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Newsletter: 02-2018 – Newsletter
Calendar: 02-2018 – C Calendar
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Dear Peace family,
If you had to come up with one word to describe the season of Lent, what would it be? Here are the ones that usually come to mind: humility, submission, penance, solemnity.
The season of Lent begins February 14 and accompanies us until our Easter celebration April 1. Yes, those are the correct dates! Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day and Easter is on April Fools’ Day. Each Wednesday night we will join together for Soup Supper at 6:15 pm in the Fellowship Hall and then proceed into the sanctuary for a short prayer service at 7 pm.
Yes, I certainly agree that Lent is a solemn time. It is even a time of self-discipline as we restrict ourselves of our indulgences.
Lent, however, can also be seen in a positive light. Lent is the time that we gain the clearest image of who God is.
Brennan Manning writes about the importance of having the right image of God when he says,
“It is is always true to some extent that we make our images of God. It is even truer that our image of God makes us. Eventually we become like the God we image. One of the most beautiful fruits of knowing the God of Jesus is a compassionate attitude towards ourselves……This is why Scripture attaches such importance to knowing God. Healing our image of God heals our image of ourselves.”
Here is the point. It is during Lent (you’ll hear it on the fourth Sunday of Lent—March 11) that we hear that God is not One to condemn the world, but One to love and save the world. It is during Lent (Palm Sunday—March 25) that we hear that Jesus came not to be an earthly king that rules people, but to be the kind of king that would serve the people. And finally, it is on Easter (yes, April 1) that we hear that God does not want death to be our last word, but He desires that we have eternal life through Jesus’ victory over the grave. By the end of Lent, you will have a clear picture of God’s desire to be on your side!
This has enormous implications on how we image ourselves. Once we see that God is on our side, we can heal the image we have of ourselves. We have high worth. We are dearly loved. We are so valued that we are never left alone. We have an inheritance that can’t be taken away.
Lent allows us to heal our image of God and this then allows us to heal the image we have of ourselves.
Anticipating Easter joy,
Pastor J
Bible Readings Series B
Feb. 4 – Fifth S. a. Epiphany
- Isaiah 40:21-31
- Psalm 147:1-11
- 1 Corinthians 9:16-27
- Mark 1:29-39
Feb. 11 – Transfiguration
Ex. 34:29–35
Ps. 50:1–6
2 Cor. 3:12–13 (14–18); 4:1–6
Mark 9:2-9
Feb. 14 – Ash Wednesday
Feb. 18 – First S. in Lent
- 22:1–18
- Psalm 25: 1–10
- James 1:12–18
- Mark 1:9–15
Feb. 25 – Second S. in Lent
- 17:1–7, 15–16
- 22: 23–31
- 5:1–11
- Mark 8:27–38
Peace by the Numbers
Attendance
December 3 125
December 10 146
December 17 105
December 24 132 morning; 111 evening
December 31 77 morning; 38 evening
2017 DONATION TOTALS
Food bank TOTAL = 277 pounds of Food
June’s Kids Kloset changed from bags to pounds in March
January & February = 6 Bags
March on = 153 Pounds
Summer on the Patio!
We are in need of a team to plan for summer activities on the patio. Stargazing with s’mores? The fire going while a music group plays jazz? A movie night under the stars? We have been blessed with a very special space at the church and the possibilities of connecting with one another and the community are endless. If you would like to be on the team to begin to brainstorm, plan and implement summer activities, please contact Pastor Lucke. Summer is not that far off!
Community Partnership
Peace Lutheran Church thrives when it seeks and develops partnerships in the community! A part of the deepening of those partnerships is the simple invitation for them to come to Peace and visit on a Sunday. This year we will be hearing from Compassionate Ministries, Luther House, Teen Challenge and the Philomath Rotary. Our partners will typically be visiting on non-communion Sundays in January and February. Be looking for their visit and ways that you can pray, support and participate for them. When our partners in ministry thrive, we also thrive!
NEW!! Hearing Assistant system available
Peace has purchased a Hearing Assistant system, made possible by some generous memorial gifts for this purpose. At the present time there are four receivers available with around the ear hearing devises. Should you have hearing aides with Telecoil, the receiver we use will send a signal to your hearing aide without additional devises on or in your ear. See Oscar Gutbrod is you are interested in trying out the Hearing Assistant device.
