In his letter to his young co-worker Timothy, Saint Paul says, “Great indeed is the mystery of our religion, God was manifested in the flesh” (I Timothy 3:16). Although God has from all eternity been the one God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – it was only in the coming into this world of God the Son that the mystery of the Holy Trinity was clearly revealed: at Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan River the Father declares Him to be His beloved Son and the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove. The Holy Trinity is an inscrutable mystery, and three hundred years passed before the Church found words to safeguard the mystery. This Year of Our Lord 2025 is the 1700^th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea which did just that. A great controversy had broken out when Arius, a presbyter in the Church at Alexandria in Egypt, denied that Jesus is truly God. To resolve the increasingly bitter controversy the Emperor Constantine summoned a council to meet in the City of Nicaea – present-day Iznik in Turkey – about 90 miles southwest of Constantinople – present-day Istanbul. The Council of over 300 bishops met from late May through July of the year 325 and finally adopted a Creed which confesses that Jesus is “of one substance” with the Father, meaning that Jesus is truly God. Only God can save this lost and fallen world! The Creed adopted at Nicaea, which safeguards the truth that Jesus is truly God, was expanded at the Council of Constantinople in the year 380 in a way that safeguards the truth that the Holy Spirit is truly God the Lord. And so the great mystery of the Holy Trinity was safeguarded and confessed. And the Creed adopted at Nicaea (as expanded at Constantinople) has for a thousand years been confessed at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist as it is to this day in the Divine Service. The Holy Trinity is the God who made and saved us! The Holy Spirit leads us to Christ who leads us to the Father. And so in the Introit for Trinity Sunday (which this year falls on June 15th) the church sings: “Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the Undivided Unity: let us give glory to Him because He hath shown His mercy to us.”

The May issue of our Synod’s periodical, The Lutheran Witness, has some excellent articles about the 1700^th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea which I highly recommend. You can subscribe to the Witness by calling  800-325-3040 (option 2) or by emailing lwsubscriptions@cph.org.

Three of the five Sundays in June are festivals of the Church Year. June 8th is the Feast of Pentecost which together with Christmas and Easter is one of the three chief festivals of the Church Year. June 15th is Trinity Sunday and June 29th is the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul..

The Sunday Bible Class will be suspended for the summer beginning on June 15th and will resume on October 5th. We have been studying the Smalcald Articles, one of the documents in which the Lutheran Church confesses its faith in the truth revealed in the written Word of God.

David Dowdy fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday May 27th. His funeral will be held in church on Tuesday, June 10th, at 11:00 A.M. May the Light perpetual ever shine upon him and may the Savior comfort all who mourn His departure with the hope of the resurrection.

At the spring voters meeting the budget for fiscal year 2025/26 was approved and the Church Council was elected: Bernie Knox, Merton Masterson, Gabe Purviance, Paul and Mary Techau, Gary Watson, Wayne and Jean West. Andy Layman, who was our lay delegate to the recent Southeastern District convention, gave a brief report on the convention. The repairs to our heating system are expected to be completed this month but we are still trying to replenish our cash reserves.

Remember to bring food items for the GEDCO Food Pantry and personal items for the Helping Up Mission. The need remains great as does the opportunity to help as we are able. Those of us who know nothing of food insecurity and homelessness are obligated by the Law of Love to help those who suffer want. Remember too that you can help people suffering from war and all kinds of disasters through our Synod’s Contributor Care Line (888-030-4439) or by sending a check to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, PO Box 66861, Saint Louis, MO 63166-6861. Make your check payable to The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and mark the check for LCMS World Relief and Human Care. You can also donate through the secure website lcms.org/givenow/mercy.

We continue to remember in prayer Bridget Bauman, James Bauman, Christopher Bell, Bertha Buchanan, Dana Carmichael, Timothy Doswell, Quilla Downs, Bunny Duckett, Joyce Eaves, Albert Ford, Frank Ford, Iris Ford, Yolanda Ford, Sean Fortune, Lynne Funck, Katherine Gray, Sherry James, Gloria Jones, Mary Mokris, Pastor Elliott Robertson, Julia Silver, Robert Siperek Jr., Lawrence Smallwood, Paul Swank, George Volkman, Gary Watson; Marvalisa, Sierra, Jonathan and Steven Gibson. Yolanda Ford remains at Future Care, 1046 North Point Road, Baltimore, MD 21224.

Remember that our second Free Flea Market of this year will be held on Saturday, June 14th, 9:00 A.M. – 12 Noon. We always need volunteers to help and greet our visitors.

I suspect that everyone will agree that for a great many years now we have been living in a time of increasing moral disintegration. Marriage as ordained by God in creation is increasingly in danger as some people even question the created reality of human beings as male and female. These problems will be addressed in a workshop In His Image: Christian Sexuality According to God that will be held on Saturday, June 28th, from 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. at Calvary Church, 2625 E, Northern Parkway. The cost is free and lunch will be provided but you must register by emailing Berealutheran2999@gmail.com by June 13th. If you have any questions you may call Calvary Church at 410-426-4307. The workshop will be led by Doxology which is a ministry funded by Synod’s Office of National Mission.

This month of June brings to an end the festival half of the Church Year when we have remembered and celebrated all that God has done for us in the birth and life and death and resurrection of His Son and by sending to us the Holy Spirit. But because every Sunday of the year is a celebration of the Lord’s resurrection, Christians have from the very beginning of the Church’s life gathered to meet the risen Lord as He comes to us every Lord’s Day in the Holy Sacrament. If you are unable to come to church, I am always glad to bring the Sacrament to you. I am always glad to hear from you either by telephone (410-554-9994) or by email (charlesmcclean1942@gmail.com). If you or a loved one are sick or in some other kind of need, never hesitate to let me know.

In the words of the Divine Service, “For the peace of the whole world, for the well being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.”

Affectionately in our risen Lord,

Pastor McClean