Advent Lutheran Church - Mentor, OH

I come before you with a plea for your action in light of the surpassing freedom of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel grounded in love and peace.    For we are indeed saved by grace through faith not by our works, lest we boast, yet, it is our very response to this free gift of God's love that defines our very lives.   These times truly try our hearts, souls, and minds, and it is our duty to gird up our lives in the way of praying and studying the scriptures.   I call all of us to a deeper, more committed walk with God for the living of these days.    No amount of effort on our part to grow, strengthen, empower, and equip our church will amount to anything until we freely commit to deepen our relationship with God and others.   This is a call to arms and hands and feet, to voices, ears, eyes, knees and backs (in other words: our minds, bodies, and souls) as we seek to live our mission of knowing Christ and making Him known.   Here is how the call is taking shape among us here at Advent:

1. We have made the commitment of becoming a Book of Faith Community, meaning we have joined the rest of the ELCA in a more intentional journey and learning of scripture.

2. These commitments have already begun and continue to take shape:

    a. Wednesday Morning Augsburg Bible Study at 9:30 AM
        (to continue in the fall)
    b. Grand Sweep Bible Journey each Wednesday at 7:00 PM
    c. Praying with the Psalms through the summer
        Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings at 9:00 AM
        (with Holy Communion on Wednesday)
        Wednesday evenings at 6:00 PM.
    d. Christ in Prayer (coming this fall)
    e. Conversation each Tuesday at Barnes and Noble at 7:00 PM
        regarding living the Word in our daily lives
    f. Worship with the Bible each weekend during all services
    g. Introduction to the Book of Faith classes
        (coming this fall)
    h. Retreats on various scripture themes (TBD)

Come just as you are - liberal, moderate, or conservative, Republican or Democrat, young or older, happy or sad, male or female, left handed or right handed, 6 PM Saturday Evening, 8 AM, 9:30 AM, or 11:30 AM Sunday morning worshipers, organized or disorganized, you get the picture.    Let us all join together for a closer walk with our God!

In His steps,

Pastor Kovitch
(July 2008)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Let this rally weekend be the beginning of a new church year that will focus on the gift of God ’s Spirit among us. To know Christ is the core of our mission that leads to making Him known. Join the joy of a growing faith in Jesus Christ through a growing, caring, and dynamic ministry that is Advent. I commend this scripture text to you as a meditation for the coming days. Let us commit to a deeper walk in prayer, study, spiritual renewal, and action. I appeal to you to read this scripture and let it shape your life for the coming year and beyond:

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 20 No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Amen.

Yours in Christ conformity,

Pastor Kovitch
(September 2008)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.   2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.   3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.   4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

I write to you in the same spirit.   I understand Jesus Christ in light of a deepening commitment to know him by faith through Word and sacrament.   I find in the writings of Martin Luther a radical devotion to Jesus Christ, the center.   I have learned that every aspect of who we are as a people of God from the scriptures, to church community, to accountability to my neighbor as well as my self is empowered by a growing faithful knowledge in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.   In other words, it is not about me as my entire being is defined by the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ risen from the dead.

I read every text of the Old and New Testaments through the lens that is Jesus.   I greet every human being in the name of Jesus Christ.   I love God with my whole being because Jesus Christ is my Savior.   I am forgiven.   I am set free.   I am accountable to live for the gospel.   Never assume that you love Jesus enough for there is no end to knowing Christ.   I commend all of you to seek Jesus and know him through his Word.   I commend you to a closer walk with God.   Know that as a community of faith no one is an island.   We are community and we are one.   When one welcomes a stranger in the name of Jesus, we all welcome the one.   When one suffers we all suffer.   It is not about an individual Christianity for we are the Body of Christ.   Grow closer to Jesus and you will find yourself growing closer to each other.   I invite you to join the joy!

Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.   16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.   18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.   20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.   Amen.

Yours in Jesus Christ,

Pastor Kovitch
(August 2008)