Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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I remember back from when I was a Boy Scout how our Scoutmaster would close each Troop meeting with a “Scoutmaster’s Minute.” It was a short, devotional reading about character and citizenship. One particular Scoutmaster’s Minute as always stuck with me. It was about a father who asked his son if he would build him a house. The son agreed that he would do it. The father expressed his wish that it be a fine house, built to last with the best building materials available. And with that, he gave the son a check upfront, for the full amount of all expenses including his labor. And so the son went to work building his father’s house. Being a shrewd man however, he knew how to cut corners where his father would never notice. Instead of studs 18” on center he put them 24” on center. Instead of 30” of insulation in the attic he used 24”. A few mistakes were made but rather than fix them properly, they were covered up. And when the house was finished, there was a lot of money left over that the son simply kept for himself. The big day arrived and the son told his father the house was finished. The father marveled at the job the son had done. Then, as the son held out the keys to the front door to give to his father, the father said, “no son, this is your house. I wanted you to build it with my money the way you would want it to be built for me knowing that if you were to build it for yourself, you’d probably be tempted to cut corners to save money.” (more…)

I. Abide in my love. A. Stay Put Where I Put You Let’s get something straight right from the start. Jesus says, “abide in my love.” He doesn’t say “come and abide in my love,” or “choose to abide in my love,” or “I’m inviting you to abide in my love.” He says, “abide in my love.”

The force of His words exclude every thought that there was a noble motive in us that knew a good thing when we saw it and so climbed on-board the “good ship Jesus”. After all – what fool wouldn’t. You and I wouldn’t, that’s who. We’re the ones John was referring to when he said, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11). And of whom Jesus was speaking when He said, “The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20).

“You did not choose me, but I chose you…” “I chose you from all eternity before you were conceived. I called you by name before you were born. I put you in my love at your baptism. Now stay put where I put you.” “Abide in my love.” This is not a threat. It’s the lover’s appeal to His beloved. (more…)

I must say that I really hate it when Hallmark and Hollywood set the topic for discussion in the Church. It really should be the other way around. I must also say that I find it awkward to be in the position of endorsing certain movies one year (“Luther,” “The Passion of Christ”) and renouncing certain movies the next (“The Last Temptation of Christ,” “The DaVinci Code”). I sometimes wonder if in their plans for promoting their movies, the really clever producers don’t figure out ways of stirring up the religious crowd to guarantee a certain amount of publicity from the clergy on Sunday mornings. And yet, with that said, here I am devoting a whole page of the Newsletter and an inordinate amount of time writing about “The DaVinci Code.”

I haven’t read the book but I did go see the movie. My guess is, the book must have been better than the movie. It wasn’t a very thrilling thriller and the controversial issues were so bizarre as to be ridiculous. The trouble of course is, some people will believe anything. I’ve read that the author told ABC News that he did believe this to be true and if asked to write a non-fiction account he wouldn’t change a thing. A claim he repeated on Good Morning America. (more…)

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I’d like to begin by briefly introducing the two men who appear in our text today – Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.

First, Philip, since we have a bit more of his biography than of the Ethiopian. First of all, this is not the Philip who was the disciple of Jesus. We don’t meet this Philip until the book of Acts. Philip was certainly a Christian. We know that he heard the gospel – the word of God – because that’s the only way anyone comes to faith and confesses Christ to be Lord. No one says Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace – word preached, sacraments administered. But we’re not told how, when or where this happened. He may have been one of those 3,000 who were baptized in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit blew into town and the Apostles spoke their multilingual witness to Jesus. Or, he may have been one of those 5,000 men who came to faith during the dramatic cure that Peter and John laid on the lame beggar at the temple. Or he may have come to faith through the witness of one of the 3,000 or 5,000. Who knows. His name first appears on the scene in Acts 6 where he is appointed, along with a man named Stephen and five others to be deacons and oversee the daily distribution of food to the widows.
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Dear Friend,

Welcome to our web-site.

We are the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, located in Waterville, Maine at 36 Cool St.

Our hope is that this we might introduce ourselves to you through the page and posts you’ll find here. By way of introduction, we are a member congregation of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. We believe, teach and confess that Jesus is the Son of God who has purchased and won forgiveness of sins, life and salvation by His precious blood shed for all mankind on the cross. God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world for precisely this purpose. The Holy Spirit enlightens us by the hearing of the Word as recorded in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Scriptures and brings us to faith through the hearing of the Word. We believe that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and by faith alone – not by works. We grow in faith through the hearing of the Word and the reception of the Word in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Please feel free to browse the sermons which are available in print, streaming audio and MP3 formats. We invite you to sign up for our weekly “Worship This Sunday” post which prepares us for the upcoming Sunday’s worship service. Also, please consider subscribing to our “Cross-Talk Audio CD Program".

Please feel free to contact us. And if you’re ever in the area, by all means come and visit.

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I suspect that most all of the conflicts and battles of life boil down to issues of control. Republicans want to keep control of the congress and Democrats want to gain control. Israelis want to control Palestinians and Palestinians resist. Sunnis and Shiites fight for control of Iraq. Americans want to control illegal immigration.

Parents want to have control over their children and once they reach a certain age, and a very early one at that, children begin to resist their parent’s control over them. Husbands want to control their wives – something you’d think that by this point in human history, men would have learned, is not possible. Wives want to control their husbands, and they know just how to do it too. And all of us would like to have at least some control over our health, our time and the price of oil.

This struggle for control takes its toll on us. (more…)

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Life can be pretty unfair sometimes. Peter and John were on their way to the Temple for afternoon prayer. There was a man seated on the ground right by the entrance. He was positioned in such a way that you just couldn’t miss him – although lots of people acted like they just didn’t see him. He was lame. Paralyzed in the feet and ankles. He was begging for alms. He held out his hand to Peter and John as they went by.

Like I said, Peter and John had simply come to the Temple for afternoon prayer. They had their list of things they had to do afterward. Get some dinner. Prepare the nets for the evening fishing expedition. It wasn’t like they had nothing else to do. I’m ashamed to think of how often I pretend I don’t see my neighbor in need because I’ve got a ‘to-do’ list that’s more important.
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