Who said Burlington is Boring-Town?

I have heard high school teens living in Burlington speak about our community as Boring-town.  "There is nothing to do here!" they say.  "Just the same old stuff."  So they are eager to go to Milwaukee or Chicago or another city in search for bigger and better venues of adventure. 

Sometimes those inside and outside the church see Christianity as boring.  Being a Christian is just following rules - paying attention to a list of dos and don'ts with no excitement.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.  

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ means living on the edge and pushing forward under the power of the Holy Spirit in new directions day by day.  Through the shed blood of Jesus we have been purchased from an old, fruitless way of life that on the outside appears to be exciting but only dead ends.  In Christ we are now God's forgiven children, equipped and commissioned to enter new fields of service.  St. Paul said, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17) 

As I visit with our congregation members, I hear of the many ways God is renewing lives and transforming the understanding of what it means to be a Christian.  You are entering new fields of service to the Lord that years ago you would have never dreamed possible.  You are discovering new ways to care for your family, new ways to share your faith and a new understanding of the God's love for you in Christ. 

I'm not sure I agree with some the teens who declare Burlington is boring.  On the other hand, I know living out the Christian faith in our congregation is an exciting venture.  Out with the old and in with the new! The prophet Ezekiel once said,  "Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit."  (Ez 18:31) Through his Word and Sacrament our Lord does this in our personal lives and in our life together as a congregation of God's redeemed children.

Finding excitement in serving the Lord of all,

Pastor Rob