Pastor’s Corner

Pastor’s Corner – Blessed St. Patrick’s Day!

Surprisingly, I have never written a pastor’s corner about Saint Patrick. At least I could not find one in my history! Usually, this time of the year I am writing about the chaos of Lent in the church, new staff, budgets, building projects, and final items as the ministry and school year begins their final phases.

I almost did that again this year as we once again are embarking on call committees, building updates and our own spiritual walk with the Lord as we approach the Cross and the Empty Tomb of Holy Week. I decided instead to take a moment and remember St. Patrick.

St. Patrick is a man surrounded by truth and myth. We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th which commemorates the day of his death in 461AD. We do not have records as to the date of his birth, we only know he was born in Britain and at the age of 1 was captured and enslaved by invaders from Ireland. He was forced into hard manual labor for six years until he escaped.

Upon St. Patrick’s arrival in Britain, he was convicted in His Spirit to return to Ireland as a missionary and teach the pagan Nation of Ireland about the saving Good News of Jesus. Before his arrival as a missionary, Ireland worshipped the sun as their god and had many religious rituals. Instead of requiring the Irish to abandon all their cultural traditions, he taught them to consecrate them to God.

The invention of what we now know as the Celtic Cross is credited to St. Patrick and is thought to be the sun superimposed over the Cross. This is to remind them that Jesus is the creator of the Sun and all things worship Him! The Irish worshiped their gods by celebrating around bonfires; St. Patrick is said to have encouraged them to celebrate with fire at Easter time. He is also credited by using the locally popular three-leafed shamrock to teach the people about the nature of the Trinity of our Creator God.

What is true and what is legend about St. Patrick is somewhat difficult to prove. But what everyone agrees on is that St. Patrick was an instrument of God’s grace in Ireland. He did not remain bitter towards his captors, instead he shared the Good News of Jesus with his enemies. He was also generous in that He brought Jesus into their culture and encouraged them to worship him in a way that made sense to them and those around them rather than completely conform to the cultural ways of other believing people.

Upon his death, the Nation of Ireland had been transformed from a nation worshipping false gods to a place filled with faithful followers of Jesus. They had established churches, monasteries and schools to ensure the Good News would be shared with the future generations.

I pray regularly that I will be filled with generosity and sacrifice, similar to that of St. Patrick. Today I am inspired to add that my heart would be open with the same generosity and sacrifice not only for God’s people and unbelievers, but for my enemies as well.

Have a blessed St. Patrick’s Day and may your heart and mind be transformed by the Good News of Jesus Christ in your life. May He also inspire you to share that Good News with others in a way that they can receive it as well.

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20

His servant and yours,
Pastor Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, March 19, 2023
Romans 1:1-7; John 9:1-41

Pastor’s Corner

Pastor’s Corner – Created For Faith

Faith is God’s love language. If you have ever read or heard of “The 5 Love Languages” you know that different people prefer different expressions of love. While we all like to be shown love and appreciation in multiple ways there are certain expressions that mean more to us than others. A positive word of affirmation may make your month, whereas someone else may feel immeasurably loved when they receive a small gift of appreciation.

How do we tell Jesus we love Him?Do we give Him gifts? Spend quality time with Him? Share words of affirmation with Him? In some ways we could say “yes” to all of these, but if we are seeking God’s true love language it wouldn‘t be any of the traditional 5. What gift do we give God he hasn’t already made? What words do we share with Him He didn’t already put on our heart?

Over and over in the scriptures God reminds us that, with all due respect, we have very little to offer God. 1 Corinthians 13 gives a pretty good list of things we often value with regard to God, speaking in tongues, preaching the mysteries of God, faith to move mountains (performing miracles), giving gifts to the poor. But God wants “love”. What does love look like from us to God?

Psalm 51:16 says, “God does not take pleasure in our offerings”. In other words, God doesn’t find joy in us performing the acts of love towards Him or others if we don’t have love in our hearts. Psalm 51:17 continues on, “My sacrifice is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise”

A broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart are fruits of faith in our lives. When we believe God’s word is true it brings contrition in our heart that we do not measure up to God’s standards. When, we trust God is a forgiving God, it allows us to bring our brokenness before God and allows Him to heal us. This is how we tell God we love Him; we allow Him to heal us.

In Matthew 23:37 Jesus himself declares how much God loves “Jerusalem”. Jerusalem in this context is the faithful people of God. He loves them and yearns to heal and protect them “like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” but the faithful people would not let Him.

Too often we try to show love to God by “healing ourselves so I can be a blessing to God”. We try to do the right things and meet His expectations. We push God away because we feel like a failure or helpless in our sin. When, the whole time, all God wants is for us to have faith and trust that He wants to be the one to heal our hearts. The love language of God is faith or trust in Him as our healer and our protector. Come to Him all who are weak and heavy laden and He will give you rest.

His servant and yours,
Pastor Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, March 12, 2023
Psalm 95:1–7; John 1:1-5, 14

Pastor’s Corner

Trusting Jesus For Joy

In our weekly worship meeting we were discussing the Trust in the Lord devotional for Lent. The question was, “Are we as good at trusting the Lord to bring us joy as we are at trusting Him when we are sad?”

My first reaction to this question brought humble confidence that I do go to God in times of joy. I have taught others for 20 years to remember to pray prayers of thanksgiving along with supplications (requests for help). I am far from perfect, but I feel I have done that well and over the years have trained myself to begin almost every prayer with a “thanks” before a “please”. But, as discussion continued I realized that wasn’t the question.

Do I need more than Jesus to have joy in my life? I started to feel a bit more conviction as I realized all of the ways the Devil and my flesh have allowed joy to be robbed from me, recently. As my children have grown so have my worries for them, my ability to provide for them. As I have aged, my worries for paying for college and retirement and weddings have increased. And what about all the fun things I still want to do, I may never get to do those.

Dreaming about fun things to do is part of being human. In fact, the idea of being blessed to be a blessing is from God himself. God’s people were given a Promised Land they waited for centuries to receive and waiting for the Promised Messiah brought hope and joy for thousands of years. The promise of a date night on the calendar can be an amazing relief to tension in a marriage and planning a family vacation (staycation) can be just the right medicine for a house that is always on the run. But, what about Jesus?

Trusting Jesus for joy means we need fewer activities and fewer vacations in order to be happy. Trusting Jesus for joy means we are not dependent on the next “break from all the stress.” Jesus has things to say and peace to offer right now in the midst of the chaos. But this isn’t about doing less, this is about trusting Jesus more.

The Fear of Missing out (FOMO) is a paralyzing fear in our culture. We see all the great pictures on social media and see all the toys our neighbors have and we want it too. We think we need it too, or at minimum feel we are missing out when we don’t. But we have Jesus, do we trust Him for our joy?

We don’t have to wait for a date night or a vacation to find peace or to reconnect. We can cut unnecessary things out of our lives now. Cutting things out gives us more space to be together with God and each other. Can we find joy in Jesus and each other? Joy in simple friendships and joy in sharing life, sharing meals, sharing a laugh?

I know in my life, at times, I am robbed of joy by comparing what I don’t have or can’t provide for my children rather than tallying what I do have and what I have provided. And to be honest, I have way more joy with Jesus than I ever would without, even if I gained the whole world.

“Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:16-17

His servant and yours,
Pastor Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, March 5, 2023
1 Corinthians 8:4-9; Romans 1:16-17,21-25

Pastor’s Corner

Trust In the Lord: Faithful For the Future

When I first arrived at Cross in 2006 there were banners hanging up that encouraged us “Step Forward in Faith.” The theme verse at the time was Proverbs 16:9, “In His heart a man plans his path, but the Lord determines his steps.” These steps have not always been quick or easy. Over the years we have tried many plans and…in the eyes of man you might even say we have failed at many of them.

When we first built this space in 1999 we thought it might one day be a future worship space. Then the housing bubble burst in 2006 and it changed a lot of things for Cross and our community.

But what happens if we look at this space with the eyes of faith? We can see many things the Lord has done. In this space our track and field teams would practice throwing shot put that would support 12 state championship seasons. Jacob’s Well, a mission plant church in Yorkville, used this space to store their worship supplies between Sundays.

