Sermon for July 12 – Build in Christ. Please join us as we discover what it means to build our lives in Christ, the one who makes our life meaningful.

Happy 4th of July. The greatest freedom is our freedom from sin- its consequences and effects. This freedom comes from Jesus Christ. Hope you can join us in worshipping the greatest freedom fighter in history.

Quieres pasarte un buen dia y comer sabroso”? Ven y acompananos este domingo 28 de Junio a nuestro servicio Bilingue a las 10 de la manana y despues a celebrar con unas buenas hamburguesas y Hot Dogs y refrescos. te esperamos. Iglesia Luterana Jehovah El Buen Pastor 3740 W. Belden Chicago, IL 60647 Do you want to Come and enjoy a good day and eat good food? Come and join us this June 28th at 10 a.m. worship service, after the service to celebrate with good hamburgers and hot dogs and refreshments We hope to see you . Jehovah El Buen Pastor Lutheran Church 3740 W. Belden Chicago,IL 60647

This brings me to a reflection on the Christmas story. Why would somebody make up that whole story about God becoming a baby (most vulnerable)? Those who told this story many years ago died as martyrs, sticking to their story that God became man, with all the vulnerability it entails. They definitely did not tell this story to support an earthly ideology. Not only is the story strange, but it is antithetical to human thinking. That world, same as today, would find it to make more sense that the “gods” would come down with power to smite their enemies, which could be other humans or other beings. The story of Thor coming to help humanity makes for a good story, but is not the Christian story of a God who came down as a baby born in a manger and later opposed until the end of his life, not smiting his enemies but dying for them, as the apostles proclaimed. The Christmas story could be seen as foolishness in the eyes of the world, but as the apostle says, the wisdom of God is seen in his foolishness and the weakness of God is his power to heal humanity from its brokenness. The early church rejected stories of a Christchild who does miracles just for the fun of it because they saw the center of the Christian gospel as God becoming man. Although this is antithetical to human thinking, I invite you to bow down to the vulnerable baby Jesus and ponder what it means that God’s way of salvation is to become one of us, joining us in our weakness and confusion. http://eeviray.angelfire.com/…/supernaturalism-and-the-chr…/

We have Las Posadas on Saturday Dec. 20 at 4:00PM. Please join us for a great time. We have Mariachis and food after our worship service.

On Sunday Dec 21, after the church service, we will have a lesson on “Introducing Jesus”. Join us if you are curious or you want to gain perspective on Evangelism- the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ.