St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church & Preschool West Seneca

09/08/2026

Trivia Tuesday!

Let's see if as a group we can make a list of famous Lutherans. Add the name of a famous Lutheran in the comments and let's see how many we can come up with!

09/08/2026

A piece to ponder on September 8, 2026
Genesis 50:15-21
15 Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” 16 So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. 21 So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
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“Consider that before Joseph forgives his brothers, he wrestles with a strong desire to scare and shame them. In fact, he does scare and shame them. Forgiveness is something Joseph has to arrive at, slowly and painfully. There is no cathartic, ‘altar call’ moment when the hurts of his past slip off his back and roll away. There is only life, lived one layered, complicated, and unsentimental moment at a time. …

One of the great gifts of Christianity is that it takes sin and sin’s consequences seriously. Sin wounds. Sin breaks. Sin echoes down the ages. And so forgiveness isn’t an escalator; it’s a spiral staircase. We circle, circle, and circle again, trying to create distance between the pain we’ve suffered and the new life we seek. Sometimes we can’t tell if we’ve ascended at all; we keep seeing the same, broken landscape below us. But ever so slowly, our perspective changes. Ever so slowly, the ground of our pain falls away. Ever so slowly, we rise.”
—Debie Thomas, “The Work of Forgiveness,” Journey with Jesus for February 13, 2022.

Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V.

09/07/2026

A piece to ponder on September 7, 2026
A story from the Desert Fathers:

“Two old monks decided that, having lived together for years, they should try to have an argument like the rest of humankind. One asked the other how to do it and he replied, ‘I will put something out on the floor and say, 'It's mine' and then you say, 'No, it's mine.' And then we'll argue about it’

‘All right,’ answered the first monk.

The other did as was planned and said, ‘It's mine.’

‘All right. Have it,’ said the first.

And that was the end of their argument.”

Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V.

09/06/2026

09/04/2026

A piece to ponder on September 4, 2026
Matthew 18:15-20
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15 “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the
two of you are alone. If you are listened to, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take
one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three
witnesses. 17 If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if the offender refuses to listen
even to the church, let such a one be to you as a gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again,
truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in
heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
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“Reconciliation is not a skill to be mastered, but, rather, something discovered -- the power of God& #39;s grace
welling up in one& #39;s life. ... Or put in more theological terms, reconciliation is more spirituality than strategy.”
--Robert J. Schreiter, Reconciliation: Mission and Ministry in a Changing Social Order (Orbis, 1992).
Homiletics, September 7, 2014
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Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V.

Send a message to learn more

09/03/2026

🚨 Open Seats Available! 🚨

Our 2.5-hour ½ Day Pre-K programs offer the perfect balance of structured learning and play to prepare your child for Kindergarten. Openings are available now at St. John’s and Great Expectations.

👉 Ready to enroll? Call the UPK Office at (716) 677-3151 today!

09/03/2026

A piece to ponder on September 3, 2026
Romans 13:8-14
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The
commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not
covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For
salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us
then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us walk decently as in the day, not in
reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit s*x and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
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“’Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.’
That quip is attributed to Mark Twain (who was absolutely right, by the way). But Twain wasn’t the aphorism’s
originator. He was simply riffing on a saying that had been common for centuries.
Way back in the 1500s, the humanist scholar Erasmus included the Latin version of ‘clothes make the man’ in
his collection of Greek and Latin proverbs — although clearly it has classical roots. Some have traced a
variation of it all the way back to Homer’s Odyssey.
The concept behind the proverb is nothing less than the engine that drives the fashion industry. Dress well,
and people will think well of you. Especially people who matter to you: Potential employers. Clients. Romantic
interests. To make a good impression on any of them, leave the ratty jeans at home.
The classic rock band ZZ Top set the tone in their 1983 hit ‘Sharp Dressed Man.’ It starts off like this:
Clean shirt, new shoes
And I don’t know where I am goin’ to
Silk suit, black tie
I don’t need a reason why
They come runnin’ just as fast as they can
’Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man
No one knows what sort of duds the apostle Paul packed for his Mediterranean journeys. But from what he
says about “putting on” Jesus, you get the idea even he was familiar with the concept.”
Homiletics, September 6, 2026
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Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V.

