St. Peter Lutheran Church
2929 F.M 972 (at F.M. 1105)
Walburg, Texas 78626

Office: (512) 863-5600
Worship Services - each Sunday 10:15 a.m.
Holy Communion - 1st & 3rd Sundays

Contact
Webmaster

Last Updated:
May 26, 2023

St. Peter Lutheran Church at Walburg, Texas
2023 - All Rights Reserved

Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ Texas District

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

- Ephesians 2:19-22    .

In my final year of college, one of my classmates invited me to be a part of the speech and debate team. I cannot say that I was very good at it. I lost more rounds than I won. However, there were a few things that I learned which were very important. The most important thing in any discussion is to properly define and represent the issue at hand. If two people are using the same word to describe completely different things, there is no hope of coming to an understanding.

 We seem to live in an age that is not only filled with people who seem to talk past one another, but who are actively encouraged to do so. Whenever we ask for clarification on a point, people seem to dismiss such questions as a waste of valuable time. Yet, nothing is so important in an age where words seem to muddy the waters more than to clarify those words. There are those who confuse with words for selfish reasons; but far more of us simply do not put in the time to ask what it is we are really talking about.

 This seems to be the case whenever we discuss the church. Even Christians can't agree on a definition or meaning. Some turn the church into a monument for a nostalgic culture ignoring the dynamism of the Gospel. Others define it as nothing more than an ideological subgroup in our contemporary culture having no more importance or history than a fable. Still others yearn for a so-called "Christless Christianity" where the church is marked not by its confessions but instead by "works of niceness." In our failure to properly define this crucial word, we devolve into angry and bickering combatants intentionally or unintentionally misunderstanding one another and more importantly the church itself.

 The draftsmen of the Christian faith knew this temptation would always be close beside us and so they organized each year around the mission of the church. The first part of the year deals primarily with the redemption story of Jesus Christ: birth, death, and resurrection. The latter part, which starts around this time, deals with how we as Christ's disciples can reflect his mission in our world.

This season is called the Season after Pentecost. It is the longest church season; and lasts from the giving of the Holy Spirit during an ancient festival of gathering up Israel's wheat harvest all the way to cold, barrenness of winter. In this we cannot help but notice how God's spirit is with us during the first flourishes of our Christian witness all the way to a time of stillness and longing for new life. It should be no surprise then that we move once again into Advent and the fulfillment of the Messianic promise.

The season of Pentecost must remind us of our mission into the world. That is the reason for this season of the church. It is about being filled with the Gospel Message, being filled with the Sacramental promise, being filled with the hope of the Kingdom of God, and being filled with Christ's Holy Spirit. The church isn't the place Christ left behind so His people could prove their worth; it is the temple where God's Spirit dwells and gathers all the faithful under God's promises. When we know that definition, we can proclaim the good news.

In Christ,
Pastor Phil

Pentecost