Connections Corner
with Joyce Long
Greetings Peace Family,
Welcome to February, the “month of love,” and of course Valentine’s Day. Love is something that as Christians we should be focusing on every month. So, I’m asking, how are you doing with my challenge? I would love to know if you have managed to get beyond the “fine” and really reach out to others? You don’t have to tell me who, just let me know if you tried and succeeded in really connecting to someone. I hope you will continue meeting my challenge for 2018.
All throughout childhood and teenage years, connecting with others is what we observe in behavior of children and teens. They work on developing friendships and at the same time are working through how they relate to parents, siblings and other authority figures. Even in elementary age children, they are continually figuring out who to be friends with and how. When teens work on relationships it involves some very intense emotional, intellectual and even spiritual experiences. They may have some tense conflicts with parents, friends and teachers. They are not quite ready to make good decisions on their own so they still rely on adults around them (although they may not always show it). This age is interesting for their spiritual development. This is the time they may question their own beliefs and develop their own relationship with God. Parents sometimes fear this time, but it is necessary for them to understand what they believe on their own. Friendships and relationships can be very intense and teens often feel despair when these don’t work out the way they want. This is an important time to be open and really connect to them. We can help them grow and develop in relationship with God.
2 Peter 3:18 says: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen
Lord, thank you for helping us grow, help us to be still and heed your voice.
…to be continued…Blessings Peace Family
Omelet Dinner
Every First Friday of the month, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM at the College Methodist Church is the best kept secret in Philomath, an Omelet dinner made to your liking. Come and join many other Peace members as they enjoy an omelet dinner with special scones. Cost starts at $7. If you don’t like omelets…stay for their scones and gravy!
Men’s Breakfast
February 3rd is time for the Peace Men’s First Saturday Breakfast. The topic for the day will be from Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them”. Do plan to attend, these days we read about intelligent design, what are we to make of this subject? This time we will have Ellen Holroyd’s famous biscuit and gravy! Remember coffee is on at 8:00, breakfast is served at 8:30 and discussion is from 9 – 10. Always looking for those that would like to try their hand at helping preparing breakfast, let Oscar Gutbrod know! Please let Oscar know if you are attending so there is enough food to go around. Please feel free to call Oscar at: 541-231-3954.
Coming Soon, to a Narthex Near You!
A new and improved library.
Pastor has asked me to work on updating the existing library but I would like to know if anyone is in charge of the old one. Please let me know.
This will be a small, select library in the Narthex but won’t be happening until Feb. More to come later.
If anyone has ideas or suggestions, again, please let me know – and you will be selected for the board!
Call or text (541-224-1719), email ([email protected]), or (gasp) talk to me.
Just for the kids
Hey all! We have had some awesome items donated for the kids use on Sunday during fellowship. Most recently we have received a miniature golf set which is easily set up out on the covered area of the patio…all we need is a few putters. Do you have any lying around? Do you know someone who does? IF so please think about donating them to the kids so they can do some outdoor activities.
The nursery/cry room
Due to the kids having limited resources on Sunday, the nursery/cry room has been used by the older kids to play. If possible…please remind your older children, that if they play in the nursery, to play with the toys, but the infant equipment (Pak n’ Play, changing table) should not be used to play with other than dolls, no humans above the age of 2 should be in the crib or changing table. We want our kids to use the toys and to have fun! Thank you!
Every Child Oregon
In Oregon in 2016 there were 11,238 children in foster care for at least 1 day. 66.1% were in more than 1 foster care home. On average 7,600 children in Oregon are in foster care on any given day. Every Child Oregon is a program that works with Department of Human Services to provide much needed supplies to support these children.
Love Inc, is collecting Welcome Boxes and Launch boxes for foster children in our local area.
WELCOME BOXES are for children coming into care so that they are comforted and distracted while DHS finds placement.
Every year nearly 1,000 youth in Oregon age out of the foster care system. LAUNCH BOXES provide basic necessities that will help these youth transition to independent living.
We will be bringing you more information on what to include in the boxes and how you can donate! Stay tuned!
Just a Reminder!
Due to the increased use of our Fellowship Hall,
please be sure to check with the office
IN ADVANCE
if you need to use the Fellowship Hall for an event.
We will coordinate the best we can.
PLEASE PLAN AHEAD!
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