A Message from Pastor Greg
Grace to you and peace through Jesus Christ Our Lord!
Help the Aliens are coming! What are we to do!? Run Away!
2024 What a crazy year! Real hearings by the government about UFO's, lots of UFO or possible drone sightings on the east coast! Social media blowing up with UFO movies and conspiracy theories! Is this the end times!? Should we panic!? AHHH! Or maybe we all should take a deep breath and calm down. I think Lutherans have a reputation for keeping their heads on straight. I for one will not panic until I see a spaceship over my house. My impression of Our Savior's is that this congregation also believes in common sense and in not blowing things out of proportion or panicking. So where does that leave Our Savior's for mission in 2025?
My first thought is about Sunday school, youth, family and confirmation for 2025. 2024 was a year of change for Our Savior's, we lost our awesome Sunday School Coordinator Jill Dickinson and the families in our Sunday School program too (one has come back! Waa Hoo!). We miss the families and the kids, we want them to know how much we love them and continue to pray for them and their spiritual journeys. Remember you can always come back home. That's what the Lutheran faith is all about! Does losing our Sunday School mean that we should panic , run for the hills, or that the world is ending? No of course not! Why? Because we are foremost God's church! And we trust in God's blessings, and God's calling for Our Savior's! I for One will not give up until I see the Alien spacecraft over the church! What this means is that our calling and mission is changing and evolving as it always does. Are we willing to evolve with that call? Are we willing to follow the call of love no matter where that call takes us? Are we willing to follow the calling of the Cross to proclaim life and salvation for all through the power of the Resurrection?
I believe in the spiritual gifts of joy, laughter and fun! And I have fun and fellowship with you! I have fun leading worship on Sunday mornings! I have fun leading the Wed. 1pm. Bible study! I have fun going to Council and Board meeting night! I have fun getting to know our new families and kids and helping them to follow their calling at Our Savior's! We may have some new kids for confirmation! I have fun visiting the shut-ins and sick of our congregation! I feel honored to lead funerals for the congregation and community! I have fun leading my Wed. night 5:30pm Dungeons & Dragons Sr. High Youth Group! I have fun walking and running my dogs in the community and talking to strangers! I have fun practicing my faith and praying with you!
God, my faith and you give me hope for the future of Our Savior's! I don't know if or when we will ever have kids to start Sunday School again. What I do know is that the mission and calling of Our Savior's is evolving and changing! What I do know is that I met new people in 2024! And I'm meeting new people now and I'm having fun with you in 2025! I feel the joy of the Holy Spirit with you! So come on Space Aliens! We are ready to let you know what being Lutheran is all about! Worship is on Sunday morning at 10:30am with great coffee and treats after! Come on in!
So may God's blessings be showered upon you all!
And May you have fun!
Peace,
Pastor Greg
Grace to you and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord!
As the Pastor of Our Savior’s, I have been reflecting on my role and call as your congregational Pastor. Through this reflection I have been searching for a correct metaphor that would help to describe my role as Pastor. The metaphor I would like to use is that of a coach.
The scripture I would like to look at is that of 2Timothy 4:1-5:
4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
This text is excellent advice given by Paul to Timothy, one of the young leaders of the early church. It is a text that has relevance to today as we struggle to do ministry together in a world that will not "listen to the truth" and seeks to "wander away to myths." Will times ever change? Thus my metaphor of the coaching pastor continues to be relevant in an era where congregations can only function in obedience to God's call if operating as a team. Recently the Minnesota Vikings football team has had a good season so far, currently we are 5 and 2 but we can do better!. Football is the ultimate team sport and no football victory is completed by individual effort alone. Just ask Randy Moss how many Super bowl rings he personally won with the Vikings.
In the same way the successful ministry of the church cannot depend on the Pastor (or coach) alone. As coach the Pastor can: be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching, but it is the team members who ultimately make the ministry happen. I want to thank all those who have already taken the field and have worked so hard in all our ministries, we are all called to do as much as we can. It is the team members who are out on the field, who score the points, who play the game. To think that the coach alone can win the victory by himself is to acknowledge that the game is already lost. Congregational ministry is the ultimate team sport! The Pastor is called to visit the sick. So are you! The Pastor is called to teach the youth. So are you! The Pastor is called to evangelize the lost. So are you! The Pastor is called to proclaim the Gospel. So are you! So as coach, it's time to encourage the team. Let's go team! It's time to take the field! It's time for victory through the power of the Cross and the Holy Spirit!
Amen!
Peace, Pastor Greg
Grace to you and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord!
