Pastor Paul Nelson is retiring and his last Sunday is October 3, 2021. Service is at St. Martin in Anamoose, ND at 10:30am with a lunch to follow.
On October 10, 2021, Pastor Leo Deitemeyer is celebrating 50 years in the ministry. That is taking place at Beautiful Savior in Fargo at 2pm.
1 We give thee but thine own,
whate’er the gift may be;
all that we have is thine alone,
a trust, O Lord, from thee.
2 May we thy bounties thus
as stewards true receive,
and gladly, as thou blessest us,
to thee our first fruits give.
3 To comfort and to bless,
to find a balm for woe,
to tend the lone and fatherless
is angels’ work below.
4 The captive to release,
to God the lost to bring,
to teach the way of life and peace–
it is a Christlike thing.
I had stopped singing, or choosing for hymns “We give Thee but Thine Own” a while back. The reason was not really valid I’m ashamed to say, but I was worn out by singing it for years as the offertory in our Sunday services. I had forgotten what a great hymn it was until we sang it again on Sunday.
I saw today the announcements about the two Pastors who have been around for a long time. I have known them for years and know some of their trials and tribulations and I have much respect for both of them. Verse 3 and 4 seem particularly relevant to these Pastors. And this from George Henry Gerberding’s book “The Lutheran Pastor”.
“As the true pastor labors on in love, in the field in which God has placed him, and finds his labor not in vain in the Lord ; as he sees the souls whom he has been enabled to turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, maturing in discipleship, abounding more and more in love and good works, he realizes that he is gathering fruit unto life eternal. He can say, with Paul, ” What is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing ? ”
I think I can answer for these Pastor’s – Our hope, joy and crown is Christ. Our desire is to be found in him and to hear the gracious statement sometime, somewhere; “well done good and faithful servant. God bless these men.
