"That the whole church become more fluent in the first language of faith, the language of Scripture, in order that we might live into our calling
as a people renewed, enlivened, empowered and sent by the Word."
(ELCA Book of Faith Initiative Vision Statement)

Lenten study to focus on Book of Faith

The Book of Faith is an ELCA Initiative that invites EVERYONE to get involved in learning the first language of faith – the language of the Bible. Here’s a brief list of how you can grow in faith with us during this Lenten season.

• Ask a Question
Each Sunday morning the Gospel message for the next Sunday will be printed on a “take home” page in the bulletin.

• Bring Your Bible
Bring your Bible to worship on Sundays as you develop a deeper understanding of how to make your Bible reading time more meaningful.

• Join a Group
Be part of a small group during Wednesday evening education time, Feb. 24–March 24, 6:00-7:00 p.m. -- 5 Wednesdays to Meet Jesus in the Gospel of John.

• Be Still
Our Wednesday evening worship, Feb. 17–March 24, 7:15-8:00 p.m. will be a devotional time -- a time to listen, feel and encounter the Gospel in a way that is personal and relevant to you.

Details of the Lenten Book of Faith study is on the website [here].

Book of Faith at St. Matthews: Mapping our Lenten Journey
Most of us have never embarked on a journey. We take road trips, and go on hikes, and enjoy vacation travel, maybe splurge on a cruise, perhaps even join an expedition. But a journey is a lengthy ordeal, marked by the unexpected, the delightful or disastrous. In 1742, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg left his comfortable homeland in Germany and sailed to colonial Pennsylvania to minister to its Lutheran churches. That’s a journey. The Israelite creed recorded in Deuteronomy 26 speaks of the beginning of the journey (slavery in Egypt) and of the end of the journey (arrival in the land of milk and honey.) Of the journey itself, the decades of woeful nomadic life, this creed says only that God helped them through.

When setting out on a journey, we may acquire a guidebook to assist with the planning. We want to know: What are the sights and experiences not to be missed? It can be valuable to gain such perspectives so that we don’t, out of ignorance, needlessly repeat others’ mistakes. The best guidebooks pique the imagination and tantalize with possibilities.

Our Lenten journey is an annual pilgrimage in the spring­time in which we encounter once more, as church, the saving, life-giving mercy of the triune God. We might speak of the time from Ash Wednesday through Easter Day as a “Lenten journey” moving through the forty days (Lent) to the great Three Days, and then on to the fifty days of rejoicing (Easter). And we take this journey in the company of others, formed to be a body: living, moving, breathing, and walking through the world.

Sylvia Dunstan speaks of such a journey in her hymn “Bless now, O God, the Journey”
Bless now, O God, the journey that all your people make, the path through noise and silence, the way of give and take. The trail is found in desert and winds the mountain round, then leads beside still waters, the road where faith is found.

Bless sojourners and pilgrims who share this winding way; your hope burns through the terrors; your love sustains the day. We yearn for holy freedom while often we are bound; together we are seeking the road where faith is found.

Divine eternal lover, you meet us on the road. We wait for lands of promise where milk and honey flow, but waiting not for places, you meet us all around. Our covenant is written on roads, as faith is found.

In her hymn, Dunstan uses the metaphor of journey to consider both our approach to God and God’s approach to us. In fact, while some of us imagine the journey from death to life, this journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter, to be one that we make, others might wish to magine it primarily as a journey that God makes toward us, running out to us like the Prodigal Son’s father with calf and robe and ring, even before we have had a chance to apologize or confess. Still others can imagine this journey to be both one that we, enabled by the Spirit, make toward God and one that God makes toward us. “You meet us on the road” is what Dunstan would have us sing. It is where we find God’s abundant mercy come to expression in water, bread, wine, story, sign, and assembly. This is not in the end our work, but God’s work for and in us, and all of it proclaiming that, in death and resurrection, we too receive life abundant.

This journey from death to life is no joke. It can be long and arduous. Such a journey will change your life, and not just your individual life, but your communal, shared life in God. May this Lenten time take you on a true Journey, using the book of faith, your bible, as a road map for your life journey.
-- John R. Paradowski, Minister of Music/Organist

The Book of Faith Team consists of Pastors Gary, Margaret, and Chris, Sue Swing, Doug Krekling, Pastor Ed Weiskotten, Conor Williams, Sandy Cristan, Pastor Carol Lund, Tim Jorgenson, Julie Schmidt. We have been discussing the basic book for the initiative, Opening the Book of Faith.

One way you can get into the Book of Faith now!
Try God Pause, a daily devotional provided by the ELCA as part of the Book of Faith Initiative. There is a link to God Pause on the St. Matthew's website under the "Worship" heading. There is also a "God Pause" link on the blue sidebar on most pages. The direct link is [here].

You only need to go to the God Pause website once! After your first visit to the web page, you can sign up to have God Pause sent to you daily in your e-mail. Opening God's Word becomes as simple as opening your e-mail each morning! This takes the guesswork out of what Bible verses to read and provides an immediate focus for your reflections with God each day. This daily devotion is provided by ELCA clergy and is  taken from the upcoming Sunday readings and/or Gospel text. A great way to start your day and prepare yourself for a relevant Sunday morning worship experience!

More information about the ELCA Book of Faith initiative is also available on the Book of Faith website [here].