Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains in righteousness.  He sends you abundant showers, as before, both autumn and spring rains.  The threshing floor will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
​                                                                                                                            - Joel 2:23-24
 
   According to my outdoor thermometer, it dropped down to 47 degrees last night, and my tomatoes were not happy.  When I let the dogs out at 7 AM, I could see my breath.  I expect this to happen in September sometime, just not as early as it happened this year.  My walnut tree is already turning yellow and losing leaves and for the first time since April, I had to grab a jacket when I left the house.  This can mean only one thing; Fall has fallen upon us.
    It’s definitely a time for the changing of the seasons, even if Covid-19 is still present and active and the official start of Fall (autumnal equinox) is still a week away on Sept. 22.  Monday night Football has begun (as have Sunday and Thursday games - go Patriots!).  Baseball is winding down and getting into playoff mode, even though the season was delayed due to Covid.  School has started again, though in hybrid, online, and / or in person modes.  Beach-going is over for the year and summer vacations are done.  While we may miss summer and all its activities and joys, we rejoice in the coming of the autumn season.
    Back in Joel’s day there was a rejoicing at the coming of autumn as well.  After a long and dry summer, the rainy season would begin.  Crops would swell and the grapes ripen for pressing into wine.  Last year’s spring calves and lambs would now be at “market weight” and provide fats and proteins for the coming long dark and cold of winter.  It was a time when wheat sown in the spring would be harvested and ground into flour to give us our daily bread.  There is an abundance to autumn that just doesn’t happen in any other season of the year.  In our time and place, we may look forward to “pumpkin spice” ____ (well, everything seems to be pumpkin spice now) as well as apple picking, pumpkin picking, fall mums and other late blooming flowers, hayrides, bonfires, and the distinctively fall smell to the air.
    It is a change of season for the Church as well.  We entered Pentecost just before the start of summer and will remain in the season until November 29 when a new Church year begins.  So while we may not change the altar paraments to a new color, the texts and themes of our weekly readings have undergone a change of focus.  For the next several weeks, we have a prelude of the coming end times as many of the parables and miracle accounts speak of “…so it will be when the Son of Man comes in His glory….”  As we enter into October the theme shifts to one of harvests and reaping a harvest of souls for Christ or bearing fruit of the Kingdom of heaven.  In November, as we count down the last few weeks of the Church year, we get to the specifics of Christ’s second coming in glory to judge both the quick and the dead.  Liturgically it’s still Pentecost, but there is a definite change of seasons as well.
    It is a time of transition in our organizational life as well.  Until Reformation Day (Oct. 25) and probably for some time after that, we will be sharing our pastor with Our Savior, Stanhope.  Soon it will be time to look to 2021 and start setting our ministry goals and what resources we’ll need to meet those goals (aka budget).  After many seasons of warnings about declining worship attendance, participation in the “nuts & bolts” of running the church as an institution (officers, programs, etc), reduced giving, and other reductions, it is certain that we cannot enter 2021 with the same mindset and organization we did for 2018.  What 2021 will look like, we don’t know yet.  It will certainly be different than 2011 as we are no longer the congregation we were ten years ago.  Fall is when this transition begins to take place
    But even though much may change, there are some things that will remain the same or at least very similar. The sun may rise later and set earlier each day throughout autumn, but it still rises in the east and sets in the west each day.  The days may be mild (instead of brutally hot) and the nights get chilly - but this happens every autumn and is not unexpected.  Our service time may have changed from 10:00 to 10:45 to allow pastor to preach at Stanhope at 9:00, but we still hear God’s Word in its fullness, truth, and purity each week and get to receive the Sacrament administered according to Christ's institution each week.  Add to this all the Covid-19 protocols and we see many things changing, yet remaining familiar.
    C. S. Lewis calls this “the Law of Undulation”.  In both Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters, he highlights this fundamental law of how God works with us.  Every season is different, yet always the same.  Fall may or may not start on the equinox, but it always has certain things that typify Fall.  In November we’ll have new (maybe) political leaders, but we’ll still have our three branches of government.  Worship changes every week - different hymns, readings, sermons, prayers - but it is always the same - Invocation, God’s Word, our response, the Lord’s Supper, blessing.  This Law of Undulation is universal throughout our world, sacred and secular.  Thus one may say, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  We’ll look more at this Law of Undulation in our weekly Table Talk on September 23 on Zoom - I hope you’ll join us for it.
    In the meantime, pull out your sweaters and pack away your shorts, rake leaves, go for a drive through the beautiful Fall scenery as the leaves show God’s creative wonders.  Some things may change, but God’s love for us endures forever.  Amen.

