This is an excerpt from a blog post by Zach and Allison Zehnder. The complete post is titled "Three Steps to Help You Bounce Back When You Are Feeling Low: The Low After the High." In this post, Zach and Allison sat down together and talked about a rough time Allison had last summer after writing their latest 40-day challenge books (The "Serving Challenge.") They both learned some valuable lessons that may help others during a tough season. You can read the complete post HERE>> | Under each of the three steps below, we list the verses describing what Jesus did after His temptation in Matthew 4. Nothing in Scripture is by chance, so Jesus’s steps were exactly what He was supposed to do.
Conclusion Accomplishing a great task, achieving a goal, or finishing a challenge is no small task! But no matter what challenge you complete, take time to rest, rejoice, and recommit to God’s next challenge for you! |
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Note: In this post there are two links - one, to one of our worship service videos on Facebook, and the other, to a video on YouTube. You have to log on to Facebook to watch the video there; you don't have to log on to YouTube to watch that video. If you've looked at the worship printouts recently you've seen that we've included the above graphic of our "Measures" that says "A dedicated disciple of Jesus (someone who is learning to imitate Christ) goes low (in humility), lives out (in kindness), and lifts up (with joy)." We developed this a couple of years ago with the help of Pastor Jacob Hoyer, along with other statements about God's Vision and our Mission (you can find all the statements and graphics HERE>>). Now it's a couple of years later, and we're two weeks into the SERVING CHALLENGE at Christ the King. So far we have talked about ATTITUDE and AVAILABILITY. In the worship printouts for the Sundays in March you should also be able to see the one below, about the Values we have as a congregation (Caring, Acceptance, Family, and Joy). I've put them in the printout because the work we've been doing this year with the Forgiving Challenge and now the Serving Challenge has pointed naturally to these Values we share with one another. If you were in either one of our worship services on Sunday, February 25, or watched the videos on Facebook or on YouTube (links in the next section), you might have had the joy of witnessing with me two extraordinary, spontaneous demonstrations of these values and serving. In fact, I shared these videos with the team at Red Letter Challenge in the following email (slightly edited here) on Monday, February 26: "Hi, Red Letter team! God is doing some great and tender things here at Christ the King. So we're into the "Serving Challenge" and the focus in yesterday's worship was "Availability." At the end of our early service, instead of our Elder coming up to put the altar candles out, two of the young girls came up instead - the one was about 12 years old, and her little sister is about 3 (and seems to take her behavioral cues from Tigger). No worries, though - they did great! Here's the Facebook link (they come up at about 58:00 - but you might want to mute it) https://fb.watch/qsvnaVed18/ Later, at the end of our later service, two guys came up to put the candles out (here's the link; again, you might want to mute it first! https://www.youtube.com/live/7l9yj0caHcE?feature=shared&t=3344.) In the video, the big guy with the brown shirt is Duane, who's one of our regular ushers and has a heart as big as all outdoors. The guy in the blue hoodie is Brett. He's got some significant special needs, and is sharing a house with our music guy, Patrick, who also has special needs and lives in an electric wheelchair. This is only the second time Brett has come with Patrick to one of our worship services, but Duane had this notion to lead Brett by the hand to the altar and help him hold the candlelighter to put the candles out - you can see that they did great, too! And, Brett got quite a few thank-yous and fist bumps from the folks afterward, too (so did Duane). I don't really think these have anything much to do with me preaching about "Availability" yesterday - both of them are just kind of how we roll at Christ the King. But don't you love it when a plan comes together? God bless us everyone! Pastor Chris Cahill And here's the email I got back from the Red Letter Challenge team:
Wow Pastor Chris! That was truly heartwarming to see! It's incredible to witness how God is moving and working through your community at Christ the King. Thank you for sharing those beautiful moments with us. Watching those young girls and then Duane and Brett stepping up to put out the candles truly encapsulates the spirit of availability and service. It's evident that everyone at Christ the King is wholeheartedly embracing the call to serve and support one another, regardless of age or ability. Seeing Brett receiving such warm appreciation from the congregation is touching and speaks volumes about the inclusive and loving environment you all have cultivated. You're right, it's not just about preaching a message on availability; it's about living it out in our everyday actions, just like what we witnessed in those moments. It's moments like these that remind us of the beauty and power of community and the incredible things that can happen when we come together with open hearts and willing hands. Thank you again for sharing this with us, Pastor Chris. We're truly inspired and encouraged by what's happening at Christ the King. Blessings PS Pastor Zach Zehnder added "Wow, that is beautiful (and tender) and amazing! Thanks CC for sending this over…love the SCARS word up there too. I’m blessed by this this morning!!" Are you interested in helping a community recover after a natural disaster and showing the love of Christ to people in need? Have you ever volunteered for a Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT)? Your opinion can help LCMS Disaster Response and Training improve its organization and training of LERT volunteers so that they are ready to deploy when a natural disaster strikes. Please take a brief survey HERE>> and let us know how you think we can improve LERT training and provide relief more effectively to natural disasters.
The more responses we receive, the better equipped LCMS Disaster Response will be in supporting LERT volunteers. We would appreciate receiving all responses by March 15. All responses are completely anonymous and confidential. Ash Wednesday this year (2024) is on Wednesday, February 14
Let me say at the outset that I won’t be using ashes on Ash Wednesday this year at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Lodi, Ohio, where I serve as pastor. Here’s why: I confess that, as a seventy-one-year-old, lifelong Lutheran, I’ve always been uncomfortable about the idea of receiving ashes on the forehead on Ash Wednesday. That’s not something that happened in the church where I was a kid, nor in the church where I was confirmed. It’s not something that I’ve often practiced as a pastor in the three churches that I’ve served, until just a few years ago. Even over the last few years, when I’ve put ashes on the foreheads of other people because they’ve requested that I do it, I haven’t put them on my own forehead, nor have I asked someone else to do it for me. I haven’t had a good reason for using ashes on Ash Wednesday, but I haven’t had a good reason for not doing it, either. To tell you the truth, I haven’t much thought about the reasons for or against – until now. In the Old Testament, ashes were used for a number of purposes, including as a sign of mourning or grief. Eventually this grief also included grief over one’s own sins, and so the ashes became an outward sign of penitence. But the overuse and misunderstanding of this outward sign eventually led to the Lord saying (through the prophet Isaiah, 58:3b-5): “On the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?” Centuries later, during His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1, 16-18) Jesus preached “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. . . . When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” The Imposition of Ashes (that’s what it’s called when the pastor puts the ashes on your head on Ash Wednesday) is not about grace, forgiveness, salvation, or living as one of God’s chosen and beloved people; it’s about reminding you about the threat of God’s wrath and eternal punishment for all sin, including your own. Perhaps some people do need to be threatened with that on Ash Wednesday; but it seems to me that if I’m ever going to make the sign of the cross on your forehead it should not be with ashes to threaten you, it should be with just my fingers to remind you that at your baptism you received “the sign of the holy cross, both upon your forehead and upon you heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified.” During Lent this year we won’t be concerned with threatening you with God’s punishment, nor with things that you might “give up” to demonstrate your sorrow about your sins. Instead, we’ll continue to be reminded each Sunday about the acronym we’ve been reviewing for the past month – Sin, Confession, Absolution, Restoration, and Sanctification (= ”S.C.A.R.S.”) – that we learned from Zach Zehnder’s “Forgiving Challenge”. Because we have been forgiven and restored by the work of Jesus, we can turn our attention this Lent from our own selves to the people around us who are in need of the light of Jesus Christ that we who are His people can show them through our works of service. You can download and print the worship service for Ash Wednesday from this link https://bit.ly/3wbySHj; you can see the entire schedule for our Lenten journey through the Serving Challenge at https://ctklodi-serving-challenge.mystrikingly.com/ #AshWednesday #RedLetterChallenge #ForgivingChallenge #ServingChallenge FEATURED MINISTRY PARTNER: Lutheran Bible Translators This month Lutheran Bible Translators celebrate 100 episodes of their "Essentially Translatable" podcast! For this episode, co-hosts Rich Rudowske and Emily Wilson reminisce about some of their favorite moments from the past four years on the podcast. The Essentially Translatable podcast has brought countless stories from the field, interviews with Ministry Entrepreneurs, and conversations with international partners. Join us as we reflect on the many profound, spiritual, and informative discussions throughout the years. Tune in here>>! FEATURED BLOG POST: "Lent: How to Choose Not to Choose" by Allison Zehnder at Red Letter Challenge HERE>> FEATURED PODCAST: Family Bible Journey Daily Podcasts With Rev. Dan Lepely
What do we learn about our relationship with God from Joseph, who wrestled with God, refusing to let go until he received a blessing? Listen to “The Wrestler,” on the Family Bible Journey podcast or at familybiblejourney.com. Rev. Dan Lepley is the SELC and English Districts' Vice President at The Lutheran Church Extension Fund. LADIES! WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE FOR OUR SELC DISTRICT LUTHERAN WOMEN’S MISSIONARY LEAGUE! Check it out HERE>> SELC BIENNIAL CONVENTION - MAY 3-5, 2024
Dear friends in Christ,
In my sermon for Sunday, January 7, I quickly sketched a plan / outline for our worship and Bible Study focus for the first three months of 2024, culminating with Easter Sunday on March 31. You can listen to that sermon on our YouTube channel at http://tinyurl.com/3u2whbrv, but you can also read the plan / outline below. Details of this plan / outline will always be works in progress, but I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will help us all to grow in His grace and fill us with the comfort of His presence in this New Year. God bless us everyone! Pastor Cahill SUNDAYS – Themes for Worship (8:15 am & 10:45 am) and Adult Bible Class (9:30 am) JANUARY 7 – Epiphany 1 A THEME WORD for 2024? COMFORT (Isaiah 52:7-10, Isaiah 40:1-2, Isaiah 61:1-2) Psalm 40:9-10 - This is the Comfort that comes from God because of and through His righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and love Remaining Sundays in January - reviewing "Forgiving Challenge" from Red Letter Living JANUARY 14 – Epiphany 2 - “Forgiving Challenge” Review #1 - SIN JANUARY 21 – Epiphany 3 - “Forgiving Challenge” Review #2 - CONFESSION JANUARY 28 – Epiphany 4 - “Forgiving Challenge” Review #3 - ABSOLUTION FEBRUARY 4 – Epiphany 5 - “Forgiving Challenge” Review #4 - RESTORATION FEBRUARY 11 - “Forgiving Challenge” Review #5 - SANCTIFICATION NEW for Lent - "Serving Challenge" from Red Letter Living FEBRUARY 14 - ASH WEDNESDAY Aspects of serving like Jesus - “Serving Challenge” Introduction FEBRUARY 18 – LENT 1 - “Serving Challenge” Unit 1 - ATTITUDE FEBRUARY 25 – LENT 2 - “Serving Challenge” Unit 2 - AVAILABILITY MARCH 3 – LENT 3 - “Serving Challenge” Unit 3 - ACTION MARCH 10 – LENT 4 - “Serving Challenge” Unit 4 - ABILITY MARCH 17 – LENT 5 - “Serving Challenge” Unit 5 - AMBITION MARCH 24 – PALM SUNDAY “Serving Challenge” Final MARCH 31 – EASTER SUNDAY “Friends and Family” Sunday at Christ the King FEATURED PRAYER / SCRIPTURE CHALLENGE From Pastor Cahill: Everyone seems to think that the New Year is best begun by making (and soon breaking) resolutions. Once the making and breaking is done, what do we do next? What if the next best step (that really should be the first) is PRAYER? I invite you to join me beginning January 7 in the "21 Day Prayer Challenge" from Zach Zehnder's Red Letter Living. Every day this challenge brings together readings from God's Word, a one-page devotion/prayer guide, a brief YouTube videos, and a prayer prompt. I am planning to do this challenge personally, but I would like you to consider being a "prayer partner" with me. You can find everything you need to get started HERE>>. If you'd like, please also drop me an email at ctklutheranlodi@gmail.com to let me know you're "in." FEATURED BLOG POST "How Do You Know if God is Speaking to You" from Pastor Zach Zehnder HERE>> FEATURED MINISTRY PARTNERS
Concordia Center for the Family and Concordia Seminary (St Louis) have announced that they are joint recipients of a $1.25 million grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative to establish a Family Discipleship Initiative. The goal of the Initiative is to support Christian families in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) as they pass on the biblical faith through the generations. You can read more about this grant HERE>>.
Here are some podcasts, programs, and helpful resources that are worth checking out in December. Podcasts and programs often have a "subscribe" option so that you can get new episodes as soon as they are released.
KEYSTONE HABITS The "Being Challenge" encouraged us to develop habits similar to the ones Jesus used, that pulled together his life and ministry on earth, like a keystone does for an arch. The "Keystone Habits" (in the order you'll see them below) are Choosing Church, Studying Scripture, Committing to Community, Prioritizing Prayer, and Seeking Solitude)
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