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| More than Forgiveness (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) |
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Dear Member of the Our Savior Lutheran Church Email Prayer Chain, A blessed Easter to all of you. If you have any information that will help us update the prayer list below please email the church office. We appreciate you help in keeping this list as current as possible. Again, Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! More than Forgiveness“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18-19Which is easier: forgiveness or reconciliation? As I contemplate Easter, I find myself trying to discern between the two actions. One – forgiveness – has become Americanized into the simple “forgive and forget” phrase. Not that the saying is entirely inaccurate. Every Christian treasures the promise of the Psalms, that “as far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12) But somewhere along the way, I started scrambling the concepts. Forgiving and forgetting just seems so simple, and I beat myself up when we can’t “forget” how someone wronged us. I take “forgive and forget” and think it means “forgiving equals forgetting.” So if I can’t forgive… I can just forget about it, right? Or maybe just forget about the person if that’s easier. And quickly, forgiving becomes forgetting… becomes ignoring. As I started writing this devotional, I kept thinking of stories I’ve read about the Rwandan genocide. Take the book “As We Forgive,” the war stories of several individuals who lived through the massacres and into the new government. Dealing with grief, anger, loss, and the desire for revenge, each survivor’s life eventually intersects with someone from “the other side.” Even more traumatizing, these people are directly connected with the survivors’ friends’, families’, and even spouses’ deaths. Imagine such a meeting. Face to face with the person who destroyed the other’s life. Forgive and forget completely falls apart, doesn’t it? It’s not humanly possible to forget death of those you love, not without losing yourself in the process. “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” Rwanda’s hurts have only begun to heal, just as the people portrayed in “As We Forgive” must travel a long road before they find peace. But slowly, each victim in the book finds himself offering a hand of forgiveness to the perpetrators, the killers. The handshakes are more than symbolic – these people, Tutsi and Hutu, must now work alongside each other, meet in the streets… and always bear the absence of the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in 1994. There is no forgetting. But there is reconciliation. Easter unleashes God’s offer of reconciliation to those who killed him. The Resurrection doesn’t make God forget our sins – it allows us back into a relationship with him in spite of our sins. Reconciliation takes forgiveness a step further, and cultivates a new bond based on overwhelming love, not past actions. That’s the “ministry of reconciliation” – and that’s what I’m called to accomplish. REFLECTIONAre you practicing the old “forgive and forget” with someone? Or are you seeking opportunities to spread the “ministry of reconciliation”?PRAYER REQUESTS -- Week of March 28, 2010FOR THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE LORD FOR HEALING*Ben Richner [Brother of Dorothy Van Sant] complications following heart surgery.*Steve Lindgren Awaiting further testing for serious stomach problems complicated by diabetes. Jerry Skaggs [Brother of Jane Stopher] in critical condition following a motorcycle accident in Minnesota. Bill Collignon Please include Bill and Betty in your prayers. Bill Berger [Father of Billie Detroy] Health problem have improved significantly with treatment and is out of the hospital.Prayer for thanksgiving and continued improvement. Betsy Boone Betsy’s father- serious health concerns. Norma Brown Recovering from surgery at Oak Lawn Dave Sheldon [Terry Lindgren’s Uncle] Diagnosed with Hepatitis C and Liver Cancer Craig Lowry [Father of OSLS preschool childcare student, Marissa] serious health concerns Frank Walker Recovering from another surgery attempting to save his leg Solissa Arms [Friend of Pat Kuecker] Recovering from injuries from auto accident Rosina Walker Strength Pauline Rye [Mother of Noble Rye] recovering from a stroke Sarah Austin [Family friend of The Mueller Family] undergoing testing Linda White [Sister of Sharon Coleman] Cancer, praying for comfort and peace, and for God’s will to occur Bob Wolke [Brother of Pat Otten] suffering from severe pain Orval Bestian [Brother of Shirley Atkins] heart problems Kim Hunter [Friend of Pat Kuecker] 37 yr. old suffering