In the church we celebrate a number of seasons throughout the year, liturgical and otherwise. In the liturgical year we are a little more than half way through the longest season of the church year, the season of Pentecost. But in another way, we are at the beginning now of a new season, re: the switch back to our regular schedule of worship and the beginning of Sunday School. Starting this coming Labor Day weekend, the first weekend in September, our regular worship schedule resumes with worship at 6pm on Saturday (that happens year round) and back to worship at 8:30 and 11am on Sunday. Sunday School will resume, as usual, the week after Labor Day, this year September 12.
In preparation for that, all are invited to our Sunday School Registration/Get Acquainted Open House/Pizza and salad night this Wednesday, September 1 between 6 and 7pm. Please plan to join us to register your child for Sunday School and/or confirmation classes and get to meet the teachers and other Sunday School families. It really will be a fun night with activities for the kids and did I hear something about the "Chicken Dance" ?!? Come and see! :-)
As this week unfolds may our lives be shaped by being at God's table of Grace. When we take part in that banquet, when we taste and see the goodness of God and experience God's welcoming presence there, nothing or no one looks quite the same after that!
See you around His Table!
Pastor Jack Diehl
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
It used to be that Labor Day marked the end of summer. School resumed right after that. Well, today is different. With the beginning of school today for so many, I think it's safe to say summer is kind of officially over. In that spirit, our "blessing of the backpacks" this past weekend in worship was a great way to end the summer and head into the new school year. It was so good to have so many children, teachers, parents, and others who are involved in teaching our children, come forward in worship for a blessing. Great way to start the new school year!
Friday, August 27, 7pm: Jam in the sanctuary! Several of our resident musicians will be gathering to make music together, enjoy some old music and learn some new music. If you would like to join us please just come by. Bring an instrument or just your voice, or just come to listen. We'll choose the best of what we hear to bring into worship some Saturday or Sunday. We'd like you input!
FREE MONEY!?!? Do you remember matching fund projects from Thrivent? For our Easter Breakfasts and also for our annual Fall Bazaar Thrivent often matched funds raised to help support our camping ministry for our kids and local projects with our WELCA group. Thrivent has changed some procedures so that now we may be able to receive even more money for ministries like those mentioned above. Through a new program called "Thrivent Choice", all Thrivent members are asked to designate where they would like the money generated from their policy or accounts to go. This will not take away anything from the person's account. The Thrivent members of Our Savior alone have policies that generate over $3000 per year, which can be designated as each member chooses. But you have to choose! So, if you are a Thrivent member, please go online, or call 1-800-847-4863. I called last week to designate Our Savior as the recipient of these funds from my account, and the call only took about a minute! This Saturday evening, our local Thrivent agent, Sam Lyons, will be hosting our refreshments and be available to answer any questions you might have.
Finally, looking ahead to Wednesday Sept. 1, mark your calendars for Sunday School and Confirmation registration night! We will gather around 6pm for some pizza and getting connected with new teachers, students and each other. Please plan to join us. And if you haven't yet seen our renovated Fellowship Hall, this will be a great time to do that! What a nice space! You'll be amazed. Hope you can join us!
So, as another season begins, we enter it with hope and courage knowing that God is here among us to lead, correct, comfort, and strengthen us for the journey, so that we might become AAA Christians: Available, Authentic and Affirming for our young people and for each other.
See you in church!
Pastor Jack Diehl
Friday, August 27, 7pm: Jam in the sanctuary! Several of our resident musicians will be gathering to make music together, enjoy some old music and learn some new music. If you would like to join us please just come by. Bring an instrument or just your voice, or just come to listen. We'll choose the best of what we hear to bring into worship some Saturday or Sunday. We'd like you input!
FREE MONEY!?!? Do you remember matching fund projects from Thrivent? For our Easter Breakfasts and also for our annual Fall Bazaar Thrivent often matched funds raised to help support our camping ministry for our kids and local projects with our WELCA group. Thrivent has changed some procedures so that now we may be able to receive even more money for ministries like those mentioned above. Through a new program called "Thrivent Choice", all Thrivent members are asked to designate where they would like the money generated from their policy or accounts to go. This will not take away anything from the person's account. The Thrivent members of Our Savior alone have policies that generate over $3000 per year, which can be designated as each member chooses. But you have to choose! So, if you are a Thrivent member, please go online, or call 1-800-847-4863. I called last week to designate Our Savior as the recipient of these funds from my account, and the call only took about a minute! This Saturday evening, our local Thrivent agent, Sam Lyons, will be hosting our refreshments and be available to answer any questions you might have.
Finally, looking ahead to Wednesday Sept. 1, mark your calendars for Sunday School and Confirmation registration night! We will gather around 6pm for some pizza and getting connected with new teachers, students and each other. Please plan to join us. And if you haven't yet seen our renovated Fellowship Hall, this will be a great time to do that! What a nice space! You'll be amazed. Hope you can join us!
So, as another season begins, we enter it with hope and courage knowing that God is here among us to lead, correct, comfort, and strengthen us for the journey, so that we might become AAA Christians: Available, Authentic and Affirming for our young people and for each other.
