Trinity Lutheran Church

As I write this, the first snow of the season is falling outside and it looks like a big storm.  Already on Facebook and in the days prior to this storm, the complaining about the snow began.  Complaining about the cold, the need to shovel, how early it is, everything.  And I can frankly see all those points.  I might even agree with all those points!  However, something interesting occurred as I was shoveling this morning (the first of many in the coming 24 hours and throughout the winter).  A thought popped into my head (I know, always dangerous).  The thought was this: it is beautiful.

   Just that thought.  It kind of surprised me, that thought.  And it bore another thought: in everything that we think is bad or awful, there just might be something good located there too.  The snow is a pain, no doubt, but there is beauty in it too.  There are kids rejoicing because they got off school today.  There is the joy that comes with making snowmen or skiing or having a snowball fight.  There are often beauty and positive things that can often be found in almost everything.

   Look at the beat down the Packers gave my Bears last night.  It might have been the worst football performance I have seen my team play in the history of my lifetime.  Yet, while that was going on, I was able to write my sermon for Sunday, put away laundry, get some reading done, AND, due to Mason Crosby, able to win my fantasy football game this week.  So even in the midst of that destruction, good things came from it.

   The world would love us to look at our own lives and our experiences in a “negative” first light.  To always see the bad instead of the good.  But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ calls us to look at the good in the world, to look at the beauty and the light in the midst of the difficult and darkness.  Because Christ has set us free from all things, we can see the blessings even in the midst of the sorrow, the hope in the midst of despair, the good in the midst of the bad; to see the beauty in the midst of the storm.

   As children of God, saved and redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can look at the world, and our own lives, with the eyes of Christ, eyes that see hope, love, beauty, and most of all, God, in all things.   It may be snowing, and that may be really annoying, but it is also beautiful.  And for that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”  Psalm 34:8

   There is no doubt that I like food.  On Sunday, I had a wonderful day of eating (despite the diet.  It is all about working out and portion control for PB).  I came home from church and Amy had a wonderful bacon sandwich ready for me on a croissant for lunch  Hmmm, bacon.  Then, for supper, she made this wonderful pork thai peanut noodle dish that is just scrumptious.  PB’s stomach was happy. Plus, in between, I took a drool inducing nap.  It was a good Sunday afternoon.

   There is nothing like tasty food, like a great meal, whether it is in a good restaurant or a family favorite cooked at home.  There is a feeling you get, a warmth that just covers your heart and soul, a feeling of satisfaction, of contentment, of happiness.  But even the greatest meal (even one with bacon) does not come close to what it feels like to know that you are loved and saved by God in Jesus Christ.

   As satisfying as a good meal is, knowing that I can take refuge in my Lord, knowing that the Lord is good, knowing that God showers me with mercy, blessing, and forgiveness, gives my soul a contentment, a warmth, a satisfaction that not even the best meal (even a meal at Famous Dave’s) can give me.  Of course, I get the opportunity to have the greatest meal of all on a regular basis, the meal of Christ’s body and blood at Holy Communion.  Through the bread and wine, we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation, things that fill our heart and soul more than a full stomach ever good.

   Sometimes we forget that the Lord is good.  Sometimes we forget that we have refuge in him, that we have a safe place to rest and strengthen when life gets hard and difficult.  Even more so, we sometimes forget that everything we have in this life, including amazing meals and morsels of delicious food, come from the God who has created us, saved us, and sustains us in this life through the Holy Spirit.

   “O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.”  Taste the delicious goodness of God and know that in Him you always have refuge and hope.  For that we can say, “Thanks be to God!”

   This past Saturday was my second Homeless Simulation and it was wonderful to invite and involve the youth of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Glenwood City to do it with us.  Next year we will be going there for the simulation.  We had 31 youth and adults and it was a very different experience than last year’s simulation in many ways.  One, the kids stayed up a lot more instead of hunkering down in their boxes.  Two, we had more guests or friends of people that came.  Three, less adults than the year before as well.  And four, I got a lot less sleep than the prior year.

   Now that I have done this twice, I have found the hardest thing about the simulation isn’t the cold or even the hunger.  It is not being able to be comfortable.  I was plenty tired enough to go to sleep and yet I couldn’t get comfortable.  I tried all sorts of things and I had even gotten a pillow with my scenario (each participant gets a back with a profile, a card, and a poker chip.  The card and the poker chip can win you extra food, a blanket, or a pillow.  We use it as a way to illustrate the uneven distribution of resources).  No matter what I did, I just couldn’t find a position or way of laying down that would help me get some shut-eye.  Many of the kids said the hardest thing for them was also not being able to get comfortable either.

