Vacation, Day 7

Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 6, 2010
Day Seven of the vacation

The Lord be with you

Somebody once said “familiarity breeds contempt.” I don’t know if it breeds contempt or simply provides an opportunity for it. Sinners, being what we are, tend to undervalue the gifts of God. One such precious gift is Sunday worship. Now, of course, I am deeply involved in worship every Sunday, but I am involved as the pastor. It is quite seldom that I am involved as a parishioner. Today was one of those special days. Kitty and I attended Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church on Park Blvd in San Diego. We were invited by my nephew Andy and his wife Laura. Also attending today were Tim and Amy, Rachel, Dixie, and Gregory. Kitty and I attended both the Bible class and the worship service. Rev. John Bombaro, Ph.D., is the pastor.

Worship style is “high-liturgical” but not extremely high. By that I mean the congregation and pastor chant, they use a “Gospel processional” and are comfortable using a wide range of the liturgical options in the Lutheran Service Book. When I say they are not “extremely” high, I mean that Pastor Bombaro is comfortable giving page references, hymn references, and other directions in the service. He also gives a verbal welcome, announcements and has a children’s message. One interesting practice of Grace is that they use only the Epistle and the Gospel lesson, like The Lutheran Hymnal that was replaced by Lutheran Worship. I suspect, though I don’t know, that they offer the Lord’s Supper each Sunday. Grace has a wonderful pipe organ, and there was some special music provided by talented members of the congregation.

The Bible class is working through a paper that Pastor Bombaro wrote titled “Bible 101 – Searching the Scriptures.” They are in Part 6 titled “Toward a Christian Worldview through Bible Reading.” If every part is of equal quality as this part we were blessed to participate in, then the entire study is well worth reading. It can be found on the web-site. Just click here. You can visit their main web site by clicking here. I will read the rest of it when I get the time, and maybe use it in my circuit.

Today Pastor Bombaro began a sermon series on the book of Galatians that will run through the summer. It was a great sermon. Law and Gospel were clearly divided. He also helped the congregations to see just how important the issues addressed in Galatians are in our current setting. The sermons are available on their web site as well. All-in-all, Kitty and I were truly blessed by worshiping at Grace Lutheran this morning.

After the service Rachel and her children went off with Andy, Laura, Tim and Amy while Kitty and I returned to Diane’s. Jake and Jeana were opening their wedding presents and brunch was prepared. After that Jake and Jeana went off to the airport to leave for their honeymoon in Hawaii.

Kitty and I then went to El Cajon to visit with Kitty’s mother, Virginia. We spent several hours with her and took her out to dinner. The conversation was mainly about memories of Kitty’s childhood. The pictures below are of Kitty and her mom.

Well that is all for today.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert