Week of May 25-31

Reflections on Sunday: Faith and Life
It is probably helpful to give a bit of context for understanding where we are in the Gospel of Matthew. After all, except for a few readings during Holy Week, we've been milling around John's Gospel since early Lent. But it is the "year of Matthew" in the lectionary, so what's up with that?

During this "time after Pentecost," we will be, more or less, moving through the Gospel of Matthew chapter by chapter. Right now we are in the section known as the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7). It is the first of five "discourses" (sets of teaching instructions) in the Gospel:
ch. 5-7: Sermon on the Mount
ch. 10: Missionary Instruction
ch. 11-12: Instruction through Parables
ch. 18: Church/Community Instruction
ch. 23-25: Sermon on Eschatology ("Last Things")
Some have suggested that these five discourses are meant to parallel the Pentateuch, the first Five Books of Moses of the Old Testament. Whether that is the case or not, Matthew's Gospel is very much a teaching Gospel. And we, like the first disciples, are invited to sit at Jesus' feet and listen. So, like the stained glass window on the west wall of our sanctuary invites us, we sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus and listen intently.

May 31: The Visitation
On May 31 the Church celebrates the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. This festival marks the occasion when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited her cousin Elizabeth who was herself pregnant with John. Elizabeth pronounced Mary "blessed among women," and Mary responded with the song called the Magnificat. You may want to consider praying the Magnificat this Saturday: Luke 1:47-55.

Memorial Day
If you would like to continue the celebration of Memorial Day, you can help our servicemen and women through sending care packages. There is an article on p. 6 of our monthly newsletter.

On the Web
Our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has recently launched a new version of its website. You may want to explore a bit and see what you can find there.

You may also want to explore what is going on with global missions in our own synod.

Summer Sunday School
Summer Sunday School begins this week. Children will begin a series from Concordia called "Journey with Jesus". Lisa's class continues with a study of the lectionary readings called Daily Discipleship. And the pastors' class will be watching and discussing various films in the Nooma series by Pastor Rob Bell of Mars Hill Church. This week's video is called "Rain" and explores what it means when the rain comes in our lives--where is God in all this?

Baccalaureate
The Eastwood High School Baccalaureate service is Sunday, June 1 @ 7pm at St. John's Lutheran in Stony Ridge. Come and celebrate with our graduates and pray for them as they begin new chapters in their faith journeys.

Preparing for Sunday (June 1)
In preparation for Sunday, read Deuteronomy 11:18-28 and Matthew 7:21-29. You may also want to read Deuteronomy, chapter 6. Taken together, these two texts speak of the integration of faith and life. What does it mean when the word of the Lord moves from the page into the very marrow of our bones? The rest of the readings for Sunday are available here.