Happy Easter!

Easter is breathtaking! It defeats death by raising us from the dead to live in glory for all of eternity in heaven (Hebrews 2:14). And it’s glorious because by his death (Ephesians 1:7) Jesus sees to it that in heaven all tears are gone – as well as death, mourning and pain (Revelation 21:4). It’s the perfect place to be. Alleluia!

     Faith in Jesus is what gets you there. So believe in him. If you don’t, and you want to, then pray for faith and God will increase it in you (Luke 11:13, 17:5). Christ is the victor, so hold on to him. When you do so by faith, his victory is yours. “Christ,” Luther preached, “tore open the belly of the devil and the muzzle of death, not only because he was not deserving of death, but also because he could not die. ‘Sin, death, do you hear shameful devil, why are you accusing me?... What right have you against me?’ Sin, death, and the devil then had to be silent and could produce no accusation. Because sin, death, and the devil made a mistake as far as Christ is concerned, he triumphed as Lord over sin, death, and the devil. Not only because he was true God, but also because he was innocent as concerns his human nature” (Luther’s House Postils, ed. E. Klug, 1996, 2:11). So, hold on to Christ and when you die it will be like falling asleep in the Lord (Matthew 9:24). Next, you will be awakened by Christ who will meet you and take you to heaven to be with him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, John 14:3). Alleluia!

—Pastor Marshall

President’s Report…by Cary Natiello

RETURNING TO INDOOR WORSHIP SERVICES IS IN OUR FUTURE

During our last council meeting on March 9th, the Church Council voted to change our third criteria for Resuming Indoor Worship Services (RIWS).  Our third criteria now states, “The Puget Sound Region (as defined by the Road to Recovery Dashboard) is in Phase 2 or 3, AND the rate of newly diagnosed cases per 100K people in King County during the prior two weeks is <50.”  King County’s target is <25 per 100k people.   At the time of writing this report, that number was 86 and has been declining or staying steady.  If cases continue to drop, we could be looking at the possibility of resuming indoor worship services in the near future.  

     Why the council adopted a target of <50, rather than King County’s target of <25: 

1)   The majority of our council simply did not feel we needed to get to King County’s lofty target of <25 before resuming indoor worship services.

2)   <50 cases per 100k people is a reasonable threshold.  If cases in King County reach our target of <50, it will be as a result of more people getting the vaccine while our community continues to adhere to safety guidelines (e.g., wearing masks, social distancing, etc.), all of which add to our ability to safely resume indoor services.

3)   If at any time, the number of cases in King County per 100k goes to 50 or above, we will suspend indoor services until such time that we can once again meet this criteria.

4)   It still requires a 2/3 vote of the council to approve RIWS.  In other words, if there are still issues in the community that give rise for concern, the council will take those into account and vote to wait to approve RIWS until those concerns are alleviated.

5)   Regardless of the target, we will have in place multiple safe and protective procedures to mitigate the transfer of the virus while conducting indoor services.

6)   No matter what we decide as a threshold, each person will still need to make a personal decision whether or not to attend an indoor service. 

WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE EARLY SERVICES

     Before we resume indoor services, information will be mailed to your home giving you detailed information about what to expect during the service, expectations for your attendance, and other precautionary safety steps being taken to protect your health & safety.

     Here are some examples of what will be in place for our initial RIWS: 

       ·    There will be only one service held on Sunday.

       ·    Each person planning to attend a service must RSVP (or sign-up) for that service, which will allow us to ensure no more than 30 people will be in attendance at each service.

       ·    Instructions for taking a Health Self-Assessment before RSVP’ing will be provided.

       ·    Everyone will be expected to wear a mask, maintain safe distancing throughout the service and use the hand sanitizers that will be available.

       ·    Everyone will be expected to follow all guidance of the greeters, ushers, signage and Pastor.

       ·    Safe practices instructions will be explained throughout the service by Pastor Marshall.

       ·    The service will be spoken, no singing during the service, but there may be music upon entering and exiting the church.

       ·    As a precaution, communion will be received in individual portions at your assigned seat.

       ·    We will share the peace from our seats only.

     No one should attend an indoor service if they are concerned for their health or safety.  Pastor Marshall will continue to post the abbreviated liturgy online for those of us who do not attend services, as well as offering in-home communion packets.  It is my hope and prayer that “herd immunity” will be achieved no later than September 2021, and hopefully sooner, possibly by July.  Once herd immunity occurs we will be able to once again enjoy our glorious worship and festivals without limitations.

