Staff

Pastor Greg Johnson • Cell Phone: 605-940-5875
Email: pastor@beavervalleylutheran.org

A Message from Pastor Greg:

Time to Party!

“O God, I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I^[cried to him..” from Psalm 22

There are all kinds of good reasons to gather the congregation and throw a party. And, on Sunday, April 7^th, the first Sunday after Easter, Beaver Valley is going to do just that! The psalmist reminds us that especially when a people has been through hard times, that it is essential that we stop and give thanks to our God who did not and does not “abhor the affliction of the afflicted.”

This wonderful reminder—that we must remember to thank God who did indeed hear our cry over these past years—comes from Pastor, Dr. Rolf Jacobson, Luther Seminary. He wrote the God Pasue devotion for this Feb. 20^th day:

“When was the last time that you threw a dinner party to celebrate some direct experience of God’s salvation or blessing? Leviticus 7:11–15 describes a meal people were to throw in moments of thanksgiving. Deuteronomy 14 toward the end describes annual feasts of thanksgiving that people would throw. And note, they were to remember to include the Levitical priests, the orphans, the widows, and the “resident aliens” (displaced persons). The author of Psalm 22 had experienced God’s salvation: God “did not hide his face from me but heard when I cried to him.” The psalmist then says: “The poor shall eat and be satisfied” (22:26a). The psalmist may have merely been describing God’s characteristic abundance. But it is likely that the psalmist was throwing a thanksgiving meal in response to having experienced God’s mercy and deliverance—and he was including the poor. Next time you throw a dinner party, remember the poor and the hungry. If you can’t invite them, remember them in other ways. Rolf Jacobson ’91 M.Div.Alvin N. Rogness Professor of Scripture, Theology, and Ministry, Luther Seminary

Yes! Let’s give thanks on Sunday, April 7^th, our Dedication Sunday. Doing so remembering that we are really not so much dedicating bricks and mortar to the glory of God, but that we are dedicating ourselves to full ministry again: like things once were and will now need to be. For ourselves, the members of the congregation, but also those who for now are “aliens” to us driving by our ministry campus.

Would you please set the 7^th of April aside as an offering of yourself to God? Worship at 9:30 a.m., a special, outside the church historic photo of the congregation (haven’t done this since 1958!) around 10:45 a.m. and then a real celebration in our fellowship hall with good food (please reserve your adult and children meals through our website beavervalleylutheran.org or by emailing Kari at office@beavervalleylutheran.org) a real thanksgiving party in which we remember to thank our God who has indeed delivered us to this new day.

Thankful,

Pastor Greg Johnson