Baptized Into Christ

The following was my newsletter article that was published this past week.  Just thought I'd share it here too. “God’s peace be with you.” Before the service even begins we spend a few minutes greeting each other in God’s peace.   Is this just a holy howdy and a nice thing to do?    No, there’s more to it than that.   It’s an opportunity to show Christian love for one another, to give a hug to someone in the congregation who is hurting, to share joy with someone who has had something good happen.    St. Paul repeatedly instructs Christians to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26).   I somehow can’t see Iroquois county Lutherans resuming the exchange of a “holy kiss” with one another, but the idea behind the “holy kiss” continues.   After Christ’s resurrection, when he appeared before his disciples, Jesus said to His disciples “"Peace be with you....

Last week we celebrated national Lutheran Schools Week.  All over the country (in fact there are Lutheran Schools all over the world) Lutheran Schools had special events and did fun things like sports day, school spirit day, and the so on. But what makes Lutheran Schools so special?  Why are they worth the cost to a congregation?  Why not just assimilate our kids into the other schools? Here are just some of the reasons that Lutheran Schools are worth the cost. The most important job that parents have is raising their children in the Christian faith.  Obviously parents can raise their children as Christians without a Lutheran School, but the reality is that it is harder without the help that you can receive at a Lutheran School.  Instead of a curriculum that is entirely secular, your child gets to see all things through the lens of Christ.  Rather than children being left to pray on their own, they learn to pray with their teachers and other child...