Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

I’m excited for Vacation Bible School!  July 6-10th we will host “Tropical Trek” where Jesus Comes to Seek and Save.  We will learn how Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)! As we traverse fun and exciting places, like a dormant volcano and island caves, we’ll discover how God finds us and helps us in every challenge we face. 

VBS needs your help.  Always be praying for the Lord’s work among us here at SHLC.  Nothing we do is absent of His hand.  God be praised!

Second, VBS is part of sharing the Gospel with families, not just children.  If you desire to serve the families of our communities please consider volunteering with VBS this year.  If you are not sure where you fit in please talk to Rebecca (314-420-9423).  If you can’t or are not able to volunteer please consider a donation to help cover the costs of this week.  

Finally, we are a congregation that has been and is poised to be even more impactful for families in Ruidoso and the surrounding area.  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”  Family and youth ministry is not about programing but walking with a multi-generational community of faith helping one another grow in the faith.  VBS is one of our few “programs” that we provide to the community.  The community needs us.  SO…be bold and invite families with young children to come and receive.  Most kids of VBS of years past have come because you personally invited them.  God be praised. 

I can’t wait to spend the week being silly and having fun, all while sharing Jesus’ love with our volunteers, young adults and kids.  Thank God for VBS and SHLC for all the wonderful ways families will be blessed.  

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust

Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

A time of change.  The one constant in the life of the church is the faithfulness of God and His Word.  Everything else for us may or may not change.  My dad always joked as a firefighter that firefighters hate two things:  the way things are and change.  I think this may be true for many people, not just firefighters.  

We always desire things to change, especially for the better.  Here is the problem, we all have different expectations of what “change for the better” actually means.  Which leads us to our default position, that if we can’t guarantee a change for the better, its better that nothing changes. 

Well…turns out we don’t get a choice.  Change comes to us.  It is part of our reality. 

As a congregation we have somethings that will not change.  We will remain faithful to God’s Word.  We will emphasize the context of our community as that Word is shared.  We will hold fast to this Word and continue to wrestle with it.  

As a congregation we have somethings that will always change.  The people that are called to be here will always be shifting and changing.  We say goodbye to friends and members of the church as their seasons of life call them to other places.  We say hello to new friends and members as they are called to be part of this family of faith for a time.  Each one of these partings and greetings will by necessity change the congregation.  This is a good and natural thing for us to enjoy.  With each goodbye we celebrate faithfulness and how these families and individuals have helped shape who we are.  With each hello we rejoice in God’s providence and how God will shape us for the future.  

I’m thankful.  Some of you who are reading this are current participating members of the church here in Ruidoso.  You are the life blood of this community.  You provide leadership, guidance and input into how we as a congregation live out the mission of Christ here and now.  Some of you who are reading this are friends and members who have had to say goodbye to this place as your regular community of faith but still are loved and love this place enough to want to stay connected and maybe even see where you are as an extension of Shepherd of the Hills as you continue to faithfully provide for SHLC and still hear the Word of the Lord given in this place through YouTube. God be praised.  You are not forgotten and your impact on this community is still felt.  For you have helped shape who we are now.  Some of you are reading this and still feel in the category of “being new”.  I praise God, for you are already shaping who we are becoming as a community.  I’m excited as your pastor to see how God will use you through His Word to help shape this community.

I am privileged to spend this season of my life with you as your pastor and shepherd.  Thank you for the ways that you have helped shape me and the ways that I continue to learn from you.  I pray to God the Father that we all together as pastor and people in the power of the Holy Spirit will look to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith to ground and continue to establish us as His church.  This is what gives us comfort in the midst of much that changes around us. 

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust 

Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

This is the season of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  We live in the age of the church, an age of grace.  What a privilege it is to live in such an age.  All we are and all that we will be and all that we believe hinges on this new paradigm that we live in.  This now and forever is a time where the creator of all things, who became part of that creation has now been raised from the dead.  

Have you ever challenged this?  Have you ever wrestled with this?  We all look for comfort and contentment, but perhaps I can push back just a little on that comfort in order that you might have greater confidence.  

Where and how do you wrestle with such a great proclamation that Jesus has risen from the dead and lives to this day?  You wrestle and challenge in the Word, with brothers and sisters in the faith, under the guidance of a faithful shepherd, your pastor.  

This Easter season, let us not take for granted the good news that Jesus is risen.  Instead let us study together.  I am confident that when we go about this good work in a God pleasing way our efforts will be rewarded with greater assurance and certainty provided by the Holy Spirit through the Word and our good reason.  

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust

Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

What a peaceful joy this Lenten season is.  I recognize that depending on what is currently going on in your life that this spring season can feel less than peaceful.  However, this is why we take special time away from the chaos of this world to retreat to the fellowship hall and sanctuary to receive a peace the world cannot give.  

We have three more mid-week Lenten services tomorrow, March 11th, and March 18th and 25th.  I encourage you to come and retreat, both on Wednesdays but also on Sundays.  Hear God’s Word.  It is a word that breaths life and peace.  It is a word that challenges and confronts.  It is a word that we need.  I look forward to partaking in this encouraging word with you as we prepare to celebrate together on Holy Week.  

Holy Week services are as follows.  

— 6:30 PM Maundy Thursday (The celebration of Jesus serving his disciples and us in the washing of feet and the institution of the Lord’s Supper)

— 6:30 PM Good Friday (The celebration and remembrance of that act which is our salvation and hope…the crucifixion of our Lord.)

