In the Loop; In the Spirit

Bob Dylan’s words from his song “Gotta Serve Somebody” are powerful:

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.

You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody’s landlord you might even own banks.

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

How do we live into an identity that is wrapped in serving others? Few advertisers tell us to serve others… Jesus models service in counter cultural ways: washing feet, listening to others, sharing food. We are striving to be the church that exists for others. We are asking questions of ourselves. He Qi, the painter of the above story of the Good Samaritan, brings us into perhaps new questions about what serving someone else could mean…join us as we seek more questions.

Next Saturday: Oak Hill Park in Saint Louis Park is the SPARK (see sidebar link) kick off event from 5-7. it’s a tail gating party! Join us!

As First Lutheran joins many other congregations in our Lutheran tribe this year in a renewed interest in the Bible, Dr. Darrell Jodock (Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN) offered some ideas in a kickoff class last Sunday.

Dr. Darrell Jodock’s Seven Points on How Lutherans Look at the Bible:
• The Bible is all about relationship (God and creation, creation and creation)
• Luther’s “this and that” framework: Luther defended scripture and also deeply questioned it (with a sense of humor).
• Luther’s doctrinal approach to the Bible: start with the incarnation (God in the flesh), not inspiration (the divine influence on writers), Jesus was human and divine, so is the Bible. Luther noted the humanity of the authors (felt a kinship with them).
• Central purpose of the Bible is to introduce Christ (Bible is the manger in which Christ is laid, or a window to see God, don’t get focused on the window).
• In what sense is the Bible the word of God? 1. Jesus Christ himself is the Word (John 1), 2. The spoken message across a hospital bedside, a table or pulpit concerning God’s love in Jesus Christ, 3. The written down record.
• Law/gospel language is uniquely Lutheran: the law makes demands on us, the gospel is good news. The purpose of the law is to serve the gospel.
• The phrase “Scripture alone” cannot be taken out of the “original context” of the Lutheran Confessions: Christ alone, faith alone, scripture alone. It is always in concert with community, the creeds of the Church, liturgy, and service.
This community of faith is committed together to wrestle with the joy and challenge of the Bible. No experience necessary, come join us.

Our monthly meal serving at Our Savior’s went amazing on Friday night. See our Service page for more pictures. Join us next month!

Christian worship around the world sure looks different!

Worship, grow, serve are at the heart of our community. What does this mean for our identity as Christians and community members in Saint Louis Park? This week, our worship focused on worship…
we give thanks to God for what God has done for us first:
created us in the image of God…
loved us unconditionally…
given us the gift of forgiveness by faith, not by what we do…
through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, sets us free to love/serve our neighbor.

What good news! Next week, we talk about the next piece of mission statement…grow.