Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

10/23/2024

Mount Merici Academy, the school the children attend, is walking alongside of the Wilson family during this difficult time. They are working to offer set tuition expenses for the children as well as the costs for their medical treatments. If you are interested in giving a donation towards their school tuition please email Amber, or call the school. You are also welcome to participate in their school sponsored Go Fund me page to offset their medical expenses.

The Wilson family is in need of our support. Tyler, Corina, Josiah, a… Amy Quirion needs your support for Help Lucia and Corina Battle Their Health Challenges

07/04/2024

06/16/2024

Jesus Receives Sinners. “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). The Pharisees’ statement of judgment against Jesus is in fact a proclamation of Gospel truth. For our God is one who delights in mercy, who casts all our sins into the depths of the sea through the cross (Micah 7:18–20). Those who refuse to be counted as sinners also refuse Jesus who came only for sinners. Those who think they are righteous of themselves, will not join in the heavenly celebration over the sinner who repents and so remain outside of the Father’s house. Let us therefore be on guard against self–righteously trusting in our own merits. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you”
(1 Peter 5:6). Rejoice that Jesus receives sinners like us and that He still sits at table with us in the Holy Supper, bestowing His forgiveness and life.

Cover Artwork: O. A. Stemler and Bess Bruse Cleavland, 1928, Jesus teaching in the Temple, Wikamedia Commons.

06/02/2024

Several of our members jumped in their canoes and kayaks yesterday to take part in the Pine Tree Paddle - a fundraiser for Pine Tree Camp.

At Pine Tree Camp, children and adults with developmental and physical disabilities experience freedom, independence and life-changing experiences through barrier-free access to the outdoors. Our 285-acre campus in the heart of the Belgrade Lakes Region is fully accessible.

The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection cheerfully supports Pine Tree Camp with donations and fundraising for the Pine Tree Paddle.

Please consider donating or joining us next year!

01/06/2024

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are expecting our first weekend snow storm of the season tonight into tomorrow. Depending on where you live, meteorologists are predicting anywhere from a few inches to a foot of snow. I urge you to use your best judgment about the safety of the roads tomorrow, as it looks like it will be actively snowing throughout the morning and afternoon.

To give everyone extra time in the morning, I am canceling Sunday morning Bible Class. However, the Divine Service will be held at 10:00 a.m., with fellowship following, for those who can make it.

Unless the weather takes a turn for the worse, Hope Lutheran Church also plans to hold Divine Service at 2:30 p.m., but Bible Class following the service will be cancelled. Hope’s annual Voters’ assembly meeting is rescheduled for next Sunday.

Again, if you don’t think that you can make it to church safely, please don’t risk it.

In Christ,
Pastor Akers

12/20/2023

Checking In

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I hope and pray that you are well and warm after Monday’s storm. I’ve talked with many of you who have been impacted to varying degrees from the storm. If you are in need of anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or to others in the congregation. I’m sure that many of you are still without power. My home is without power as well, so if you do try to contact me and I don’t respond immediately, that is why.

Today is much colder than yesterday! I welcome you to join us for Word and Sacrament (with heat and lights!) today at noon or 7:00 p.m. for our final mid-week Advent Divine Services.

God’s peace be with you.

In Christ,
Pastor Akers

12/05/2023

Did you know we have FOUR!!!! amazing schools in our district in addition to numerous early childhood centers? Soon, you will be hearing about an opportunity to support Lutheran schools in the New England District. Stay tuned...

11/22/2023

From our monthly newsletter, here's our Apologetics article for December 2023:

Defending the Faith
Sometimes the Best Defense is a Good Defense.

This month, I’m starting a series on what other faiths and other Christian denominations believe. My goal is to equip you with knowledge so that when you’re in discussions, you’ll be better prepared.

I do not intend so much to criticize, but will point out where they deviate from God’s Word as revealed in Sacred Scripture and offer a few thoughts on talking with them.

We’ll start with the Unitarian Universalist Church, abbreviated “UU”. Their polity is autonomous, meaning that each congregation chooses their own priorities and choose their own ministers and staff. They ordain both women and openly practicing homos*xual ministers. They also perform same-s*x “weddings”.

UUs are not Christian. Nor do they adhere to any of the other world religions. Rather, they claim to derive wisdom from all of them and promote “the right to choose one’s own beliefs”. In fact, they outright reject the doctrine of the Trinity.

The UU church is best described as intensely liberal. They state that they have no shared creed, but have “seven principles” that define them (which seem like a creed). From UUA.org, those are:

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within congregations and society.
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

They adhere to “six sources” that they claim and promote (which again, seem like a creed):
1. Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
2. Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
3. Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
4. Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
5. Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
6. Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

As I searched the official website for the term “forgiveness”, all I could find were calls to forgive others. Nothing about having your sins forgiven by God or even some indeterminate “higher power”. There seems to be no sense of payment for earthly transgressions at all.

If you find yourself in a discussion with a UU and want to at least point them in the direction of Christianity, I suggest one question. “Who do you say that Jesus is?”

Again, from the UU.org website, beliefs vary widely. Some say He was a great teacher, a moral exemplar, a prophetic leader, a reformer, a dissident, and underdog and an ally.

I would ask them whether a “great teacher” would teach lies.

Assuming that they answer honestly, I would confront them (gently) with John 14:6. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, but through Me.” And John 10:30 “I and the Father are One.”

In these two verses, this “great teacher” not only claims to be God Himself, but that he is the only way to Heaven.

Also ask the UU if they believe that Jesus was a great teacher, why don’t they believe Him?

Dislodging a UU from their wildly liberal views of “all religions are true” and “anything goes” stance will take time, patience and love on your part. It will be frustrating at times but remember that converting someone to be a Christ-follower isn’t your job. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job.

