Pastor Kory’s Page for Easter 2025

            Blessed Easter to you! I want to take a moment to share some background and explanation about a detail pertaining to Easter. The communion liturgy this Easter Sunday refers to Jesus as the “Paschal Lamb.” Recently, another order of service included these words: “Jesus Christ, our Lord … overcame the assaults of the devil and gave His life as a ransom for many that with cleansed hearts we might be prepared joyfully to celebrate the paschal feast in sincerity and truth.”

            What does it mean that Jesus is our Paschal Lamb, or for us to celebrate the paschal feast? In short, “pascha” is the Aramaic word for the Passover. The Passover features prominently in the Bible. On the last night that the Old Testament Israelites spent in Egypt, the angel of the Lord “passed over” Egypt, bringing sudden death to firstborn Egyptians. This was the tenth and final plague which the Lord used to bring about the exodus of His people from slavery. But the Lord provided a means of sparing His people from this final plague: each Israelite family took an unblemished lamb, slaughtered it, painted their doorframes with it, and ate the roast lamb as their final supper in Egypt. Thereafter, the Israelites ate an annual Passover meal as a remembrance of how the Lord delivered them from Egypt. (You can read about the first Passover and the Lord’s instructions for it in Exodus 11-12.)

            More than 1,400 years later, Jesus and His family attended the Passover feasts at Jerusalem (Luke 2:41). Jesus also celebrated several Passovers during His ministry. None was more important than the Passover that took place during Holy Week. On Maundy Thursday, Jesus and His disciples shared the Passover meal one last time, eating the roast lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. The next day, on Good Friday, Jesus became the ultimate Lamb of God and the final sacrifice to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). 

            While Christians no longer observe the Old Testament Passover, we recognize that Jesus is our Paschal Lamb. Early Christians simply called Easter the “pascha.” Today, we celebrate the “paschal feast” by worshipping the Savior who fulfilled the Passover and the entire old covenant for us. We believe that our crucified and risen Jesus is the Passover Lamb, slain for us. As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we also receive the Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, given and shed to set us free from sin. Because we’ve been cleansed by the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without blemish (1 Peter 1:19), we joyfully celebrate the paschal feast this Easter!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Kory Janneke

Pastor Kory’s Page for February 2025

I’ve been reading a book lately on the science of walking and running. It’s entitled Born to Walk. Its main point is that the human body is designed for walking. This is evident from our human anatomy. Our metabolism also responds best to walking and being on our feet throughout the day. Walking is also an important component of maintaining our mental health. God knew what He was doing when He designed our feet, joints, heart, lungs, and brain for walking.

 Consistent walking is one of the best things we can do for our long-term health. Regardless of how fit we are, we all need to walk. We were not created for sedentary lifestyles. Thankfully, even small doses of walking are still beneficial, especially when done consistently over time. I’m trying to integrate more short walks into daily life, whether around the church building on a cold day, or by parking at the back of a parking lot when I go to the store, or by leashing up our dogs, who are always eager for an outing around the neighborhood!

Through much of history, unless you owned a horse, you had no choice but to walk! In today’s world, walking is merely a form of recreation or something we do in short stints as we navigate around our homes or workplaces, but the people we read about in the Bible walked almost everywhere. Other than a short ride on a colt into Jerusalem, Jesus spent His life walking around the Holy Land, making many long North-South trips between Galilee and Judea. 

Walking was such an essential part of life that the Bible uses it as a metaphor for our relationship with the Lord. Some 200 times, the Bible talks about walking, usually in the sense of walking before the Lord, walking in His ways, or when warning us about walking in darkness.

Just after Adam and Eve fell into sin, “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8), but instead of walking toward Him, they began to hide from Him. Ever since that day, it’s been a struggle for us to walk with the Lord and to walk in His ways. Our sinful human nature would rather walk away from the Lord and the perceived restraints He puts on our lives. Left to ourselves, we’d be walking a direct route to hell.

God be praised, though, that He didn’t abandon us. He sent His Son, Jesus, to enter our human flesh and walk in our shoes. In a sense, Jesus’ life on earth was one long, deliberate walk toward His cross. He did many other great things along the way through His neighborly care and teaching and miracles, but ultimately, Jesus came to lay down His life for us. In doing so, He took the punishment for all our failures to walk according to God’s Commandments.

Then, on the same day that Jesus triumphantly rose for us, what’s one of the first things that He did? Jesus suddenly appeared and went for a walk with two disciples who were leaving Jerusalem (Luke 24:15). In their conversation, Jesus revealed to them how the Old Testament Scriptures revealed Him and pointed toward His death and resurrection.

Because Jesus came and walked blamelessly in our place, carried our sins to the cross, and rose for our redemption, we can look forward to walking with the Lord eternally, just as Adam and Eve did for a brief time in Eden. Revelation 21:24 tells us that, in eternity, the nations will walk by the light of the Lamb. What a day that will be! And what a day it will be when we walk with our Lord, face-to-face, with no more aches and pains and no more stumbles into sin.

Until that day, we continue to “walk by faith, not by sight” (1 Corinthians 5:7); and “walk in the light, as He is in the light" (1 John 1:7); and “love one another’’ and “walk according to His commandments” (2 John 5-6). Just like physical walking, walking with the Lord is also good for you. It’s what you’re made for! How we walk spiritually and behaviorally is a witness of our faith and a way of giving thanks to the Savior who walked the road of the cross for us. So, let’s keep encouraging one another, not only to get in our physical steps, but also to keep walking faithfully with our Lord throughout all the seasons of life.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Kory Janneke

Pastor Kory’s Page for January 2025

            One of the Bible’s most “upbeat” and joyful books is St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Even though Paul wrote this epistle somewhat near the end of his life and from a Roman prison cell, his attitude is thankful and hopeful in the Lord.

            Paul introduces his letter by writing, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:1-5)

            These opening words remind us that Paul did not work alone. He served together with other ministers, including Timothy. (At earlier points in his ministry, he worked hand-in-hand with Barnabas, Silas, Luke and others.) Paul also counted the laity and pastors of Philippi as partners in the Lord’s work. After greeting them with a word of Christ’s grace and peace, Paul gives thanks. The Philippian Christians are a source of joy to him. From the first day that Paul shared the Gospel in their midst (described in Acts chapter 16), until the moment he penned these words, Paul regarded these believers as partners with him in the Gospel.

            The word that Paul uses for “partnership” is the Greek word koinonia, sometimes translated as, “fellowship.” This koinonia between Paul and the Philippians was more than exchanging pleasantries, though. It was their sharing and participating in the blessings of the Gospel and the responsibilities of life in the body of Christ. There was both giving and receiving between Paul and the Philippians. (Read more about this in Phil. 4:14-19.) The Philippians shared Paul’s troubles with him. They did so by praying for him and his ministry and by sending him help (financial support and supplies). In 4:18, Paul states that he has received the gifts the Philippians sent him and that he is well supplied. Clearly, the partnership Paul shared with them was more than sentimental but was very practical for his ministry and his physical needs.

What makes Philippians such an upbeat and joyful book is that it’s really an extended thank you letter to a congregation that faithfully supported Paul and his mission to the Gentiles. Repeatedly, the Philippian Christians proved to be true partners in the Gospel and Paul wrote back to them to encourage and thank them, in turn.

            The Lord has also brought us together in His Church to be partners in the Gospel in our time and place. The Church’s mission cannot be accomplished only by missionaries like Paul or by pastors like me. All the saints in Christ Jesus are meant to contribute to the life and work of the Church. 

            For 2025, I’ve chosen the phrase “Partners in the Gospel” as a congregational theme for us to continue reflecting on and putting into practice. We need to “partner up” just as much as the first generation of Christians! Think of all the different sorts of partners that are needed in the Church: prayer partners, leadership partners, accountability partners, financial partners, volunteer partners, and so on. The Lord’s Church cannot operate without such partnerships!

            Who can you partner with? Is there someone who needs your prayers? Is there someone you can team up with? Is there someone you can “pass the torch” to? Who can we partner with as a congregation? How can we be a blessing not only to those in this church family but beyond it? How can we strengthen partnerships with our circuit, district, and synod? How can we contribute to other ministries like Camp Trinity or to local non-profits as they serve our neighbors? 

Let’s have some conversations about these opportunities for partnership! And let me close by echoing Paul’s thanksgiving for you:  “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you … because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

            Grace and Peace,

Pastor Kory Janneke