Having been a pastor as long as I have, I've seen and heard a lot. But until yesterday morning, I've never heard an applause after the reading of the Old Testament lesson for the day. Yes, it indeed happened and was one of those spontaneous, authentic affirmations of what was just experienced.
What? Following the Old Testament reading? For those of you who weren't here, this is the way it unfolded. The reading was the Creation story from Genesis. Pastor Shelly began reading it in the dark. As we got to "Let there be light", the lights came on. Then as the water and dry land were separated from each other, water was poured into the font and a bowl of dirt was brought forward. Then plants and seeds and fruit and fish and birds and animals and Adam and Eve and following the words "be fruitful and multiply" more dogs and all the children came forward! As I mentioned above, the applause was authentic and unstoppable. What a wonderful image of God's creative work unfolding before us. Many thanks to all who helped us "hear" that story in a new way.
Following that, the Psalm and Pastor Shelly's sermon all underscored the beauty and wonder of God's ongoing creative work and us being a part of that. "And indeed it was very good."
What a wonderful day to then, at the end of worship, have the "Groundbreaking" for our 50th Anniversary building project…another way we see God's creative work unfolding here in a very real, concrete way. Our architect, Lynn Silkworth, was here along with Robert Paugh and Jeff Sotter from our general contractor's office, Bill Bryant and Associates (Bill was out of town, but would have been here also), and with them our building team and church council. Following is a message from our Council president, Martin Preuss, following yesterday's service.
We had a beautiful Sunday, yesterday. A Life filling service and the Groundbreaking of OSL's move to the future. We know everyone is busy and involved in other good works in our community outside of OSL. But what we are doing here is building for the future.
If you haven't let us know of your intentions to be part of our renovation please fill out your pledge card or E-mail Pastor Jack or myself (mpreuss@att.net) with your response. I dream of seeing our "Tree of Life" covered with Gold Leaves.
On top of those things, this is Daycamp Week at Our Savior! This is always one of the noisiest, most fun weeks of the year around here! To get a taste of it, please join us this Thursday evening at 7pm for a program in the church, highlighting some of the events of the week, followed by an "Ice Cream Social" in the Fellowship Hall. All are welcome!
For other things happening around Our Savior, please visit our website at: www.oursaviorelca.com.
Letting our light shine for 50 years, and counting! See you in church! Pastor Jack Diehl
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
After worship this past weekend one of our members said she was talking to a friend of hers from Germany who now lives here in America also. This friend goes to a Baptist Church and was lamenting the fact that "we don't have Pentecost here in America". To that the lady from our church promptly said, "Well we do at Our Savior!" :-)
And we certainly do "have Pentecost" here. It was such a blessing to be a part of worship this past weekend with our children in procession with the streamers, a visual reminder of the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit, and the readers speaking in various languages (Spanish, Greek, Italian, German, Norwegian, French, Polish…and did I forget any?) along with the other readings, the singing, gathering for Holy Communion…yes, the same Holy Spirit continues to breathe Life into God's people today as that Spirit blew into and through and among those in Jerusalem so many years ago.
One of the reminders of that mentioned at worship was our "Disaster Response Team" made up primarily of members of our senior Youth Group who are presently in Alabama helping with post tornado cleanup efforts. To see pictures of our kids at work go to our website (www.oursaviorelca.com) and under "Ministries" click on "Youth". The team will be returning this Wednesday. More to come!
Along with mission trips like this being faith building events, to help nurture and build faith in the home, be sure to check out the Vibrant Faith Ministries website (www.vibrantfaith.org) , which is now beginning a new dimension to their ministries called "Vibrant Faith @ Home". Just go to the www.vibrantfaith.org website and click on the "Vibrant Faith @ Home" link for all kinds of tips, tools, resources and suggestions that parents, families and households -of all ages and stages- to help people grow in faith.
This coming weekend at Our Savior we will be celebrating "Trinity Sunday". This is the only festival day of the church year that is about a teaching of the church and not a person or an event. This year, the Old Testament reading is the creation story. Some of you may recall this from 3 years ago. (We're on a 3 year cycle for our readings.) As we hear this story, we will be "seeing" the story unfold before us: eg. "let there be light" and the lights will come on, and as God created the plants and animals, birds and creeping crawling things, we will invite folks to bring up representatives of all of those elements of creation. We already have some dogs lined up, but if you have any creeping crawling critters as pets, or birds or fish who could be brought forward in a fish bowl, please contact the church office this week and we'd love to have you be a part of our hearing and seeing the creation story unfold this coming Saturday or Sunday.