Social Justice ministries like PADS and the Kendall Cares Health Clinics were supported. Lutheran Disaster response sits at the ready to support victims of natural disasters. We have built sets and displays for worship and school productions. It is here that Caring Hands Thrift Shop stages off season items and during COVID we were able to spread out in this space and allow our students to attend school in person throughout the pandemic.

None of this was in our plan, but the Lord has certainly determined our steps and we and our community have been immeasurably blessed. I believe the Lord has one more step for us to take in this space. On April 16 we will hold a congregation meeting seeking approval from you, the Committed Disciples at Cross to secure a loan and sign a contract to begin construction. Construction that will transform this space into school classrooms and new children’s ministry area.

Our current campaign is called Building on the Past; Faithful for the Future. Because that is exactly what we believe the Lord has for us to do–to build on that first step of faith taken 24 years ago by a people that were faithful for this future. Join us on Sundays in March at 9:30AM to see the plans and to ask the questions. Join together in devotion and fervent prayer this Lenten season with our Trust in the Lord Devotional. Watch our campaign videos through our app. Encourage each other by sharing your excitement and even your frustrations on this journey. Then submit it all to the Lord for His words of healing and redemption. Finally join us on April 16 as we gather to pray and vote on the next step that will keep us Faithful for the Future.

His servant and yours,
Pastor Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, February 26, 2023
Romans 4:13-25; Matthew 4:1-11

Pastor’s Corner

Ash Wednesday And Lent

Easter is the annual celebration of the greatest day in the history of the world. Like any other celebration, the anticipation and preparation are parts of what make the big day extra special. The build up to Easter is a 6.5 week season (40 days, not counting Sundays) called Lent.

During the season of Lent we prepare our hearts and minds to fully receive the forgiveness paid on the Cross and won in the empty tomb. We are each encouraged to pause and take an inventory of our thoughts, our faith, our choices. This internal examination of how things are going is very much like spring cleaning. Each spring we find the things that have unnecessarily accumulated, things that are not important or are taking up space, things that are broken or are collecting dust, and we discard them to make room for the things that matter most.

Lent is the faith life equivalent to spring cleaning in our homes. We look internally at sin and guilt we have held onto for too long. We consider what lesser things are taking up space that should be reserved for God. We dust off our spiritual disciplines, like prayer, worship and Scripture reading. Lent is the season to renew and reinvigorate our life of faith.

Ash Wednesday, February 22, launches the season of Lent with a special worship service. During this service participants will have the opportunity to receive ashes upon their head to remind each of us that there is clutter in our lives to be cleared up, priorities to rearrange, energy and effort to redirect, sin to be repented of. We have eternal life in Christ Jesus given to us for today and promised to us, forever.

This Lent we are entering into a season of self reflection not just for ourselves as individuals but, for our entire congregation. The theme for our season is “Trust in the Lord; Faithful for the Future.” For the past several years we have been praying, working, and sacrificing for a facility expansion that includes new school space as well as Children’s Ministry Space. This expansion will also bless our youth ministries, worship ministries and community impact in the current school spaces.

Each Sunday in March at 9:30AM, our Governance Board will be hosting a “Fireside Chat” to update the congregation on where we have been and where we hope to be headed. Each of you are asked to attend one of these chats, visit our website http://www.hiscross.org/faithful and work through the “trust in the Lord” devotions as a household or individual. Immediately after Easter we will hold a congregation meeting to decide to cease our building plans or to begin construction.

This is an important vote that will impact our congregation and our community. Without the expansion we will need to shrink the number of students in our school to right-size it for our current building. Without the expansion our children’s ministry will remain without dedicated space for the important work of discipling our next generation in an increasingly hostile world.

Moving forward comes with its own risks and rewards as well. Like all of life’s decisions, this too requires prayer and discernment in relationship with our Lord and our community of faith. So please, join us as we look inside our own hearts and minds to seek the Lord and His kingdom first and then, pray together as we look to trust in the Lord who is always Faithful for the Future.

