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Peace Progress Newsletter

September 2017

Peace family,

It can take a person a long time to find their voice. By voice, I mean a cause that someone believes in so passionately that they cannot but help to speak up about it. Have you found your voice?

You are all invited to hear about the true story of a person that found their voice this fall in the adult Bible Study. The person’s name is Martin Luther. This year marks the 500^th anniversary of the birth of the Reformation. On October 31, 2017 Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Castle Church. Luther’s bold action was much more than academic debate, it was the manifestation of a troubled monk who had finally found his voice.

What was it that Martin Luther became so passionate to defend? As we learn about key moments in Luther’s life, we will discover those core beliefs that gave Luther the courage to stand up against all odds. Here is a sampling to prepare you for the eight-week journey:

September 10 The early Luther only sees God as judge.

September 17 At the monastery, Luther tries to live the perfect life.

September 24 Luther finally discovers the peace God offers.

October 1 Luther takes a bold stance and posts the 95 theses.

October 8 Special guest, Chris Schulze, shares pictures of Luther sites.

October 15 Luther feels pressure from Rome and the Pope.

October 22 Luther is excommunicated from the Church.

October29 Labelled a heretic, Luther goes on trial.

I am excited about this study for two reasons. First, this will be my first study at Peace that will be dedicated to the history of the church. As I think about the rapid changes that are happening in the Christian church, I believe it is even more important to know our roots.

Second, this study will encourage us personally to find our voices. The story of the Reformation is not just about one man who fought the abuses of the Church of Rome. The Reformation inspires us today to passionately believe in God’s Word, God’s grace and the power of having faith in Jesus. We find our voices when we make these the causes we whole heartedly believe.

I look forward to this significant journey ahead in celebration as we celebrate 500 years!

In Christ alone,

Pastor J

Scripture Lessons

Sept. 3 – 13^th S. a. Pentecost

Old Testament:

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Psalms: 26

Epistle: Romans 12:9-21

Gospel: Matthew 16:21-28

Sept. 10 – 14^th S. a. Pentecost

Old Testament:

Ezekiel 33:7-9

Psalms: 32:1-7

Epistle: Romans 13:1-10

Gospel: Matthew 18:1-20

Sept. 17 – 15^th S. a. Pentecost

Old Testament:

Genesis 50:15-21

Psalms: 103:1-12

Epistle: Romans 14:1-12

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

Sept. 24 – 16^th S. a. Pentecost

Old Testament: Isaiah 55:6-9

Psalms: 27:1-9

Epistle: Philemon 1:12-14, 19-30

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

Peace by the numbers

Date	Attendance	Offering
7/16	75	$1,514
7/23	85	$3,418
7/30	91	$3,355
8/6	109	$4,283
8/13	94	$2,634

RALLY DAY Don’t miss it!!

Let’s CELEBRATE the beginning of the Sunday School year with a big kick off Rally Day on September 10^th. All are invited to join us after the 9:45 am Sunday School and 11:00 Worship for BBQ and fellowship. And for the kids…a bouncy play structure, ice cream, music, balloons! It is going to be such a wonderful time of getting to know new folks and getting reacquainted with old friends! Bring a side dish if you would like to add to the meal and enjoy the special day!

CHOIR PRACTICE & POTLUCK

CALLING ALL SINGERS AND MUSICIANS!!! Have you been thinking about joining choir but haven’t found a segue to ask about it? NOW is your chance. No experience necessary, come to our practice & potluck on September 7^th at 5:30 PM in the Fellowship Hall. This is an awesome opportunity to just test it out and see if it is the right fit for you! Questions? Colleen or Terri are available to answer.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

I, Jani Burton, am the new chairperson for the upcoming bazaar, taking place on Nov. 11, 2017.

One of my biggest challenges is putting faces and names together; please introduce yourself to me and let’s chat about where you can assist in making this bazaar most successful.

In order to get to know each of you better I will have the sign-up sheets with me on Sunday. I’ll be giving a few announcements to let you know of the areas that need strengthening.

Thus far, Kay will still be doing the baskets, Maggie has signed up to do cookies again, then I need your help with candy, cakes and pies {no pudding type} which will be sold by the slice. It is the baking time of year so while you have all mess out why not whip up an extra batch, cake, or pie for the bazaar?

I am looking forward to meeting you and seeing all the wonderful talents in this church family. Seeing the crafts, sewing, woodworking, and all other efforts in support of God’s work is going to be so exciting.

I am so honored to be a part of this event. Thank you for your patience and grace as I navigate through this position.

If you have any questions or would like to sign-up please contact ME – Jani Burton at 541-757-3382 or if it is easier you can email me at [email protected].

Looking forward to hearing from you very soon!

Ladies Guild

All women of Peace belong to the Ladies Guild, an extension of Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML). We support our pastor, church members, community and worldwide missions. You are invited to attend our monthly meetings. We meet the first Thursday of each month. Our next meeting is Thursday, September 7, 1-3 pm in the church fellowship hall.

JUNE’S KIDS KLOSET

All ladies are invited to meet Tuesday, September 19, from 1-3pm. We will be sorting & hanging clothes, and clearing racks for a new season. We always have so much fun with this amazing way to serve our community and to show the love of our Lord. Please join us at 360 S 9^th Street, Philomath.

TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

Facebook is up and running. The page is “Peace Lutheran – Philomath” make sure you like the page! We will need everyone to assist in making the page the main hub of communication. Let’s make it fun, join in the conversation!

