
Message
From Our Pastor

The people of Pilgrim Evangelical
Lutheran Church are truly A PILGRIM PEOPLE. They are people who are
on the move, rejoicing to run the race that is set before them.
Sometimes they stumble, at other times they fall, but God’s pilgrim
people always keep on striving, because they know where they are
going and how to get there. They are in no doubt about their
destiny. Pilgrims know and find their rest and home at last, in
Jerusalem the blest, (LSB #813).
These pilgrims, young and old, come from many DIFFERENT NATIONS,
different races, but they all belong to the SAME FAMILY. They are
CHILDREN OF GOD through faith in Jesus Christ. Their pilgrimage
through this life may be short or long, yet like Christians in all
generations they look forward to their arrival in that celestial
city “whose builder and maker is God.”
Pilgrim people know that here they have no permanent home. They
know that “the here and now” is not all there is. Thus they are
freed from the fundamental anxiety of existence. Yet at the same
time they are never at rest, and NEVER REALLY AT HOME IN THIS WORLD.
They will always be incomplete until they meet their Saviour “face
to face.” They carry within themselves what C.S. Lewis calls “that
inconsolable secret,” a feeling of homesickness for their real home.
Without such a homeland toward which their faith in Christ directs
them, these citizens of heaven here on earth would indeed find life
to be tedious and tasteless affair.
God’s great love for sinful mankind was demonstrated in the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the hinge upon which
the door of history swings, the motivation and mainspring of all our
endeavours. CHRIST ALONE makes possible the certainty of OUR ETERNAL
INHERITANCE. But we are a people not only interested in the
journey’s end, but also in the journey itself and what happens along
the way. Christ, our Lord, has promised to be with us on the
journey. For that reason our Lord Jesus Christ established His
church. He calls us into Christian fellowship. He equips and sends
us to help others for whom Christ died, on to that destination.
[Pilgrim Lutheran Church 25th Anniversary book, p. 1-2]
Life can be lonely at times, but you
need not be alone in your journey. Christ the Saviour, longs to be
known by pilgrims just like you. He encourages you to join
like-minded others in their journey with Him. If you don’t have a
church home, we hope you will make Pilgrim Evangelical Lutheran
Church, your church home.
Yours in
Christ,
Pastor Mark
Koehler
Sunday
November 29, 2020 First Sunday in Advent Service Will Be At 11:00 AM
Information from Pilgrim Lutheran
Church Covid Committee
Facebook
Video On Returning To Church
(Click on word Facebook to view
video)
WHY MEET IN
PERSON? 10 REASONS TO COME BACK TO CHURCH AFTER COVID-19
CHRISTIAN NEWS,
July 6, 2020, p.9 By David Gunderden, crossway.org, June 13, 2020
Over the past few
months, most churches have stopped meeting in person. A global
pandemic, government regulations, and a desire to serve each other
and society have kept us from gathering. Instead, we've held
"services" online, met "virtually," and used technology to connect.
Many churches are
now resuming our meetings, or will soon. But these new services feel
strange. Our sensitivities are heightened, our differences are on
display, and we have to endure restrictions and protocols that are
awkward, inconvenient, and frustrating. Then no matter how safe we
make it, some of our church family still can't come.
With all this in
mind, some believers may feel tempted not to come at all. If our
restored gatherings are so different and restricted, our online
options so available and convenient, and our physical presence a
genuine vulnerability, why should we even meet in person.?
This is a valid
question. But before me make our decisions, we need to reflect on
the importance of our gatherings so that our desire to meet grows
instead of atrophying. So, unless you're someone who needs to stay
home for health reasons, here are ten reasons to come back to
church.
1. We're embodied
creatures. God made Adam from earth's soil, Eve from Adam's side,
and humanity from their union (Gen.1:26-27; 2:18-25; 3:20).We're
embodied souls, male and female, in his image. We're not ethereal
beings made to float in virtual space. We're not just pixels and
screennames, headshots, on Zoom and Facetime. We're human beings.
We're designed to see and hear, and taste and touch and feel our way
through the physical world God's made. In recent months, we've seen
the power of our online world. But we've also felt its limitations.
No loving couple gladly accepts a "long-distance relationship" as
ideal. Neither should a loving church family.
2. The church is
one body. The Bible consistently teaches that the church is Christ's
body on earth (Eph. 1:22-23). Each believer is a different body
part, but we're intricately knitted together (Eph. 4:15-16). We're
not independent but interdependent. Our spiritual gifts are like
eyes and ears and hands and feet that each part play their part in
the body's growth and mission. Yes, even at a distance, we're still
Christ's body. But like any healthy body, we shouldn't want to stay
dislocated.
3. The Spirit is
drawing us. Not only are believers one body; we also have one Spirit
(Eph. 4:4). The Holy Spirit-the third person of the Trinity -
inhabits God's church, an he's always drawing us toward unity. God's
Spirit can't be divide, so when believers are separated
involuntarily, we feel the tension - like a rubber band stretched
too far. The Spirit within us yearns for us to be together, like
that same rubber band pulling us back in.
4. We're a
spiritual family. In the church, God is our adoptive Father, so
we're all spiritual siblings - God's "household" (1Tim. 3:15).