                                                                                      Pastor Brian

    Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may honor Your name.   - Psalm 86:11 

    When did your education come to an end?  High school?  College?  On the job training?  When did you stop learning?  This can be very difficult to answer as our world is always changing and we’re always learning new things.  Formal, institutional instruction may end with a degree, but that doesn’t mean the learning has stopped.  I consider it a wasted day if I haven’t picked up at least one piece of information I didn’t know before.  Granted, some may say that I’m a walking compendium of useless information (like how many stomachs a sheep has and the names of all 4 of them), but our learning is never supposed to come to an end.
    The last couple of weeks we looked at the upcoming school year and colleges reopening in the midst of Covid-19.  Last week we looked at how our preschool provides more than just a basic education to the children and families we serve. Today I’d like to explore why we still need to keep learning even as adults.  We see the need for this in the worldly realm as more than 1/3 of students in colleges and universities now (especially online) are adults in their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s training for a new career.  No longer do we go to school for x years, get a job in ___ field, and then stay with that employer throughout our lives.  It is now expected that a member of generation z (the one that comes after the Millennials) will change careers at least 4 times throughout life.  This isn’t just changing jobs or companies, this is changing one’s career field; like going from an accountant to a mechanical engineer.  Each of these vocations requires a certain skill set and training to be proficient.
    But what about faith learning.  Certainly we learned all we need to know in Sunday School and Confirmation class.  As can be seen from Redeemer and other Sunday schools, less than 1/10th of the children “on the books” are partaking of Christian education weekly. Pew Research Co. has that number down to 1 out of 20 children overall.  It doesn’t get much better when they hit their teens and it’s time for Confirmation - 75% of children baptized never confirm their baptism.  And this carries through to adulthood.  Only about 1 in 10 Christians worshiping on a Sunday morning will attend a Bible class sometime during that week.  So it should come as no surprise that those who claim to be Christians really don’t know much about what the Bible says about the faith they hold.  This is also why those being trained in preaching (homiletics) are being taught to make their sermons “didactic” or “teachable”.  It’s the only time 90% of the people will receive any Bible instruction.
    Yet this is the polar opposite of what we find in both the Old and New testaments.  Moses commanded God’s people to “talk about these things when….” (Dt. 6) and saw all of life as an opportunity to learn more about God and His workings in our lives.  Jesus called His followers “disciples”, which is another name for students.  We are not just to follow Jesus or to believe in Him, we are meant to learn from Him and emulate His actions.  His disciples ranged in age from their late teens (John) to the late 30’s / early 40’s (Peter).  Even the great teacher, St. Paul, spent 12 years learning more about Jesus before beginning his missionary work. 
    In the early Church, one of the first things that was done was to set up Christian education centers, called monasteries, for the instruction of both young and old.  In the Celtic Christian tradition this education was offered regardless of gender - yes, those silly Celts even taught women to read and write; scandalous in the 400’s!  Luther would promote and encourage learning at all ages and even developed text books to aid in learning (Small Catechism for kids, Large Catechism for adults).  The point is, our learning about God and how to live as Christians never ends.
    But how do we do this in a post Covid-19 world?  We can’t all gather around a table shoulder to shoulder sharing Bibles and other resources.  Wiki, YouTube, and Google have their limitations.  Zoom could be an effective way of getting together while staying socially distanced - but there’s always background noise, technical glitches, and the like.  Facebook live and webinars (non interactive Zoom meetings) can work well so long as there aren’t too many questions.  So how are we to continue learning when in person instruction is out and technological teaching has its shortcomings?  
    The best way is the way it’s always been done - one on one with a mentor and a mentee. Most of the instruction we are told to do takes place in this one to one environment, usually a parent or grandparent passing down what they have learned to their offspring.  Yet those who experienced the homeschooling experiment of March to June realize that the parents need to be informed first to be able to teach.  Even if its not perfect, professor-level learning, the faith can be taught by letting the faith be caught.  Our lifestyle and example will teach far more than our words will.
    So will you walk the path the Lord has set, to walk in His ways as the Psalmists so often encourage?  Will you teach and share what you know, while still learning and growing in your faith yourself?  As we as a nation prepare to go “back to school” don’t let the new ways of learning make you a truant and leave you “simple”.  Join with us Sunday mornings for worship (online if that’s the safest option for you), on our Wednesday night Zoom devotions, or other ways of coming together to learn from Lord Jesus.  There’s plenty left to learn, let’s learn it together.  Amen.

​

    Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.  She is more precious than rubies: nothing you desire can compare with her.
                                                                                                                                      - Proverbs 3:13-15
 
    “Education in a Christian atmosphere.”  That is the motto and mission of our Redeemer Preschool.  It guides not only what we do but how we do it.  It sums up how we see “the preschool” as an integral part of our ministry here at Redeemer - we could no more divorce ourselves from the preschool than we could from preaching or the Sacrament.  It is part of who we are as Christ’s body in this time and place.  While providing an education in a Christian atmosphere is not the only ministry of Redeemer, it is our chief ministry.  We impact more lives through the preschool than we do in any other ministry, including Sunday morning worship.
    Last week we looked at education in general and the challenges facing teaching our young in a Covid-19 era.  Now let’s turn our attention to the efforts of our preschool ministry and how they are carrying out the command to “help your neighbor in his every need;” for there is certainly a need for early childhood education.  Let’s use the preschool’s motto / mission statement as our guide.
    The first part is providing an education.  What is to be taught is determined by the State.  There are academic standards which say that by the end of the first preschool year a child should be able to recognize shapes, sort by size differences, have developed fine and gross motor skills, etc.  .  By the end of the second year, in preparation for kindergarten, a child should be able to count to 10, know shapes and colors, be able to recite the alphabet and know the sounds for each letter, know the days of the week and months of the year, and things like that.  This is true for public, private, and parochial schools - but that’s where the similarities end.  
    The state may say what is to be taught, but they give great license on how it is taught.  At Redeemer Preschool, these “facts and figures” are taught in a number of ways.  We learn about shapes by not only looking at pictures of squares and circles, but by holding a parachute as we try to get the ball through the hole in the middle (what shape is the parachute, what colors do you see, etc.).  As children learn tumbling they find that their bodies can become triangles or two of them may form a square, or they may have 4,6,8, or 10 come together and make a rectangle.  In stories and songs they learn about the letter “B” and all the “buh” sounds of words with b’s in them (the the butterfly on the bubble).  They learn to count while assembling crafts or doing drawings that will soon hang on refrigerator doors.  There are so many ways of passing on this information and our teachers and aides are some of the best at using multiple ways for the children to learn and retain this information.
    It is not surprising then that the kindergarten teachers of Newton, Sparta, Andover (both township and borough) and other school districts know when they have a child who came through Redeemer preschool.  When our students leave here, they are among the best prepared for the next step of their academic endeavors.  Over the last 40+ years, Redeemer has built a reputation for excellence and not a few of our students are 2nd or third generation Redeemer preschoolers.  This is a testament to our teaching staff and also proof positive that we are fulfilling our Christian duty to help our neighbor in this way.
    But learning ABC’s and 123’s is a very small part of providing an education and not what makes Redeemer Preschool unique among the number of early childhood education options in our community.  The second part of the mission statement is also critically important - “in a Christian atmosphere.”  What does this mean?  Well let’s break it down a bit.
   When you hear the word “atmosphere” what comes to mind?  As a nerd, my mind goes to the mixture of gases (67% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 3 % carbon dioxide, and other trace gases and water vapor) that are gravitationally bound to the planet and exert a pressure of 14.1 pounds per square inch on everything at sea level.  The more basic answer is “air”.  The atmosphere is the air we breathe.  It surrounds us and makes life possible.
    A Christian atmosphere would then be Christ surrounding us, giving us life, and being in every breath we take.  Christ is in everything we do as a preschool.  He is in the numbers (count the loaves and the fishes).  He is in the seasons and the days (Sunday is the Lord’s Day because He rose from the dead on a Sunday).  He is in the songs we sing, the words we speak and read, the games we play, the food we share.  He “is our all in all" as one of our songs so simply puts it.  You don’t have to go very far to find Jesus at our preschool - He is everywhere and in everything.  
    This is far different from Kinder Care or other preschools.  This makes Redeemer unique among early childhood education opportunities in our area. This is also what makes the preschool part and parcel of the Church and her ministry.  Just because you don’t have a child or grandchild in our preschool this year does not mean that you have nothing to do with the preschool.  This is our congregation’s primary way of carrying out Jesus’ commission to “make disciples of all nations”.   This is not just the preschool staff’s ministry, this is your ministry.  This is the way that we meet and serve our neighbor and share the Good news of salvation through Christ alone with them.  
    So how will you support this wonderful opportunity we have to serve our neighbors with their need to “raise up a child in the way he should go, so when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Prov.22:6)?  Will you help our staff provide this vital ministry to the children of our community with your time, talents, and treasures?
Will you pray for our preschool families and those who are weighing the risks of sending their children to school as Covid-19 is still making headlines?  Will you pray for and support our teachers and aides as they perform this ministry on the congregation’s behalf?  
    As we prepare for the beginning of another school year, please stay tuned for updates as to how you can help Redeemer Preschool serve the needs of our neighbors. As we go through this pandemic school year, I’m sure the plans we have in mid-August will be modified by mid-September and change yet again by the end of October.  It’s going to be a wild (but worthy) ride, so please keep your arms and legs inside the carriage until the ride comes to a complete stop.  
 