See you in church!
Pastor Jack Diehl
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Surrounded and cheered on by that great cloud of witnesses, we head into another week!
Tonight our Long Range Planning Team meets to look at a proposal for expanding our gathering and sending space in the church (the narthex and outside space). Tomorrow night the Church Council meets, looking ahead at upcoming things for the Fall. We'll keep you up to date on what comes from these meetings.
School has already begun for some of our kids (the charter high school for example) and this week school begins for the teachers in Indian River County. With that in mind, this coming weekend, Aug. 21-22, we will have a "Blessing of the Backpacks" during worship. All of our children are invited to bring their backpacks to church for a special blessing as they begin school next Monday. Teachers are also invited to bring their lesson plan books and come forward for a blessing along with the children. Along with those blessings, we will also be celebrating the Baptism of James and Julie Ledlow's new son, Aaron Louis Ledlow. Good, happy milestones for us all to celebrate together.
Also, this coming weekend, former bishop of the Florida/Bahamas Synod, Rev. Lavern Franzen, will be our guest as he will share with us the work of Lutheran Services Florida.
As summer winds down and the new season begins to unfold, may we enter it with hope, faith and the confidence that God is with us and surrounds us with his love, as those people of faith who have gone before us knew and lived out in their lives.
God's work; our hands!
Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III
Tonight our Long Range Planning Team meets to look at a proposal for expanding our gathering and sending space in the church (the narthex and outside space). Tomorrow night the Church Council meets, looking ahead at upcoming things for the Fall. We'll keep you up to date on what comes from these meetings.
School has already begun for some of our kids (the charter high school for example) and this week school begins for the teachers in Indian River County. With that in mind, this coming weekend, Aug. 21-22, we will have a "Blessing of the Backpacks" during worship. All of our children are invited to bring their backpacks to church for a special blessing as they begin school next Monday. Teachers are also invited to bring their lesson plan books and come forward for a blessing along with the children. Along with those blessings, we will also be celebrating the Baptism of James and Julie Ledlow's new son, Aaron Louis Ledlow. Good, happy milestones for us all to celebrate together.
Also, this coming weekend, former bishop of the Florida/Bahamas Synod, Rev. Lavern Franzen, will be our guest as he will share with us the work of Lutheran Services Florida.
As summer winds down and the new season begins to unfold, may we enter it with hope, faith and the confidence that God is with us and surrounds us with his love, as those people of faith who have gone before us knew and lived out in their lives.
God's work; our hands!
Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III
Thursday, August 12, 2010
This past Saturday the last group of campers returned home from camp. This marked the end of a total of 4 different week long camp experiences for our kids this summer (Daycamp here, Confirmation Camp at Luther Springs, another week at Luther Springs for our younger ones and a week at Lutherock for our senior high kids), plus a 10 day mission trip to Guyana for 2 of our college students and our youth director Jimmy. You'll be hearing more about this in our next newsletter. What these experiences offer to our young people is a bigger picture of the church. In settings like these there is opportunity to experience Christian community, get a taste of that "great cloud of witnesses in a special setting and to get to know other young Lutheran Christians who are also learning and growing in the faith. Many thanks to all who have contributed to help make these camping experiences possible.
And speaking of a "great cloud of witnesses", this coming weekend (Aug 14-15), that part of Hebrews (the 11th chapter) will be before us, as we think of what it means to be surrounded by them and what it means to be numbered with them!
Looking ahead, the following weekend, August 21-22, former Bishop Lavern Franzen will be our guest as he shares with us the work of Lutheran Services Florida. Also, since that is the last weekend before school starts for many we will be having the "Blessing of the Backpacks" for our children and blessing of the lesson plans for our teachers. Mark your calendars, have your children bring their backpacks to church, teachers their lesson plans, and be sure to join us.
It's a real blessing to be numbered with and surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses. Come and strengthen that relationship and be equipped to live that special identity out in your everyday lives.
See you in church!
Pastor Jack
And speaking of a "great cloud of witnesses", this coming weekend (Aug 14-15), that part of Hebrews (the 11th chapter) will be before us, as we think of what it means to be surrounded by them and what it means to be numbered with them!
Looking ahead, the following weekend, August 21-22, former Bishop Lavern Franzen will be our guest as he shares with us the work of Lutheran Services Florida. Also, since that is the last weekend before school starts for many we will be having the "Blessing of the Backpacks" for our children and blessing of the lesson plans for our teachers. Mark your calendars, have your children bring their backpacks to church, teachers their lesson plans, and be sure to join us.
It's a real blessing to be numbered with and surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses. Come and strengthen that relationship and be equipped to live that special identity out in your everyday lives.
See you in church!
Pastor Jack
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Seeing things from a different angle can be quite enlightening! We've just returned from 3 weeks of vacation. It was a great 3 weeks which involved some time here in Vero (consisting mostly of major kitchen renovation at our home and fishing) and some time in Gatlinburg TN where we gathered with our 4 kids, their spouses (minus one who had to work) and 2 grandbabies. It was wonderful all being together as we played games, watched movies, ate, walked in the woods and streams, watched the hummingbirds, saw a couple of bears, etc. It was a real blessing.
