Messiah Lutheran Church • 5200 Mayfield Rd., Lyndhurst, OH 44124 • 440-442-6941
Here you will find Pr. Paul's message from the monthly Grace Note, along with sermons from various Sundays and Adult Bible Study. Also, the special service for the Emanuel 9 is now on this page, along with the bulletin and the prayer for Racial Healing.
MOVE TO CURIOSITY:
Living in community (like we do as the Church) can be an incredibly life-giving experience. When we learn new things, connect in new ways, grow in love and grace and celebrate important times in our lives together, our relationships are deepened and our lives are enriched. But living in community also has its challenges. We can get in some major arguments, and get on each other’s nerves, and sometimes want nothing to do with one another. And it’s easy to be judgmental when we aren’t at our best. Yet, there’s a mantra I try to remember when I know I’m feeling ungenerous towards others: “When feeling judgmental, move to curiosity”.
Move to curiosity!
Moving to curiosity means asking questions like, “why would that person act like that?” Or, “I wonder if there’s something else contributing to this circumstance?”, or, “why is this bothering me so much? Is there something else in my life that might be making me respond in this judgmental way?”
Moving to curiosity helps us learn more about our tough situations, so that together we might grow through them. In what ways might we pursue such curiosity in our lives together this month?
c/o PASTOR PAUL
We invite you to to CLICK HERE to read Pr. Paul's message.
Five years ago today a stranger was welcomed into Bible Study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. After the study ended, he opened fire, killing 9 of the people present in the name of white supremacy. The gunman grew up and was confirmed in an ELCA congregation, and is indicative of the continued, required work needed for us to repent of the sins of racism and white supremacy.
Today, along with our entire denomination, we commemorate the martyrdom of The Emanuel Nine. We give thanks for their faithful witness, grieve their deaths, and confess our own complicity in these systems of sin and death.
Take a few moments this evening to light a candle, participate in the brief liturgy (CLICK HERE FOR BULLETIN), and remember the lives of these siblings in faith. The video is below.
~Pastor Paul
August 12, 2018