                                                                                                                             - Pastor Brian

   Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city.  At the feet of Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.”                                                                                                                          - Acts 22:3
 
   As we come to the end of August, the news is full of plans for “back to school”.  How do we go back to the classroom while we are still unable to eat at a restaurant indoors.  Sitting in an enclosed room for an hour to eat will cause a “spike” in corona virus infections, but sitting for 6 hours in a room with kids who have trouble keeping a mask on for more than 10 minutes is OK?  Even if (and this is a big if) children have a lesser rate of infection and symptoms, what about the teachers, bus drivers, custodians, office staff, and cafeteria workers?  How do we keep them safe?
    I’ve seen a lot of different reports of what various school districts are doing around the country and a few things have become clear.  This will not be school as we knew it back in September of 2019.  Perhaps the biggest difference will be in the social aspect of school.  Most schools will not have cafeteria service and students will eat at their desks maintaining the requisite 6 ft. distancing from each other.  No more sitting with friends around the lunch table.  For the younger kids, recess is canceled as are sports and clubs for the older crowd.  For many students this is the main reason to go to school, to see and socialize with friends - also the cause of much school aged anxieties.  Is it still school without the social aspects?
    Back in March there was a rapid transition to online learning with the end result of many parents saying there is too much “screen time” and not all children are visual learners.  It doesn’t look like this will change much come autumn.  We can’t use books as there’s no way to sanitize paper without destroying it.  Teachers can’t pass out or collect homework sheets due to concerns about disease transmission, and with the greater distances between students and students and teachers, some kids will have even more trouble seeing or hearing the teacher.  So what’s left?  Having the kids pull out their Chromebooks (or other tablet) at their desk and submit all homework in electronic fashion.  This isn’t very different from what was happening at home.
    The other thing most educators and officials agree on, though not often told to parents, is that the likelihood of another shut-down / closure is very high.  Georgia is the first state to reopen their schools and EVERY district has had to shut down again to do contact tracing, testing, “deep cleaning”, and in some cases quarantining of students.  These are usually only 2-3 day shut-downs, but they happen frequently.  Will this happen in NJ where we have a lower transmission rate?  Only time will tell.
    There are also concerns about teacher shortages and qualifications.  If the math teacher gets sick, or is exposed and so has to quarantine at home for two weeks, who will teach.  Do we want the English teacher guiding the class through trigonometry?
Will the physical education teacher be able to lead students through Romeo and Juliet?  There are also many teachers who due to health conditions or age are at high risk for complications or death from Covid-19 and so may opt for early retirement.  Despite government comments to the contrary, teachers never signed up to be “front line workers” in the fight against this virus.  Don’t even get me started on their abysmal pay or the lack of respect for teachers in schools today!
