Why is Creation important?

In my morning devotion I read from Walther in CPH's God Grant It.
This morning I was struck by this beautiful and pregnant line about the reason for Creation:

God did not need creatures. He is an ocean of eternal love that overflowed in the creation of countless beings to whom He revealed His love and with whom He shared His goodness.*

Wow! That is awesome! Our existence is not then some cosmic accident (which I never would buy) but an overflowing of God's eternal love. That love's source is the ultimately in the cross of Jesus Christ, where the life-giving blood of the lamb was poured out for us.

Now, this is a great thought to start out my day!

O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare Your praise!

A fitting prayer

From my evening devotional from Day by Day with the Early Church Fathers, Hilary of Poitiers* has the fitting prayer for the Pastor and his flock:

O Lord God Almighty, I know that I owe You the devotion of all my words and thoughts as my main duty. The greatest reward of speech You have given me is the opportunity to serve by preaching You and displaying You as You are to a blind and rebellious world. For You are our Father and Father of God the Only-begotten Son. But I am only expressing my own desires. I must also pray for Your help and compassion. Then Your Spirit's breath will fill the sails of faith and confession which I have spread out, and a favorable wind will move me forward on my voyage of instruction. We can trust the promise of Christ who said, "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you." In whatever we lack, we will pray for the things we need. We will be untiring and energetic as we study Your prophets and apostles. We will knock to enter every gate of hidden knowledge. But You are the One who answers these prayers, who gives us the things we seek, who opens the door we beat on.

Amen and Amen.

* Hilary of Poitiers (c. 315-367) is best known for his stands against the Arian sect in his two treatises, On the Trinity and On the Synods. His early years were devoted to the study of pagan philosophy and rhetoric before he was converted to the Christian faith. Around 350, he was appointed as bishop of Poitiers despite having a wife. His six years as bishop were spent refuting the Arians and upholding the teachings of Athanasius. Under the emperor Constantius he was banished to Phyrgia in Asia Minor, where he composed his treatises. Hilary returned to Poitiers and spent the rest of his life defending the Christian faith from heretical teachings. The passage in this blog post is from On the Trinity 1.37, from Day by Day with the Early Church Fathers, pg.169 & 374.

It went pretty well...

My first Divine Service as Pastor of Good Shepherd, that is. Being given the great responsibility and honor of serving God's people with His Word and Sacraments did make me a bit nervous, though (as it probably should.) I chanted the entire Divine Service 3, which I think went well. I got to wear my new chasuble from Kanel Bros. (I'll post some pics later this week, but it is beautiful and it matches the altar and pulpit paraments perfectly!)

What an indescribable joy and honor it is to feed the Good Shepherd's sheep! May He always go before me to prepare their hearts, with me that I may be made worthy and faithful of the task and after me to nourish and fortify the seed of His Word!

My first Sunday at Good Shepherd

I'd say this comic from Dave Coverly's Speed Bump pretty well sums up my feelings!

Installation Pictures

Here they are. Hope you enjoy them!

Installation

Today I was installed as the third pastor to serve the redeemed saints in Christ at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Middleville, MI. What a great blessing and honor it is for me to serve them in Word and Sacrament ministry.

I am also blessed with a tremendously warm, hospitable and welcoming congregation. What a day! And the meal afterward was just wonderful! Another day I will never forget. I pray that God would bless me with many years of faithful and fruitful service in Middleville.

I will post pictures later. Tomorrow it's off to work!!

Pastoral Care Companion

I got this beautiful and very handy little book as an Ordination gift. So, what does a pastor do?

Services and Rites

*Holy Baptism

*Enrollment of Sponsors

*Individual Confession and Absolution

*Visiting the Sick and Distressed (including annointing with oil)

*Communion of the Sick and Homebound

*Blessing of a Mother after Childbirth

*Matrimony

*Anniversary or Affirmation of Holy Matrimony

*Commendation of the Dying

*Comforting the Bereaved

*Funeral and Committal

*Blessing of a Home

So what do all these services and rites mean? It means that I, as a pastor, want to be involved in my people's lives, in all levels, and share with them God's blessings in His Word.

From Baptisms to Funerals, from Weddings to Home Blessings.

My beloved saints at Good Shepherd, do not hesitate to call on me to be your pastor. It is my great privilege and joy to share God's Word in your life.

Some Ordination Pictures

These were taken with our camera and for some reason are fuzzy. I will be getting some more later and will post them if they are better.
http://picasaweb.google.com/aseleener/JimSOrdination

The work of a shepherd

There was once a shepherd who was hired to watch over a flock. He started out well, giving the flock everything they needed, but before too long, he grew tired of the flock he was hired to watch. He started putting out food for the goats that wandered on the hills nearby. The sheep he was set over did not like this food, but the shepherd insisted that if they were really good sheep who loved their master they would eat it and be happy about it. The shepherd ignored their declining health on this goat’s diet because he really wanted to make the goats a part of his flock.

Now, what the shepherd didn’t realize is that his master was already working on those goats. This shepherd forgot that he was just hired to work for this specific flock. He thought that he was responsible for all he sheep and goats on the hills around him. The shepherds of other flocks encouraged the shepherd and joined him in his work with the goats. All their work with the goats took them away from the work they were hired to do with their own flocks of sheep.

While they were focused on the goats and other sheep, their own flock started to wander off and the wolves started to get closer and closer. Some sheep went to other shepherds who were still putting out the special sheep food from the master. Some sheep wandered off into the hills and mountains and became wild again, and some lost their way altogether and died. Some were killed and eaten by the wolf. The whole time, their shepherd was looking out, away from his flock, at those goats.

What will the shepherd’s master say to him when he comes back to see how his flock has been managed? What will the master do with the sheep and goats he has brought to this unfaithful shepherd? What will happen to all those poor sheep who were neglected and ignored?

That was a LONG break!

I know, it was a lot longer than I said I would be gone, but I've been enjoying my time in Michigan. I will soon post some pics of the Ordination and upcoming Installation. The Ordination was a day I will never forget. I have to thank Pr. Tom Chryst for the beautiful and fitting sermon.