Opportunities

CANS & BOTTLES WANTED

Please continue to bring cans & bottles to Peace. Now that the Santoras have matched with a birth -family the fundraising is increased!

FROZEN MEAL MINISTRY

Is in search of a ministry leader. If you enjoy working with others and spending time in the kitchen in order to nourish the tummies and souls of those in need of some assistance.

WORSHIP – SPECIAL SERVICE!

JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR OF OUR LUTHERAN REFORMATION!!! PLEASE MARK THIS EVENT ON YOUR CALENDARS!!! On October 29, 2017, at 3:00 in the afternoon, the pastors and congregations of Circuit Four of the Northwest District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod will gather together at Zion Lutheran Church, Corvallis, for this great celebration. The pastors, musicians, members and friends living in the area of Circuit Four, which includes churches from Sweet Home to Waldport and Newport, are encouraged to take part. This special service will help us realize how blessed we are to be the children and heirs of the Reformation. We are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and this faith is based on God’s Word alone. It is still all about Jesus! It is still all about His love for all people! Please plan to attend, and pass this information to others who will rejoice with us in this celebration. We will have a mass choir and if you would like to sing in this, please let your pastor know. With God’s blessing, we look forward to a glorious time of praise and thanksgiving to God!

DONATING TO LOCAL TEACHERS!

A local teacher has asked for prizes for her classroom as her prize box is depleted. In the past, her mom and friends had provided for this. That has kinda washed up. As per all teachers, there is no fund for this aside from their own pocketbooks, so donations are appreciated. I myself just scavenged through our home and found dozens of items to donate. They can be gently used or new – basically any small (INEXPENSIVE) item that can be earned through appropriate work and behavior.

This is for a classroom of wonderful kids with some unique challenges.

Any excess prizes will be distributed to other teachers.

SUGGESTIONS (please bring all items to Elaine)

unique pens
unique pencils
keychains
cards
lego people
tiny animals
rubber balls
spinners
make up
toys
word search pads
even small items that can be giving to younger siblings
or $$$ for her to buy items.

There is NO time limit on donations! Bring them in when you have them.

Save the Date!

Sunday, October 1, 2017!

All of us at Camp Lutherwood Oregon are excited to host the fourth annual fall celebration and fundraiser Sunday October 1, 2017! The Camp Lutherwood Oregon Harvest Festival and Fundraiser is an opportunity to give thanks for all God has given us, while we look toward the future of this ministry together. Funds raised at the event help bring people to camp, expand and improve the programs and site, and continue the mission of camp to empower guests of all ages to grow in relationships with God, others, self and the natural world.

Your congregation can help support the event and Camp Lutherwood Oregon in a few ways:

Silent Auction Basket: Themes can include: Travel, Gardening, Sports, Chocolate Lovers, etc.! Get creative and build a unique basket! (Approximate retail value of $30-$250)
Live Auction Items: Does someone in your congregation have tickets to Blazers, Beaver or Duck games? House on the coast or Central Oregon? Many things make great live auction items that will help make the Harvest Festival a success.
Sponsor a Table: Attend the event and bring friends! Sponsor a table (seats 8), and get your church listed in Event Program! ($500 per table, $300 tax deductible)
Donate a dessert to the Dessert Dash: Provide a scrumptious dessert to be auctioned off to tables (first choice to the highest bidding table)!

Thank you again for your faithful and generous support of camp. There is so much to celebrate, and we are blessed by your partnership in this life-changing ministry. I hope many of you and your families take part in our summer program, and we look forward to greeting those from your congregation at the Harvest Festival on Sunday October 1, 2017.

If you have any questions, or if you are interested in supporting the event please contact Caitlin Elwood. (541)998-6444 | [email protected]

The Moon and God

What was the first liquid and food consumed on the moon? I’m betting that most are unaware of this story.

Forty-five years ago, two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But, what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. I’m talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.

The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life; and, knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt that he should mark the occasion somehow. He asked his minister to help him and so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine. Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth’s orbit and onto the surface of the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement:

This is the LM (Lunar Module) pilot. I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way. He then ended radio communication, and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John, and he took communion.

Here is his own account of what happened: “In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture:

‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit … Apart from me you can do nothing.’

“I had intended to read my communion passage back to Earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew’s reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly.”

“I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there were the communion elements.”

“And, of course, it’s interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon – and who, in the immortal

words of Dante, is Himself the “Love that moves the Sun and other stars.”

How many of you knew this? Too bad this type of news doesn’t travel as fast as the bad does.

Faith, friends, funny

Quotes that YOU find inspiring, cartoons you think are funny, bring a smile to someone’s face.

When a flower doesn’t bloom, You fix the environment in which it lives, not the flower

Alexander den Heijer

BOWLING

Bowling is one of the oldest sports of all times. Historians estimate that people have been playing versions of the game for over 7,000 years. A bowling set was found even in the tomb of an Egyptian boy.

Modern bowling came to us from Germany. There, they played the sport in churches. The pins represented the devil, and the ball was used to strike him down. Martin Luther was a big fan of the sport. He personally invented a version of bowing called “ninepins”

GRANDMA’S AGE
LITTLE JOHNNY ASKED HIS GRANDMA HOW OLD SHE WAS.
GRANDMA ANSWERED, “39 AND HOLDING.”
JOHNNY THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT, AND THEN SAID, “AND HOW OLD WOULD YOU BE IF YOU LET GO?”