Celebrating Love

If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.    1 Cor. 13:1-7

Aside from a random birthday or anniversary, there’s usually not a lot in February to celebrate. For many of us, by the time February rolls around we’ve had enough of winter and we’re more than ready for spring, and this makes the shortest month of the year feel all that much longer. 

Sports fans get the Super Bowl and Daytona 500, and baseball fans start getting excited because pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training. This year we get the Winter Olympics. Outside of that though, pretty much all there is in February to look forward to is Valentine’s Day – an overly commercialized day celebrating romantic love with the exchange of heart shaped boxes of candy, cards, and dinners out at favorite restaurants.

As I’ve been thinking more about Valentine’s Day, and all that’s going on around us, I’m reminded of what Jesus said when asked what the greatest commandment is. In Mark’s gospel he answers, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”  

LOVE. That’s what it all comes down to for us. Many of you may have grown up singing the familiar hymn, They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always seem to be what Christians are known for these days. Too often I think we’re known for what we fear or what makes us angry. Maybe this Valentine’s Day and beyond we would do well to get back to the way of love.

As Paul writes in the scripture passage quoted at the top of this article, if we don’t have love, we’re just making noise, having nothing, and gaining nothing. The way to truly experience and share the love of God in our homes, communities, and world is through love. Loving God, loving one another, loving our neighbors, even loving our enemies. I’m pretty sure that covers just about everyone in our lives…at least, I can’t find any exceptions in there. 

Let’s be honest, loving others day in and day out is hard…fortunately the path of love is relatively straightforward. With everything you say and do, simply ask yourself, “Is what I’m about to say or do going to show the love of Jesus to this person?” I know sometimes this is easier said than done, however, the implications for us and the world to love the way Paul suggests are wide ranging and transformative.

Loving with this sort of patience and gentleness invites others into our lives and provides intimate ground for relationships to grow. And love like Paul describes can bring down the walls of fear and conflict that seem to be so effective at separating people right now. This is the kind of love I want to celebrate on Valentines Day and every day, and I hope you do too, because  I think it just might be enough to change the world. 

~ Pastor Tony

Season of Love

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

In a world where injustice, hatred, discrimination, and division continue to cause pain and death among humanity, we, the children of light, are called to show to the world that our light provides us with hope, peace, joy, and love. Considering that we are entering the season of love, I want to take this opportunity to focus my article on that this month. As children of light, the practice of love is one of our qualities that tells the world who we are and how we identify ourselves to others.

The decorative season of Christmas, New Year’s, and Epiphany is now behind us. Now, we find ourselves in a time when we are reminded of the importance of practicing love. Stores are filled with decorations and items, and the barrage of advertisements on TV and social media is constant to remind us of the season and encourage our consumerism. In the Bible, the children of light are also reminded and called to practice love in their daily lives. Texts such as:

  • “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:33-34
  • “I have loved you with an everlasting love;I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3
  • “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18
  • “Beloved, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8
  • “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
  • “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14
  • “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10
  • “And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2
  • “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another.” John 3:11
  • “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15

When I attended the Youth Gathering in New Orleans, I had the opportunity to get an Old Lutheran sweatshirt. Old Lutheran is a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening, educating, and helping our brothers and sisters around the world. What caught my attention on the sweatshirt were the words: Love God. Love People. The End. We Christians are called to Love God, Love People. The practice of love is how we will counteract the darkness promoted among us. We, the children of light, are called to be the difference and a clear example of Jesus’ presence in the world. We, the children of light, are called to listen to our God revealed in the person of Jesus. If the world wants to tell us to hate, to discriminate and to oppress others, we the children of the light are called to follow what God commands us.

AMA DIOS. AMA GENTE. EL FIN —LOVE GOD. LOVE PEOPLE. THE END.

Pastor Edwin Aparicio

Month of Love

It is the month of love. Or at least that is what the Hallmark Card Company would like us to believe. The Bible uses the word “love” A LOT. I mean A LOT. The word “love” often gets overused and underappreciated for the moments and meaning we often want to convey to someone else. 

Bible verses like 1st Corinthians 16:14 is a helpful verse for me. Paul writes: “Let all that you do be done in love.” 1st Corinthians 13:4-7, also authored by Paul, is worth mentioning as well. Again, Paul writes: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” And finally, Colossians 3:12-14: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” What I appreciate about these Bible verses is that the word “love” is not simply a word, but it is an action offered with specific examples about how we live out that love in the world. Patience, kindness, compassion, humility, gentleness, selflessness are all attributes – actions – that define and exemplify love as we live out our faith each day.

There is no shortage of need or opportunity to share the love of God in both our words and through our actions. I wonder what opportunities God is preparing for you in the next month. Lutheran Pastor and Author Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes: “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.” You might know that phrase a little differently. In my world Bonhoffer’s words sound more like this: “There are no interruptions, there are only invitations.” I am grateful to Bonhoffer for the reminder. For each of us, the days are full. I have heard even the “retired” among us can have days that are full. When we find ourselves busy, even overwhelmed by the events on our schedule, it is easy for us to believe that our time is too precious to be interrupted by the text message, the phone call, the request of a family member or friend let alone a stranger. Yet, God may be interrupting your day to invite you to consider how you might show the very same love God has shown you to someone else. A few minutes of conversation might bring peace to someone’s anxiety. A reply to a text message may be a word of hope someone needs to read to take one more step on their journey. A willingness to rearrange your “scheduled” life for an hour may be the greatest gift to someone who believes no one cares about them at all. 

The time you take to tend someone else might be only a moment for you, but that moment might make all the difference for another. We might believe the moment to be an interruption, God might call it an invitation. Whether interruption or invitation, we should call it love. Now, how might you share that love with the world around you?

See you in church.

Pastor Chris

Called to Love

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

It’s February, the month of Valentines and heart-shaped boxes of candy…so what else is a pastor to write about in the newsletter but love? Thanks to the mass commercialization of Valentine’s Day, love is everywhere. Love is all around us!

Is it really, though? I mean, sure, our culture is highly skilled in and dedicated to promoting romance. I can’t tell you the number of jewelry commercials I typically see on television around this time. But while romance is as abundant as ever, it seems that love is a different story. And at least in my opinion, it seems love is much harder to come by in the public eye these days. Violence always leads off the nightly news, and public discourse has become hostile to the extent that political differences have driven wedges between families and friends.

But as people united in Christ, we are called by God to love others even if it’s not the most popular thing to do. Fortunately, the Bible is a great resource to help us do this! One of the best descriptions of love in the Bible is the passage quoted above, written by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian church. These words to the Corinthians are some of the most enduring words in the Bible and are familiar to many people because they are often read at weddings.

Despite that common use, though, the implications of the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 are wide-ranging. Loving with this sort of patience and gentleness invites others into our lives and provides intimate ground for relationships to grow. Strangers whom we may at first stereotype into a category become individual people we truly see, know, and appreciate. Love like Paul describes can bring down the walls of fear and conflict that seem to be so effective at separating people right now.
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This is the kind of love God calls us to offer to the world not only this February or this Valentine’s Day, but every day. So, I invite all of us to let God’s love for us in Jesus Christ be the Valentine that we offer to everyone.

~ Pastor Tony

Living in the Love of Jesus

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7-12)

It’s hard to believe it’s February already, but seeing that it is, it means Valentine’s Day is right around the corner (February 14th for all who need the gentle reminder). Couples will exchange gifts, friends and family will send each other cards, and people everywhere will celebrate the gift of sharing life with people we love and who love us in return. And thanks to the gift of mass commercialization, love will be everywhere.

Will it really, though? Because, while romance will certainly be swirling, it seems to me that love is a different story. At least in my opinion, it seems love is much harder to come by these days. Anger, intolerance, and violence seem to be the prevailing news stories, followed by political division, corruption, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and racism…need I go on.

But as people united in Christ, God calls us to a different way of life. We are called to love – even when it’s not the most popular thing to do. Fortunately for us we’ve been given a great resource to help us do this – Jesus. In the midst of the ups and downs of life Scripture reminds us that loving one another with patience and gentleness invites others into our lives and provides intimate ground for relationships to grow. Strangers whom we may stereotype into a category become unique and beautiful people we truly see, know, and appreciate. And loving this way can bring down the walls of fear and conflict that seem to be successful at separating people right now.

Interestingly, on Valentine’s Day this year we’ll begin our annual journey into Lent, and there we’ll see what real love – perfect, unconditional love looks like. In Jesus, we’ll witness love personified and we’ll experience love in the form of stunning self-sacrifice and loyalty, even toward those who don’t reciprocate. Embraced by this kind of love, we are free to love one another in genuine, costly, and meaningful ways.

And this my dear friends is the kind of love that God calls us to offer to the world not only this February or this Valentine’s Day, but every day. So, sisters and brothers, I invite all of us to let this love be our Valentine to the world, but most importantly to God.

~ Pastor Tony

Care Ministries

Christmas time is a time of hope, peace and joy. It is important to recognize that much of what we love about the Christmas season are the ways we have found to make love manifest. Gifts given, treats baked, visits made, and trips taken not only to show how full of love we feel for our friends and family but also for strangers who will benefit from our gift of time, talents and treasures.

The Christmas season during the pandemic challenges many of us to focus on simplicity. As we remember, millions of people around the world will miss more than simple traditions. They will miss the loved ones they’ve lost, the jobs they no longer hold, the health they can no longer count on. So for many people this may be a sad and lonely holiday. As Christians, Jesus is our hope for peace and joy during this pandemic time. So perhaps let us find new ways to show his love if we have to change our normal ways of tradition. Drop off cookies at doorsteps, use generous takeout orders to support local businesses, shop small businesses who may be struggling, share devotions and call those in our congregation who would love to connect with an Ascension member. We can all make a difference in our Christian lives to make this a holiday full of love.

Brenda Lytle, RN, Director of Care Ministries

Grateful Hearts

Thank you for your generous donations for the Be the Village Ministry’s ToyPalooza Drive for Chosen. Many new toys were collected to distribute to foster children. Thank you for making a difference in our community!

Thank you to CRASH and JOLT for your generous service work for Chosen. Thanks to Be the Village Ministry for setting up all of the materials so that the kids could finish 30 tie blankets for foster teens in Waukesha! Great job!

Thank you to everyone that supported Chosen in Love’s Gala in November. It was a great evening for a great cause!