Whether we’re talking with an atheist, a Muslim, a Jew, a Hindu or a UU, we are to do the gardening.

The Holy Spirit reaps the harvest.

As always, I’m open to comments, suggestions and especially criticisms at [email protected].

Charlie MacPherson, SDG

11/02/2023

Today we gathered with our extended brothers and sisters in the faith to bring prayer and comfort to those mourning the tragedy that took place in Lewiston last week. We are thankful for the amazing ministry of the Lutheran Church Charities Comfort Dogs who came and spent the week immersed in the Lewiston community bringing comfort, love, and prayer to tender hearts.

09/24/2023

Our Apologetics article for October:

Defending the Faith.
Sometimes the Best Defense is a Good Defense.

Is Sacred Scripture reliable – or is it just a book written by men to gain money or power?

If you talk to atheists or other people who are skeptical of the Christian worldview, this is a question you’ll be faced with sooner or later. Let’s talk about some ways to address the question.

First, the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses to the events they report – or in the case of Luke, had direct access to the eyewitnesses. Eyewitness testimony tends to be reliable, unless that eyewitness has an ulterior motive.

What could the Gospel writer’s ulterior motives be? The three most common reasons that someone will lie or commit a crime are to gain money, s*x and power. How did the writers fare on that account? Not well. Not well at all.

Some critics claim that the Gospels were written late in history. Some even claim it was in the 200s – but that’s just not credible. The reason I say that is that none of the New Testament writers mention what would have been the “September 11, 2001” of their day. The Roman destruction of the Temple.

They would have had good reason to write about it because it was a fulfilled prophesy of Jesus in Luke 21:6: “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.” Yet the entire New Testament is silent about this catastrophe and the only reasonable explanation is that it had not yet happened.

That puts the New Testament dating prior to 70 A.D. By the way, I encourage you to use A.D. (anno Domini, Latin for “The Year of our Lord”), not the secular CE for Common Era. You don’t have to give in to the secularists, even in the little details.

So the Gospels and the entire New Testament are dated early. But have they changed over time?

No. And we know that by looking at the letters of Ignatius and Polycarp, who were directly instructed by the Apostle John. Ignatius wrote 7 letters to local churches describing Jesus and Polycarp wrote one letter to the church at Philippi.

With credit to Biblegateway.com, “Ignatius was concerned strongly with the message that Jesus Christ is God, God who has become man. He referred to Jesus as God at least twelve times. Jesus was born of a virgin, was baptized, suffered and rose again. He was the son of David and the Son of God. The reason for His suffering was “that we might be saved” (Smyr. II, 1).”

How about Polycarp? His letter to the Phillipians states (just a snippet for the sake of space): “The strong root of your faith, spoken of in days long passed, have lasted until now and borne fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered even to the point of death for our sins, but whom God raised from the dead, releasing the grip of Hades. "He is the one that though you do not see, you believe in, and, believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet. 1:8). Into this joy many long to enter, knowing that "by grace you are saved, not of works, but by the will of God through Jesus Christ" (Eph. 2:8-9 w. Jn. 1:13).”

So both of these letters are in complete concordance with Sacred Scripture – and are only one generation removed from the Apostle John. They simply have not been changed.

This isn’t meant to be a complete treatment of their letters or other evidence for the early dating of Scripture. It is intended to show that the earliest church fathers were writing about Sacred Scripture, giving lie to the proposition that the gospels were dated late in history.

Both Sacred Scripture and the earliest church fathers held the very same beliefs and teachings that we hold today.

No, Scripture isn’t a 2nd century work of fiction as some atheists like to claim. It is the infallible Word of God and always has been.

As always, I’m open to comments, questions and especially criticisms at [email protected].

Charlie MacPherson, SDG.

08/26/2023

Defending the Faith.
Sometimes the Best Defense is a Good Defense.

Where did FIRST life come from?

Atheists and naturalists throw around lots of ideas about how the building blocks of life “somehow” came together in one place at the same time and then “something” happened.

Those building blocks are things like amino acids, various proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acids, sugars, lipids and many others.

Theories of how they formed include everything from random mixtures of primordial gases to deep sea thermal vents to clay helping to form crystalline structures to aliens.

Yes, aliens. (It’s amazing just how far atheists will go to avoid God!)

The proper name for the latter theory is “panspermia”. In one version, some posit that actual alien beings brought life to earth. (This solves nothing, of course. They still haven’t explained where that alien first life came from). In another, they propose that the building blocks of life came here by way of comets and meteorites and then “something” happened.

There’s a lot of “and then something happened” when atheists try to explain first life.

A famous atheist and scientist, Fred Hoyle calculated the odds of the 2,000 or so amino acids coming together at random to be 1 chance in 10 to the 40,000th power. That’s 10 followed by 40,000 zeroes. In other words, mathematically impossible.

Of course, even if you managed to get those amino acids together, you don’t have life. You just have amino acids.

Here’s something to ponder. I know where you can find every single building block of life.

Every dead plant and animal on the planet has all of those building blocks, all in one place.

By the naturalist’s (anti-creationist's) theory, we should find all sorts of new life springing up from that flat, dead skunk on the side of the road. Of course, that never happens because you need more than just the ingredients.

Gathering all of those ingredients together and expecting new life to spring up is like putting flour, yeast, salt and water on the kitchen table and expecting bread to appear by itself.

There’s something more to it and we know that “something more” is God – the author of life!

It’s hard for them to kick against the goads…

As always, I’m open for comments, questions and especially criticisms at [email protected].

SDG, Charlie MacPherson