Also, this coming Sunday, at the end of worship (remember, we're in our summer schedule: 6pm Saturday and 9:30am Sunday) we will have the groundbreaking for our 50th Anniversary Building Project! The plan is to have the new space and renovations dedicated at our 50th Anniversary Celebration the weekend of December 11. If you haven't yet "bought a leaf" for our Tree of Life, it's certainly not too late. This is going to be a beautiful, lasting symbol of our life together here for generations to come. See me (Pastor Jack) or George Dann for more information about this part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations.
For more information, especially about special summer activities, please visit our website at: www.oursaviorelca.com . And keep your eyes, ears and hearts open to the working of the Spirit around and within you as this week unfolds!
See you in church! 50 years of letting our Light Shine and counting!
Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III +
And we certainly do "have Pentecost" here. It was such a blessing to be a part of worship this past weekend with our children in procession with the streamers, a visual reminder of the wind and fire of the Holy Spirit, and the readers speaking in various languages (Spanish, Greek, Italian, German, Norwegian, French, Polish…and did I forget any?) along with the other readings, the singing, gathering for Holy Communion…yes, the same Holy Spirit continues to breathe Life into God's people today as that Spirit blew into and through and among those in Jerusalem so many years ago.
One of the reminders of that mentioned at worship was our "Disaster Response Team" made up primarily of members of our senior Youth Group who are presently in Alabama helping with post tornado cleanup efforts. To see pictures of our kids at work go to our website (www.oursaviorelca.com) and under "Ministries" click on "Youth". The team will be returning this Wednesday. More to come!
Along with mission trips like this being faith building events, to help nurture and build faith in the home, be sure to check out the Vibrant Faith Ministries website (www.vibrantfaith.org) , which is now beginning a new dimension to their ministries called "Vibrant Faith @ Home". Just go to the www.vibrantfaith.org website and click on the "Vibrant Faith @ Home" link for all kinds of tips, tools, resources and suggestions that parents, families and households -of all ages and stages- to help people grow in faith.
This coming weekend at Our Savior we will be celebrating "Trinity Sunday". This is the only festival day of the church year that is about a teaching of the church and not a person or an event. This year, the Old Testament reading is the creation story. Some of you may recall this from 3 years ago. (We're on a 3 year cycle for our readings.) As we hear this story, we will be "seeing" the story unfold before us: eg. "let there be light" and the lights will come on, and as God created the plants and animals, birds and creeping crawling things, we will invite folks to bring up representatives of all of those elements of creation. We already have some dogs lined up, but if you have any creeping crawling critters as pets, or birds or fish who could be brought forward in a fish bowl, please contact the church office this week and we'd love to have you be a part of our hearing and seeing the creation story unfold this coming Saturday or Sunday.
Also, this coming Sunday, at the end of worship (remember, we're in our summer schedule: 6pm Saturday and 9:30am Sunday) we will have the groundbreaking for our 50th Anniversary Building Project! The plan is to have the new space and renovations dedicated at our 50th Anniversary Celebration the weekend of December 11. If you haven't yet "bought a leaf" for our Tree of Life, it's certainly not too late. This is going to be a beautiful, lasting symbol of our life together here for generations to come. See me (Pastor Jack) or George Dann for more information about this part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations.
For more information, especially about special summer activities, please visit our website at: www.oursaviorelca.com . And keep your eyes, ears and hearts open to the working of the Spirit around and within you as this week unfolds!
See you in church! 50 years of letting our Light Shine and counting!
Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III +
Monday, June 6, 2011
Summertime, and the livin' is…well, not really easy. But it's good! This has the makings of an historic summer at Our Savior. Especially fitting as we prepare to celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the promised Holy Spirit, this coming weekend (wear RED!) which stirred up Jerusalem and sent the disciples out across the world with the Good News of what God was up to, breathing new Life into the world.
This Wednesday Our Savior's Disaster Response Team, made up mostly of members of our Youth Group who received special training in that area, will be headed to Alabama to help in tornado relief efforts. They will be home based at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Birmingham and going out from there to help in the most tornado stricken areas, especially Christ Lutheran Church in Cullman.
On the home front our 50th Anniversary Building Project continues to move along. Last Thursday our building plans were unanimously approved by the Planning and Zoning folks of Vero Beach and our ground breaking is set for Sunday June 19. Along with that good news, one other little piece of good news is that at our congregational meeting on Memorial Day weekend, it was reported that there was going to be an increase of about $2000 per month which would have to be paid to the Board of Pensions. Rather than $2000 per month, that figure is actually about $1800 for the year! Big difference! Whew.
Many thanks to all who have given and/or committed about $380,000 toward our $700,000 goal. There are still "leaves" on the Tree of Life left for special gifts in honor or memory of someone and are as follows: gold leaf, $5,000; silver leaf, $2,500; bronze leaf, $1,000. This "Tree of Life" is going to be a beautiful part of the new lobby next to the window overlooking our Memorial Garden. There will also be "Living Stones" at the base of the tree recognizing larger gifts, or specially designated gifts.
Speaking of our 50th Anniversary, if you have any pictures of special events at Our Savior over the years: weddings, baptisms, confirmation pictures, picnics, etc., please bring them into the office ASAP. One of our scouts, Zac Barringer, is working on his Eagle Scout project which will be both a "Memory Book" and "Power Point" type of presentation for Our Savior's 50th Anniversary. Pictures can be returned. Thanks!
A six week summer Bible study series begins this Wednesday, June 8 at 6:30pm in room 4. "Psalms of Ascent", a Beth Moore Bible study facilitated by Kelly Elsebough. This study runs at the same time as Youth Group, so this would be a great opportunity for parents of Youth Group members to gather along with other adults interested. And beginning June 30 til September 1, "Dancing with the Lutherans", from 6:30-7:30pm Thursday nights, an introductory ballroom dance class, for $5 per person per evening.
These are only some of the highlights as summer begins here at Our Savior. If you are nearby, we look forward to you being a part of these things. If you are far away, may your summer be safe and renewing. And for all of us, whether near or far, may we be open to God's Life giving Spirit at work in our lives and in the world.
Letting our Light shine…for 50 years and more! Pastor Jack Diehl +
This Wednesday Our Savior's Disaster Response Team, made up mostly of members of our Youth Group who received special training in that area, will be headed to Alabama to help in tornado relief efforts. They will be home based at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Birmingham and going out from there to help in the most tornado stricken areas, especially Christ Lutheran Church in Cullman.
On the home front our 50th Anniversary Building Project continues to move along. Last Thursday our building plans were unanimously approved by the Planning and Zoning folks of Vero Beach and our ground breaking is set for Sunday June 19. Along with that good news, one other little piece of good news is that at our congregational meeting on Memorial Day weekend, it was reported that there was going to be an increase of about $2000 per month which would have to be paid to the Board of Pensions. Rather than $2000 per month, that figure is actually about $1800 for the year! Big difference! Whew.
Many thanks to all who have given and/or committed about $380,000 toward our $700,000 goal. There are still "leaves" on the Tree of Life left for special gifts in honor or memory of someone and are as follows: gold leaf, $5,000; silver leaf, $2,500; bronze leaf, $1,000. This "Tree of Life" is going to be a beautiful part of the new lobby next to the window overlooking our Memorial Garden. There will also be "Living Stones" at the base of the tree recognizing larger gifts, or specially designated gifts.
Speaking of our 50th Anniversary, if you have any pictures of special events at Our Savior over the years: weddings, baptisms, confirmation pictures, picnics, etc., please bring them into the office ASAP. One of our scouts, Zac Barringer, is working on his Eagle Scout project which will be both a "Memory Book" and "Power Point" type of presentation for Our Savior's 50th Anniversary. Pictures can be returned. Thanks!
A six week summer Bible study series begins this Wednesday, June 8 at 6:30pm in room 4. "Psalms of Ascent", a Beth Moore Bible study facilitated by Kelly Elsebough. This study runs at the same time as Youth Group, so this would be a great opportunity for parents of Youth Group members to gather along with other adults interested. And beginning June 30 til September 1, "Dancing with the Lutherans", from 6:30-7:30pm Thursday nights, an introductory ballroom dance class, for $5 per person per evening.
These are only some of the highlights as summer begins here at Our Savior. If you are nearby, we look forward to you being a part of these things. If you are far away, may your summer be safe and renewing. And for all of us, whether near or far, may we be open to God's Life giving Spirit at work in our lives and in the world.
Letting our Light shine…for 50 years and more! Pastor Jack Diehl +
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