May 4, 2024
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Men’s Band Worship, Sunday, May 5th, 9 am
Smelt Feed, Sunday, May 5th, 10am till 11:30 am. Smelt, Meatballs, Chips, Baked Beans, Garlic Bread, Dessert. Free-will offering taken to benefit our Youth going to New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering.
Calling all Men! We are looking for help with the Smelt Feed on May 5th. See the sign-up in the Narthex. We are also looking for some turkey fryers and oil as well.
Graduate Recognition Sunday, May 19th.
Final Push to New Orleans! Help the Youth Gathering Youth in their final push to the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans! Use the sheet in your bulletin to donate and help feed and house our youth and put gas in the vans. Thank you for your support! See the thermometer in the Narthex for our progress towards our goal.
Lagers with the Lord May 20th, 6 pm at Buckshot’s.
Pastor Brad is going on sabbatical June 8th -July 9th . Please note that during this time he will be completely absent from the congregation and its ministry. He will not be returning calls, texts, or emails. If you need to have a baptism or wedding performed prior to his sabbatical or during the summer, please contact him ASAP to get it scheduled. You can find more information on his sabbatical in the Good News
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
I was recently reminded of something. On Saturday, I went to see Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in the movie theater in honor of its 25th anniversary (it was originally released on May 16th, 1999). I remember when it came out my first year of seminary. I saw it three times in the first 24 hours with my best friend Ryan. I sat out in the rain to get tickets, skipping classes. I sat outside for hours at a Toys ‘R Us to get the toys when they went on sale at midnight. It was a big deal for me.
Of course, you all know I love Star Wars. I have loved Star Wars for a long time. I fell in love with it as a kid, especially in the early 1980’s. There is a great picture of me sleeping on Return of the Jedi sheets. I had the Ewok Village and Jabba’s Palace play sets. Yet, as I went through elementary school, I started to grow out of Star Wars. This is natural, just as I stopped playing with He-Man toys and GI Joe’s. I got more and more into sports. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Star Wars anymore, it just wasn’t nearly as important. Not that big of a deal.
I didn’t really fall back in love with Star Wars again until high school. It was when I became friends with my best friend Ryan, who loved Star Wars, that I fell back in love with it again. He was my first friend that really didn’t love sports and we bonded over our shared love of Star Wars. I started to watch the movies more and more, got into the myriad of books that were keeping the story alive, and my fandom grew. It grew so much that I started, as a high schooler and then into college, asking for Star Wars toys for Christmas, something I hadn’t done since my younger days.
And here is where my Mom comes in. It was about this time, these late high school years and early college years, where my Mom begins to wonder a little bit about me. Her no longer teen son is asking for Star Wars toys. Getting Star Wars things. This was something she thought I had left behind in my childhood. Of course, by now, George Lucas had announced that a new set of movies were going to be made. And I am at a fever pitch and consuming everything and anything I can about Star Wars.
It was about this time, 25 years ago, that I got a letter in the mail from my Mom. Picked up in my mailbox at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. It was an article from Newsweek magazine, photocopied. My Mom would do this from time to time. Copy articles she thought might interest us and then send them to us in the mail (now you would just send a text or a link to a website). The article was about rabid Star Wars fans. One was about a couple that had a massive and elaborate Star Wars wedding. One was about someone who had their whole house Star Wars themed. I can’t quite remember what the other examples were. But what was most important was the post-it note that was attached to the front of the article (my Mom loved post-it notes). I will never forget what the note said. It said this: “I used to think that maybe there was something wrong with you. Now I know that you are normal.”
See, my Mom was worried about her adult son wanting toys. About being obsessed with something he loved as a child. She was worried about me. Yet, she had never said anything to me. She had never not bought me the Star Wars stuff I put on my Christmas list or asked for my birthday. But then she saw that there was a whole community of people like me. It was a reminder that my Mom, who would have turned 78 on Sunday, always let me be me. And I always appreciated that about her.
I have always loved Star Wars for many reasons. But the reason I still love it today is because it is ultimately a story about hope. Hope in the midst of evil. Hope in the midst of seemingly impossible odds. Hope in redemption. Hope that is found when we put our faith in something bigger than ourselves.
The funny thing is, to this day, I do not know if my Mom liked Star Wars. Ever saw Star Wars. But she never stopped me from loving it, whether it was when I was a kid or an adult. And for that I will always be grateful, for her always letting me be me. My hope is that you can be you, love the things that you love, and that you let others love the things that they love. Even if they love Jar Jar Binks (that’s a Star Wars reference. Look it up.)
May God be with you today and always.
