Digital detox is now a thing. It used to be just a handful of cranks warning us that the constant use of mobile devices would break our brains, but now even power users are bearing witness to the dark powers of ubiquitous technology. In many ways, tech has changed our lives for the better, but like most innovations that promise to improve life, there are unintended consequences with which we must reckon.
Here are some of troubles people are experiencing (perhaps you are as well) as we try to come to terms with our digital reality.

1. A sense loneliness.
   
2. Feelings of isolation.
3. Fear of missing out and a sense that there’s something wrong with us, our life, our experiences.
4. Lack of focus, clarity and the inability to concentrate for long periods of time.
5. General dissatisfaction with life, work, people and the world.
   

But perhaps the greatest negative impact of technology comes when we come to the realization that in some mysterious way, the way we relate to ourself and others has changed for the worse. We are no longer civil, patient or kind. It is increasingly difficult to listen to the human being sitting next to me. We are losing a lot of what makes us human.

Romans 12:3-13
Dear fellow members of Christ’s one body,
This coming weekend (December 1-2) marks the beginning of our observation of the season of Advent. Advent is the anticipation of God coming into our world and dwelling, abiding, being present among us ... being with us and for us. To observe Advent is to both remember and to hope for Jesus’ coming for us, to reconcile our lives, this world and the whole creation to God’s will and good purposes, according to God’s ancient promises.

As God’s baptized people, we are a community that remembers what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and longs for the day when God’s purposes are fulfilled for all people and for all creation. As a member of St. Paul’s you are part of a particular, local community of people that God gathers to remember and to hope together. We also are assembled to embody God’s will and loving purpose for the whole creation as we love and serve each other.

This leads me to believe, however, that there’s so much more to church membership than we might have ever taken the time to realize. At the beginning of a new church year and in a season that is about anticipation, expectation and hope for God’s will to be done in our lives, it may be a good time to rediscover together what we mean when we talk about membership at St. Paul’s. Who knows, a better understanding of our own membership in this body may help us better invite others into the benefits we share as part of this community. So, what does it mean to you when you say you are a member of St. Paul’s?

Make a one-time gift, or reoccurring donation to St. Paul’s today. God’s grace and your generous gifts keep the light of God’s love shining in this neighborhood.

Dear Sisters and brothers in Christ,

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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I am grateful to serve as a pastor of so diligent, loving and generous a congregation as St. Paul’s. Because of your presence, your work in and your commitment to this congregation the light of Christ overcomes the darkness that grips so many. Your financial commitment can literally and spiritually keep the light on ... and that makes all the difference. This is what I mean.​

Over the next week, we will hear read in worship the story of Jesus' last supper with his disciples, his agony and betrayal in the garden, his trial and condemnation, his crucifixion, death and burial, and then his resurrection from the dead. We call this story, the Passion of our Lord because it speaks of Jesus' suffering and death for us. This story is also called the Message of the Cross. This story is central to faith and life, and it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe. In one way or another, all Christian preaching and action flows from the message of the cross, but this time of year we tend to let this story, as we find it in Holy Scripture, simply speak to us directly -- in passion reading, song and liturgical action.

As we prepare to enter into the mystery of faith, here are some things you can keep in mind as you hear again for yourself the wonderful story of God's love and grace in Jesus Christ. You can read the story for yourself in Mark 11-16.

• The cross is God’s chosen and intentional way of redeeming us as God’s beloved children.
• The message of the cross proclaims Jesus Christ as the way to salvation for the whole world.
• It is not our failing or our worst that call for Jesus’ crucifixion, but our best; not our weakness, but our strength.
• Pay special attention to how religion and power (Empire) conspire to drive away  God with us, using its ultimate weapon -- death.

So what does this mean for us?

• Saved by grace through faith — means that God and Christ has done all that is needed to free us from the powers of sin and death … so life is faith in God through Jesus Christ.
• As we live from the cross, we look to align our thoughts and actions with the love of God in Christ Jesus.
  • Faith: Trust in God and in God’s own methods and God’s own means
  • Grace … Generosity: Salvation is all God’s doing … it is not ours by our own works, by receiving a gift
  • Hope: Stronger than death … and our actions.
  • Love:The message of the cross reveals God love for us
  • Obedience: Faithful obedience leads us to accept suffering in hope … even as we work to alleviate suffering in others and in the world.​

Mark 1:21-28
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The gift of God in Jesus Christ is so truly amazing that it seems almost unbelievable that people would find it offensive.

The grace we receive in the Gospel is the gift of a relationship with God that sustains us in this life and through death to an eternal life. This relationship with God is a gift that gives our life purpose, meaning and direction. In accordance with God’s will and God’s purposes, it is a gift that sets us free, truly free, to live as God’s children, whole and well in God’s praise. And so it seems almost incomprehensible that this word, this grace, this promise would evoke such violent reactions and responses in the hearts of the very people it sets out to love, save and bless.

​Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

This is a night to remember Ursula. Even though remembering makes us feel the sadness of Ursula’s absence, it also keeps her present and part of our lives. Our memories of Ursula can be expressions the love we had and shared together, and so, those memories are simultaneously painful and happy. There are other memories there as well, I am sure. Maybe memories that fill us not so much with love as with regret or guilt or shame. These too are part of the reckoning me all must do at the end of something, a settling of accounts, so to speak. That is why a service such as this reminds us that we will be okay, and that we will not have to bear the full weight of our mourning or grief all by ourselves, but that Jesus himself bears that weight with us and for us so that we might remember love, receive forgiveness and pardon, and live on in hope of the new thing that God Himself is revealing in the world.

Mark 1:14-20
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

I want to commend you on being present.
I know that it took some effort to get up and get moving so that you might gather here in Christ and receive the benefits that come from hearing God’s Word and participating in the Lord’s Supper. It is the standard practice of a pastor to contact you if you have been absent for a while, to check and see how you are doing, but too rarely do I take a minute to tell you how happy I am to see you here in worship, and how I much I am encouraged by your faithfulness and diligence in persevering in the promise of your baptism.

“The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me. ... Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1:43, 45-46)​

This may seem a strange passage to use as a superscript for the pastor’s annual report, but in these few verses we find something that can help us understand our life together in Christ. It begins with Jesus’ invitation. Jesus takes the initiative to call us and form us into a fellowship. Jesus invites people into the fellowship and promise of God’s kingdom with a command to follow him. Next, we see the response of the disciple. A disciple affirms Jesus’ choice by hearing and believing, saying yes by getting up and following. Finally, we see how Jesus’ disciples share the good news with their friends. Through that witness, the Holy Spirit draws people to Jesus, changes their hearts and minds and opens their ears and eyes to hear and see God at work in the world.