Many great relationships start with an invitation. More than two thousand years ago, Jesus invited the disciples to “come and see” the new thing God was doing. In 1977, that invitation continued as charter members of our congregation extended the same invitation to “come and see” God’s triumphant love at work in our midst. That invitation repeated countless times in the years that have followed, and it has been a constant part of our Christian community of faith. With firm roots of Christian faith, Lutheran tradition, and service to our community, TLLC’s ministry has flourished in faith, size, membership, and spirituality in the decades since its founding, and our ministry continues to bear good fruit in our neighborhood and the world…
But the events of recent days cast a dark pall over us as we prepare to celebrate this ministry milestone. I honestly paused to wonder if it was even appropriate to still rejoice in this happy occasion or if the commemoration should be postponed, but then I realized that our Good Friday world deeply needs the Good News of Christ, our death-dealing world desperately needs life-giving resurrection hope, and our divided, hate-filled world urgently needs triumphant love. Now more than ever, the world still needs the message we have received, the ministry we share, the work we do in Christ’s name so let us gather together and rededicate ourselves and our ministry to God’s mission of infusing every heart with triumphant love!
