Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church http://lehighlutheranchurch.com LCMS Lutheran Church in Lehigh Acres, Florida - Pastor AJ Neugebauer Tue, 14 May 2013 02:16:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Pastor Aj says… http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/04/pastor-aj-says/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/04/pastor-aj-says/#comments Sat, 06 Apr 2013 01:55:11 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=386  

“Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf in springtime.

 

    -   Martin Luther”

 

 

Happy Easter! But I know what you’re thinking: “Easter’s over!” But did you know that Easter is actually a season? And so it is Easter still! And so still time for us to reflect and rejoice the source of all our hope: that Jesus lives! Jesus lives and so we too shall live forever! Why keep that thought for simply a single day; or even just a season in the church year? Instead, the thought and hope and promise of Easter is that joy that should weave through our entire life.

Look: here it is. Do you think about it? He died. He LIVES. He is coming again. And you will live forever, in a place with no pain, no sorrow, no worry, no loneliness, no heartache, no goodbyes to loved ones… no death. Just joy and love and peace, one with another, with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, forever.

Now that’s a good story. And it’s one we see EVERYWHERE. That’s why I love Luther’s quote.
The promise of the resurrection to come is sung loudly by the whole earth every spring as life flows forth from the ground and in the trees and we start to feel the sun‘s warmth again.
(Ok, in Florida we ALWAYS get to feel the sun‘s warmth; Luther didn’t live in Florida. He lived in Germany, where spring coming around had a different feel.)

But still! Look at the sky and the birds and the beautiful sunset (there! That one still
works in Florida!) And in these see small foretastes of the ultimate Easter to come: the return of Christ, and the day of the Resurrections, that flows from his death on the cross and the fact that he too has risen.

Let us have that hope in our hearts not just on Easter, and not just in the spring, but each and every day, by the power of the Holy Spirit, until our Lord’s return!

God’s blessings saints of Beautiful Savior!

See you in the fields of the Lord’s harvest,

Pastor AJ

 

 

 

 

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/04/pastor-aj-says/feed/ 0 Happy Easter! He Lives! http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/04/happy-easter-he-lives/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/04/happy-easter-he-lives/#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:30:12 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=381 He died. He LIVES. He is coming again. And you will live forever, in a place with no pain, no sorrow, no worry, no loneliness, no heartache, no goodbyes to loved ones... no death. Just joy and love and peace, one with another, with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, forever. Now that's a good story. So, this Easter, rejoice! I tell you he lives! -Pastor Aj ]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/04/happy-easter-he-lives/feed/ 0 Happy Easter! http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/happy-easter/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/happy-easter/#comments Sun, 31 Mar 2013 10:00:49 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=378

Happy Easter! He Has Risen!

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/happy-easter/feed/ 0 Easter Sunrise Service at 7am http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/easter-sunrise-service-at-7am/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/easter-sunrise-service-at-7am/#comments Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:48:27 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=375

 

 

Please come join us Easter Sunday!

Easter Sunday Schedule:

Sunrise Service—7am

Breakfast———-8:15am

Easter Egg Hunt-9:15am

Easter Worship–10am

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/easter-sunrise-service-at-7am/feed/ 0 Good Friday http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/good-friday/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/good-friday/#comments Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:59:56 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=372 Today we contemplate how terribly difficult it was for our Savior, King Jesus, to carry out the demands of His office. Despite betrayal, denial, injustice, and torture, Christ steadfastly moved forward to His death. In so doing He gained for us, through the forgiveness of our sin, citizenship in His kingdom.

-Pastor Aj Neugebauer

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/good-friday/feed/ 0 Good Friday Worship This Evening http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/369/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/369/#comments Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:57:22 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=369 Please join us For Good Friday Worship this evening at 7pm. We also have prayful contemplation between 12-3, the time that Jesus was on the cross.

 

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/369/feed/ 0 Maundy Thursday Worship http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/maundy-thursday-worship/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/maundy-thursday-worship/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:16:42 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=364 Please join us for Maundy Thursday Worship this evening at 7PM.

 

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/maundy-thursday-worship/feed/ 0 The Lord’s Supper http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/the-lords-supper/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/the-lords-supper/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:11:15 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=362 The beauty of the simplicity of what we believe can be seen in the Small Catechism and how Luther explains the Sacrament within. The marvelous thing is that you can read the small catechism, and it’s almost like hearing a child asking Luther the questions himself.

“What is it?” the child asks. “It is Jesus’ body.”

“What do you do with it?” “You eat it.”

“What does it do?” “It forgives your sins.”

“How do you know? And how can you be sure?” “Because Jesus says so.”

How beautiful. How wonderful. How BIBLICAL. The inquiries here, then, are not for the sake of academic or intellectual pontification and gratification. The questions, instead, are purposefully USEFUL. And they ARE useful because they prepare us to receive this gift.

-Pastor Aj Neugebauer

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/the-lords-supper/feed/ 0 Asking a Lutheran… http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/asking-a-lutheran/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/asking-a-lutheran/#comments Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:15:08 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=355 Asking a Lutheran to talk about the Lord’s Supper is like asking a grandmother to show you pictures of her grandkids.” – Dr. Gene Edward Veith

]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/asking-a-lutheran/feed/ 0 Easter Devotion From Pastor Aj http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/easter-devotion-from-pastor-aj/ http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/easter-devotion-from-pastor-aj/#comments Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:53:36 +0000 megan http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/?p=350 Happy Easter Devotion: The Resurrection We live in the age after the resurrection of Christ, but before his return and the resurrection of the dead. That's where the story is right now. You see, ALL of what is written in Mark, and in ALL the Scriptures, is still pointing forward! It is pointing FORWARD to the ending; only it all feels a little incomplete; like it doesn't HAVE an ending; and the reason is simple: the ending hasn't happened yet! But, and here's the key thing: if Jesus is ALIVE, then we KNOW how it will end. It is a fantastic ending. It is the BEST. It is where we finally SEE the purpose of Jesus dying. It's where we FINALLY GET the “happily ever After" ]]> http://lehighlutheranchurch.com/2013/03/easter-devotion-from-pastor-aj/feed/ 0