Pastoral Pondering
by Pastor Keith Larson
I just started the process of uploading Sunday's sermon to Bethlehem's website. It takes a few minutes, so I need to flip to another screen to work on other projects. In a few minutes, anyone in the world can go to Bethlehem's website and listen to Sunday's sermon. I do not know how many of you ever listen to sermons when you cannot be present, or go back and listen to something you missed – or have told a relative or friend about it. But there have been over 2500 persons who have visited our sermon site in 2 years.
This all is – on one hand – most incredible – and other the other hand – almost a little scary. So much information is available "on-line" these days. Sometimes I wonder why I should ever buy another book because with the click of a few keys I can learn almost anything on the internet. Technology is changing at such a fast pace, one barely can keep up with it. But we grandparents and great-grandparents find we have to be a little bit savvy just to stay in touch. A few years ago, it wasn't even a word, but today how many of us "Skype" with our grandkids?
Last month I signed up for a free service called "Google Voice." If you ever really need to get in touch with me in case of an emergency, you can call 563-447-0652. All of my phones will ring at once – the office phone (in the mornings), the parsonage phone, the Wildwood phone, and my cell phone. If I do not answer, you can leave a message, which will be on my cell phone whenever I am in cell range and it will also be transcribed as a email. (You still will not get in touch with me if I'm in the woods cutting logs, or fishing by the lake, etc.)
My cell phone is just a cell phone. My kids have sent me a few text messages and pictures on it. But many people have cell phone-like devices on which they have instant access to the internet and not only make phone calls but check their emails, catch up with Face Book friends, monitor bank accounts or buy and sell stock, bonds or commodities all by their cell phone. Back when I was a kid, there was a regular cartoon feature – Dick Tracy – a futuristic detective who wore a wristwatch by which he could communicate with others. Well that future is here.
A few weeks ago I was at the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Conference on behalf of Ewalu and those of us congregations who own Ewalu. I attended a couple of workshops about how all of this technology ties in with camping. No parents just want to drop their kids off at camp on Sunday and be out of touch until Friday in today's world, so many camps are creating video and picture pages during the week so that parents can go on line and see their kids in action during the week. Advertising and marketing also must take advantage of not only the old-fashioned print ads, also be done effectively on the radio, television, internet, Facebook and Twitter,
And if camps need to be up to date technologically speaking, so do congregations. But it can be a daunting task. While I try to keep up a little bit, it is quite another thing to know how to effectively use all of this technology as tools. Again, it is the case where the larger camps, the larger churches will have an edge because they will have either a bigger pool of volunteers, or will have the resources to hire folks who know how to best utilize these tools. As a parish pastor, I simply do not have the time, nor the ability to become an expert in all things technological, related to communication, advertising and marketing.
Lest we become discouraged, we all have an incredible resource. We have the Gospel. Gospel means "good news". We have good news – the message that God loves us. As we move toward the manger at Christmas, we have news that God's love is born into our lives. Deep down this is what most people want and need to hear – that they are loved – by God and by us. That news is best shared in the same way God shared it with us – by becoming human and living with us. We share the Good News of God's love by telling those about us they are loved and inviting them into a deeper relationship with God – telling and inviting – in person, by phone or text message, on Facebook, or by "Twittering." What better time – than now – to invite that friend or neighbor to get to know God's love better by worshiping with you in Advent or Christmas, or dropping off a plate of cookies and actually meeting that neighbor you have not met.
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