VIRTUAL CHURCH IS ALWAYS OPEN
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EMERGENCY PHONE (941) 548-6163
ALL IN-PERSON EVENTS
INCLUDING ACTIVITIES/MEETINGS/WORSHIP
CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
This is the broad scope of our planning to safely re-open Messiah Lutheran Church for in-person worship. In line with guidance from the Churchwide Office and Presiding Bishop in Chicago, our Synod Office and Synod Bishop in Tampa, and CDC Guidelines, in-person worship requires several steps in order to proceed safely.
The minimum safety precautions include, among others, hand sanitizing stations at all public entrances, the use and wearing of masks, and the taking of temperatures of all persons entering the building. We have had these items on order with suppliers since the latter part of March. At the time the sanitizer stations and sanitizer, masks, and thermometers were ordered, they were immediately placed on backorder with an anticipated shipping date of mid-June.
Your personal safety, the safety of our friends and neighbors, as well as our pastoral staff needs to remain paramount in our decision-making processes. These are certainly trying times, and we appreciate your patience and understanding. The risks of getting this wrong, and re-opening too soon and/or without the necessary safety precautions in place, are too dire to imagine.
In the meanwhile, we will continue to provide our thrice-weekly devotions from Pastor Rich, Deacon John, and Deacon Scott, we continue to offer times during the week to gather for study and conversation (with plans to increase these opportunities in the near future), as well as our weekly service recording on the weekend. Our recorded service will likely continue to be posted each weekend, as when in-person worship resumes, there will be social-distancing limitations placed on the number of attendees.
We all long for the day that we can resume in-person worship, and the future time when all limitations will be able to be lifted, until that time, please be assured of our prayers for each and every one of you.
Should you have any questions, you may direct them to us via email
pastor@messiahnfm.org
john.renfroe@messiahnfm.org
office@messiahnfm.org
An Invitation to Grace
17th Sunday after Pentecost - September 27, 2020
It is so easy and so tempting to build ourselves up at the expense of others. “I can’t imagine ever doing that.” “How can people live like that?” “Who would do such a thing?” At some point we all think or say these sorts of things. Like it or not, we use these words to comfort ourselves at the expense of others. These words are a reminder that all people stand in need of God’s grace.
Each of this day’s readings shows us this reality. In the parable of the two sons, Jesus invites us to choose between two sons when neither fully does the will of their father. Here Jesus makes the point that we are all equally in need of God’s grace. Ezekiel proclaims God’s invitation, “Turn, then, and live” (Ezek. 18:32). This is an invitation that extends to all people, from a God deeply desiring a loving and life-giving relationship with humanity.
In Philippians, we are reminded of Jesus’ act of grace on the cross, emptying himself, becoming sin so that all creation might be redeemed through him. In response, we discover a vision of the day in which all creation speaks with a unified voice, declaring Jesus Christ is Lord.
This is a day of confession and forgiveness. We confess our need for God, our distance from God, and our failures before God. In response, to our joy, we discover again the grace of God outpoured. All humans are in need of God’s grace; God extends grace to all, and one day we will confess that salvation as one people. All of today’s readings reveal the way in which all humans are equal in the eyes of God.
©2020 Sundays and Seasons
Cape Coral, Florida 33909
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