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Spreading the Gospel: Gathering, Learning, Serving

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19



PASTOR NATHAN:

WELCOME MESSAGE
WORSHIP SERVICES:
– Gospel centered Traditional Worship with communion

– LiveStream and in-person: 9:30 AM
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Redeemer Lutheran Church
2100 York Rd.
Jamison, PA 18929

Rest assured that whatever way you donate, you are enabling Redeemer to continue the mission that Christ has given us. Bless you.
Pastor Nathan Krause

Are we friends? Facebook friends, I mean. It is such a weird world where I have 400+ Facebook friends, and I probably only actually know 150 of them personally. Of course, this has been a topic since these social media apps came out.

What does it mean to have “friends” in cyberspace who you don’t know in real life? In our lives we come in contact with all sorts of people, from the person you

pass at the grocery store to the mailperson who delivers all that old-style junk mail. We see them all the time, yet we don’t even know their names. On Facebook, I know their names, but don’t know who they are in the non-cyber world.

There was a point, somewhere in the middle of the pandemic, when I became with a bunch of high school classmates. But then after becoming “friends” with them, I never saw them pop up on my Facebook feed anymore. As a matter of fact, it seems I see less and less people I actually know in real life on Facebook. It isn’t that they aren’t still on it and posting, but the AI software algorithms have for some reason decided I shouldn’t see them, but I should see a bunch of people I barely know. (I don’t understand that reasoning, personally)

I began using Facebook because I loved being able to see what was going on in people’s lives whom I couldn’t connect with on a regular basis, either because they live somewhere else, or our lives are too busy to connect often enough to stay appraised of everything. But now, all that seems lost, and it is sad. In this global world, we know so many people, and yet, lately it seems that we know all those people so much less than we used to. Global communication has been a blessing and a curse.

So, what should we do? I guess the answer is that we have to be much more intentional than we ever have been before to reach out and connect with people we want to continue knowing. There is a part of me that still wishes we all wrote paper letters to each other again, because it is an intentional thing we have to do to connect. We have to take the time and effort, and if we don’t, then we lose that friendship.

Instead, we end up with these “zombie” friendships, where we just see a name or picture of someone every now and then, but the friendship has no substance. This is a change I grieve, as I know many of you reading this do, as well.

I think there are times this is how we feel about our relationship with God, too. Maybe there was a time when you attended regularly and had a close connection with God through the worship service. And maybe that weekly devotion turned to once or twice a month, or even once or twice a year. If not us, I think we all at least know someone who this has happened to.

But God isn’t a friend who forgets us. God is a God who is always reaching out to us to have a relationship, even when we don’t know it. And God is the sort of friend, who, even if you haven’t talked to in a long, long time, when you start the conversation up again, it is as if you just spoke yesterday. Those are the most special relationships, the type that can withstand time and distance.

God is always waiting at the other end of the prayer phone, waiting across the table, waiting at the door and knocking, ready to embrace us with a welcome hug. God never leaves us, no matter what is going on in our lives. Amen.

Clothing and Shoe Drop-off collection bin is available for your use.
We Stay Green by sending out your gently used/unwanted items to be given a second chance/worn again domestically as well as around the world. We do not shred or recycle your items. Our programs help give back to low income areas and reduce unwanted textiles from going into our overburdened landfills on a daily basis. 
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