Send a message to learn more

09/03/2026

A piece to ponder on September 3, 2026
Romans 13:8-14
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit s*x and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
----------
“’Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.’

That quip is attributed to Mark Twain (who was absolutely right, by the way). But Twain wasn’t the aphorism’s originator. He was simply riffing on a saying that had been common for centuries.

Way back in the 1500s, the humanist scholar Erasmus included the Latin version of ‘clothes make the man’ in his collection of Greek and Latin proverbs — although clearly it has classical roots. Some have traced a variation of it all the way back to Homer’s Odyssey.

The concept behind the proverb is nothing less than the engine that drives the fashion industry. Dress well, and people will think well of you. Especially people who matter to you: Potential employers. Clients. Romantic interests. To make a good impression on any of them, leave the ratty jeans at home.

The classic rock band ZZ Top set the tone in their 1983 hit ‘Sharp Dressed Man.’ It starts off like this:
Clean shirt, new shoes
And I don’t know where I am goin’ to
Silk suit, black tie
I don’t need a reason why
They come runnin’ just as fast as they can
’Cause every girl crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man

No one knows what sort of duds the apostle Paul packed for his Mediterranean journeys. But from what he says about “putting on” Jesus, you get the idea even he was familiar with the concept.”
Homiletics, September 6, 2026
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Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V

09/02/2026

A piece to ponder on September 2, 2026
Psalm 119:33-40
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way | of your statutes,
and I shall keep it | to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall | keep your teaching;
I shall keep it with | all my heart.
35 Lead me in the path of | your commandments,
for that is | my desire.
36 Incline my heart to | your decrees
and not to | unjust gain.
37 Turn my eyes from be- | holding falsehood;
give me life | in your way.
38 Fulfill your promise | to your servant,
which is for | those who fear you.
39 Turn away the reproach | that I dread,
because your judg- | ments are good.
40 Behold, I long for | your commandments;
by your righteousness en- | liven me.
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“The psychology professor was giving an oral test. Speaking about manic depression, she asked, ‘How would
you diagnose a patient who is screaming at the top of his lungs one minute, then sits in a chair weeping
uncontrollably the next?’
A sports-minded young man answered, ‘He& #39;s probably our basketball coach.’"
Homiletics, February 19, 2017
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Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V.

Send a message to learn more

09/01/2026

A piece to ponder on September 1, 2026
Ezekiel 33:7-11
So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth,
you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” and you do
not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I
will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways and they do not turn from their
ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have said: “Our transgressions and our sins weigh
upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” Say to them: As I live, says the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn
back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
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“Steve Arterburn, cofounder of New Life Clinics, the largest Christian provider of psychiatric and psychological
services, was asked, ‘What prevents us from sharing our problems more openly at church?’ He answered:
‘Just look at what invitation to conversion we use: 'Come to Jesus, and your life is going to be wonderful. It's
going to be great, fantastic. All these problems are going to go away." There's some truth to that, but when
you hear Dietrich Bonhoeffer say, 'When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,' that's the reality that
I've seen in the Christian faith.
‘I have problems now I would never have had if I hadn't accepted Christ. There's guilt that I've experienced
that I would never even have thought twice about. We have to be realistic with people and tell them that
when you come to Jesus, there is a new purpose and a fulfillment, but the struggle is going to continue. We
have so many lukewarm Christians or people who turn away from the faith because they've been promised
this ease."
--Michael G. Maudlin, "I'm Not OK, You're Not OK," Christianity Today, February 9, 1998, 32.
Peace and blessings this day.
Pastor V.

Send a message to learn more