    The other interesting thing about this year’s group compared to last year’s was the lack of thought in building their shelters.  We don’t give them much instruction hoping that they will learn by trial and error.  Most of the participants didn’t think about the wind or even the position of their shelter in relation to the natural wind break that was the church building.  Even more so, once they got in there they expected to be warm immediately when it takes patience and time to allow body heat to build up in the shelter.  Because of this, many abandoned their shelters early OR the shelter collapsed at the first gust of wind.  Hence, a ton of kids around the fire pit and fire barrel throughout the night.

    Lastly, I want to thank you for your generosity.  So many of you came through with cardboard at the last minute that it really helped us have enough for them to build shelters where we otherwise might not have had enough.  I want to thank all those that stopped to give a dollar or two on their way into church to our “begging” homeless and your free-will donation at the end of the service to go homeless prevention.  Thank you for supporting this event and the way it gives a different experience to our youth so that they might appreciate not only what they have, but to open their hearts and have compassion on those who aren’t as well off.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.  If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.  Romans 14:7-9

I love these verses from Romans chapter 14.  I first came across them in a meaningful way planning a funeral and sadly, I’m not sure I remember whose funeral it was.  It was at least five or six years ago.  I love that that no matter what, we are the Lord’s, we are held in the hands of Christ, and that our live is not our own but God’s.  Also, these verses remind me of the supremacy of Christ not only in the world but in the afterlife as well.  It reminds me that I can be confident of my salvation despite my sin because Jesus is Lord of both the living and the dead and as a follower of Jesus Christ, my salvation is already taken care of.

But what is interesting is that I went back and looked at the context of these verses amongst chapter 14 of Romans.  And that is where things get interesting.  Here are all the verses before and just after these verses from Romans.  So we are looking at Romans 14:1-7, 10-12

  Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.  Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them.    

   Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God;
while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

VERSES 7-9 HERE

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.’  So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

  The verses all around 7-9 deal with not judging others.  Notice that Paul does have opinions here, but notice how he says to not force your opinion on the other.  Paul tries to remind everyone that not only do all people belong to the Lord, people are doing their actions in honor of the Lord.  Paul is reminding that it is alone God’s job to judge, not ours.

   But most importantly, Paul is reminding the Romans, and all of us, that unity is found only in the Lord.  Unity is not present because everyone feels the exact same way about every issue.  Unity is not found because all are in agreement but because ALL BELONG TO GOD.  “We are the Lord’s.”  That is the most important thing.

   I think these verses are especially important in today’s cultural climate.  We immediately pass judgment on others for their political beliefs or the sides they take on an issue.  Not only that, we treat them as an enemy.  No longer does it seem that people are willing to listen to an opinion different from their own.  No longer does it seem that people are willing to talk to understand the other.  You watch Fox News and take everything they say as gospel, or you watch MSNBC and take everything they say as gospel.  Your opinion is the only “right” one and if someone disagrees with that opinion, then they can’t be your friend.  We look to destroy the other instead of trying to understand, we look down on the other instead of viewing them as they: children of God, just like us.  Sinful human beings; just like us.  They belong to the Lord just as we belong to the Lord.

   The greatest threat to the church in the world is not the culture and it isn’t this political party or that.  It is us.  It is Christians. We are the greatest threat to the church because of the ways we judge people and the superior “moral” attitude we often hold over others. That attitude is revolting to those whom we should welcome into our pews.  It is abhorrent to our young people that a church that espouses “God is love” so harshly denies that love to certain segments of our population, either outwardly or passive-aggressively.

   It should not be this way.  We cannot be that way.  All of us, from myself to the people of Trinity Lutheran, to the wider church around the world, needs to remember that we are the Lord’s, and the Lord is both the living and the dead.  We need to remember that our neighbor belongs to the Lord, that political opponent belongs to the Lord, that person across the globe is the Lord’s.

   The change must start with us.  The change may be slow, it may be frustrating, and it will certainly be difficult.  But we know that God is with us.  We know that, no matter what, we belong to the Lord.  May the Holy Spirit inspire us to live not as people of judgment, but as people of hope and love, willing to engage and understand those different than us.

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The other day I went into Walgreens to pick up some pictures for Amy.  After I paid for the pictures, the sales clerk said, “Here is your change, and be well.”  I thought to myself, “Well, that’s weird that someone told me to ‘be well.’”  But then it happened again just yesterday when I went to pick up a prescription.  At the end, the pharmacist said to me, “Be well.”  Again, it sounded really odd to me.