I love the Advent and Christmas seasons, for they are my favorite time of the year! Even more then hunting season! Especially since they are about family and tradition. When I was growing up I lived only a few blocks from my Grandfather's and Grandmother's house in St. Louis Park. My Grandmother would cook leg of lamb for Christmas Eve (she grew up in England) and turkey with all the fixings for Christmas day. She loved to cook, and had been taught how to cook by her Swedish mother in-law! I loved the laughter around the dinner table and the candle light, the great food and the time lying around the living room floor after the meal. As an adult we spent Christmas and the days after with Jennifer's huge family in North Dakota on the farm, where the food and laughter was just as great. I also look forward to seeing my sister if she is able to come home from Europe. And these days my Mom is already in town so we get together no matter what! Yes it should be a wonderful Advent and Christmas season.
As I spend this season with family I am reminded that not everyone has the same experience. Many people in our community are alone or have suffered loss, and the holiday time can be very painful. I hear stories of people who are well off going to gospel missions for Christmas dinner, just because they are alone. Mother Teresa once said that the greatest disease we have in this country is loneliness. We thus have a responsibility to reach out to those who struggle during the holiday season. We can pick up the phone and give a hurting person a call and invite them over for coffee or even dinner.
We also are to remember our Military Service members and those who are hurting overseas and are refugees as winter sets in. It makes me nervous to see so many people displaced throughout the world during this time of year. There will be plenty of time to debate the status of refugees coming into this country over the next few years, but for right now we need to make sure that people have food, warm shelter and a roof over their heads. Please check out sites like Lutheran World Relief to see where your dollars can make a difference right now. I am reminded of a refugee family so many years ago who traveled to a town where they had no friends or family. They were given room in a stable where they had a dry place to stay. Later that night the girl gave birth to an incredible child who one day would save the world. I thank God for that inn keeper who let these two young strangers stay in his stable. May we also have the same hearts of grace.
Our God, in his wisdom, gave us each other to help get through life, and with the power of the cross and the love of God we can reach out in that love and help those in need. Have a blessed Advent and Christmas season.
Peace,
Pastor Greg
Greetings Our Saviors Family!
Adult Bible Study begins on Wednesday September 11th at 12:00 p.m.
Pastor Greg
218-234-7217
Pastor's Letter 2022 Annual Report St. Paul's and Our Savior's
by Pastor Greg Anderson
Grace to you and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Dear Members of St. Paul's and Our Savior's,
Another year of ministry has past here in the North Country, and what a year it was! We have much to be thankful for as we look back to the many blessings granted us by God during 2022. This is our primary task as Christians, to give thanks and remember that all these blessings come from God and not by our own efforts. He is the source of all our work and strength. He is the source of all goodness and healing. He is the source of all of our gifts of time, talent and stewardship. We are able to give because he gives to us first. We are able to love because he loves us first. We are able to serve because he serves us first. All that we have and own belongs to him. This is his church. This is his ministry.
The question then becomes what are we called to do as Christians? Where are we called to serve? Where are we called to reach out? During this past year we have had many successful ministry happenings. Everything from making Pasties at St. Paul's to special dinner's at Our Savior's. Our women's groups have served at many events and funerals, as well as the making of quilts. Our women's ministry's are the strongest ministries of our congregation's. Where are you called to serve in 2023? How are you called to grow? How are you called to reach out?
The men of our congregation also work so hard on the upkeep of each of our congregations, while also vitally participating in the great events of our parish, such as congregational dinners and other fellowship gatherings. Where are you called to serve in 2023? How are you called to grow? How are you called to reach out?
Both men and women of our churches are leaders on the church councils, worship, and in stewardship. They serve as Sunday school teachers, program coordinators, youth and confirmation leaders, and in many other volunteer opportunities. Without the leaders and hard workers of our community our ministries could not survive. Where there is now light there would be silence. Where we are called to serve in 2023? How are you called to grow? How are you called to reach out?
In each of our congregations we have wonderful elders who maybe no longer have the health to do the ministry work they once did. These elders of the church still have a calling to be the great prayer warriors of the church. Without their prayers we are handicapped in the ministry work we try to accomplish. With their prayers we have an overwhelming abundance of strength to accomplish the ministry we are called to do. Where are you called to serve in 2023? How are you called to grow? How are you called to reach out? My main goal for 2023 is to grow our ministries of prayer!
It is the same for the youth of our parish. You also have a calling and responsibilities as young Christians. Your first responsibility is to continue to grow in wisdom and understanding, while learning from those awesome people who are chosen to take care of you, your parents, teachers and families. You are also called to serve and lead in your many ways of service in our congregations. But most importantly, you are called to ask these questions as we all are: where are you called to serve in 2023 How are you called to grow? How are you called to reach out? How are we all called to live out the love and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who through the cross, gives us the gift of God's love and salvation for free? Yes, we have been blessed by God in 2022. May God continue to bless us in 2023!
God's Blessings on us all!
Pastor Greg
Grace to you and peace through Jesus Christ Our Lord!
Greetings all!
Our new member Sunday is May 15th!
Our new member class is 6 to 7 pm, Wed. May 11th!.
Thanks, Pastor Greg .
"Winter is Coming!" is one of the mottos from a favorite TV show of mine "Game of Thrones." When the members of the fictional Clan Stark would say this motto, they would say it with relish and sometimes with warning. They said the motto with the knowledge that the lone wolf dies while the pack survives. The Dire Wolf was the sigil of Clan Stark.
Being a northern clan, Clan Stark had to embrace if not enjoy winter. Winter was a part of their soul and spirit. Winter protected them from their enemies. Winter was to be respected. You can have a great deal of fun playing winter games, but winter can also kill you. Our Savior's is similar to clan Stark in that we are a people of the north country. (By the way I'm also a true Stark on my Swedish great grandmother's side of the family, lol!) For people of the north country, we also have to embrace if not enjoy some of winter. We could not live here if there was only suffering. There is much beauty in winter. We have many winter activities this time of year, thus we can have fun! We also know this is a time to live cautiously since winter can kill you! Watch those roads!
"Winter is Coming!" Was also used as a warning for Clan Stark in that difficult times may be on the journey ahead, and that the family had to stick together regardless of differences. This was the key to survival. Again, we people of the north know this lesson, for you as a congregation have stuck together for many years. We don't know what the future holds. This January of 2022 we are still experiencing another winter of covid-19. Is this the third year of the pandemic with more people getting infected then ever? Yes, we are still in the winter of this pandemic, and we must stick together! Our Savior's only survives when the members of this congregation stick with it in every way. Our Savior's only continues if we can build each other up in faith during both the difficult times and the good. One of God's greatest gifts to us is each other!
This past year I have enjoyed being your pastor, through the highs and lows, the celebrations and holiday services, covid cancelations, funerals, confirmation and youth ministry. Yes, Winter is here, but we can get through it together. The Holy Spirit empowers us and has given us each other with all our gifts! With spring we can then reach out and ask questions about growth. How do we follow the great commission to Baptize all people in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit?
We are people of winter! Knowing that the spring will soon be here. Knowing that Easter is both coming and is always with us. We are Easter people with the hope and knowledge that God will get us through anything! That God will continue to empower us through the gift of His Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!
Peace be with you!
Pastor Greg Anderson
Message from Pastor Greg
Grace to you and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord! 2021 is now coming to an end, and what a year it was. Covid has been insane, and I cannot remember a time with such crazy politics, but my memory is short, and I've only been aware of politics since the mid 1970's. Does anyone remember that we once had a president named Nixon? And as the comedian Louis C.K. likes to point out "he quit the job, waved, then got in a helicopter and flew away." I think those times might have been a little crazy too, and there might have been a little nervousness in the county also. I have always prided myself as an amateur historian, so I like to take an historical perspective, and history teaches, almost all leaders never meet expectations, either good or bad. And that there is nothing that motivates the loyal opposition like a loss and the headline that their party is dead. The pendulum swings one way and then swings back again.
As a Christian I am concerned with the big questions such as how do we address the problems of the great disparity of wealth in this country and in the world. There has never been in the history of the world such a difference between the super-rich and the poor. This being said we also have never had so many people living above the starvation rate, no longer do we read headlines of millions starving in Russia, China and India. Starvation is now due to localized wars and disasters where countries are affected as opposed to continents. That being recognized we still have a long way to go working for global justice, nutritional equality and peace. The rich are still incredibly rich and the poor are still incredibly poor, and as Mother Teresa liked to point out, "If you are rich you must be incredibly gifted, and if so gifted God wants you to share those gifts!"
In our country I would hope there can be a recognition that capitalism will always have winners and losers (as does socialism). Pope Francis proclaimed in 2013: " One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption." As Christians we are to seek a balance of capitalisms potential for prosperity and the fact that any economic system will be a slave to global markets, laws of supply and demand and greed.
The Christian perspective is thus defined by our Lord by two laws: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself." This law of love is a way out of the traps of political winners and losers. It reaches to the heart of capitalism and other systems failings and speaks to the injustice of global poverty and the disparity wealth everywhere. Why do we still have a debate in this country about the justice of health care for all and a $15 minimum wage that still would just help people barely make it? The crazy issue is that the pie is big enough for all to live well. And when we choose to divide the pie based on our Lord's laws, now we are getting somewhere. "Love is patient, Love is kind." "God is Love." Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself. “If this country was founded on Christian principles, that is what they are!
Thus, I for one am approaching the new year with hope. I have hope that the Creator of the Universe sees beyond our pettiness and divisiveness and still chooses us to bring the light of his Sons birth into the world. Yes, we our flawed vessels, but He still believes in us! This proves that God has a sense of humor. He still hopes in us that we will never forget the orphan, the widow, the outcast, the homeless, the oppressed! That is the light of Grace and of God himself, that we will always trust in his love and mercy, shown to us in a babe born in a manger. Have hope! Merry Christmas, peace on earth, and good will to all!
Peace,
Pastor Greg