     So what do we do?  How are we to teach our children what they need to know to function and prosper in today’s world?  It is worth remembering that basic education for all is a relatively new concept in human history.  We’ve only been doing mandatory, guaranteed, public, education for about 175 years (mid 1800’s were first public schools).  When I served in Nebraska in the 1990’s, many of the older farmers spoke with pride of having gotten up to 6th grade - as that was all that was required in rural areas in the 1930’s.  When we look at global education, we find that 40% of the earth’s population cannot read or write or do simple arithmetic. Yet the world continued to revolve around the sun and spin on its axis.  
    Prior to the 1840’s, basic education was done at home.  There would be the learning of letters and numbers, how to write (as there was no texting or email), as well as some vocational training.  Sons would often learn their father’s trade (much like Jesus learned the trade of Joseph), and daughters would learn how to manage a household and make sure everyone was fed, clothed, medicated, etc.  Today we call this sexist (misogynistic I think is the term in vogue) and old fashioned, but it worked for thousands of years of human civilization.
    Another aspect to this at home, unstructured, learning, was the moral component.  From Socrates teaching at the symposium in Athens, to Luther’s Small Catechism, to “student handbooks” of today, an understanding of morals and ethics was part of the educational experience.  Paul too would be taught the law of God by the great Pharisee Gamaliel.  This was not theoretical metaphysics, this was day to day, real world, practical actions and thought patterns.  The third generation Socrator (disciple of Socrates), Aristotle, spent most of his instructional time with the young Prince of Macedon (Alexander the Great) teaching him ethics.  How to live a virtuous life, pleasing to the gods, was far more important than calculating the parabolic arc of a catapult shot.  Education in the Christian era also focused first and foremost on knowing God and His expectations for us, what we now call “character development”. Even in public schools, the Bible was a source for learning how to read (long before the Dick and Jane series or Magic School bus).  That all changed in the 1960’s and we’re reaping the results of that as a society now.  But teaching at home one can incorporate the Biblical world view into all other realms of learning.  
    So what will schools look like when they reopen here in another 3 weeks or so?  That’s the great unknown.  We have no more idea of what October will look like at this point than we knew about April back in January.  Amid all the changes of this school year, one thing remains the same.  Children learn more from their parents (and other primary caregivers) than from anyone else.  Okay, maybe you aren’t teaching them the Pythagorean theorem, but you are imparting life lessons by your example and how you live your life.  You are teaching your children or grandchildren what is important in life with every interaction you have with them.  
    In closing then, I would turn you to a more modern paraphrase of Deuteronomy 6, that of Crosby, Stills, and Nash where we are encouraged to “Teach, your children well…”  Whatever may happen with the public schools this year, we have the opportunity (and duty) to be teachers to the children in our care.  May God bless you in this endeavor.  Next week we will take a look at our Redeemer Preschool and why this is such a vital ministry not just for the preschoolers, but for us as a congregation as well. 
​                                                             Until then, may God’s peace be upon you.

​    These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven lamp stands…You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.  If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.
                                                                                                                                               - Revelation 2:1, 4b-5

    Warning: If you are easily offended, shocked, or scared you may wish to skip this 
blog.  If you think you can handle the truth, even if painful, then read on.


   On June 15, Governor Murphy set forth the guidelines for indoor gatherings.  Now we, provided certain safety measures are met, can gather for worship once more.  While we can reopen, the question remains if we should reopen.  Just because we can do something doesn’t mean that it is the best thing to do - see I Cor. 6:12
   While we have measures in place to reduce the rate of viral transmission, there is no way of eliminating viral spread.  SARS-CoV-2 is a virus, and it will do what a virus does, which is to mutate and spread until it has infected every person it possibly can.  Even if we were to mask at all times and stay home for weeks on end; the virus would still find a way to get to you - that’s just what viruses do.  We saw that the infection rate (# of positive test results, hospitalizations, and deaths) continued to skyrocket even after businesses were closed and people told to stay in their homes. If the corona virus is still “a clear and present danger”,  why then are we gathering for worship?
   Well, it really boils down to our understanding of the Lord’s Supper and what it means to be the Church.  I know of some churches in our area that already have reopened, others (like Redeemer) that are opening soon, and others which will not reopen until much later.  Those that are holding off reopening until August or September (or later) are doing so, in part, to see if gathering for worship leads to a “spike” in Covid-19 cases or not.  Also the guidance for reopening seems to shift from week to week and many are waiting for “the final word” of which mitigation measures are effective and which were wishful thinking.  One of the unifying traits of all the churches that are delaying reopening is a Calvinistic understanding of the Lord’s Supper - be it Presbyterian, Methodist, Reformed, or other.
    In these church bodies, the Lord’s Supper is seen as merely a memorial meal; it is an “object lesson” given to help us remember what Christ has done for us.  This is due to a magisterial use of reason which says that “is” must mean something other than “is” because Christ’s physical body and blood could not be present in, with, and under the earthly forms of bread and wine. This bread and wine (or grape juice for Methodists) cannot be Christ’s body and blood because that wouldn’t make sense. Since it is not Christ’s body and blood, the words of John 6:53-59 do not apply and God’s gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life are not given through the Lord’s Supper.  Thus skipping the Lord’s Supper is no big deal.
It’s entirely different for we who hold to God’s Word as infallible and doing what it says it will do.  When Jesus said, “This is my body”, He meant this IS His body - we don’t know how it is His body, but that is what He said.  If He meant that it only “represents” His body and blood, He would have used words such as like or as - this bread is like my body, which is given for you.  That’s how He did it with the parables and many other teachings, but not at the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Here there is no like or as or metaphorical speech, so we must accept that what He said is true or make Him to be a liar.
    If this really is His body and blood, and, according to John 6, only those who eat of His flesh and drink of His blood have eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and salvation from everlasting death, then we would have to physically eat and drink of His body and blood to obtain those gifts.  Simply watching it on Zoom or remembering His Passion is not enough; we must “take and eat, the body of Christ, broken for you.” and “take also and drink the true blood of Christ, shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins.”  This is the primary way that the forgiveness of sins becomes real to us.  Yes, we also receive the forgiveness of sins through the pronouncement of absolution by Christ’s representative, but it is through the Sacrament of the Altar that we can see, smell, taste, feel, and hear the forgiveness of sins given to us through Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection.  
    Given the importance of this Sacrament and the fact that it cannot be live streamed or delivered in any other way than in person, we gather to receive the gifts of God.  How long can one go without receiving the Sacrament?  That’s going to vary person to person.  There were times in our LCMS history where once a month was considered enough.  Other times in our history we opted for quarterly or every other week - as we did with our drive through distribution.  But if we open up our Bibles and Small Catechisms we’ll find that the Lord’s Supper was the central point of God’s people gathering together and Luther instructs young and old to partake of the Sacrament as often as it is offered.  In Luther’s time that was daily!  So we make the decision to resume gathering, in part, due to the necessity of offering the Lord’s Supper to souls in need of God’s grace and mercy.
    The other reason to reopen has to do with our understanding of worship as a participatory event.  Worship is not passive, where you just sit back and absorb what’s being “performed”.  Bible reading and prayer can be done alone, singing of hymns and songs can be done solo or in small groups, but worship requires the body of Christ to assemble at a set place and time.  We looked at this is past blogs and there explained how Zoom services and podcasts and other “stay at home” worship-like events aren’t really worship at all.  We are commanded to worship in the 3rd Commandment and other places in Scripture.  
    Worship is not optional for a Christian.  Those who claim to be Christian but say they do not need to join with others for worship “deceive themselves and the truth is not in them”. (I John 1:8b).  While we were forced to suspend gathering in person for 3 months, some congregations in the mission field often only gathered for worship on a quarterly basis- usually for the great feasts of the Church year; Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week / Easter, and Pentecost; but this was always seen as less than ideal and the model of gathering on the Lord’s Day was to be preferred.  We cannot simply disregard the Third Commandment and think that there are no consequences to us as individuals and as a congregation.
    While these are the two primary reasons why we reopen earlier rather than later, there are many other reasons why we should pause and ask “Should we reopen?”  Is this corona-virus and the changes wrought by it the final “nail in the coffin lid” and so is it time we consider closing out church doors for good?   We’ll look at these next week and President Steinbronn will be coming to Redeemer soon to further explore these issues. Until then let us take advantage of the fact that we can gather for worship still to receive the blessings of Almighty God and know His peace.  Amen.

                                       - Pastor Brian