Blest be the Tie that Binds

A Message from Pastor Dave

We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.
From sorrow, toil, and pain,
and sin we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity.
(by John Fawcett, 1782. ELW 656, Verses 3-4)

These concluding verses are from the last hymn we sang Sunday, Oct. 3.
We speak of God as a God of relationship. (See Psalm 8 from Sunday too).
We are formed in creation for community. And God uses our community – our church, our family, our friendship circles – to witness to the best of God’s love and care for creation and for one another.

In the best cases:

God’s people share their mutual woes in order to help support one another and edify the community as a whole.
God’s people share their mutual burdens in order to lighten their loads together.
God’s people share their griefs in order to cry together.
One of the saddest things I’ve known are congregations that cannot model the reality of a loving community. And some of my most blessed moments have been the expressions of love in faith-filled congregations.
What woes do you need support for today? What burdens can we help one another lessen? For what griefs can we share a sympathizing tear or ear?
Care and compassion is the work of our Lutheran Christian community.
Can you help with that today for someone else? How? Who?
Let us together look forward to the final freedom from sorrow, toil, pain, and sin, - when perfect love and friendship will reign through all eternity - by the grace of God, who unites us all in Jesus’ name.

Let us pray.

God of Community, make us living witnesses to your heavenly reality. Today we include in prayers your creation, and those in our community including Guil, Jim, Ken, Wendy, Carol, Herb, Dovie, Janet, Martha, and all those we now name aloud or silently.