from multiple health concerns Karen Jackson [Friend of Melissa Nelson] waiting for a transplant FOR THOSE SUFFERING FROM CANCERDominique Lupo, Alice Puckett, Pastor Don Dengler, David Sheldon, Thomas Davidson, Phil Sanders, Barbara Robertson, Lorna Benkendorf, Ruth Smith, Lu Aiella, Jim Bush, Kay Mitchell, Leona Walker, Pam Russo, Brock Douglas, Joan Beck, Kim Phillips, Karen Gardner, Roger, Jana Maher, Joe Howley, Judi Rice, Jack Quinlan, Mark Hayden, Joanne Leeming, Venessa Brady, Joey Eckler, Jim SiegfriedFOR THOSE SUFFERING CHRONIC ILLNESSBill Berger, Daniel Shorter, Bob Farley, Christopher, Lance Muessle, Erin Brady Worsham, Nick ZimmerFOR THOSE CONFINED AT HOME, A NURSING HOME OR REHABILITATION CENTERRay Wahlbrink, Isabella Tappendorf, Dorothy Ordel, Mary Rose Crask, Jim Ashley, Ricky Hayes, Inge Kaulitz, Lydia Eggers, Nancy Heiden, Myrtle Wiggins, Glenna Goepfert, Elvera Weltzin, Marge Tauscher, Virginia Alexander, Helen, Dennis KrausFOR THOSE SERVING IN THE MILITARYMatthew Kuecker, Jason, Chris and Kim Wolter, Matt Fitzgibbon, Joshua Burkett, Roy Oberhaus, Don Wheeler, Lori Alix, James Marshburn, Tony Crespo, Donnie Tyler, Zachary Holland, Michael Alexander, Jeffrey Davis, Erik SheldonFOR THOSE SUFFERING FROM CANCER OR CHRONIC ILLNESSDave Sheldon [Terry Lindgren’s Uncle] Diagnosed with Hepatitis C and Liver CancerAlice Puckett [Sister-in-law of the Puckett’s] has colo-rectal cancer that has spread to her spine Pastor Don Dengler Diagnosed with advanced lung cancer Johanne Thonney [Friend of Kathy Baki] 25-year old diagnosed recovering from brain surgery Dominique Lupo [Step-father of Lisa Smith] diagnosed with myeloma and undergoing treatment Brock Douglas [Brother-in-law of Melanie Douglas] Advanced cancer, in hospice care Brooke McGrew [Sister of Scott Smith] Diagnosed with Cervical cancer, awaiting treatment Steve Lindgren Diagnosed with serious stomach problem, complicated with diabetes Craig Lowry [Father of OSLS preschool childcare student, Marissa] serious health concerns Frank Walker Recovering from another surgery attempting to save his leg Solissa Arms [Friend of Pat Kuecker] Recovering from injuries from auto accident Rosina Walker Strength Pauline Rye [Mother of Noble Rye] recovering from a stroke Lt. Daniel Berschinski [25 year old fellow soldier and friend of Matt Kuecker] at Walter Reed fighting infection in his amputated legs, which were the result of injuries sustained in and IED explosion. Sarah Austin [Family friend of The Mueller Family] undergoing testing Linda White [Sister of Sharon Coleman] Cancer, praying for comfort and peace, and for God’s will to occur Bob Wolke [Brother of Pat Otten] suffering from severe pain Orval Bestian [Brother of Shirley Atkins] heart problems Kim Hunter [Friend of Pat Kuecker] 37 yr. old suffering from multiple health concerns Karen Jackson [Friend of Melissa Nelson] waiting for a transplant Joanne Leeming [Cousin of Karen Shorter] Healing from a stroke and Lymphoma Hannah Dirkse [Friend of the Detroy’s] 18 yrs. old diagnosed with Leukemia Ty Hassler, Jr. [Friend of the Lindgren’s] health and life concerns Phil Ritz [Friend of Joe and Doris Deuth] recovering from a heart attack Kay Mitchell [Friend of Barbe Lamkin] major health concerns Barbara Robertson [Mother of Debbie Novak] recovering from heart attack and cancer treatment Thomas Davidson [14 y.o. neighbor of the Coleman’s] Responding well to treatment Lorna Benkendorf [Friend of Tony Arnold] Undergoing treatment for cancer Leona Walker [Friend of the Belza’s] Recurrent lung cancer that has spread to her brain Jim Ashley [Brother of Larry Ashley] suffering from health concerns Ruth Smith [Mother of Scott Smith] In remission Phil Sanders Suffering from throat cancer, in discomfort Lu Aiella Undergoing chemo treatment for breast and brain cancer Kay Mitchell [Friend of Barbe Lankin] suffering from cancer Jim Bush [Father of Julie Yeager] diagnosed with cancer, undergoing testing for treatment options Bill Berger [Father of Billie Detroy] Alzheimers Joan Beck [Mother of Karen Young, a friend of Caron Fausel] diagnosed with a serious brain tumor Kim Phillips [Cousin of Steve Lindgren] breast cancer Karen Gardner [Daughter of Jean Pillischafske] breast cancer Roger [Uncle of a friend of the Lindgren’s] cancer Jack Quinlan [Friend of the Haller’s] Leukemia Venessa Brady Hodgkin’s Disease Joey Eckler [Grandson of the Kendt’s] cancer Lance Muessle [Friend of Nelson’s] paralyzed from an accident Erin Brady Worsham [Friend of Marty Belza] Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) Nick Zimmer [Nephew of the Coleman’s] MS This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. --1 John 1:5-7 In Christ, Paul Nickel Director of Christian Education Our Savior Lutheran Church |