August News

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet.” Psalm 8:3-6 This summer many of our youth were driven into the wilderness. We followed Biblical examples. The Hebrews were driven into the wilderness after escaping from Egypt. Although they struggled, they found God in the wilderness - a God who led them, provided for them, and taught them to be a community. Jesus went into the wilderness to prepare for his earthly ministry. In his struggles, he confronted his humanity and discerned his divinity. For centuries, Christians have gone on retreat into the natural world to seek understanding and clarity. Why go on wilderness camping trips? Are not mission trips more valuable? Both kinds of trips are important for our Christian spiritual growth. When we go into the wilderness, we gain a new perspective. Being in the wilderness connects us to the Creator God whose inconceivable imagination formed the masterpiece that is the natural world. Being in the wilderness helps us to connect with the beauty and power of creation and helps us to respect the genius and magnificence of our Creator God. This new perspective helps us to understand our role as caretakers of the world that God created. Going into the wilderness can help us to distinguish our needs from our wants. When we go camping, we have to leave many of our luxuries behind, and although we may not be as comfortable as we are at home, we find that we can manage very well. We also discover an appreciation and gratitude for those luxuries that we miss. We connect with our God who provides for our daily needs. We find our place–we see our humanity and recognize the divine all around and working in us. Finally, like the Hebrews, when we go into the wilderness, we become a community. In order to survive the wilderness, individuals must work together. Sharing a common experience helps us to learn about each other and about the God whose spirit brings us together. We share our struggles and joys. We work out disagreements because we have to keep living together; there is nowhere else to go. Wilderness experiences are important for our life of discipleship. As the psalmist expressed above, the natural world helps us to understand who we are – seemingly insignificant, yet crowned with God’s glory and honor. We are part of God’s big picture, and we are equipped to love and serve. Sara

June News

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:25-26
I have become disgusted with the news media lately, especially the news magazine television shows. It is my opinion that their main purpose is to make us feel paranoid about yet one more thing. We are told that the hospitals may switch our babies or perform the wrong surgery. We hear that service people who come to our homes overcharge us and sit around eating lunch instead of fixing our furnace. We read that other people are going to cheat us or manipulate us or take advantage of us in every way possible. YIKES! It makes one think about building a fortress around our homes and families and never going out again. However, as Christians we are called to live in the world. While these things do happen to people, they do not happen to many people. We waste so much time worrying about what may happen that we miss the blessings that God gives us each day.
This summer I will be taking a group of youth to my favorite place, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Every time I prepare for a trip to the BWCAW, I worry. I worry about the weather, having enough equipment, finding campsites, medical emergencies that may happen, the youth getting along, etc., etc., etc. I could say that my worrying helps me to be prepared, but I could probably be prepared without worry because I have experience. When I get to the BWCAW, something interesting happens, I stop worrying. Somehow the peace and beauty of the lake country helps me to know that we are in God’s hands, and whatever comes our way, God will be with us. God has given me the experience to be prepared and the wisdom to act safely. With trust in God, I can enjoy the beauty that is set before me – the beauty of the natural world and the beauty of the young people on the trip. If I continued to worry, I could not enjoy the gifts that God has given me.
In the scripture above, from the teaching material in the Gospel of Matthew called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tries to help his followers to understand that God will provide for them each day and God will help them get through whatever each day brings. This does not mean that we won’t face struggles, or that we shouldn’t be prepared, but simply that worry keeps us from knowing and appreciating God’s blessings that are with us each day. Jesus asks us to live trusting that God is with us and active in the world.

May News

“When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.” Luke 24:30&31
For the past month Pastor Flater and I have been teaching a first communion class with seven students and their parents. During this class we have been studying seven themes of communion.
REMEMBRANCE – We share communion because Jesus told us to share the meal to remember him. We remember Jesus’ life and his last meal with his disciples; we remember what Jesus did for us.
FORGIVENESS – When we share communion, we know that we are forgiven because Jesus died for our sins and rose again.
CELEBRATION – We celebrate God’s gift of love given to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Communion is the joyful feast of the people of God.
FELLOWSHIP – When we share the Lord’s Supper, we come to the table with our church family. We also come to the table with Christians all around the world, the saints who have gone before, the saints who will come after us.
THANKSGIVING – We come to the table with a thankful heart for the gifts that God has given to us especially in Christ Jesus.
SERVICE – The communion meal helps to nourish us for a life of discipleship. As we serve and are served the Lord’s Supper, we are empowered to do God’s work in the world.
FUTURE – When we share the communion meal, we get a foretaste of the meal that we will share when we are living together in God’s future kingdom.
Our students are learning the meaning behind the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper so that they will come to recognize the risen Christ in the breaking of bread and pouring of the wine.
Please join us on Sunday, May 4 at the 11:00 am worship service as we celebrate the first communion of our seven students: Brooke Einsweiler, Karin Kragenbrink, Josie Martin, Cole Muehring

April News

“And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there morning, the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31
The week before Palm Sunday, I was on vacation. I spent my vacation in Hawaii, a place that many people call paradise. Hawaii is a very beautiful state. I spent most of the week on the north shore of the island of Oahu, out of the bustle of the city of Honolulu. One morning, I took a guided hike in the rainforest. The rainforest was lush with life. The diversity of the plants was amazing. There was a species of fern that was so large a single plant could have filled the living room in my house. When we entered the forest, our guide told us not to worry about touching the plants because there were no harmful species like poison ivy here in Iowa. There were no poisonous insects or snakes either. He explained that the native plants of Hawaii needed no thorns or irritating resins in order to survive because there was so much rich volcanic soil and moisture to support the variety of life. It truly did sound like paradise – or at least it was. When the first humans came to the Hawaiian paradise, they brought plant and animal life that was not native. When other humans came they also brought new species. These new species, some called invasive species, have taken over in some areas and have caused the native species to die out. Bamboo was one plant brought to Hawaii. Bamboo is a useful plant because its strong stalks can be used for building, and its shoots make good food. We walked through a bamboo forest, and it was so dense that nothing could grow underneath it. Bamboo thrives in the rich volcanic soil, and the native plants cannot compete. When God created the world, God made everything good, everything to live in balance. However, when humans enter the picture, they disrupt that balance. Humans always seem to be the invasive species. We are greedy, and we like to play God in the natural world. It humbles me when I think that the natural world could survive without humans, but humans cannot survive without the natural world. Today we find ourselves in a global environmental crisis – global warming is affecting climates all over the globe, and we need to pay attention. We can do things to help the environment, and we need to do it now. It is not a problem that someone else should fix – it is a problem that we all need to work to fix. God gave us this amazing world in which to live but God also gave us the responsibility to care for creation. In April, we celebrate Earth Day. It is a good time to make a commitment to being an environmental steward – a good time to care for the good creation that God so generously gave to us.

March News

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Many young adults believe that faith and spirituality are individual matters. The popular term for this commonly held belief about God in our society is “individualistic moralistic deism.” The core belief is that God created, but isn’t very active in the world, and as long as you try to do the right things, and don’t hurt anyone, you will be okay. I have been contemplating this a lot recently, and first of all, I don’t think that it is possible for us to always do the right thing and not hurt anyone. Also I must say that I strongly disagree with this individualistic view of spirituality. Our Christian faith is based on relationships: God’s relationship to us through Jesus Christ, our relationships with others, and our relationship with all of creation. In a world of relationships, can anything truly be an individual matter. Please don’t misunderstand, I believe that we have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but it is far from individual. Each one of us has to discern what we believe and how God has called us to be disciples. However, as the verse above states, our spirituality is about a connection, a relationship. Spirituality is the part of our being that connects us to God, to one another, and to the world. Because it is a connection, it can’t be individualistic. As I write this article I am in a van traveling to Biloxi, MS for the mission trip. When you receive this newsletter, I will have returned from my third visit to the gulf coast. This trip is a reminder of the connections that we experience through the Christian faith. We are connected to people 1000 miles away because Christ calls us to help each other and to care for one another. The people that we serve in Biloxi often share that they are grateful that others have not forgotten them. The work on their house may not progress quickly, but it progresses because others care. That connection keeps faith and hope alive. That connection is possible because God is active in the building of relationships. As Christians, we are part of a community of believers that keeps us connected to one another and to Christ because of the work of God’s active spirit. We serve others because of God’s work in and through us. There is nothing individual about it. In Christ, Sara

February News

"Jesus said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’” Mark 10:14
The Holy Trinity faith community has welcomed many new babies through baptism this last year. As the worship assistant on Saturday evenings, I have the privilege of participating in the sacrament of baptism. It is an exciting time in worship as we welcome the newest members of the body of Christ and promise to support the children and the parents as they seek to live out lives of faith. As I’ve lived in the HTLC community the past three years, I have been encouraged by the tremendous support given to children and youth by this congregation. As a community we are living out our baptismal promises. During the month of January, the high school students taught the Sunday school classes for the second through fifth graders. Our lessons were based on the story of Jesus blessing the children from Mark 10. This profound story shows Jesus’ care for the least members of society - those thought to be unimportant and not worthy of Jesus’ time. I’m not sure that our children and youth can truly appreciate the significance of Jesus’ actions and blessing because our children and youth are well supported in their church home. They have a congregation who has made the commitment to support a full time Youth and Family Minister. There are caring adults who give their time and talents each week to support a program of Christian education including Sunday school, children’s choir, and confirmation. Children and youth are welcomed and included in worship and are encouraged to participate as worship leaders. There are willing volunteers who staff a nursery for our youngest children. HTLC has helped to support a quality Christian preschool for 30 years. A new Youth Board initiative has recruited over 25 adults, who do not have children in the programs at HTLC, as mentors for our youth. This is an impressive list. I want to thank you for the continued support of our children and youth. Jesus is blessing our children everyday as he works through the members of HTLC. In Christ, Sara

December News

“For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” As a teacher, Christian educator, and leader of youth, I have often heard the expression, “children are the future.” This expression is given as the reason for taking care of children – for providing programs that educate and nurture our future leaders. I have never liked or agreed with this expression. I don’t believe that children are the future so much as they are the present. The phrase implies that we should take care of children so that they will take care of us when we get older. It also implies that children cannot be leaders until they have grown to be adults. I’m here to tell you that this is nonsense. I spend a significant part of my time with children and youth, and I know that I have learned as much, and perhaps more, from them than they have ever learned from me. I am constantly surprised by their wisdom. Children are wonderful teachers. They challenge us by asking, “Why,” and requiring us to think about the answers. They are open to new ideas, and their solutions to problems cut through the perceived complications to find simple, profound answers. In the Gospel of John, Jesus and the disciples were faced with feeding 5000 people, and Jesus was able to provide a miracle because one boy shared his lunch. Children give us hope – we hope that they will get more things right in this world than we did. It is appropriate during the seasons of Advent and Christmas to think about children, especially since Advent is a season of hope as we anticipate the birth of a child, our Savior, Jesus Christ. I often wonder what we are teaching our children at this time of year. Are we teaching them about God’s grace freely given in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Or, are we teaching them that gifts are given only if you are good or rich. Are we teaching them to prepare their hearts and minds to welcome the Christ child? Or, are we teaching them to be greedy as they wait to welcome new toys. Children can lead us by asking the right questions and sharing simple solutions, but are we ready to provide the truth of God’s love and forgiveness and Jesus’ call to discipleship. I hope that we are. I wish for us a season of Advent full of hope and revelation as we prepare for the arrival of the child who will lead us as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of