Weekly Update

Psalm 37:3-7, 34-40
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make your vindication shine like the light,
and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices.
Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on the destruction of the wicked.
I have seen the wicked oppressing,
and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.*
Again I* passed by, and they were no more;
though I sought them, they could not be found.
Mark the blameless, and behold the upright,
for there is posterity for the peaceable.
But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

I encourage you to read the whole of Psalm 37. I have excerpted above the portions of the Psalm that jumped out at me today as we prayed the Psalm. On a superficial level this psalm could be read as a simple comparison of the Righteous and the Wicked as defined by their deeds. This reading would fail thought to pay attention to the exhortation to be still before God and to wait upon God.

In these exhortations the deep distinction between the wicked and the righteous is revealed as whether or not on is being in God. The deeds of the righteous have their source in the quite still place of meeting God so that God can teach God's way.It is possible to infer from this that what defines the wicked and leads to their practice of violence and injustice is a failure to sit in the presence of God and submit to God's way.

Our weekly Sunday liturgy is intended to be part of this discipline of being still and waiting and learning from God God's way. What we do together in worship on Sunday should also lead us to seek to do so separately.

As we finish up ordinary time and enter into Advent I encourage us to consider what disciplines of being still and waiting on God we have in our day to day life. I encourage this so that w e may be more prepared to learn form God and be conform to the image of Christ as we gather together each Sunday. If we are not doing this my concern is that as we seek as a congregation and as individuals to serve in our community and witness to the Gospel of Christ that we will attempt to do some very good thing from our own strength or sense of what is right and wise and in the end be ill prepared for some of those who God might be sending our way. But if we are practicing the presence of God, seeking to be empowered by the Spirit, and to be conformed to the image of Christ both individual and corporately, we will find ourselves living from the proper place connected to the source of our strength, able to walk in the ways God has for us.

Announcements-
This Sunday September 10th, is Tripps installation as Pastor of the Community Church of Wilmette at 5PM, we are worshiping with the Community Church on this evening. There will be no worship service at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Members of the Congregation are meeting at 4:15 PM to car pool. If you need directions to the Community Church of Wilmette contact Tripp or Larry.
Our next Bible Study begins September 19th. We will be working through acts and reading the Rule of Saint benedict using a book that has daily readings from the rule with a brief reflection by. Our hope is that in the 14 weeks of the bible Study that we will take these reading up as a daily devotional.
My (Larry's) office hours will change starting the week of the 18th: I will be at Metropolis Cafe on Wednesday evenings (instead of Tuesdays) from 6PM to 8PM.
Next week we have a council meeting Monday 11th at 7:30 PM at the Community of the Holy Trinity.
Wednesday the 13 is a Pastoral Relations Committee meeting at 7:30 PM at the Community of the Holy Trinity.
On September 24 there is another change in our worship schedule. We will be meeting for worship at 5:30 PM in the chapel instead of 6PM due to a concert that is scheduled in the main Sanctuary that evening.

In Christ,
Larry Kamphausen