Christ the King Lutheran Church - Gladwin, Mi.
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  • Home
    • Pictorial Directory
    • Contact Us
    • Links
  • Who are We
    • Mission and Vision
    • Staff and Office Hours
    • Church Council
    • History
    • Newsletter
    • Calendar
  • COVID 19 WORSHIP VIDEOS
    • Lenten Madness Monologues
    • Matins with Noodle
    • For the Kids
    • Bulletins
    • Sermon 9-16-19 The Sheep
    • Maria Skobtsova
    • Isidor
    • Elisha
  • Faith Formation
    • Sunday School
    • Christ the King Youth
    • Camping Ministry
    • Kids Club
    • Confirmation
    • Thursday Adult Bible Study
    • Vacation Bible School
  • Ministries
    • Stephen Ministry
    • God's Work Our Hands
    • Quilting
    • Food Distribution
    • Backpacks for kids
    • Prayer Shawl Ministry
    • Parish Nurse
    • Columbarium
  • Worship
    • Schedule of Worship
    • How we worship
    • Children
    • Choir
  • Special Events
    • Pumpkin Farm
    • Christmas Tea
  • Budget
  • Blog
  • Letter from Pastor
  • Masks
  • sermon
  • Audry
  • Rick McCoy
  • Ballot for Church council
  • Holden Prayer 12-23
  • Dec 20 Children's Program
  • Christmas Eve
  • Lenten Service
  • Ash Wednesday
  • Week One February 25, 2021

Clever Words for the Apocalypse

Loaves Given

12/29/2016

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          Picture yourself at the feeding of the 5,000 as described in Mark chapter 6: the crowds are seated on the grass, Jesus is talking, most people are listening, and stomachs are starting to growl.  So here comes the bread.  From five loaves and two fish comes a meal of massive proportions.  Everyone eats, everyone is satisfied, and there are leftovers galore.
           This story of food for all and leftovers for many is used to talk about a whole range of God-related topics: God provides for our needs, thanksgiving, trust, etc.  There is much that can come out of this story.  But I often wonder about the crowd.  Those 5,000 or more who followed Jesus into the wilderness and listened to him with full hearts and empty stomachs.  Who were they?  Faithful followers, hungrier for God’s word then they were for bread?  Spectators looking for a miracle? People sick and desperate for healing?  A mix, no doubt.  Jesus was a magnet for all sorts.
           But all were fed.  Whether their hunger for food was accompanied by faith, curiosity, greed, or desperation, everyone gathered that day received a meal.  No questions asked, only loaves given. 
           Christ the King Lutheran Church runs a mobile food pantry.  Once a month different groups volunteer to unload a truck filled with food, organize that food into boxes, and then load those boxes back into the cars of the hungry who line up down our church’s driveway.  Rain, shine, snow, or 90 degree heat, the food is always distributed.  The hungry are always fed.  No questions asked, only loaves given.   
           This is something of a scandal to the people who I eat breakfast with during the week.  “They’re working the system!” they grumble.  “If they want to eat they should work!”  They regularly threaten to sign up themselves to prove their point: we are feeding people who don’t need to be fed, people who are scamming us.
          And maybe we are, but that’s not our business, not really.  Our business is to build the Kingdom of God, a place where the hungry are fed, where no questions are asked, only loaves given.  Our business is to see our neighbors with the eyes of Jesus.  They are people who have come to be fed: no more no less.  Really, they are not all that different from the people who fill our parking lot on a Sunday morning.  We too come to be fed.  Perhaps we come distracted, angry, or hurt.  Maybe we arrive because our family made us or out of habit more than faith.  But however we come, we come hungry and however we come, we are fed by God's word, fellowship, and the body and blood of Jesus.
          That is why we do the same once a month.  We feed the hungry.  We feed them with a smile of welcome as they pull into our parking lot.  We feed them with a word of blessing as we load vegetables and bread into their cars.  We feed them, even as God feeds us.  No questions asked, only loaves given. 

                                                      The next truck arrives January 21st.  We always need volunteers.

About the Author

Pastor Emily is a New Jersey native who came to Michigan by way of California.  As you can tell, she's more about the journey than the destination.  She enjoys reading, singing, and dinosaurs.

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    About the Blog

    In this season of plague, flood, fire, hungry cats, and Advent, we invite you to reflect on the words (such clever words!) of the Prophet John in the book of Revelation.
    Join the Liturgisaur on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Advent for devotions based on the first three chapters of Revelation
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      Perhaps you have encountered the #Liturgisaur on Instagram or Facebook.  He is a small, green, pants wearing, one armed dinosaur who makes the rounds in Gladwin County and beyond, highlighting the various ministries of Christ the King Lutheran Church.   
         The word dinosaur is Greek in origin, a combination of the words  δεινός (terrible or clever) and σαύρα (lizard).  You may have heard about how dinosaur means "terrible lizard," but you probably didn't realize that it can also mean "terribly clever lizard."   And the Litrugisaur is quite clever.  
         This Advent you invited to check into this blog for theological reflections (some clever) and insights from the Liturgisaur and his minder, Pastor Emily Olsen.  We will be focusing on the first few chapters of Revelation, or as they call it in Greek, The Apocalypse. 

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Christ the King Lutheran Church
600 S. M 18 
Gladwin, Mi. 48624
989-426-1659
Pastor Emily Olsen
pastor.ctkinggladwin@gmail.com


Email ctkinggladwin@gmail.com for correction or to have information included on this web page