OTHER UPDATES

     Our general fund giving through February 2021 was $52,300 against a budget amount of $45,500 (does not include designated giving).  The significant overage is due to two gifts given in February that were pledged amounts for the first 6 months, or for the whole year.  If we spread these two gifts as monthly giving, we are on target to meet our deficit budget by the end of the year. 

     During the first two Sundays in March, designated gifts for our extended ministries were made totaling over $12,000.  Thanks be to God.  In our community there are many people struggling to just meet the basics of living.  Thank you to those in our congregation who are able to offer some additional support to local organizations helping others in our community on a daily basis.

     I am looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

     Happy Easter.  Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Method, Means and Motivation

As a retired pastor, you can well understand that I have attended countless Stewardship and Finance Committee meetings, annual meeting budget forums as well as monthly Church Council meetings.  Each occasion provided an update or a forecast of the congregation’s finances.  We all know that “stewardship” is a broader topic than “money,” but I’ll leave the breadth of God’s gifts to us for another occasion.  I have learned much through the years about the many aspects of finances in the world, in my family’s life, and in the life of a congregation funded by what is sometimes called a “free-will offering.”  For this brief article, I’m interested in the “method” of financial giving.

     Although I’ve heard many church members say they don’t have the “means” to give, let’s consider the “method” of giving.  When I was a boy, I pulled out the toothpaste drawer in my house and was surprised to see a small purse bulging with cash.  The clasp had not been latched, so the greenbacks I saw were truly impressive.  (The bulge in the purse was well beyond my own personal stash of tooth fairy, birthday and allowance money which I kept in my dresser drawer.)  I asked my mother what this pile of greenbacks was doing in the toothpaste drawer.  She told me that it was my parents’ “tithe” for the church.  In the days before the common use of checks, credit cards, automatic payments and electronic transfers, my parents put cash in their church’s envelope for the Sunday morning offering plate. 

     I never asked my parents much more about this “method” of giving, but I have since discovered what lay behind the bulging purse.  It’s 1 Cor. 16.1-2.  “Now concerning the contribution for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.  On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as (you) may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when I come.”  There’s both a word about “method” and “means” tucked into those two verses.  The “method” concerns the discipline of weekly giving or “put(ting) something aside.”  It’s as if St. Paul said: “Make it easy on yourselves.  Set aside your offering on a weekly basis, so that you won’t have to play ‘catch up’ when I arrive to collect what you are giving ‘the saints.’”  Another aspect of the “method” was the biblical practice of tithing which begins in the book of Genesis and carries through the entire Bible.  The “means” concerns “as you may prosper.”  Although we do not have equal incomes, all of us can use the discipline of “method” and “means” to provide for the financial needs of our congregation and those extended ministries which we support.  And, if you adopt this “method,” you’re likely to be surprised that the “means” will consistently be available.  Now for the “motivation.”  I can think of no better verse to consult than 2 Cor. 8.9.  “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”  Method, means and motivation.  Consider these “three Ms” this Easter season and every month of the year.               

                                                                                             ― Philip Nesvig, Church Council

Luther on Ruth

By Pastor Marshall

Martin Luther argued that Ruth married Boaz in keeping with the law of propinquity in Deuteronomy 25:5 because “if the brother of the deceased man is unwilling, then the next to him in blood kinship should marry her. Besides, Ruth didn’t demand that Boaz marry her, but he did so because he had had an intimate connection with her when she couldn’t be seen by him very well” (Luther’s Works 54:301). This is a scandalous part of the Book of Ruth (Ruth 3:4-6) that isn’t well known, but which doesn’t concern Luther at all.

     Whether or not there was an actual sexual dalliance is left ambiguous for others (E. F. Campbell, Jr., Ruth, 1975, p. 131, J. Schipper, Ruth, 2016, p. 155). Still others see a sexual encounter here but not of lust but rather grounded in a “desire to help rescue Naomi and the family of Elimelech from extinction” (E. J. Hamlin, Ruth, 1996, p. 46). Even so this scene is based on a “bizarre proposal” and “the reader is kept off balance by the characters’ choices” (K. D. Sakenfeld, Ruth, 1999, p. 55). Indeed it is “fraught with risk…. No parent in their right mind would send their daughter out alone into the night under circumstances like that” (C. C. James, The Book of Ruth, 2018, p. 65). Luther wasn’t worried apparently because he thought God was in control (contra Tod Linafelt, Ruth, 1989, p. 55).  

Philippians

The Apostle Saint Paul

“Many… live as enemies

of the cross of Christ.”

(3:18)

by Pastor Marshall

Martin Luther thought this verse tells us about “the way things go in the church and in the kingdom of the world: they are at loggerheads with regard to the promises” of God and “subvert sound doctrine” (Luther’s Works 3:14). Sadly “we are not able to persuade the populace” (LW 58:329). Indeed, there are even “many wicked in the church…. They are among us, but they are not of us. They are the excrement and spittle of the body, not members of the body, the church” (LW 16:305). This even includes church teachers being “exceedingly vain [having] no concern for the glory of Christ or for your salvation, but they are interested only in their own glory” (LW 27:130). They are so hardened that “no teaching, admonishing, threatening, or promising will help” (LW 78:57). They prefer “works to suffering, glory to the cross, strength to weakness, wisdom to folly [and] good to evil” (LW 31:53). This decay “comes from inhering naturally in human righteousness” (LW 79:269).

     “Rude, puerile, and even hypocritical are those people who venerate the relics of the holy cross with the highest outward honor and then flee from and curse their sufferings and adversities…. [For only] friends of the cross are its enemies, according to… Psalm 38:11: ‘My friends and companions have stood against me’” (LW 25:288–89). This is an “oppositum in adiecto [or] contradiction in terms, as it is called” (LW 67:241). Even so, the church still weeps for them. “What else can holy men do when the world absolutely refuses to mend its ways? This is the perpetual characteristic of the true church: it not only experiences suffering and is dishonored and held in contempt, but it also prays for those who afflict it and is gravely concerned about their peril…. The church is always a wall against the wrath of God (Ezekiel 13:5). It grieves, it agonizes, it prays, it pleads, it teaches, it preaches, it admonishes, as long as the hour of judgment has not yet arrived but is impending. When it sees that these activities are of no avail, what else can it do than grieve deeply over the destruction of impenitent people?” (LW 2:50–51). We have to realize how tough Christianity is. “With all your… distinguished life,” it proclaims, “you are going to hell. Everything you do stinks and is damnable before God” (LW 79:270).

     But don’t give up or cave in. Instead, glorify the cross for “nothing is so ill suited or foreign to the Christian as seeking relaxation and rest, and clinging to the present life is foreign to our military calling [Philippians 2:25, 2 Timothy 2:3]…. If you love your master, die his death. Learn how great the strength of the cross is, how much it has set right, how much it will set right, how it is the assurance of life. Through it everything is being accomplished” (John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians, trans. P. Allen, 2013, pp. 267, 269). So the cross is our power. It is “the strongest expression for the radical opposition of Christian truth, not so much to moral license and the pursuit of earthly pleasure, as rather to the religious and ethical presumptuousness that seeks to achieve what man is utterly incapable of achieving, what can only be given to him in faith” (Karl Barth, Epistle to the Philippians, 40th Anniversary Edition, trans. J. W. Leitch, 2002, p. 113). And so we have to fight for the cross in our lives – especially against the admixture in the church of “both nomian and antinomian elements. [Unfortunately] it is not difficult to find in a single congregation… compounds of unbending legalism, strong personal attachment to Jesus Christ, and dualistic spirituality that rejects all involvement in maters economic, political, or social and assumes no responsibility for the human condition. In fact, to be even more confessional, most of us could look within ourselves and find the residue of all these views and more, still lodged confusedly, unreasonably, but no less really in the strange constellation of faith” (Fred Craddock, Philippians, 1985, pp. 66–67).

Another Bad ELCA Worship Book

By Pastor Marshall

There are three of them now. The first one was With One Voice (1995). The second one was Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006). And the new one is All Creation Sings (2020).

            What makes this new one so bad is what it does to the two hymns by Martin Luther in it. It changes the words as if Luther didn’t know what he was talking about, or because the ELCA (The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, est. 1988) knows better than he did what should be sung. Even though no reason is given for changing the words, it looks like the changes were made to tone down his hymns. So in Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior (Hymn 963), it changes “Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, turned away God’s wrath forever” (Luther’s Works 53:250), to “took away our sin forever.” Could this be a better translation of Luther’s original? Did he really mean “sin” instead of “God’s wrath”? No, the original is Gottes zorn, or God’s wrath (WA 35:435). So this new translation lies in order to avoid facing the horror of God’s wrath. But that’s what John 3:36 and Romans 5:9 require of us. So to strip divine wrath from this Luther hymn also attacks Holy Scriptures. Because of that, this new hymnbook, and the ELCA leaders responsible for it, should be cursed (Galatians 1:8). And here is one – “Let them be like the snail, which dissolves into slime” (Psalm 58:8). And the line – “Helped out of hell’s misery” is also changed in this hymn to the theologically softer words, “freedom from death for us to gain.” This earns the same curse, since hell is not Biblically negotiable (Matthew 25:41).

            The other Luther hymn is In the Midst of Earthly Life (Hymn 1026). True to form, All Creation Sings changes its line, “To thee, Lord Christ, thee only, outpoured is thy precious blood, for our sins sufficing good” (LW 53:276), to the spiritually anemic line, “in you, O Christ, you only, with glory from God’s loving face, and the Spirit’s peaceful ways.” This erasing of the blood sacrifice of Christ isn’t a more accurate translation either. In the original Christ’s blood is included – Bergossen ist dein themres Blut (WA 35:454). All Creation Sings wants this hymn to show a bloodless salvation. Therefore, the curse in Psalm 58:8 applies here too. And Luther would agree since he knew that the blood sacrifice of Christ “deserved to be praised to the utmost” (LW 13:319) – just as in the first case where he insisted that God’s wrath was “no joke” (LW 28:264).

               And there are plenty of other mistakes in All Creation Sings which also call for the imprecation in Psalm 58:8.When listing diverse Biblical images for God in nature (pp. 269–70), it leaves out the scary ones like Hosea 5:12 where God is dry rot, as well as Job 38:1, Ezekiel 13:13 and Nahum 1:3 where God is a horrifying and destructive hurricane. This throws out Hebrews 10:31 that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” – as well as Hebrews 12:29 that “our God is a consuming fire.” Hymn 1064 also has this light-hearted view of nature, as does the prayer about “Mother Earth” (p. 48). Hymn 1049 worships the goodness of creation by refusing to note the thorns and sweat (Genesis 3:18–19) that follow on the heels of the “loss of Eden’s glory.”

Hymn 1086 tells us to “plumb the bleak abyss of doubt” to find God, when Matthew 14:31, John 20:27 and James 1:6 forbid all doubt. Luther believed that if we end up doubting we shouldn’t explore it but oppose it to stop it (LW 26:379, 69:114). Hymn 1005 also has a happy view of doubt singing “forging faith in the fire of doubt.”

And Hymn 978 says, “God welcomes all,” when Acts 10:35 says God only accepts those “who fear him” and do what is right. This same heretical welcoming is in the poor prayer thanking God for the “holy wisdom that comes in other voices, in religions and worldviews different from our own” (p. 51). But what about Elijah? He wasn’t thankful for the prophets of Baal when he killed 450 of them at the Kishon river (1 Kings 18:40). Nor was Paul thankful for the idolaters when he called for repentance and warned of coming judgment against them (Acts 17:16–31). So keep Psalm 58:8 nearby when reading All Creation Sings.

My critique of With One Voice is in CERTUS SERMO (May 1995) – showing how John 8:34 and its slavery to sin is denied, while promoting “unconstrained theological diversity.” And my critique of Evangelical Lutheran Worship (flcws.org) argues that the exaltation of Christ in John 3:30 is shamefully reversed. So both of them warrant Psalm 58:8 too.

“Right by the abyss of the valley of death is the foundation of the church, the church that confesses Christ as its life. The church has eternal life precisely there where death is reaching out for it, and death is reaching out for it precisely because it has eternal life. The church that confesses is the eternal church, for Christ is its protector. Its eternity is not visible to the world…. But victory belongs to the church, because Christ its Lord is with it and has overcome the world of death. Don’t ask whether you can see victory but believe in the victory, for it is yours.”

(from a sermon on Matthew 16:13–18,

July 23, 1933,

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works 12:481.) 

ANNOUNCEMENTS for April:  All Pastor’s Classes are through ZOOM Online.  Please contact Pastor Marshall by email (deogloria@foxinternet.com) or phone (206-935-6530) to register for these classes.

Easter Bible CLASS studying 1 Corinthians 15, Wednesdays at 7 pm, April 7–May 19.

COMING UP:  The next Koran Class will be these four Mondays in May: 3, 10, 17, 24.   

NEXT Zoom Book Discussion:  J. M. Coetzee, The Death of Jesus: A Novel, 2019, discussion on April 25th at 3:30 pm.

WEB PAGE ADDRESS:  www.flcws.org – Log on to see what is new! At the moment our webpage is even more important with our Online Worship page each Sunday. 

PASTOR MARSHALL continues to provide Home Communion upon request.

Isaiah 8:14

Monthly Home Bible Study, April 2021, Number 338

The Reverend Ronald F. Marshall

Along with our other regular study of Scripture, let us join as a congregation in this home study. We will study alone then talk informally about the assigned verses together as we have opportunity. In this way we can “gather together around the Word” even though physically we will not be getting together (Acts 13.44). (This study uses the RSV translation.)

     We need to support each other in this difficult project. In 1851 Kierkegaard wrote that the Bible is “an extremely dangerous book.... [because] it is an imperious book... – it takes the whole man and may suddenly and radically change... life on a prodigious scale” (For Self-Examination). And in 1967 Thomas Merton wrote that “we all instinctively know that it is dangerous to become involved in the Bible” (Opening the Bible). Indeed this word “kills” us (Hosea 6.5) because we are “a rebellious people” (Isaiah 30.9)! As Lutherans, however, we are still to “abide in the womb of the Word” (Luther's Works 17.93) by constantly “ruminating on the Word” (LW 30.219) so that we may “become like the Word” (LW 29.155) by thinking “in the way Scripture does” (LW 25.261). Before you study then, pray: “Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in Our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen” (quoted in R. F. Marshall, Making A New World: How Lutherans Read the Bible, 2003, p. 12). And don’t give up, for as Luther said, we “have in Scripture enough to study for all eternity” (LW 75:422)!

Week I. Read Isaiah 8.14 noting the phrase a rock of stumbling. How does God make us stumble? On this read 1 Peter 2.8 noting the word disobey. Why do we disobey? Read Isaiah 30.10 noting the words right, smooth and illusions. Why are we looking for the easy way out? On this read Jeremiah 48.10 noting the word slackness. What’s the advantage in that? Check out Amos 6.1 noting the correlation between the words erase, feel and secure. Why is there this illusion of security? Is it that being at ease implies that there are no threats to ward off? Read Psalm 30.6 noting the words prosperity and never moved. This is quite an assumption. On its dangers, read Hosea 13.6 noting how the word full leads to the word forgot. This forgetting then leads to the horrifying words about tearing, devouring, rending and destroying in Hosea 13.8–9. God explains why he punishes his people in Isaiah 2.22. What does it mean that they are no “account”?

Week II. Read again Isaiah 8.14 noting the words trap and snare. Why does God want to trap the disobedient? On this read Leviticus 26.15 noting the charge you… break my covenant. Why should God care about this?

Check out Leviticus 26.12 noting how your God goes along with my people. If God didn’t care so deeply about making us his people, he could overlook it when we break his covenants. On this divine trait, read Exodus 34.14 noting the confession – my name is Jealous. Does that explain God saying, I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, in Isaiah 65.2? How long does this divine patience last? On this read Ezekiel 8.6 and 11.23 noting the words drive and went. Note also God’s new name – the Lord is there – in Ezekiel 48.35. But what matters most here is the fear and dread of the Lord in Isaiah 8.13. Why is dread added to fear? Is it because of the difficulty – I will teach you the fear of the Lord – in Psalm 34.11?

Week III. Reread Isaiah 8.14 noting this time the word sanctuary. What does God do to help us out in this way? On this read Isaiah 6.1 noting the throne and the temple in his sanctuary. Is it pleasant there? Read Isaiah 6.4–5 noting the words shook, smoke, woe and unclean. All of these are disturbing words. How then does God help us in his sanctuary? Read Isaiah 6.7–8 noting the words guilt and voice. What comes from this relief and direction? See Isaiah 6.11–13 noting the disturbing words waste, forsaken and burned. Is all help gone then? Check out the line stump remains standing in Isaiah 6.13. That is a hopeful word because of the new growth it promises. Note also the stump of Jesse in Isaiah 11.1. What comes from this stump? Check out Isaiah 9.2 noting a great light. What does it reveal? On this read Isaiah 53.5 noting the healing that comes through being wounded. This is alarming. Read the new thing in Isaiah 43.19. How new is it? Is it one more thing added to the traditions of old? Check out the phrases remember not… nor consider… the former things in Isaiah 43.18. That’s radical, don’t you think?

Week IV. Read Isaiah 8.14 one last time noting the same word sanctuary. How should we respond to it? Check out Isaiah 44.22 which says return to me. But how do we do that? Read Isaiah 1.15 noting the phrase hands… full of blood. Refraining from violence then is a beginning. What else? Note also the greed and disregard in Isaiah 1.23. Avoid both of them too. Isaiah 2.11 also denigrates pride – so humility is far better. Isaiah 3.8 says stop defying [the] glorious presence… of the Lord. And Isaiah 4.4 says to rejoice in the Lord washing away our filth. Add both of these too. Isaiah 5.24 says not to despise the word of the Holy One of Israel. And Isaiah 12.1–2 says that we should thank God and trust in him. Both of these readings should also be part of our response to God’s sanctuary. But also read Isaiah 14.1–3 noting the words choose and rest. They keep God in charge of our response to his sanctuary. On this read Isaiah 25.9 noting the line we have waited for… the Lord… that he might save us. By so doing, humility will keep pride at bay. Do you agree?

  PARISH PRAYERS 

Leah and Melissa Baker, Melanie Johnson, Sam & Nancy Lawson, Marlis Ormiston, Connor Bisticas, Eileen & Dave Nestoss, Kyra Stromberg, The Tuomi family, Angel Lynn, Tabitha Anderson, The Rev. Albin Fogelquist, The Rev. Howard Fosser, The Rev. Kari Reiten, The Rev. Dan Peterson, The Rev. Alan Gardner, Heather Tutuska, Sheila Feichtner, Leslie Hicks, Yuriko Nishimura, Eric Baxter, Evelyn, Emily & Gordon Wilhelm, Garrett Metzler, Noel  Curtis, Lesa Christiansen, Antonio Ortez, Kari Meier, Richard Patishnock, Jeff Hancock, Anthony Brisbane, Holly & Terrance Finan, Lori  Aarstad, Ty Wick, Dona Brost, Susan Curry, Geri Zerr & Mark, Karin Weyer, Robert Shull family, Alan Morgan family, Carolyn & Marv Morris, Lucy Shearer, Julie Godinez, Ramona King, Karen Berg, Christine Berg, Patty Johnson, Donna & Grover Mullen and family, Erin, Ethan & Kevin   Vodka, Kurt Weigel, Tery Merritt, Carol Estes, Paul Jensen, Mira Frohnmayer, Wendy Pegelow,   Tak On Wong & Chee Li Ma, Steve Arkle, Rick Rottman, Hank Schmitt, Ron Combs.

     Pray for our professional Health Care Providers:  Gina Allen, Janine Douglass, David Juhl, Dana Kahn, Dean Riskedahl, Jane Collins and all those suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.

     Pray for the new born that they grow in the strength of the Lord:  Yeonsco Melina Jo, daughter of Young Taek and Cynthia Jo (Granddaughter of Janice Lundbeck) March 25, 2021.

     Pray for those who have suffered the death of a loved one:  Pray that God will bear their grief and lift their hearts:  Pray for the family and friends of Anelma (Jarvimaki) Meeks who died, on the 8th of March, at 91 years of age. 

     Pray for unbelievers, the addicted, the sexually abused and harassed, the homeless, the hungry and the unemployed.

     Pray for the shut-ins that the light of Christ may give them joy:  Bob & Mona Ayer, Joan Olson, Bob Schorn, Doris Prescott, C.J. Christian, Dorothy Ryder, Crystal Tudor, Gregg & Jeannine Lingle, Nora Vanhala, Martin Nygaard.

     Pray for our bishops Elizabeth Eaton and Shelley Bryan Wee, our pastor Ronald Marshall, our choirmaster Dean Hard and our cantor Andrew King, that they may be strengthened in faith, love and the holy office to which they have been called. 

     Pray that God would give us hearts which find joy in service and in celebration of Stewardship.  Pray that God would work within you to become a good steward of your time, your talents and finances.  Pray to strengthen the Stewardship of our congregation in these same ways.

     Pray for the hungry, ignored, abused, addicted, and homeless this Easter.  Pray for the mercy of God for these people, and for all in Christ's church to see and help those who are in distress.

     Pray for our sister congregation: El Camino de Emmaus in the Skagit Valley that God may bless and strengthen their ministry. Also, pray for our parish and its ministry.

     Pray that God will bless you through the lives of the saints: Albrecht Dürer, painter, 1528; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, teacher, 1945; Saint Mark, Evangelist; Catherine of Siena, teacher, 1380.

     Pray for this poor, fallen human race that God would have mercy on us all.

     Pray for our planet, that it and the creatures on it would be saved from destruction.

A Treasury of Prayers

Heavenly Father, I ask only that I might have the strength to endure what I must. I put my trust in you to grant me life beyond the grave. In the name of Christ I pray. Amen.

                                                                                    [For All the Saints I:1007, altered]