Dear Friends in Christ,

          Today is a historic occasion for us!  Where once a barn stood, there is now a church.  Where once animals were fed hay and grain, today people will be fed the Gospel and Sacraments.  Where once a grumpy man worked seven days a week, a relaxed and happy pastor now stands ready to resume his regular schedule of working one day a week!

          Can you believe it?  Only four months ago where you are seated was only a barnyard.  Two and a half years ago Epiphany congregation was only a few people with a dream.  We've come a long way, baby, from that first phone call of January 6, 1999.  But we've come that long way only by the grace of God.  Today by the grace of God we have been given a church home, by the grace of God we live and move and have our being, by the grace of God we are what we are!

          So it's time for celebration!  It's time to say goodbye to certain things:  purple dogs painted above the altar, lugging boxes in for worship and then taking them out again, wondering whether the janitor will be there to open the doors, worshipping God in a mortuary and checking rooms for open caskets, and wondering if we'll have enough money to finish our building.  And friends, when this service is over, please leave the chairs where they are.  We're done stacking them up any more!

          This has been a time of learning for me, about faith, about God's great providing, and also about the building trades.  There are certain expressions people in the building business use that don't always mean what we think.  For example, "This will only take a few days" does not always mean that.  Or if someone says, "I'll be there first thing tomorrow," we've learned not to expect him right away.  I've learned that the phrase, "Can I put you through to his voice mail?" probably means I'll never hear from him again.  I've learned that inspectors and building codes severely restrict your freedom to build as you wish.  And I've learned to hold my tongue when a member of my congregation says, "Wow, what you're doing is really great."  And some of you have learned that when your pastor says, "It will only be a short meeting," you're in it for the long haul!

          But I hope each one of you here today has learned that God has done a miracle here.  In just four months a barnyard has been turned into a church for worship and service, and it's all due to the blessing of almighty God.  Yes, His people used their hands and arms and legs and backs and heads and pocketbooks, but Epiphany is and will always be God's doing, not ours.  This building will be not so much a quiet little church as a battle station.  From here we will live out the five purposes of our church's existence:  Joyful Worship, Faithful Service, Positive Outreach, Loving Fellowship, Biblical Nurture.  If the day ever comes that we forgot our purposes and become a mutual admiration society, I hope the place burns down!

          We are here as a Christian outpost in a post-Christian society.  We serve a fine community, the majority of which are not Christian.  No longer are the Gospel and the church held in the esteem they were forty years ago.  Epiphany must become a hospital for sinners.  Our altar sits where a feedbunk once sat, and so we must feed people the eternal Word of God, not the opinions of man.  A hundred feet from here lies a tree where a guilty thief was lynched a hundred years ago.  And today we worship an innocent man who once hung on a tree and forgave a thief, so that all people -- men, women and children -- may know they are loved and forgiven by God.  You and I are God's children, grafted into Christ the Vine, made fruitful because of His grace and mercy.  So today we can say with joy, "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"

          Some of you are thinking right now, "Boy, Pastor Bob is really on a roll today."  Well, you bet I am, and so should you!  It's time to get excited about what the Lord has done for us, not just in putting up a nice little building, but in giving us a great big eternity.  What great things has God done for you today?  You've been saved from hell!  You're loved by the God of the universe!  All the evil you've done has been removed!  God loves you in spite of yourself.  He knows your greed and lust and nastiness and pettiness and meanness, and He loves you anyway!  Wow - praise the Lord!

          It's time to count our blessings, friends.  Though our nation has been shaken by terrorism, we are immeasurably blessed.  We may be at war but not the kind our forefathers have known.  Though we today may be less sure of domestic safety and may see soldiers at airports, we are not being attacked such as most other nations have been.

          Though we may feel tired and short of time and cash and energy, we are not in a refugee camp living on handouts amid filth and hunger.  We don't have the earthquakes of Turkey, nor the poverty of Russia, nor the ignorance of Afghanistan, nor the civil war of Sudan.  Though we work harder to find a good job, we have the lowest unemployment and the highest standard of living.  What does it matter if health treatment costs a lot -- we're still the healthiest people in the world!  We still have more freedom to come and go and to do as we please and to worship God as we wish and to follow our dreams.  No nation in history has what we have.  "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"

          But it's the hope we have that should fill us with joy.  Remember the term, "Mission Statement"?  It was a popular thing years ago to formulate a sentence or two that gave reason for one's existence.  Some of you know mine is "To give people hope."  Four little words:  "To give people hope."  In Jesus Christ you and I have hope that springs eternal, hope for a life of love and joy, and hope for life in the presence of Him who is Eternal Love and Joy.  Let's get our minds off ourselves for a moment and remember why we're here.  It's not to dedicate a monument, but to re-dedicate ourselves to Christ, and to the cross for which He stands.  Behind me are two flags, one American and the other Christian.  You all know the Pledge of Allegiance.  But do you know the Christian Pledge?  "I pledge allegiance to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the faith for which it stands; One Savior, eternal, with mercy and grace for all."

          Seven years ago during a military campaign against tyranny in Bosnia, our nation held its breath as one of our airmen, Capt. Scott O'Grady, was shot down behind enemy lines.  For six days we wondered if he was dead or alive, or trying to escape or already captured.  Then on the sixth day came word, "He's alive!"  They found him through an electronic tool he carried and they sent him word, "Hold on, we'll get you tomorrow."  He replied, "No way - come get me today!"  He was starving and exhausted and was ready to be rescued.  And they did get him out that day.  Sometimes when others have risked their lives for you, you have to take a chance for them.

          Well, dear friends, our Lord Jesus risked His life - yes, He gave His life - that you and I might be forgiven.  Are we ready to take a risk for Him?  After all that He's done for us, should we not be ready to risk some of our comfort, some of our treasures, and some of our time for Him?  They wanted to get Capt. O'Grady the next day, but he wanted out now!  Some of us feel that way with the Lord, too - "Lord, get me out of here now!"  But we know our life is in His hands and we live by His time.  Capt. O'Grady later showed the nation a cross he wore on a chain during his six days of terror.  His sister had given it to him and said, "When you have the cross, you'll be all right."  She probably thought of it as a good luck charm, but how right she was.  When you have the cross, you'll be all right!

          Do you have the cross?  Our Lord Jesus went to the cross of Calvary in our stead, and died there for our sins.  He looked like a grand failure to those who watched.  He who saved the thief did not save Himself.  He who could call down a thousand angels remained alone, so that all who believe in Him might not perish, but have eternal life.  He was buried in a borrowed grave and His followers left Him, certain it was all over.  But it was just beginning!  The Lord Christ came out of that grave and showed Himself alive.  Yes, it was finished!  He had done it all!  Now anyone can come to the Father.  Because of what He has done, you and I can forever say, "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"  When all seemed finished, all was just beginning, all the joy, all the hope and all the eternity with God.

          Yes, our little building is finished, but what we have to do from here is just beginning.  One day - and soon enough - this life on earth will be over.  Then will come to pass the saying my mother had on a kitchen plaque, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."  I am honored to have many of my family here today.  We've lost a brother and a brother-in-law and a husband this past year and so we've come together for a joyful reason.  Enough of this business of death and loss!  Enough of this toil and sadness!  It's time to celebrate!  "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"  Amen and amen!

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.