340 E. 15th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281-6612 (480) 967-3543
Watch our Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) Sand Diego Retreat video. A very special thank you to Jeffrey Hack for making this video for us.
If you’re interested in LCM, please contact the office (info@ulctempe.org or 480-967-3543). Thank you!
Recovery is ongoing five years after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A Category 5 hurricane, Maria made landfall on Sep. 20, 2017, and brought devastation to the islands, which were already in the relief process after Hurricane Irma made landfall two weeks earlier. Maria caused catastrophic flooding and the worst electrical blackout in U.S. history — some areas of Puerto Rico were without power for months. With little access to the islands, the response to the humanitarian crisis was slow.
We are sharing “2017 Hurricanes: Five Years Later.” In it, you’ll read about Mayra, a woman whose home is being rebuilt thanks to your gifts. The report also covers the response after Hurricane Harvey struck in August 2017. God’s presence — through our partners and you, our donors — is evident in these stories.
Today, we are seeing the news of many other disasters, including Hurricane Fiona, earthquakes, flooding and typhoons. With your gifts to the Lutheran Disaster Response general fund, we can respond to disasters around the world — whenever and wherever they occur. Thank you for your constant prayers and support for our neighbors.
Read here about the impact of your gifts beyond hurricanes.
Join ELCA World Hunger for a celebration of World Food Day with Rick Steves and special guest Mark Jansen, CEO of Blue Diamond Almonds. This event will be streamed online, so you can celebrate with ELCA World Hunger wherever you are! Join the celebration Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. Central time.
Registration is not required; simply visit the ELCA’s Facebook or YouTube page to attend. Can’t stream it live? The recording will be available on Facebook and YouTube after the event is over. Watch on Oct. 16.
We will continue our theme of “Great Stories of the Bible”:
Wednesday, November 23 Thanksgiving Eve Worship
Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) meets Wednesdays at 5:00 pm with a Bible study in our Campus Center or via Zoom followed by a free student meal at 5:30 pm in our Campus Center (Grab N Go option available), then contemporary worship at 6:30 pm in our Sanctuary. Everyone is welcome!
Most folks raised in the Lutheran Church who went through confirmation or catechetical instruction have at least some familiarities with Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Luther realized most Christians in his day were ignorant regarding the basics of the Christian faith: the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostle’s Creed, the Ten Commandments, Sacraments, etc. The Small Catechism, written in question-and-answer form to be easily memorized, was intended for parents to teach their children.
Years later, recognizing the ignorance of 16th Century clergy regarding the same basics, Luther wrote….are you ready for this?…”The Large “Catechism. Its format was not question and answer, but a text, say one of the 10 Commandments, with greatly extended commentary too long to be memorized.
In many ways the church has used the Q & A form even in its speech concerning things of faith. For a long time this was, as in Luther’s day, a typical educational model. Though I remember having to memorize poems in 6th grade like “The Raven”, “Hiawatha” and “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”, memorization as an educational format disappeared many decades ago.
In the church, however, it still seems at times to be the norm. So often you and I and many Christians (most?) seem often to repeat rehearsed answers regarding faith, Jesus, and God. I wonder if we do this so we don’t have to take Jesus’ questions seriously?
So then, here is a question for you and me? “When is the last time you were questioned by Jesus?” That is, when is the last time we had to stop and think about some aspect of our faith or life because of something we heard or read that Jesus said? When is the last time we had to change our mind our attitude, or our behavior because of some question Jesus or our faith in Jesus posed to us?
Too often when something hits us between the eyes of faith we resort to our stored memory of rehearsed answers. The hard drive of our faith is not easily erased. In many ways it ought not be easily scrubbed clean. It is there for a reason. Yet, as with the best of computers, sometimes incorrect or even bad information has been stored. Jesus works to bring up and confront such information.
Occasionally at various kinds of gatherings we may see someone or several people holding up signs saying, “Jesus is the Answer?” There may even be some smart aleck with another sign asking, “What is the Question?”
Jesus is, for the Christian, an answer to much of the pressing questions we have about God. Yet as answer, Jesus often performs best as question. It is one thing for God to come to us in Jesus and show some of God’s hand to us in the life, teachings, works, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is quite another when some of all this also confronts us with a question about ourselves, about life, or about God, forcing us beyond our comfort zones and intellectual debate to wrestle with faith, and wrestle with God.
Rehearsed answers often serve to keep God at bay so God does not intrude upon us, our life, or our comfortable thoughts. Yet the God who also questions us in Jesus is the same gracious God we have known in Jesus. We need not fear the questions because we need not fear the God who asks them.