Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

Twelve summers in Ruidoso.  That is what I have experienced so far.  Some of those summers of late have been a bit tumultuous with fires and floods.  Mostly though, they have been summers of peace and joy.  Serving along side you all, spending extra time together, and visiting with our summer crowd.  

The Lord gives us seasons.  He gives us rhythms. These seasons and rhythms help give our years, months and days some structure: times of work and service, and times of rest and recreation.  These rhythms are a blessing for us all.  We are called to work/service.  It is as God designed in the garden of Eden.  However, we are not designed for just work.  He has given us rest.  Daily he gives us nights for sleep and rest.  Weekly he gives us a rest day on Sunday to be revived and nourished by God’s Word and rest for our bodies.  

Seasons are times of activity and rest as well.  Summer is one of those seasons that seem to be more full of work and opportunities to serve.  The days are longer.  The weather is better.  In an agricultural environment we would be doing just that.  But we are not.  So, what do we do with the rhythm of the seasons and God’s gift to us of work/service, and rest/recreation?  We work and serve as our default when and where God has by his grace, given us the chance to work and serve.  We rest and recreate as needed to stay ready for work and service. I love that God gives us rhythms of work and rest.  I’m very thankful that this summer season has been more “normal” for our town and community.  

I share all this with you as a reminder:

Some of you need to be reminded that there are intentional times of rest designed for you.  Sunday is one of those times.  True rest starts with receiving the Word and Sacraments.  Come and rest.  

Some of you need to be reminded that we are designed for work and service; service to our families, communities and the church.  Sundays are not just for recreation, but for the hearing of the Word and the receiving of the sacraments so that we might be refreshed and serve.  

If you are interested in serving here at the church in some way, shape, form or fashion, come talk to me.  We need people to volunteer for the office.  We need a trustee committee to help coordinate caring for the church property.  We need a stewardship committee to help us grow in the Christian discipline of using our time, talents and treasures wisely for the sake of the Gospel.  We need someone to help coordinate and volunteer for our Lutheran Emergency Response Team and tree cutting.  I’m sure there are more things that I am forgetting in this small list.  

The point is that not everything is “covered” and “fine” and I’m probably not great about communicating these things, so I thought I would start here.  There is no crisis.  No alarm bells are ringing.  This is an attempt to be more transparent as your pastor about what goes on around the church.  

It is a joy to work and serve with you.  It is also a joy to rest and recreate with you.  God be praised that he has givens times and seasons for both.  

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust

Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” When we hear this from Jesus, as we do this weekend, we should perk up.  When we hear this from Jesus we are hearing about this Kingdom that we are part of even now.  

Faith is not just a future reality, but a reality that we live here and now.  There may be elements of this Kingdom that have yet come to pass in its fullness, but make no mistake, these things are true for us now. 

How about you?  Do you live in such a way that this Kingdom that you are part of now is real and true?  What does that look like?  When we hear these parables from Jesus we must see them as true for us now and as something that is to be revealed in all its fullness when Jesus returns in His Glory.  

This changes how the day feels.  This changes how this season of your life feels.  Perhaps it is a comfort.  It can also be a challenge.  No one sermon or no one Bible study can give you the whole council of God.  Instead the fullness of the council of God is given to us in bit sized consumable bits that feed and nourish our faith for a lifetime.  

This is why we need our brothers and sisters in the faith to learn and grow with.  As we are comforted by this Kingdom that is present through them, we are also challenged being part of this Kingdom together.  

I thank God for doing this Kingdom life together with you as a fellow brother in the faith.  I am also humbled to serve you as an under shepherd of the Good Shepherd, a pastor here at Shepherd of the Hills.  God be praised for the Kingdom of God alive and well here at this congregation.  

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust

Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

From spending time exploring and learning in Wittenberg, to tropical trekking in Ruidoso for Vacation Bible School, I have been blessed to be bathed in God’s Word these last several weeks.  It is an infectious and incredible joy to hear God’s Word.

One of the things I was reminded of most when Rebecca and I were on our retreat in Germany was the remedy to spiritual lethargy is leaning in and being present to hear more of God’s Word. The temptation is to say, “I don’t feel like hearing God’s Word,” “I don’t feel like praying,” “I don’t feel like going to church.” 

This is when we need to push ourselves even more to do these very things.  It is only in these very things that we encounter God’s comfort and promises.  It is in these things that he restores our joy and energy for hearing and loving the Word of God.  The promise is that losing our joy for the Word of God is seasonal.  He will restore His joy for you.  He sustains the joy of hearing the Word. He gives us promises and gifts that do just that.  We must show up to receive them.  

If you are enjoying a season of great joy in the Word and a spiritual vitality, God be praised.  May you be sustained in this joy through all of life’s situations.  If you are persevering through a season of spiritual lethargy, where joy and vitality for God’s good gifts are absent, Lord have mercy.  Come and receive the Word.  Sing the deep and profound hymns that teach and catechize our souls.  Take the Lord’s Supper knowing that the promises of God which He attaches to this sacrament are true for you.  It might feel like you are just “going through the motions”, but fear not.  It is in these very motions that God will also restore your joy.  

Come.  Gather.  Receive. Be satisfied.  I’ll see you all in service where I promise to deliver to you those things that God has given me to share:  His Word and His Sacraments.  In this we find great joy.  

Please continue to pray for our work this week at VBS as we surround ourselves and these kids with the joyful Word of the Lord.  God be praised!

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust

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