Now, I figured out that this is a marketing slogan used by Walgreens and that all employees are expected to say that to customers.  But it is an odd phrase to end an interaction.  We are used to things like, “Thank you for coming” or “Goodbye” or “See you later” or “Have a good day.”  As I thought about some more, as I was wondering what they really meant by when they said “be well.”   Do they want me to be well physically?  Mentally?  Emotionally?  Spiritually?  Holistically?

Now, the thought of “being well” isn’t alien to me as it is the language that pastor’s use to describe their health.  We have a thing called the “Wellness Wheel” that we are to use to stay balanced and healthy.  As chair of our Synod’s Candidacy Committee, we use the wheel to help evaluate and guide our candidates.  I get the concept of “being well.”

But then, the following Bible verse from Ecclesiastes popped into my head.  Ecclesiastes 8.12: “Though sinners do evil a hundred times and prolong their lives, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they stand in fear before him.”  So I did some digging and found the following verse from Jeremiah, chapter 7: “But this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.’” Jeremiah 7:23

For the Bible, being well means abiding with God.  Being well means having a foundation of life that rests solely on the God who has created us, redeemed us, and sustains us.  With God has our foundation and rock, we can “be well” out in the world, even when life is tough and we are suffering.  Because we all know that life isn’t perfect and we aren’t perfect.  But through our faith, we know that we will be well because our Savior Jesus Christ walks with us and that things will be ok.  We will be well.

I might be tempted the next time I go to Walgreens and they tell me to “be well” that I might say, “I already am.”  I am because I abide in the love and grace of a God who loves me, forgives me, and saves me.  For that I can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen

     Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

   ¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. ¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 1 John 4:7-16

At first, this reading from 1 John seems so nice.  God is love.  Doesn’t that warm our hearts.  It makes us want to hold hands, get together, and sing kum-ba-yah.  God is love.  Such a nice feeling hearing those words, like a warm snuggly blanket on a cold day or the way you feel when you get a big hug from someone you love.  God is love.  Seems so right, so perfect, that maybe I should just say that again and end the sermon.  God is love.  Thanks be to God!

Uh, maybe not.  Because I’m not sure we are prepared for what these three short little words mean for us, these words, “God is love.”  John is trying to tell his people what this means and frankly, it might not be something we want.  If God is love and we believe that God is love and that love is for us and in us, then that means that we are supposed to love our neighbors.  Uh-oh.  MAJOR RED FLAG.  If we confess that God is love, that means we have to love that neighbor with the annoying dogs, the one who plays there music all night.  That means we have to love our neighbor who is a staunch member of our opposite political party or roots for our rival sports team.  That means we have to love the person who has a different color of skin than us, believes in a different God than us.  It means loving that smelly homeless person on the street or the one we see begging for food.

If God is love, then that means we have to love our brother and sister, and I’m not just talking about that annoying sibling that drives you crazy.  That means the person next to you in the pew.  That means loving those people who are our enemies, the ones who have spread rumors about us.  It means loving the ones that have let us down and the ones who have betrayed our trust.  It means loving the person who annoys you the most, the boss that treats you unfairly, the teacher who never seems to give you a break.  It means loving not only your closest friend but your greatest enemy.

God is love.  But this love that God has given us and this love that God has called us too is a love without limitation.  For if we confess that God is love, if we confess that God loves us and we do because we see it in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, if we confess that God’s love abides in us, then it is a radical love.  It is not a wish-washy love.  It is not a warm and fuzzy love.  It is a radical love that embraces all.  It means that all can receive it and that we are to be the ones to give it.  We are the ones to bring that radical love into the lives of others.  And that bothers us.  That pushes us.  That gives us pause because it means setting aside our judgments, prejudices, and in some cases, even common sense.  How can we do this? How can we love our enemy, our annoying neighbor, our biggest rival, or the person that just makes our skin crawl?  How?

We can because God first loved us.  We can because Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Because are someone’s annoying neighbor, we have broken someone’s heart, we have hurt someone, judged someone unfairly.  We are someone’s enemy.  Yet, God still loves us.  Yet, God still saves us through his Son.  Why?  Because God is love.

God is love.  Let us not turn God’s love into some sappy catch phrase with no meaning.  Let us live it.  Let us believe it.  Let it God’s love shine through our hearts, our actions, our words.  Let it burst forth radically in our being so that all might come to know that love.  God is love.  God is love.  Thanks be to God!

