ANNOUNCEMENTS
Vacation Bible School, June 5-8, 9 am to Noon. VBS is open to all youth 4-years old and up. Games, Crafts, Songs, Snack, and more! $10 per child. Registration form on the table in the Narthex.
Women of Trinity Summer Gathering, June 8th, 6 pm. All women are invited to attend! A meal is being served by the board.
No Monday morning Bible Study in June
Lagers with the Lord, Monday, June 12th, 6 pm at Buckshots.
Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website. Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
I was playing golf the other day (I know, shocker) and I hit a ball into a sand trap (I know, shocker). I stood over the ball, got my feet nice and set, made a practice swing, and then took my hack at the ball. I totally clipped it and it flew over the green. I was less than happy.
The next hole I found myself in a bunker again (I know, shocker). I stood over the ball, thought about how I needed to swing to stop what happened the last time, took my practice swing, and then went for the shot. I totally clipped the ball again and it flew over the green. Again. Now I was really less than happy. And I stewed about it, how I could make that mistake again, how awful my golf game was. It made me hit a terrible second chip and a terrible putt and I walked to the next tee box just fuming.
So of course, I hit a terrible drive and then found myself in a bunker. Again. And I’m thinking to myself, “This is not going to go well.” But as I looked at my ball in that sand again, I realized that I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I didn’t forget about the previous terrible shots. So I didn’t think at all. No practice swing. No thoughts. I swung the club toward the ball, and by golly, it was an actual decent shot. I couldn’t believe it! All I had to do was forget the previous bad ones!
Of course, that is much harder to do than to say. It is hard to forget about our mistakes, especially the ones that really matter, unlike the ones on the golf course. We stew over them, remember them, beat ourselves up about them. We hold onto them, in our heart and in our head. Thankfully, that is not the case for our merciful God. As it says in Jeremiah 31, “for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” Though we remember our mistakes, our God does not. God forgets our mistakes, our sin, our trespasses. In forgiveness, God in Jesus Christ establishes a new relationship, a new beginning, a new start.
It is something we can learn from for ourselves. To not dwell on our past mistakes. We want to learn from them, but if we can’t forget them, if we can’t forgive ourselves as the Lord has forgiven us, then we are trapped in a cycle of guilt and pain, a cycle that threatens to continually hurt us. When we receive that forgiveness from the Lord, it means a new start for us, a start we need to take and embrace. For if the Lord is will to forget your sins, you need to forget your sins. You are loved not because you are perfect but because you are the Lord. And in the Lord you always have the opportunity to forge a new path, a new start, a new way.
Trust in the mercy and forgiveness of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And just as the Lord forgives you, forgive yourself. Forget that terrible shot from the bunker. And keep swinging and keep trying. May the Lord be with you.
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