With our different ages and genders, Paul even calls us fathers and
mothers, sister and brother, sons and daughters (1 Tim. 5:1-2). But
families aren't meant to be separated. Healthy families live
together, laugh together, cry together, and help each other. Parents
with grown love when the adult kids get together - and those parents
are only fully satisfied when everyone's present. We must must be
faithful during this season to reach out to those who can't safely
join us. But all who are able should seek to gather for our
life-giving family reunions.
5.Preaching is a
sacred moment. Our generations used to John Piper sermons and Beth
Moore videos and Ravi Zacharias clips. Phones and screens and apps
are now our default medium. In just three months, we've grown used
to watching our own pastors and leaders teach God's Word through
wi-fi and glass. In this digital environment, we must remember that
preaching is fundamentally a live, sacred moments (Acts 20:20, 27).
Yes, it can be streamed and recorded and posted, benefitting both
virtual attendees and future hearers. But for a local family of
believers, God's word is best communicated live as the Spirit
empowers and appointed preacher and trusted shepherd to articulate
God's word personally in a moment pregnant with purpose and
possibility. In these moments, pastors shepherd their own sheep, and
sheep hear the voice of their shepherds. In these moments, we're
struck not only by the content of the message but also the gravity
of the moment. When we hear God's Word taught in a congregation, we
resonate not only with our risen Lord and his royal word, but with
each other. A feast enjoyed together is better than food eaten
alone.
6. There's nothing
like singing together. There's no experience on earth like a
congregation singing (ps.95:1-2). Singing together glorifies God by
re-enthroning him in the hearts of his people. Singing together
brands our minds with truth and warms our hearts with grace. Singing
together symbolizes our unity as we harmonize over the gospel.
Singing tighter expresses our emotions to God (and we have lots of
emotions right now). But we don't just sing to glorify God we also
sing to encourage each other (Col 3:16). And we can't sing to each
other through a screen. Yes, we're vulnerable. Congregational
singing could get an American Christian infected, just like it could
get a Chinese Christian arrested. But like the underground church
has always done, God's people will figure how to praise him
together, as faithfully and safely as possible. We'll wear masks, or
clean the air, or meet outside, or recite psalms, or even whisper.
But ultimately, God will hear the rising praises of the Christian
church, and it will be good if we're there to express them together.
7. We need baptisms
and communion. Whether your church has practiced these ordinances
"virtually" or not, ever believer needs to see and taste these
gracious symbols so that we can sense the gospel story once again.
Baptism and communion remind us that God communicates to us in
sensory ways. In these two ordinances, we taste and touch and see
and hear the gospel, whether the splash of water in a baptismal tank
as a new believer dies and rises with Christ, or the broken bread
and crushed grapes that feed us with the remembrance of his
sacrifice (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:26). The way we practice these
things may look different for a season, but our hearts will need
them more than we know.
8. You have a job
to do. If you're a believer, you have a job to do when the church
gathers. The work of ministry isn't mainly for pastors and leaders.
It's for every Christian. Every believer has spiritual gifts meant
to be used and every church body desperately needs every body to be
active. (Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 4:15-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11). When we stay
home, we can still listen and give and call and text virtually. But
there are many ways we simply can't serve or encourage or build up
Christ's body unless we're physically present.
9. Our worship is a
witness. Each week our friends and neighbors and coworkers walk
through the same broken world we do, but without our hope and our
map. Each week they suffer challenges and tragedies that make them
wonder where grace and truth can be found. Yes, there are ways we
can minister to them online, and we should rejoice that God's now
reaching new people with new methods. But the unbelieving world also
needs to see the gospel's transforming power embodied in a local
family of Christians who love God and serve each other in the most
gracious and gritty ways.
10. Greetings
change our lives. It may seen strange to end with the act of
greetings - a simple activity that's become so restricted and
complicated. But all over the New Testament, the writers not only
greet the churches but ask Christians to greet each other. These
greetings aren't just an afterthought tacked onto the end of their
letters. These Greetings symbolize the reconciling power of the
gospel and foster our family dynamic. The way we greet each other -
and the fact that we greet each other - is central to the church's
life and witness. Happy greetings remind us of the gospel unity we
enjoy in Christ. Awkward greetings declare that the healthy church
shows no partiality. Avoided greetings remind us to resolve our
conflicts and reconcile our hearts. Every greeting reflects God's
love, reunited Christ's body, enables hospitality, cultivates
selflessness, opens doors for ministry, and bears witness to the God
who's welcomed us through Christ. Even if these greetings are
masked, touchless, and distanced, they're still life-shaping
micro-events in every church. Just recently, our church held an
outdoor worship service in our parking lot after not meeting for 10
weeks. What were the happiest, most explosive moments? Our
greetings. We need to see each other.
You may not be able
to return right away. You might need to exercise caution for
yourself or those you love. You might need to keep watching from a
distance for a while. But when time is right, God's people can and
must gather again, I hope you'll join in. After all, out gatherings
are ultimately a taste of heaven. The bible's version of heaven
doesn't look like a quarantine, a livestream or ZOOM call. It's a "
face to face " encounter with the risen Christ and a worshipful
reunion of both saints and angels (Heb. 12:22-23; Rev. 22:4).
In the life to come we won't be siloed and segregated in mansions of
glory, but living and working and loving and serving together in a
new world where righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:13). So once we know
it's safe, wise and no disservice to our communities, let's gather
together again - in person - until all things are new.

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