And now, it's good to be home and back to work. That's one of the best parts of getting away and being on vacation. The time apart helps you appreciate being back home and back to work. In fact, on the last day day of my vacation I received an article from a friend, via email, about clergy today. The article referred to various health problems, depression, over use of medications, stress, unhappiness, etc. It went on to say that part of the problem is clergy not taking vacations or time away or apart. (I also think part of the problem is a form of arrogance on the part of clergy who act like it's "their church" and not God's! But that might be another conversation.) Anyhow, I very much appreciated the time apart.
What part of being away offered, along with some good R&R, was the opportunity to worship in 3 different congregations, which gave me a view from the other side. It was really nice to get to the church a few minutes before worship began, be able to participate, be fed, and then be able to leave when worship was over! What that perspective did was shoot some real holes in excuses I sometimes hear for people not going to church:
1) Sunday is the only day I have to sleep in. What?? One can still sleep in and get to church in plenty of time if one goes to a later service. Or, come to worship on Saturday evening and sleep til noon on Sunday!
2) Sunday is family time. What better "family time" could one have than some time together in church?! To be able to go to church with your family is a real blessing! The world barrages us daily, hourly, with it's messages of "buy this" or "buy that" or "do this" or "do that" to be happy, fulfilled, or whatever. An hour together in church puts us in a place to hear another Word, a Life giving Word. Just the effort of going, whether the sermon or hymns are great or not so great, tells our children, and each other, that there is a God and there is more to life than what we get caught up in on a daily basis. Then upon hearing that other Word, we can bring something special back into our daily lives.
3) Going to church takes up too much of the day. I've almost fallen for that one before, since for us pastors, we're usually at church between 7 and 7:30 in the morning and don't leave until 12:30 or 1pm during the season, and even with one Sunday service, we're here about 8:30 and don't leave until 11:30 or 12. That is a pretty big chunk of time. But, while on vacation, I realized that going to church was more like an hour, or hour and a half including commuting time! That sure isn't a big chunk of time, (how much more time than that is wasted in front of a TV!) but it sure is an important chunk of time! A lot of the day is left after that! Or if you go to a late service, I've known guys who have gone fishing early Sunday morning and have been in church following that! Really!
So, for me, that view from the other side these past few weeks have shed some new light once again on the blessing, the importance and the wonderful opportunity we all have in being able to gather for worship. Don't let some lame excuses get in the way for you to gather with other folks to hear that "other Word", that Word that gives Life and Hope and that feeds and nourishes us to take on another week.
It's nice being home. See you in church!
Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III
And now, it's good to be home and back to work. That's one of the best parts of getting away and being on vacation. The time apart helps you appreciate being back home and back to work. In fact, on the last day day of my vacation I received an article from a friend, via email, about clergy today. The article referred to various health problems, depression, over use of medications, stress, unhappiness, etc. It went on to say that part of the problem is clergy not taking vacations or time away or apart. (I also think part of the problem is a form of arrogance on the part of clergy who act like it's "their church" and not God's! But that might be another conversation.) Anyhow, I very much appreciated the time apart.
What part of being away offered, along with some good R&R, was the opportunity to worship in 3 different congregations, which gave me a view from the other side. It was really nice to get to the church a few minutes before worship began, be able to participate, be fed, and then be able to leave when worship was over! What that perspective did was shoot some real holes in excuses I sometimes hear for people not going to church:
1) Sunday is the only day I have to sleep in. What?? One can still sleep in and get to church in plenty of time if one goes to a later service. Or, come to worship on Saturday evening and sleep til noon on Sunday!
2) Sunday is family time. What better "family time" could one have than some time together in church?! To be able to go to church with your family is a real blessing! The world barrages us daily, hourly, with it's messages of "buy this" or "buy that" or "do this" or "do that" to be happy, fulfilled, or whatever. An hour together in church puts us in a place to hear another Word, a Life giving Word. Just the effort of going, whether the sermon or hymns are great or not so great, tells our children, and each other, that there is a God and there is more to life than what we get caught up in on a daily basis. Then upon hearing that other Word, we can bring something special back into our daily lives.
3) Going to church takes up too much of the day. I've almost fallen for that one before, since for us pastors, we're usually at church between 7 and 7:30 in the morning and don't leave until 12:30 or 1pm during the season, and even with one Sunday service, we're here about 8:30 and don't leave until 11:30 or 12. That is a pretty big chunk of time. But, while on vacation, I realized that going to church was more like an hour, or hour and a half including commuting time! That sure isn't a big chunk of time, (how much more time than that is wasted in front of a TV!) but it sure is an important chunk of time! A lot of the day is left after that! Or if you go to a late service, I've known guys who have gone fishing early Sunday morning and have been in church following that! Really!
So, for me, that view from the other side these past few weeks have shed some new light once again on the blessing, the importance and the wonderful opportunity we all have in being able to gather for worship. Don't let some lame excuses get in the way for you to gather with other folks to hear that "other Word", that Word that gives Life and Hope and that feeds and nourishes us to take on another week.
It's nice being home. See you in church!
Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III
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