Faith Lutheran Church
  • Home
  • About
  • Worship
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Offerings

Above Mission Falls

8/28/2014

1 Comment

 
It has been about a month since my parents and I rolled into Ronan, tired from a long and eventful drive while looking with eagerness toward the future. Since that time, I have had the wonderful pleasure of moving into the church’s well refurbished parsonage, welcoming my wife into our community, leading worship and preaching, visiting with members of Faith in the hospital and at home, being a part of a council meeting and committee meetings, meeting many new people, learning many names, and being installed as your new pastor! I cannot thank everyone enough for the warm reception that Jen and I have received so far. It is truly humbling to come in as a stranger in your midst, only to find the doors of welcome wide open and every greeting quickly turning into new friendships. For this and so much more I am grateful.

            For my first piece in the Faith newsletter, I will share a reflection with you from this past weekend in which Jen and I backpacked up to Mission Falls (a.k.a. Horsetail Falls). Jen and I made the steep hike with our hiking packs full and our dog, Pericles, in tow. With bear spray easily accessible, we hiked all the way up to the falls and then continued on toward Lucifer Lake by following the trails above the falls. The hike, as you might know, gets even steeper at that point and started to wear on us pretty quickly. To top things off, after we had hiked and sweat, and sweat some more, the trail seemed to simply disappear! Bushwhacking in the brush above the falls, we were perturbed to find that we had somehow missed the actual trail up to the lake and, upon further searching, could not seem to locate it anywhere. Needing to camp where there was easy access to water, we decided to hike back to the top of the falls and nestle out a spot for the night there. This ended up being a wonderful turn of events as we spent the night on a rocky outcropping right above the water with one of the most splendid views of the world I have ever had.

            While there, perched on that rocky outcropping, gazing on the falls and valley below while the sun waned from its peak in the sky, I reflected on the name of the falls below me, the mountains around me and the valley in the distance- Mission. For me personally, the mission of God has led me to and fro, to the other side of the world and back again, ultimately leading my wife and me here. I find the region to be aptly named for my presence here and our presence together as church. We work together not solely out of human concerns or personal objectives, but for the greater mission which God has placed on our lives. The mission of God surrounds us, leading us through our everyday lives and binds us together as church in all that we do together.

            From the inception of the first Christian church in the world, Jesus has called us to mission toward the world. Right before ascending into heaven in the book of Acts, Jesus told the early apostles how they were to be as the church in the world. “…you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem…and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). So it is for us still today. Though like me hiking above the falls we may get lost from our way from time to time, God’s mission continues to surround us and secure us with beautiful hope for our lives. It is easy to get lost, mired down with distrust, despair and even hatred at the world around us and the ones we love. But God brings us back, time and time again, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to once again see the reality of God’s mission in the world.

            Faith Lutheran Church is an extension of God’s mission in the world, in the aptly named “Mission” Valley. Everyday that we exist and continue in our ministry, we continue as witnesses to God’s mission in the world. Every Sunday we gather, every time we greet with love in Christ’s name, and every time we welcome someone to hear the Gospel, we are missionaries for God. May God’s mission guide our future together, keeping us in His grace as witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ “to the ends of the earth”!

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

1 Comment
uk eassy link
8/8/2019 10:38:57 am

I am excited to finally read the reflection you came up to. I don’t know if it’s just me, but regarding to my faith, I love reading experiences other people to see of they also experience same thing as mine. I would also grab this chance to thank Faith Lutheran Church for an utmost effort to bring people closer to their faith. This requires a massive effort, and I am glad that there are still people who are exerting an effort for this! It makes me really happy.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    These posts are from Pastor Seth Nelson and include articles found in the Faith Lutheran Church Newsletter as well as devotional and theological reflections from the pastor.

    Archives

    January 2023
    October 2022
    August 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    May 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Copyright 2014 Faith Lutheran Church. All rights reserved.

Proudly powered by Weebly