians 3:1) Rather than obsess over the treasures of this world, we follow Jesus' command, "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:20,21)
 
Be sure yours is a firsthand faith. Use the Bereans as a guide: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
 
In Christ,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

Death is a bully. So is Satan. These two operate in tandem to fill us with fear and doubt and anxiety…and grief.
 
But we have a Champion who takes the fight to this bully who is always lurking around the corner and breathing over our shoulder – he stomps on him, wrings his neck, puts him in his place. Death lost a few fights during Jesus’ earthly ministry (the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead in Mark 5; the raising of the widow’s son at Nain in Luke 7; the raising of Lazarus in John 11) but then suffered the fatal blow on Easter morning when Jesus himself rose from the dead, the event which caused Paul to literally shout through his pen in 1 Corinthians 15: "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (vv. 54b-57).
 
And he's not done, you know. He'll do it again. He's promised he would. And he's shown that he can. Describing Judgment Day to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote: "The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Th 4:16). Jesus is coming again, and soon, and when he does, he will say what he said to Jairus’ young daughter, "Get up!" and what he said to Lazarus, “Come out!” All the dead will come out of their graves, and to those who died in him, he'll say, "Come home. Come to the reunion of soul and body, to the reunion of God's people at the feast of forever in heaven."
 
Remember the last Christian loved one you laid to rest? To that person so precious to you, so loved, and so missed, the Lord Jesus will say, "Get up! Come home! Soul and body." No more delays, no more waiting, no more regrets, no more "If onlys." Only joy and gladness, made possible by the Word made flesh, by Jesus, our Savior, death's destroyer.
 
May I make a suggestion for all of us for planning our own funerals - whether we're 2 or 92. Let's plan our funerals so that the flow of tears is dried up, rather than increased. And if there must be tears, may they be tears of joy as our loved ones sing Easter hymns and together with Job, confidently shake their fists at this little sleep called death and declare: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27).
 
No regrets. Dry the tears. Focus on God's promises. Whether devils or demons, the forces of nature, disease or death, everything obeys the voice of Jesus. And we too will hear the command of the Master, the voice of our Good Shepherd, "Get up! Welcome home!" Until then, cling to his words, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” (Mark 5:36)
 
In Christ Jesus,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

See the three chairs in the photo? Or, if you like, set up three empty chairs in your home or office right now (no one will think you’re strange, really)…and then keep on reading.
 
Three chairs. The chair in the middle represents our place in the family of God. This is where you and I sit. When you first came to this church, there was a chair for you. Some of you can still remember where you were sitting the first time you came, or when you got a word of encouragement that you needed so badly, or got direction when you were confused. Some of you have been sitting in the same seat for years. No lie. It feels like it's your seat. You get a little offended if somebody else sits in it. That's your seat.
    
Then there's the chair to the left. The chair to the left is a reminder that somebody came before me. Somebody brought me to Jesus. Somebody invited me here, into the family of God. For me, it was my parents, at my baptism when I was very young. You have a story, too. You didn’t find this all out on your own. Someone brought you to Jesus. Someone shared the good news, brought you to church, somehow/someway someone else took Jesus’ command to “Go!” seriously and brought you in by the grace of God.
    
Then there’s the chair on the right. This represents the people yet to come, yet to be brought in. It’s empty, there’s room. There’s always room. Who will go? You and I. To whom will we go?
 
Right now, pull out a picture of somebody in your life. Many of you will have pictures on your cell phone – go ahead, pull that out. Some of you might have pictures in your wallet. Does anybody remember when we used to carry pictures in our wallets? So…go ahead and just pull out a picture right now.
 
Maybe it's one of your kids, or maybe it's a nephew, a niece, a friend, or grandkids. I know you’re tempted right now to tell someone else how your child/grandchild/niece/nephew is cuter and smarter than theirs…but please resist that urge for now. Do it later. You’ve got a picture and that person/those people are precious to you.
 
Here’s the question:  Do you have anyone in your life (your family, that next generation, someone from the place you work, someone from your neighborhood, Facebook friend) whose spiritual well-being you're concerned about? Do you have someone like that? Yes, you do. We all do.  (By the way, you can put your phone away now…unless you’re reading this on your phone.)
 
Consider Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5:14,15: “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
 
Here are Peter and John in Acts 4:20: “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
 
Let’s go, you and me, let’s go with the Gospel to someone who needs Jesus’ forgiveness and life with God. Keep that one person (or people) you identified earlier in your prayers and plans, look for opportunities, and trust that the Spirit will work through God’s Word.
 
God-enabling, let’s fill that chair on the right. Again and again and again.
 
God keep you in his loving care,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

Early Labor Day morning. I saddled up for a lengthy, invigorating bike ride from Boulder Junction to Manitowish Waters. Winds were light, a definite fall-like chill was in the air, and wildlife was abundant. An absolutely gorgeous morning!
 
But other people exist… About halfway through the ride, I encountered a guy on roller blades and ski poles. He was obviously getting ready for the snow that will soon be here – either a cross-country or downhill skiing aficionado.
 
We approached each other from the opposite direction. We first saw one another from a good distance away and were aware of each other. Here’s what usually happens. Both parties drift a bit to their right to make room for both parties to pass by one another. That’s what usually happens.
 
This guy kept to the middle of the paved trail and, with his poles extended horizontally, made no effort to make room. His ski pole hit across my arm and chest. Pretty hard. Thankfully, it wasn’t the point that jabbed me. It was the circular part toward the bottom called the “basket” as well as the shaft. It stung. And I almost fell off my bike. And I yelled things. The things I thought about saying were worse than what I actually said, which included, “Hey! Give me some room, will ya?! Nice!” That last bit was pure sarcasm.
 
So the perfect morning bike ride had become something less than that. About 45 minutes later, we met again. I was returning to Boulder and he was returning to wherever he had come from. Again, we saw each other from a good distance away. This time, he moved to his right and kept his ski poles to himself. No words of apology. I managed to say, “Thanks for the room, buddy.” And yes, there was more than a hint of sarcasm dripping from those words.
 
The struggle to live as a child of God is constant. We must always be on guard against the unholy three of Satan, the world, and our own sinful nature. Even simple interactions such as these are fraught with danger to the soul (and body). Last weekend’s message regarding the full armor of God supplied by God’s 24/7 grace (Ephesians 6:10-20) is still on my mind. We can’t let down our guard. Ever. We’re at war. The stakes are high. It’s winner take all.
 
I can’t get enough of Paul’s encouragement just before he describes the armor of God: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10) What the word actually means is “be strengthened.” It does not say “make yourself strong,” as though we can somehow make it happen – we can’t, spiritually speaking – but he is talking about being strengthened by someone/something else, namely “The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)
 
So, to the Word we go. Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit and lead us to greater faith, hope and love.
 
In Christ,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

Chaos in Kabul. That’s about the most positive spin possible on the situation in Afghanistan.
 
Oh my, Ida! Small, petite, harmless-sounding name. Powerful, punishing, devastating hurricane/tropical storm/all-around misery-generator.
 
Wildfires. The season almost seems perpetual now. Never-ending. The power and destruction of a wall of flames is both awesome and awful. Even where there are no flames, smoke affects millions miles away.
 
For the last 18 months in the U.S., SARS-CoV-2 (better known as COVID-19) has been spooking around. Everything, and I mean everything, around this pandemic has been discussed and argued and disagreed upon every which way.
 
Politics. Local, state, national – disheartening at every level.
 
Social media does more harm than good. Come at me, if you disagree. Just kidding – trying to keep things light.
 
The collective, cumulative impact on life in the midst of this moment in history has been staggering: financially, culturally, spiritually.
 
What in the world is going on? I’m doing it again. You may be doing it as well. Look all around us and inside of ourselves, and there’s not much in the realm of positive. But God’s people look up and away from ourselves and from this earth. God’s people look to our Lord, who knows exactly what’s going on and what he’s doing.
 
     “6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
     9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:6-13  NIV)
 
Lesson #1 – Don’t be surprised by all that is going on. And, don’t be alarmed or afraid.
 
Lesson #2 - “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Jesus in Revelation 1:17b,18  NIV)
 
     “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’
      Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
     The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.” (Revelation 22:20,21)
 
Yes, Lord Jesus, come. And soon.
 
God keep you in his loving care,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand