Through Christ Alone...

John 3:17

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Indeed! The Easter message of Grace. Alleluia! God's saving work, done on an implement of torture and death. The cross. That Christ should take on the sin of the world. Humanities, dark secrets. Humanities vicious self-centered acts. All thrust upon the Christ, the Pascal Lamb, the scapegoat. Oh cruel people, oh loving God. To put Christ to death for the sin of the people...for the people. I find it quite amazing...

Pastor Joel Martyn

Give Thanks...

Psalm 107:1-3

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south."

What wonderful words from the Psalmist. It reminds me that God wants to be in relationship with me. That God wants to be close to me. So much so, that God promises to gather us in from wherever we have strayed. From wherever we have wandered off too. In our hearts, our minds, our lifestyle...However we might have separated ourselves from God. So give thanks you people. Give thanks that the Creator values you. Give thanks that the Creator's steadfast love includes you. Give thanks that no matter where you go, God will be right besides you.

Grace: The Pure Gift That Only God Could Give

Ephesians 2:8-10
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not the result of works, so that no one may boast.For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."

There was a time in my life where grace was a very foreign concept. It was as if the idea of grace took whatever last bit of control that I had over my life away from me. But over time I began to realize the true gift that was involved here. A gift that was and is, completely undeserved. And the more I became aware of what it took to bestow that gift upon us, the more I realized that my need for control, over my life, over other's lives, over whatever I could, was adamantly contrary to who God is in Christ Jesus. And as I began to receive that gift of grace in Christ, I began to experience a true freedom. A freedom from the need to control...I could finally trust.....Faith.

Pastor Joel Martyn
Hope Lutheran Church of the Sierra

A Gentle Jesus?...Maybe Not!

John 2:13-22

"The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken."

Who is this Jesus over turning table and kicking the money changers and animal sellers out of the temple? Where is our gentle Jesus? Where is the Jesus of whom we sing "Fairest Lord Jesus..."? Where is the passive gentle Jesus of our childhood? The simple answer is that the gentle Jesus whom we grew up with indeed crosses all boundaries. He breaks through all walls. Just when we are comfortable in our relationship with Christ, he changes things up. He never lets us go, but he isn't passive. He is an active Christ. An active leader. He understands the abomination that was happening within the temple of God. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees and chief priests to make money off of their Adonai, His Abba...And Jesus breaks boundaries, he breaks walls. He makes a weapon. A whip. A bit unconventional for the Jesus we know from our childhood...A strong Jesus. A tough Jesus. A Jesus with passion and fervor and fire. And love...for you...and for me.

Pastor Joel Martyn
Hope Lutheran Church of the Sierra

Face Time with God

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."

Lent is a strange journey. For many it’s the time after Fat Tuesday. For others it’s a time of denying yourself what you desire. For others it’s a time to remember. Remembering your mortality. Remembering who you belong to. Remembering what the price of love cost. The cross is a symbol of the power and love of God for God’s creation. The journey to the cross is a sacred journey. One fraught with a strange sense of awe at the power of the almighty. As you journey toward the cross this Lenten season, keep in mind the reason for the journey. A love so deep, so powerful, so beyond human comprehension….for you.

Gracious God, help us to be mindful of your cross. Thank you for the gift of love. Amen.

Rev. Joel Martyn
Hope Lutheran Church of the Sierra

Face Time with God

1 Peter 3:18-22

"For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him."

*

Any parent who has adopted a child knows the joy of bringing a new member into the family. There is joy in the heart of our Heavenly Father when someone is baptized into his family. Baptism is like adoption. All children, all people are orphans in a world of sin. We have all been orphaned outside of the family garden, Eden. Our pride and self centered rebellion against God prove that we are a sinful humanity. We are orphans in a dark world of sin. A world of shadow and confusion. And if it weren’t for the infinite love of God who desires to be in relationship with us, we would be lost. It is in Jesus Christ, the savior of humanity, that God was able to become like us in every respect. In so doing, the Son put away his divinity so that he might fully identify with the people t hat he wanted to make his family. He became like us, so that we might be able to know and understand the very Father who desires us to be his children. But there was a cost to be paid. The cost was the cross.

Holy God, let me be ever mindful of the depth of your love, a love so deep that it led to the cross. Amen

Rev. Joel Martyn

Face Time with God

^{Face Time with God}

^{A Daily Devotion by Rev. Joel Martyn}

^{Psalm 25:1-10}

“To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. ”

*

The cry of the psalmist is plain. It reaches to the heart of every person “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.” In other words, God what do you want me to do? What direction do you want me to go?...in life, in love, in our jobs,… “Show me your path!!”, are words that I have said often enough in life, when it was not clear to me what God wanted me to do. So we cry out to our God for help, for clarity, for a sense of purpose and for a sense of love. Then we remember that our God, the psalmist’s God, is a loving God. A faithful God. A God who promises to forget the sins of our youth, our transgressions. A God who sacrificed everything, for the sake of humanity. To bring us back into his arms of love.

Holy God, thank you for teaching me to trust in you. For showing me my path and for walking with me. Be with me today as I face the world. Amen