From the Pastor's Desk

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