June is upon us! Among other things, Tuesday, June 21 is the Summer Solstice, the day of the year with the most daylight. On that day, in our area, the Sun will rise at 5:10 am, and will set at 8:36pm. If my arithmetic is right, that’s 15 hours, 26 minutes of daylight. I do recall that on the farm, we went to bed early, around 8:00 pm. That’s because we rose early the next morning, usually around 4:30 to get started with our chores. It always seemed unfair to go to bed with plenty of daylight left.

In contrast, it seems that this world is filled with so much darkness. Yet another tragic school shooting. The continuing horrors of the war in Ukraine. Violence in our streets. We need to see some light… To hear some good news! Thank God for our Lord Jesus, who proclaims in John 6: “I Am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

A friend and his wife were out driving one day when they observed a bumper sticker on the car ahead of them. “JESUS IS THE ANSWER!” it read. Cynically, my friend asked, “But what’s the question?” His wife replied, “It doesn’t matter, does it?” – meaning that Jesus is the answer to all of our questions. We need light. Jesus is that Light. Pray with me this June that the Lord would flood the world with the Light of the Good News of salvation by faith in Him alone.

Blessings,

Pastor Stanton

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 16:3

It is our human nature to worry and fret and feel that we need to accomplish everything. When we feel that we need to accomplish everything on our own we feel powerless, like no one will listen, depressed, hopeless, and this often leads to burn out. Proverbs 16:3 is such a comforting verse because our God is loving, faithful, and wants His people to commit to Him! Just think how much happier, how much lighter our burdens would be, if we would just commit our ways to the Lord. We plot and plan, fret and worry, and forget to lay our cares upon the Lord. We fail to depend on Him and forget the blessings that are just waiting for us, His children.

If God did not even spare His own Son’s life but gave Him up to die for us, will He not provide for us, bless us, and keep us? It really is such a simple concept, give your life to God and wait for the blessings to pour down on you! There may not always be sunshine and rainbows in your life, it is not promised that if we are God’s there won’t be rough times, but at least in those rough times we have the reassurance that our life is in God’s hand and He will always take care of His children.

One of my favorite times of the week is gathering around God’s altar with our preschool classes for chapel. One of the most recent chapel’s I lead was about Peter and John meeting the lame man. Peter and John could have helped this man by giving him a few coins, but this only would have gotten him his next meal. These few coins would not have gotten him very far, but what Peter and John shared with this man changed his life forever. Peter told him, “in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk”. On the spot this man was healed, not through the power of Peter, but through Jesus Christ our Lord. God always gives us the best if we commit to Him our ways. Now this lame man who never walked before was walking and leaping and praising God. He could now go anywhere using his own leg power, he could get a job in order to provide for himself, his life changed forever because of Jesus and he was grateful for it!

As we celebrate many graduations and new life experiences at the end of this school year. May we all take this time to reevaluate our life and ask God to help us commit to Him. As all parents do, He only wants the very best for His children. So why not give your life and all that you do to your Father in heaven. A smooth road is not promised, but the foundation of our Father’s love and commitment to us is! Let your prayer be that God’s will be done and not yours, let all glory, honor, and praise be to Him. When our will is God’s will success will follow, because God does not let emptiness return to Him. Let us serve Him faithfully and leave the rest to Him, He will not disappoint! We can trust that God is working for His ultimate good and ours through our efforts to serve Him! So, let us go forth walking and leaping and praising God!

In His Service,

Jennifer Leinss

For our second quarter missions, our Special Mission offering will support LC-MS Disaster Response Ministry. This response ministry responds to immediate and long-term needs following natural and man-made disasters. The ministry reaches out to LCMS congregations and their communities with services that include on-site assessment, emergency relief and development grants, pastoral care for LCMS church workers and members, and other resources.