— 7:00 PM Saturday Easter Vigil at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell (ILC is hosting the vigil and I will be preaching.)

— 7:15 AM Easter Sunrise Service (We tell of the Resurrection of our Lord in the quiet hours of the morning, singing and celebrating in the outdoor pavilion.)

—10:30 AM Sunday Divine Service of the Resurrection (We receive the proclamation that Jesus has defeated sin, death and the devil.  We sing and celebrate with the fanfare of the heavenly host the good news that we know that our Redeemer lives!)

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust

Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

Below is an excerpt from Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Services. This is given for your educational purposes so that we may all better understand this season of Lent that we enter into together. 

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust

“Lent is the Church’s deliberate return to the significance of Holy Baptism.  The season of Lent derives its name from the Old English word for spring, “lencten,” probably due to the lengthening of the daylight hours at this time of the year in the northern hemisphere. For the Church, as well, Lent is a spring season of awakening from the darkness and death of sin to the life and light of Christ in the Gospel. It calls for that newness of life that emerges and grows in the Christian by way of repentance and faith in Christ. Though it is hidden beneath the dust and dirt of Adam, the seed that is sown by the preaching of the Word of Christ germinates and begins to emerge, seeking the waters of Holy Baptism and the sunshine of the Holy Gospel, and even now anticipating the good fruits that are born by the life-giving tree of the cross.”

“Lent is a penitential season especially because and insofar as it is a catechetical season. Lenten catechesis might well include, as it often has, a focus on one or more of the Six Chief Parts of the Small Catechism. However, it is catechetical in a much deeper and broader sense than that. Lent is catechetical in the sense and to the extent that it is guided and governed by the preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the cross and resurrection of Christ Jesus.”

“For catechumens in preparation for Holy Baptism, and for all the baptized faithful, the entire season of Lent is undertaken in view of the great exodus of Christ that He accomplishes in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). His Church shares that exodus with Him by way of Holy Baptism, as St. Paul and St. Peter both indicate (1 Corinthians 10:1–5; Romans 6:3–8; 1 Peter 3:18–22).”

“The daily drowning of contrition and repentance, which characterizes the entire Christian life of discipleship, is deliberately intensified during Lent unto a renewal of faith and life in Christ. This repentance is not achieved by human wisdom, reason, strength, or effort. It is worked in man by God the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Law and the Gospel. It is the Law that crucifies the old Adam and the Gospel that raises up the new man in us. The preaching of the cross and Passion during Lent is neither an emotional appeal nor a motivational spiel. It is the preaching of repentance unto faith in the forgiveness of sins, and thus to the newness of life that is in Christ.”

“Lent accentuates the discipline of the Christian faith and life, the ongoing challenge of spiritual warfare with the old evil foe, and the necessary works of love and mercy that characterize the life that Christ now lives in us. It thus typifies the pilgrimage of life, our ongoing journey through the wilderness on our way to the promised land. To that end, it fixes our eyes on Christ Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right “hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Not only has He left an example for us that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21), but He is Himself our great champion against Satan, our great Redeemer from sin, death, and hell, who overcame the assaults of the devil and gave His life as a ransom for many that with cleansed hearts we might be prepared joyfully to celebrate the paschal feast in sincerity and truth. (Proper Preface for Lent, LSB Altar Book 230)”

“Although the season of Lent is penitential in its catechesis and in its focus on the significance of Holy Baptism, it should not be approached or treated as though it were forty days of Holy Week. It is better to understand Lent as a time of preparation for the observances of Holy Week and Easter.”

Excerpt From

Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Services

Concordia Publishing House

https://books.apple.com/us/book/lutheran-service-book-companion-to-the-services/id6443006306

This material may be protected by copyright.

Dear Friends and Members,

Happy Epiphany to you all. This day we celebrate, as we did on Sunday, the revelation of who this Christ child is.  He is the God man manifested by a miraculous start, worshiped by the wise men, and hunted by Herod. 

During Bible study we went through the 12 days of Christmas and how they can be used in a devotional way. The 12 days of Christmas run from December 25th-January 5th.  However, since Epiphany is also part of the Christmas season, I thought I would share these devotional thoughts for each of the 12 days and gifts according to this English Christmas festive song. (Thank you to the LWML for these images.) Reflect on these, look up the references and may these serve you during this Epiphany season. 

In His Love and Service, Pastor Rust

Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

A blessed Christmas and New Year to you all.  As we prepare to celebrate that God is with us, I am reminded of Simeon’s words that we sing every Sunday near the end of the Divine Service.  "For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

Which You have prepared in the presence of all the PEOPLES:

A light for revelation for the Gentiles,

And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Luke 2:30-32

A friend of mine caught my attention by pointing out who this coming savior is for…all the peoples.  As Simeon holds the infant Jesus in his arms, he prophesies that this child’s purpose is far greater than the redemption of Israel alone. This Savior has come for all mankind. Just as the angels declared to the shepherds that first night — good news of great joy for all people.

So as we celebrate this Christmas…
As we gather around tables and trees…
As we marvel once again at the precious gift of Jesus and the way His light has changed our own lives…

May this season be filled with wonder, joy, celebration, peace, and hope for you and your family. And may it also gently awaken something deeper — a renewed sense of purpose and calling — as Jesus invites us to join Him in carrying His light to the nations, until there is truly peace on earth.

Merry Christmas!  Come receive this renewal and peace in the hearing of the Word, singing of songs, praying for all that is needed, and receiving the real presence of Christ this Christmas.  

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust