This weekend we celebrate the Festival of the Reformation. We continue to find joy in and hold tightly to our Savior Jesus!
We, dear people of God, are different. We belong to a family tree made up of people from every tribe, language, nation, and people. We belong to this beautiful family that we call the holy, Christian church, the communion of saints. We come from the royal lineage of King Jesus. Yes, we are a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God; we are his special possession. And we have glorious righteousness, a righteousness that is not our own, a righteousness, and a holiness that is ours by faith in the Son of God. We are different, but not because of us. Rather, we are different because of HIM, who is the way, the truth, and the life. We are different because we belong to HIS family. We are part of the HIS royal lineage. We have HIS righteousness as our own. We, dear people of God, are different.
This means that we assign a different value to the things in our life. We learn to see the things in our lives as gifts of God. We learn to rejoice in those gifts of God. But those are not the things that are the most valuable. We assign a different value to the things in our lives; we find true value in who we are as sons and daughters of the one true King. Today, we’re continuing to work with this theme “different.” This week we see that the Christian has a different goal, a different pursuit, even a different destiny. This is where Paul helps us as we continue our way through chapter 3.
Please join us on Saturday or Sunday for worship.
Saturday (in-person) @ 5:30 pm.
Sunday (in-person or online) @ 9:30 am.
COVID Update: 10/30/2020
Dear family,
Last week the city of Milwaukee released version 4.2 of their Moving Milwaukee Forward safety plan. It has little effect on how we are doing things as we have been careful and cautious in worship and our other practices. We will continue to remain careful and vigilant in our practices in worship and other areas.
We cannot do this without you. Thank you for your willing participation in the practices that we have set in place at this time. Without your participation, we would not have been able to continue to gather as we have. There have been no COVID cases that have come as a result of our gatherings at Mount Lebanon. Members who have been exposed to it or who have contracted it have stayed away, and we have been kept safe. Praise God!
I want to ask that you continue to abide by these practices that have been advised by the CDC and the city Health Department. I have long said that I am not afraid of the virus, but I do not want to share it with others if I were to have it. I am not afraid of the virus, but I do not want the church to be shut down because one of us exposed all the others. I do not want to have to close our doors because we were careless. So, I will wear a mask and social distance for your sake and the sake of our continued gathering. I ask you to do the same.
In addition, I will ask you to consider attending on Saturday night. We are right on the edge of the limits set by the city for gathering size. Besides, this Saturday service does serve some of our members and others better than the Sunday morning worship time. Gathering on a Saturday night allows you to connect with them.
While this does separate us from one another in worship, it does allow all of us to gather around God’s Word and for his Supper together. This is a time when we might especially rejoice in the holy Christian church. The Church may be separated and isolated for a time. But we will not be separated or isolated from each other nor our Lord for eternity. Perhaps, these things have happened to us so that we might rejoice more and more in the holy, Christian church, the communion of saints.
The Lord Jesus is Lord of the church. We seek the wisdom that comes from his Spirit. We trust his leadership. And so we will not be afraid. He will keep us, his little flock.
Together we are in his grip!
Pastor Nate
For all other news and notes, here is “The Mount Weekly.”