This is Most Certainly True

Whew, what a fun weekend! 

I woke up bright and early Saturday and went to a Small Catechism class at Ebeneezer's Restaurant.  What a neat little Irish place that is!  It had been awhile since I'd eaten there.  Last year it was damaged during the flood, but they have done a wonderful job of re-doing the place with it's tin ceilings, lamps and mirrors.
We are studying this book with Pastor Pancoast as our leader.

The book is available at this website. http://store.augsburgfortress.org/store/product/5185/Study-of-Luther-Small-Catechism-Participant

Here is a link to Luther's Small Catechism it if anyone in interested.  http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php

I've wanted to study the Small Catechism again for quite awhile now. Autumn will soon be in confirmation and I feel I should brush up a bit. 
I did study a little bit of the Small Catechism during my confirmation years in Jr. High, but that was a long time ago and to be honest, I was at that awkward age where Lutheranism meant very little to me.

My home church.  My father took this picture early in the morning.  The sun is shining right on the face of Jesus in the big stain glass window.

I remember disliking confirmation.  All I can remember of the Small Catechism during those days was the memorization.  I remember being so concered about getting it all memorized, that I think I lost what Luther was trying to teach us.  I'm not saying students shouldn't memorize it, I just think more emphasis should have been put on what the Small Catechism could mean for us in our everyday lives, through high school and college, no matter where life was going to take us.  Instead, it felt like something we had to "get through" section by section.  And do I still have any of it memorized? Nope.

So, why do I feel the need to participate in this particular Small Catecism study?  

Is it because of the good company?  No, even thought this group is a very cool, funny, and interesting group of people, that's not why I'm there.

Is it to win brownie points with God?  No

Do I feel my salvation hinges upon it?  No, because "There is nothing we can do". 
                                                                                         
Then why on earth do I get out of bed at the crack of 0-dark-hundred, on a Saturday morning, to go?

Because I want to learn it inside and out!  Luther's Small Catechism is the basic fundamentals of what Lutherans believe.  Every Lutheran should know it and know it well!  I want to be able to teach it with confidence to my daughter because I want her to know it well.  And I want someone to sit across the table from me and explain to me, in plain english, so that I understand it completely.  And I want to do all of this while eating hashbrowns, eggs and toast 'cause that's just how I roll.

Proof you can find a photo of just about anything on the internet!

Have a Happy Day!

Christ Lutheran Christmas Eve

I hope everyone had a good Christmas with family and friends.  Our Christmas was good and went way too fast.  All that preperation from the day after Thanksgiving up until Christmas and then, ZOOM! it's over in a couple of days.

We were able to have Christmas Eve services at Christ Lutheran Church.  Being able to have Christmas Eve worship there was very special to so many of us since it was flooded during the 2011 Souris River Flood.  Many people worked very hard to make Christmas Eve a possibility.  First the church had to be cleaned (mucked-out), and walls taken out. Then it had to be disinfected and dried, and the asbestoes had to be removed.  Now, with a new boiler in the boiler room it is clean and dry and ready for rebuilding in the spring.  Here are some pictures of what we as a church and congregation have been through these past six months.

Here is our beautiful church building from the air on Saturday, June 25th.

This clearly shows how high the water got on the main level.  Unfortunately, we were not able to save our pews.  They had to be cut into thirds by chain saws to be removed.  I was there that day and it was sad to hear the chainsaw motors coming from inside and to see each pew come out the doors in pieces.

Once the water had been pumped out of the basement we were able to go in and take a look around.  We hired a big "muck-truck" that had long vacuum hoses to suck up all of the yucky stuff out of the basement.  That was a tough day.  It was dark, damp, and very odiferous (that's the polite way of saying it lol).  We wore special masks, rubber boots and gloves. 

Professional photographer, David Joel came by the church and took some beautiful (as beautiful as a bare-bones church can be) photos.  This is part of the classroom area of the basement, cleaned up, dry and ready to be rebuilt.

Another photo by David Joel of the upstairs classroom.  I remember kicking the paneling down with my feet between the classrooms.  It was a good stress reliever.

And here we are on Christmas Eve.  There were a few lights, even though our main ceiling lights are not working yet.  We had the organ, candles, trees, and most importantly PEOPLE!  For many it was the first time seeing the church post-flood.  It was a beautiful service!

Before church.  I'm glad we got there early because we had a full house with extra seating in the narthex.

Candlelight Silent Night

During the whole process of cleaning and rebuilding we have been worshiping at Bethany Lutheran.  The folks at Bethany have made us feel very welcome and we thank them for that.  Christ Lutheran services are at 5:00pm on Saturdays and 9:30am on Sundays.  We still have our education hour on Wednesdays evenings.
We thank God for his guidance and know that He has been with us every step of the way!  And we have faith that He will continue to be with us as we proceed with rebuilding.