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Growing Season 2003 |
As I write, we have just celebrated The Holy Trinity. Easter, Pentecost and Trinity are not about quietly enjoying what Christ Jesus has done for us, but are about "go and tell!" From the word in the garden to Magdalene, to the word to the disciples on Easter evening, or in Galilee, to the gift of the Spirit, the word is, "go and preach!"
We take up that theme, namely, the Church's task to evangelize (to "Gospel" people) in this issue. Pastor Lori Cornell talks about insiders and outsiders, saving souls, and what motivates Lutherans to do so. Pastor Ron Neustadt let us print a sermon concerning evangelism he gave to his fellow pastors and involved laypeople at an annual meeting of the Metro St. Louis Coalition this past March.
What drives us, what drives you, Dear Reader, to tell the Good News to people who don't know yet?
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C-R-O-S-S is for
Cornell Reaches Out in Secular Seattle
Lori Cornell, pastor in secular Seattle, cyber-editor of Sabbatheology (sign on at www.crossings.org), recently attended a conference called Purpose Driven Lutherans. I asked her to run what she heard through the Crossings prism and her own pastoral experience. And you will be glad that she did. -
I-N-G is for
In Neustadt's Gospel
I understand that the Metro St. Louis Coalition Executive Committee originally had planned to have this workshop occur last week. But what a happy coincidence that it ended up being today--during Lent--during this penitential season we have now entered. What a happy coincidence, I say, because evangelism and repentance go together. The Gospel reading we just heard--the one appointed to be read in our churches tomorrow--reminds us of that. -
S is for
Snowboarding
A year ago my son got a video game of snowboard racing. This is called "virtual" snowboard racing. That is, he is not really snowboarding, but the moves are all so realistic, that he is virtually snowboarding. He controls animated characters that race on brightly colored boards and perform amazing tricks. At least, they "virtually" do these things. What is actually (as opposed to virtually) going on is, my son pushes buttons and a lot of calculations inside the computer turn my son's input into changes of the image on the screen. It is all so cleverly done, that it is "virtually" snowboarding.
