Weekly Worship and Faith Formation

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Dear Friends of the Milton Lutheran Parish,

What are you afraid of? If you are like me maybe you are a little freaked out by spiders. The things make me squeamish! Maybe your fears are more profound than that? Maybe you’re afraid of being along, death, or failure. 

Fear is a natural emotion that we all experience throughout our lives. In the Gospel of Mark this week we hear the story of the disciples were got caught in a bought, in the middle of the water, in a storm. The wind starts to blow, the rain starts to come down, the waves pick up, and they are afraid for their lives. The whole time Jesus is in the front of the boat asleep after a busy day of ministry with God’s people. The disciples wake Jesus up and in their fear accuse Jesus of not caring about them. Finally, Jesus tells the wind to stop and it stops. After things calm down Jesus asks them why they were afraid. Their fear subsides and they suddenly realize just how silly it was for them to be afraid in the first place. 

Fear is a natural part of our lives and its nothing to be ashamed of. After all, a healthy dose of fear can keep us safe. It causes us to do things like wear masks, put on a seatbelt, look after our children, make careful decisions, and so on. 

Fear can also drive us to do irrational things. It can cause us to doubt. It can make us make choices that we wouldn’t otherwise make. Sometimes our fear can consume us that it casts out our faith and separates us from God. The good news of course is that in the midst of our fears God is there in the boat. Through our relationships, our time of prayer, when we worship we are able to look past our fears and be reminded of God’s love and presence in our lives. 

My prayer for all of us this week is that we are experiencing profound fear that we take a moment and remember that God is with us in the scary times of our lives and that God will see us through this time. 

This week I also wanted to take some time to share some updates with you. The first is that the Parish Council has decided, starting this Sunday June 20th, that wearing masks during worship will be optional for fully vaccinated people. Those that are still not vaccinated are required to wear their masks at all times while in the building. As we make this change in requirements I would ask that you prayerfully consider how either wearing a mask or not wearing a mask impacts those around you, especially those that are unable to be vaccinated. The decision is yours to make and we will not pass judgement on anyone based on their decision. As a Christian community we are encouraged and challenged to welcome all people, just as God calls us too. 

The second item I wanted to share with you this week is about the community meal this past Sunday. Together with people from Bethany United Methodist, Saint Paul’s UCC and Bethel AME we served just over 100 meals to people our community. I want to say thank you to all of the volunteers who worked hard to put this meal together and I give thanks to God for the amazing opportunity to share food with people in our community. 

As always, if there is anything that you need please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. 

Many Blessings,

Gary Schaeffer, Pastor