"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path". Psalm 119:105
I knew it was going to be a special Christmas gift when Ken declared, “Wait a minute, I want to video you opening up this one!” As I lifted the lid off the box, I was absolutely stunned, and yet elated to see “The Detroit Lions vs. The Minnesota Vikings” tickets staring back at me! When these tickets were purchased in early November, it was assumed that this would not be a very important game, so tickets were a little easier to locate. However, throughout the course of the preceding weeks, the Vikings and the Lions kept pace with each other, both posting records of 14 wins and 2 losses, making this an extremely significant game for the NFC Championship, as well as the opportunity to be the first seed in the conference with the hometown advantage, and I was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to be there!
On Sunday, soon as we emerged from the parking garage and headed towards Ford Field, you could feel the enthusiastic energy of the downtown area and the swarm of fans! This was Lion territory, and everyone was in solidarity to “Protect the Den!” When the lights went down and the Lions’ team members were introduced, it felt like the stadium was actually rocking as a result of the thunderous cheering that erupted.
For the next three-and-a-half hours, the crowd’s intensity and volume remained consistent as we watched our Detroit Lions achieve victory with a final score of 31 - 9!
However, sometimes we forget what it takes for teams to achieve this level of success. Skilled coaches assemble playbooks filled with complex strategies to work together as a team and successfully play the game. There are times that these strategies may be difficult, challenging, and possibly don’t make sense, but players are required to learn and follow the playbook. This process takes time, patience, effort, and a belief in following the playbook, but when everyone is in alignment and focused on the same goal, things work extremely well.
In a similar fashion, St. Matthew Lutheran Church and School is spending the next 21 weeks study and learning God’s playbook… The Bible! Throughout this journey, we will learn our almighty God’s strategies for how to live as His children and follow His commands. Just as the Detroit Lions’ players need to study, memorize, and apply their playbook, we need to do the same with God’s Word. If individual players just did what they thought was best and ignored or put their own interpretation on the playbook, the results would be disastrous! The Lions study and apply the lessons in their playbook to achieve success. They believe in the system and trust their leaders. In a similar fashion, we believe in and trust God, and we study God’s Word so that we can become closer to and more like Jesus! Just as the Lions’ ultimate goal is the Super Bowl, as Christians our ultimate goal is eternity with Jesus and populating Heaven in the process.
Your child has received an age appropriate copy of “The Story”, which is a condensed version of the Bible. Every Friday, students will learn in an age appropriate manner the chapter that Pastor will preach on the following Sunday. Our prayer is that your family will also read this material at home, perhaps after meals or before bedtime. Please join us on Sunday mornings to hear Pastor Paul preach on these chapters as well. Services at the Walled Lake campus are at 8:45 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Service at our Wixom campus is held at 10:00 a.m.
An exciting journey awaits our Detroit Lions, but at this point, the outcome of the Lions’ season is still uncertain. An even more exciting journey awaits us with “The Story”. The outcome of "The Story" and our lives is absolutely certain, provided we trust in our “coach” Jesus, who enables us to play in the game through Him. Not only that, but also when we fumble the ball, through sin, He picks it up and wins the victory on our behalf! Won by Him, and credited to us! Not even Dan Campbell can do that! Our prayer is that this adventure of going through "The Story" will be a blessing for you and your family!
In His Love,
Mrs. Palka