Pastor’s Notes for 1st Sunday in Creation, A Date: 8/31/14Theme: Forest; The Unknown GodBible Ref’s: Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17; Baruch 5:5-9 or Psalm 96:1, 6-13; Acts 17:22-31; and Matthew 23:37-39; 24:32-35.

Prayer of the DayGod, our Creator, whose glory fills our planet, help us to discern your vibrant presence among us, especially in the mysteries of the forest. Help us to stand in solidarity with your forest creatures who are suffering and serve you as agents for healing our garden planet. We ask this in the name of Christ, who reconciles and renews all things in creation. Amen.

Brief Sermon Outline: “God’s Great Northwoods”Focus Statement: We can look closely at the trees for signs of God’s coming kingdom.

1. Within the Plant Kingdom, trees occupy a special place in my heart. My relationship with trees, I suppose, began at a very young age as my folks enjoyed camping; childhood neighborhoods were full of majestic oaks, hickories and maples. I still remember my greatest achievement of 9 th grade was a huge leaf collection with all the common and scientific names, locations, all neatly mounted.

2. My seven summers working in the ecology area of a Boy Scout camp in northeast Indiana solidi-fied my love for trees. But it was also in those young adult years that I was introduced to God’s Great Northwoods of Wisconsin & Minnesota, the most beautiful trees & forests I had ever seen.

3. In a mysterious way I believe God’s Great Northwoods was a significant part of my sense of call to Faith United; the church camps we have in this area are among the greatest blessings we have in our synod. Financially, our camps have suffered in the past, but that has changed thanks to some faithful, gifted leadership that has nurtured an awareness in our synod of how deeply the outdoors can impact faith. Our church has long history of supporting VLM; I hope that will continue to grow.

4. Our gospel lesson today encourages us to look closely at the trees for signs of God’s coming king-dom. I think we can look to the outdoor ministries of our camps to see those very signs of God’s majesty & steadfast love at work in the lives of people young & old. <show “VLM Values” movie.>

Creation Creed:

We believe that God creates all things, renews all things, and celebrates all things.

We believe Earth is a sanctuary, a sacred planet filled with God’s presence, a home for us to share with all creatures. We believe every creature joins us in praising God. We see many suffer with Earth because of human crimes against creation.

We believe that God became incarnate as a part of Earth, Jesus Christ, that he lived and breathed and spoke among us, suffered and died on a cross, for all human beings and for all creation. We believe that the risen Jesus Christ fills the whole creation, reconciling all things to God, renewing all things.

We believe the Spirit renews life in creation, groans in empathy with every suffering creature, and waits with us for the rebirth of the whole creation.

We believe that with Christ we will rise and with Christ we will celebrate a new creation, reconciled, restored, and renewed.

Children’s Sermon <The large flannel board will be employed to begin to present an overview of all the themes of this year’s Season of Creation: forest, land, wilderness, river, fire/energy and world communion. Today, we introduce trees “for the healing of the nations,” and how we might “bear this fruit” in the world.>

Pastor: Good morning, all. Today, we begin the Season of Creation—six weeks of celebrating the wonders of the universe, and praising the Creator of it all. So, today is the first Sunday in the Season of Creation, and our theme today is “forest.” Maybe you’ve seen some of the artworks that have already been created. <showcase the artworks submitted and the artists who created them>

We also have this huge flannel board that we’ll be using to celebrate the different themes of the season. I need your help to add these trees to our emerging picture of God’s world. <have the kids add the trees, some alone, some grouped together into a forest>

Let’s pray: We thank you, God, for the blessing of trees in our lives—how they provide fruit and nuts for food, leaves for shade and medicine, colors to mark the seasons, wood for building homes and furniture, beauty to remind us of your majesty and steadfast love. We especially thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to hang on a tree for the sins of the world, for the healing of the nations. Raise our arms and hands like trees to praise you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Word(Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17) In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; 6 but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— 7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 15   The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

(Baruch 5:5-9)5 Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;

look toward the east,and see your children gathered from west and east

at the word of the Holy One,rejoicing that God has remembered them.

6 For they went out from you on foot,led away by their enemies;

but God will bring them back to you,carried in glory, as on a royal throne.

7 For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made lowand the valleys filled up, to make level ground,so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.

8 The woods and every fragrant treehave shaded Israel at God’s command.

9 For God will lead Israel with joy,in the light of his glory,with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

“Voyageurs Lutheran Ministry provides opportunities for Christ-centered spiritual growth, leadership development, and outreach in God’s great northwoods.”

— VLM Mission Statement

(Acts 17:22-31)Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or

stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

(Matthew 23:37-39; 24:32-35) “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you, desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

24:32   “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Sermon Notes

An Outdoor Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Voyageurs Lutheran Ministry offers summer and year-round camping programs for God's people of all ages. Whether you are looking for a traditional summer camp experience, a location for your next retreat or family gathering, a programmed day or weekend event, or a guided trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area

Wilderness, we can provide just the right location and program.  Our two unique sites provide the perfect combination of Christian community and personal renewal.  We look forward to seeing you in God's great northwoods!

To learn more about Voyageur’s Lutheran Ministry and how you can play a vital role in support of its mission, visit www.vlmcamp.org.

On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Rev. 22:2b)

Think about the ways that people and nations are hurting around the world and close to home, then pray—listen for how you might bring healing and hope to those people and places. Write in words of healing as “fruit” on the tree of life at left.