“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” Psalm 78:4

His servant and yours,
Pastor Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, February 19, 2023
Exodus 24:18; Matthew 17:1-9; 2 Peter 1:16-21

Pastor’s Corner

Seeking God’s Direction

“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4)

There are many seasons throughout my life and ministry whereas this psalm and verse became one of deep meditation. Most recently it happened again as I was, at both the same time, writing a sermon on this text and simultaneously seeking God’s direction for current and future staff members.

Several months ago we shared that Mary Neyer is retiring from the teaching ministry at the end of this school. Then in December both Will LeBeau and Kayla Olson changed their ministry direction and created two more immediate staffing vacancies.

Recently we have formed Call committees and began the process in earnest of praying, searching and discerning God’s next steps for staffing our church and school ministries. The Call process looks similar too, but feels very different from a typical secular hiring process. First, because it is bathed in prayer. Of course, we hope that each child of God would fervently pray for all life’s decisions, and yet so often we work with and for a secular company that seldom values prayer.

In addition to bathing in prayer, potential candidates do not apply for this position. The Call process begins with the congregation seeking God’s will and direction and then trusting that He will lead us to the proper candidates. This creates a sense of partnership with the Lord where we simultaneously have our plans and purposes in front of us while we are open to those same plans being refined in light of God’s will for us.

Ultimately the congregation (that’s you reading this) is responsible for extending a Call to the individuals identified and then those workers discern if God is leading them to leave where they are currently serving, to serve here in Yorkville. The entire process is designed to promote the congregation, its leadership and the trained workers of our national church body to remain mindful that we are all one in Christ Jesus. As a worker is led to a “new land” they create a season of transition and refinement in another. In all of this is God’s work.

Change is never easy and sometimes the process of change is tiring. At the same time, these seasons serve to draw us nearer to God and one another. As we seek God’s future, we must listen and lead well, we revisit His calling and the needs of our community, God provides His perfect solution in His perfect timing so we are able to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life.”

Please continue to pray for and participate in the seeking of our current and future leadership needs.

In Christ,

Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, February 12, 2023
Psalm 119:1-11; Matt 5:21-37

Pastor’s Corner

Good Fear

“When trouble arises, there are some that run toward it and there are some that run away from it.” I have often heard this saying or something similar when referring to the heroic nature of first responders or military personnel. It is not good for everyone to run towards trouble, but we are thankful for those that do, because their efforts typically will minimize the damage and often saves other people. When it comes to our faith journey, God’s Word encourages us all to face our fears and that our greatest fear ought to be God Himself.

At first it seems counter intuitive to be afraid of God, but there is a purpose when the Bible says “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord” (Psalm 112:1).

We are physical people in a physical world and so often our biggest fears are physical fear. We might be afraid of injury or sickness for ourselves or others. We might be afraid of material wealth or possessions being lost or stolen or inadequate. We might fear failure in a sporting or intellectual endeavor. Our physicals fears seem big and important, and they are. But all these physical, material fears are only temporary when compared to our eternal self.

God’s Word says our greatest fear ought to be something that can impact our eternal self, as well as our physical needs. Even with this eternal perspective our human nature tends to view the Devil and his evil ways as our greatest spiritual fear. While this fear is also understandable, if we are ranking things we ought to fear, there is another spiritual being that ought to be feared even more than the Devil. Even with all his might the Devil must always bow his knee and yield to the authority of God Himself.

Romans 8 reminds us of the powerful truth that “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Psalm 27 says “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall, I fear?” We tend to think of the Devil as someone to fear, and God as someone we do not need to fear. The truth is the Devil has no power where God is present and God has power over everything.

The fear of God and His commandments aren’t a fear of God destroying us, they are fears that God could destroy us. No one goes to heaven, and no one goes to hell without God’s divine judgment. The Devil has no say in this eternal judgment. The Devil’s only power is to tempt us people with falling in love with the material world and rejecting or ignoring our eternal realities. The Devil fools us into fearing loss in the world, when our only true fear ought to be losing our relationship with God.

Psalm 112:7 says that “The one who fears the Lord is never afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting the Lord.” When we fear God, our fear is correctly placed in the most powerful being in the physical and spiritual world. When we fear the Lord we realize nothing else has any power over us. When we fear the Lord we are filled with peace because we know what our God is capable of and we know what He has done for us. Our God gave up His life so we could have ours.