  On Thursday and Friday, I went down to IL to see my best friend Ryan. Ryan and I have been friends since high school and we have experienced a lot together.  He was best man in my wedding and I performed his wedding.  He was there when my Dad died and the one person I wanted with me when my engagement ended.  I was there when his wife had heart surgery.  When he was baptized, I was his sponsor.  We have been there for every up and every down.  I mean, we made sure we saw every new “Star Wars” movie together on opening day, whether it was him coming to MN at the time or me going down to IL. There is no one on this planet, aside from my wife Amy, who knows me as well as Ryan.

However, despite this, we rarely get a chance to see each other.  I hadn’t seen Ryan in just over two years.  His son, Aaron, is 18 months old and I just got to meet him.  We were set to get together a year ago right after Aaron was born but he had to cancel due to illness, one that eventually landed him in the hospital.  We want to get together more but often can’t due to work obligations, family commitments, and just plain ol’ distance.

Yet, when I got there, it didn’t take long for it to seem like I hadn’t seen him in two years.  We fell right back into it like we had just seen each other a few days before.  We had a great time talking, laughing, and hanging out.  It was great and we talked about how we have to try to get together more often and you know when Star Wars Episode VII comes out on December 18, 2015, we will figure out a way to watch it together.

I’m sure many of you have that close friend, the one who knows you so well and you know so well that it doesn’t matter how long it has been since you seen them, when you do it just picks up right where you left off like no time has passed.  This kind of friend you know will always be there for you, no matter what.  The kind of friend who knows every foible, every gift, every failure, and every success about you.  The kind of friend you can lean on, count on, and talk to.

Did you know that Jesus is that kind of friend to you?  Jesus knows everything about you, good and bad.  Jesus has made a promise to always be there for you, to listen to your concerns and your celebrations, to cry with you and high five you.  Jesus has promised to be with you ALWAYS.  And always means just that.

That means Jesus is there to be your friend during those times when you are strong in faith and those days when you are not. Jesus is there to be your Savior no matter how long you have been away from him.  No matter how long it has been since you have talked to him prayer or worshipped him in church.  Jesus is the kind of friend who always be there with open arms, always ready and waiting when you are ready to have a relationship with him.

Jesus is waiting this day to be a friend to you.  If you have been far away from him for a while, the door is always open.  Jesus is ready and waiting to remind you that you are loved, forgiven, blessed, and saved.  Jesus is ready to hear your joys and sorrows.  Jesus is ready to remind you that you will have no greater friend than him because this friend gives his life for yours.

I know that no matter how long it takes between visits with Ryan and I that he always has my back and I his.  And I know, no matter what, that my Savior Jesus Christ is with me as well and that I always have a friend in him.  For great friends in our lives and for our wonderful friend and Savior Jesus Christ we can say, “Thanks be to God!”  Amen.

  It is tempting, when thinking about the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Wanblee, SD, which was the site of our mission trip this past week, to see only statistics.  Things like:

• Unemployment is 85%
• Per capita income is $4,500
• Suicide rate is twice the national average, and teen suicide is FOUR times the national average
• Alcoholism rate is estimated to be 80%
• Life expectancy is the 2^nd lowest in the Western Hemisphere.  Only Haiti has a lower rate.
• Diabetes is eight times the national average and for heart disease, it is double the rate nationally.
• Many homes are the size of a small trailer from a trailer court and many don’t have electricity or running water.

   Sometimes, we only see the statistics, which are so stark, grave, and disturbing.

But this is what I saw:

• I saw little kids from Wanblee run up to our youth and others and give hugs, ask for piggy back rides, and smile.
• I saw kids who just wanted to be loved and who gave love in return.
• I saw a girl, Jean, who is three, whose smile was so bright it would melt the polar ice caps.
• I saw someone who was so grateful for our help getting their trailer repaired that they brought a note and a cake as a thank you.  He will put his other seven family members into that trailer.
• I saw a man who was successful off the reservation who came back to make a difference in the lives of his people, one person at a time.
• I saw youth who, despite bitterly cold showers and sleeping on air mattresses in crowded rooms, gave their hearts and their strength to the people and who never whined and complained.
• I saw youth who, despite not all being in the same social circles, treat each other with respect and reach out to people different than themselves.
• I saw looks and smiles of gratitude from adults who were thankful we were there.
• I saw a Youthworks staff member break down because she was so thankful for our work, our attitude, and our faith that it reminded her why she was doing what she was doing.
• I saw amazing countryside, amazing sunsets and sunrises, and the beauty of a rainbow.
• I saw youth who didn’t want to leave, whose hearts were breaking when they left the people and kids of Wanblee.
• I saw Jesus.  I saw Jesus everywhere.

