July 2011
Page 3
From the Associate Pastor... Friends in Christ, Having enjoyed some recent time away with my family, I’m reminded how fishing is such a lovely pastime and a worthy undertaking. Of course, I’m biased. I have fond memories of my sisters and me growing up learning to fish under the adamant and loving tutelage of our father – and I can assure you, he knows how to catch ‘em! But Jesus seemed to have a fondness for it, too! After all, some of Jesus’ most famous stories deal with fishing. In particular it was the story found in Luke 5:1-11 which came to mind when I was recently in a boat with rod and reel in hand. You may remember it tells of Jesus displaying the abundance of God’s mercy and provision in the miraculous catch of fish and follows with him telling the would-be disciples he would make them fishers of people. Two things struck me about this as I sat on the lake. First, God’s abundant provision comes in the midst of scarcity and as a powerful gift. Scarcity seems to dominate the headlines and
anxieties or our current culture. Just think of all of the political wrangling over budgets, the news of so many who are still unemployed, and the constant struggle to fight hunger and poverty. Yet, in the midst of this scarcity, Jesus brings a message of abundance. I can distinctly remember something Lutheran scholar, Winston Persaud, said once concerning this. He said, “God’s grace is not scarce.” Indeed it is not. And as we continue to encounter this grace, knowing that we are in God’s care now and forever, we may give thanks for even the smallest measures of provision, even the tiniest fish which happen to make it into our boat. And we might seek to share it with those who have not seen it yet. What fish might you be thankful for today? How might you see God’s love for you even amidst scarcity? Second, in a way, we get to be God’s lures and nets. Just as a fisher casts and trolls or puts out a net, we might imagine God casting and trolling and putting out us. Can you imagine it -
From the Scrip Table... As the youth travel to their 2011 trips, your Scrip team would like to say Congratulations to those families who used Scrip to reach their payment goals! Even the mission trip to Minneapolis starts at over $450 so using Scrip makes sense. Of the 69 families who participated this year, fourteen families earned over $100 with another ten families earning over $200, and four more families earning over $300!! With Kwik Trip now earning 10% and Cub at 4%, these totals should be easy to surpass for 2012 trip-goers. Also, Scrip is not limited to our Bethel youth trips; anyone can start a mission trip account to be used for a trip to Nicaragua with ISLA or to India or Africa or South Dakota. Just let the Scrip team at the table know you want to start a trip account. And last, (but definitely not least!) many thanks to our small, but consistent group of Scrip supporters whose purchases allow the trips' scholarship account to grow and be available to those who need it.
God casting you into little eddies and pools, around docks and rock piles, through unknown depths and holes? Each of us have different skills and talents but also different connections with different people and places and events. Think about the pools and fishing holes in which you’ve been cast. How might Jesus be using you in those waters to bring God’s grace? If you haven’t thought about it this way before, what’s something you might do or say differently the next time you’re amongst those fish? When we encounter the Savior, Jesus the Christ, we get a taste of God’s good abundant love and grace, and we are blessed to give thanks and praise. At the same time, we become key pieces in God’s great tackle box, and God seeks to use you until there are no more fish to catch. Blessed fishing!