God’s perfect love drives out our fear of punishment and pain. Our fear of the Lord Himself leaves no room for any other fear. Instead, God’s perfect love fills us with peace. So let’s run towards the only thing we have to be afraid of and in so doing be embraced by His grace and love.

In Christ,

Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, February 5, 2023
Psalm 112:1-9; Matt 5:13-20

Pastor’s Corner

Psalm 14

We are a Christian people in a nation that no longer prioritizes the teachings of God. In many ways this new reality feels unknown and scary; the likes of which we have never seen or experienced. In other ways, this reality we are experiencing falls firmly under God’s wisdom in Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

The story of God and His people is repetitive and redundant; an unhealthy cycle if you will. Beginning with a perfect relationship with God at creation and followed by the sudden fall that brings destruction. Then God in His mercy extends grace, restores His people and heals the nation around them. Rinse and Repeat. A season of faithfulness and blessing is followed by sin and selfishness that leads to judgment and destruction. Eventually the people of faith repent and are healed by God’s grace.

This current season of judgment and destruction is unknown to us, but we can learn so much about how to handle it through the word of God and the people who have endured these seasons before us. Psalm 14 is a psalm of David who writes about the unfaithful “fools” in the nation around him. David is surrounded by a nation of unbelieving fools who say “there is no God”.

Does this sound familiar? Even if you think fool is too harsh a term, the Biblical definition of fool is one who “hears these Words of mine (Jesus) and does not put it into practice” Matthew 7:26. Remember the wise man who built his house upon a rock? The foolish man knew that it was better to build on a rock, he chose not too for self-serving reasons rather than putting into practice the knowledge he had been taught.

If we are going by that definition of fool then, if we honestly look in the mirror, we discover that at times we are all fools. Anytime we put our own knowledge and desires ahead of the Word of God we are building on sand. When we pursue the accolades of the world at the expense of our godliness we are putting the ideas of man ahead of the truth of God. It can be status, likes on social media, money, marriage, retirement, anything. Tops on the list of deceptions believers fall for today are fear and lack of control, which leads us to actions that make us feel better, even for a moment.

As Psalm 14 continues, David acknowledges that as God surveys the world looking for people who seek after Him, He finds none. At this point the psalm can seem like a downer and our instinct is to look for something a bit more upbeat… “Don’t!” When we embrace the reality of our sin we are no longer controlled by it and fear has no power over us. This is where David leads us! Freedom from fear and regaining control in our lives by shifting form the knowledge of man to the wisdom of God!

“Oh that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” Zion is the mountain on which God meets His people. The tent is there for David, Solomon builds the temple. The point is that God gifts to His people who turn to Him the salvation for the Nation. It isn’t a political leader or activist; it isn’t a famous preacher or YouTube prophet. It is the people of God turning away from the knowledge of the world and returning to the wisdom of God.

2 Chronicles was written in another period of time when the people of God were more in line with the world than they were with God (see it IS a pattern!). This is the dedication of the Temple of God, just like David wrote in the psalm the solution to the Nation being far from God is in fact the people of God living FOR God. When we repent of our foolishness and call on God’s name to lead US in wisdom, He will also miraculously heal the nation along with us.

“I will hear their prayer from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land” 2 Chronicles 7:14

In Christ,

Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, January 29, 2023
Psalm 15; Matt 5:1-12

Pastor’s Corner

Lutheran Schools Week

Cross Lutheran Church and School is part of a national group of churches who chose to work together for Jesus. This nationwide organization is called the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod or LCMS (Synod means “Walking together”). This group of churches, schools and service organizations have been voluntarily walking together for 175 years. We believe we can do more together for the Kingdom of God than we could on our own. As the ancient saying goes “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.

This weekend Cross will participate in a nationwide celebration of how our working together is a blessing to God’s Kingdom work through Christian education. The LCMS is comprised of over 1,800 schools and 21,000 teachers. These school include preschools, daycare centers, grade schools, high schools and even 9 universities and seminaries. We are a part of the second largest Christian school system in the United States, only the Roman Catholic system is larger.

We are truly blessed to have this wonderful support system for our students and families. The LCMS universities train and certify teachers and administrators that serve in all types of settings, including public, private and LCMS partner schools. Here at Cross, we are especially blessed by our teachers and staff. They are a group of dedicated servants of differing ages, backgrounds and passions who model what it means to voluntarily walk together for a common goal. That goal is to mentor and nurture our students and their families as disciples of Jesus.

The theme for Lutheran Schools Week 2023 is named “Making Disciples for Life”. We have many activities and celebrations scheduled. Our church family is invited to pray and celebrate with us on the weekends where many of our choirs will sing in services. Monday is our Fun Fair for school age students. This starts at 3:30 after school here at Cross. A family Dinner and Concert is scheduleD for 5:45 to 8:00PM on Wednesday. In addition, our school will be celebrating different themes each day. There will be school chapels every morning led by different classes and student groups.

On Thursday morning there is an open invitation to ALL first responders to come have a free pancake breakfast with our students. This is an effort by our students to “Love their Neighbor” and have a spirit of gratitude for those who serve.

How can you help? As people mature in faith as disciples it is invaluable to have mentors and role models who live out that faith. The teachers are asking that each of you would consider sharing how you live out your faith as a disciple of Jesus on a regular basis. It could be a simple as sharing your personal prayer and devotion habits. It could be a word of wisdom about how you life as a believer. Anything you are led to share will be a blessing for our next generation of disciples of Jesus Christ. Please email your submissions to churchinfo@hsicross.org.

We are truly blessed in so many ways here at Cross. Please take a moment and share some gratitude for God and His provision in and through our school ministry. Thank a teacher or a parent, encourage a student. Consider how you could serve or make a donation to help keep our school affordable and exemplary. Send an email sharing a story or insight on your discipling jJourney. Above all, keep encouraging one another on our journey together as we “Mature as a disciple of Jesus who: Walks with God, Grows in faith together and Loves our neighbors.”

In Christ,

Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, January 22, 2023
Psalm 27:1-11; Matthew 4:12-25

Pastor’s Corner

Psalms: The Prayers of God’s People

The Book of Psalms stands alone among all the Holy Scriptures. It is unique in its authorship, format, artistry and functional uses. Over the next month, we will explore a few of the 150 psalms in an effort to grow an appreciation for the powerful impact the Word of God can have in our individual spiritual life as well as our corporate worship together.

The Book of Psalms is a compilation of poems written by individuals that functioned as songs to be utilized in worship. However, this book of the Bible is way more than a mere songbook or poetry collection. These Psalms should be seen as a “Best of the Best” of spiritually formative writings. The Holy Spirit leads believers to pass these particular writing on from one generation of believers to another.

The Book of Psalms was compiled while the Israelites were in exile in Babylon. This was a season of judgment from God because the Nation of Israel had drifted away from God. There were still many faithful followers who, even in exile, led the nation back to repentance and faithfulness to follow God’s teachings.

Because of the nature of persecution that surrounded this book of Psalms, many of the psalms are Psalms of lament. These can be especially helpful to us when we are going through trials or persecutions. Following God isn’t all “hearts and butterflies”, we are in a constant war against the Devil and all evil at work in the world. This leads to some trying times in the life of a Christian. These psalms of lament help us to realize we are not alone and give us a model for how to approach God about these challenges. It also gives us permission to take our trials to the Lord!

Other psalms in the book are psalms of praise, psalms of ascent (worship), and psalms of hope. In total, the 150 psalms in the book, give us a comprehensive model of prayer in all times and circumstances. We learn to pray for the world, pray for ourselves, pray in times of joy and in times of trial. Through it all, each of the more than 10 psalters give us words and models that help our heart, soul and mind to be filled with the power and presence of God in all circumstances.

Would you like to deepen your prayer life, grow your connection to God or simply learn how to pray to God no matter what you are going through? The Book of Psalms is a true treasure for the heart of the family of God as we Mature as Disciples of Jesus Who: Walk with God in Worship, Grow in Faith Together and Love our Neighbors in 2023!

In Christ

Rev. Erik Gauss

Scripture Readings for Sunday, January 15, 2023
Psalm 40:1-11; John 1:29-42a