  There are times in life, even for a person like me, when an experience cannot be summed up in words.  It can’t be summed in pictures.  It cannot be adequately expressed, it can only be felt and lived.  Our time in Wanblee was one of those times.  The shared experiences I had with our amazing youth and adults are something that I will carry with me every day.  It is something they will carry with them every day as well.

   But mostly, I will remember all the ways I saw Jesus at work in and through our youth, in and around that community, in and through the adults present.  And for that, I will always be thankful.  Because despite the statistics, despite the harshness and pain that exists there, God is there.  And God is doing good things.  Thanks be to God!

  As I looked out at the vastness of the ocean during the last day of our cruise Amy and I took during our vacation, I had the same feeling that I have had when I stood at the top of a volcano in Hawaii or when I looked out at the majestic Yosemite Valley or those times when I look up at the beauty of the stars on a clear night: “Wow, the world is a BIG place.”  I get this sense of overwhelmingness (I just created a word), of feeling very, very small and insignificant compared to the majesty of this world and of God’s creation.

   And in the midst of that feeling, I hear the words of Psalm 8 in my head:  “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; ⁴what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?”

   Because we often spend so much time focused on our own little bubble, on our own wants, needs, concerns, and that of our immediate area, we can be shocked when confronted with the BIGNESS of our world.  And in that moment, we might feel insignificant.  Unworthy.  We might feel very alone, that our life doesn’t really make much of a difference and that we don’t make much of an impact in the grand scheme of it all.

     I know that sometimes I feel like that and sometimes that happens in those moments like on the cruise.  It fills me with profound sadness and despair.  And then I remember the next verse of that psalm, Psalm 8: “Yet you have made them a little lower than the angels, and crowned them with glory and honor.”  In the midst of God’s fast and majestic creation, God has blessed us, crafted us in God’s own image, and sent his one and only Son Jesus Christ to save us.  In the midst of the vastness of this world, God promises to hear OUR prayer, to walk with US every day, to give us a future with hope, and to be with us till the very end of the age.

   And so, that feeling of sadness is replaced with a feeling of joy, of thankfulness, of blessing.  I am reminded that I am God’s child, saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, and called to be God’s servant in this great big world we call home.  I am reminded that my life does make a difference in the world because I share love with other and that love, like everything else, comes from God.

    The same is true for you.  You are a child of God.  You are loved and forgiven and redeemed and blessed by God.  You are a servant of Jesus Christ and you do make a difference in the world.  Every day.  YOU are not only blessed, YOU ARE A BLESSING.   You are blessing to your friends and family, to neighbors and strangers, to your community and to the world at large.

    As I write this, I’m not looking at an ocean or standing on the top of a mountain.  I’m looking at a parking lot and some trees and houses.  Yet, I am reminded that it is a great big wonderful world out there.  And, by the grace of God, I get to be a part of it.  And so do you.

    So I am again reminded of verses from Psalm 8, the first and last of that Psalm: “O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  How majestic indeed.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

On Saturday morning, Amy and I went and planted our flowers for the year.  We planted some herbs as well as a hibiscus bush as well.  Over here at the church, Del Boley’s family were here planting our church garden in memory of the late Steve Boley.  I know that many of you over the past weeks have been planting your gardens, your flowers, getting everything ready for the summer months.

Planting flowers and gardens is always an exercise in hope.  We hope our vegetables grow and produce, we hope our flowers bloom fully, we hope that our garden ends up as we hope it will be.  We are planting seeds and hoping that things will grow.

The same is true in the church.  In the church, we are planting seeds of faith and we are hoping that faith grows in people’s hearts.  We had a baptism Sunday and hopefully, over time, the baby will grow in faith and be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  We not only plant seeds in our youth, but in our adults as well.  We hope that not only will that planted seed produce faith, but produce the fruits of faith.  We hope that the disciples of Jesus Christ will use their gifts for the sake of this ministry and for love of the neighbor.

In the past two weeks we have lost two great seed planters in Joyce Hopkins and Lois Oakland.  These two great women not only used their own gifts to plant seeds of faith but they helped to nurture the faith of others.  We are blessed with people at Trinity who also nurture those planted seeds, using their gifts to inspire others.

My hope for you is that as you spend lots of time watering, weeding, and nurturing the plants and flowers of your garden is that you will remember to not only nurture your own faith through prayer, worship, and service, but I hope that you will help to nurture faith in others, to keep planting seeds.  I’m thankful for all the people in my life who not only planted the seed of faith but continue to nurture it.  May God continue to bless us as we plant the seeds of faith in the world and may the Holy Spirit grow those seeds into beautiful flowers of faith.