Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

This Sunday is Reformation Sunday.  It is the day we pause to give thanks to God for the work of faith he does through the Church on earth.  We especially give thanks for the faithfulness to the Scriptures that was fought for during the time of the Reformation.  This is a legacy that we live out here at Shepherd of the Hills.  Our divine given work is to be faithful to the what God gives to us in His Holy Word and Sacraments.  

A popular Reformation Sunday hymn is “Built on the Rock” (LSB 645).  “Built on the Rock the the Church shall stand Even when steeples are falling.  Crumbled have spires in every land; Bells still are shining and calling.  Calling the young and old to rest, But above all the souls distressed, Longing for rest everlasting.”  

Your faith and the church are always intimately connected.  The Church is where God promises to deliver the gifts of faith.  Here He delivers His Word to you, faithfully taught.  Here He delivers to you His Sacraments, faithfully delivered.  In these God nourishes your faith, teaches you how to live as His beloved child, forgives you your sins, and promises to abide with you.  

We celebrate that His Church cannot fall.  We pray for faithfulness in that which he calls us to do.  We repent when we are not as faithful as we should be to receiving these good gifts.  We desire to pass this same church on to our children and their children.  In order that 10, 20, 40, and 100 years from now, a group of faithful Christians in Ruidoso NM will still be gathering to sing, “Build on the Rock the Church shall stand”. 

See you this weekend as we sing together once again this Reformation Sunday.  

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust