From the Pastor
Happy New Year!
What a wonderful Advent and Christmas season we had at Peace! I witnessed God at work in His people. We had people step up and do a wonderful job of decorating the inside and outside of the church for Christmas—thank you to everyone! We participated in traditions (Holden Evening Prayer and the Children’s Christmas Program) and we did some new activities (the Jesse Advent Tree). We blessed many families in need through the Vina Moses Program, PCS’ Holiday Cheer and Love INC.’s meal sharing program. We saw members invite neighbors to church for Christmas Eve worship!
How could we ever top the activities and worship of December?!? We’ll be reading and sharing from the New Testament’s book of James. What?!? “Pastor—did you just say that? Ugh!” Here are some other things you might be thinking:
- “Didn’t Martin Luther famously call James an epistle of straw?”
- “James only mentions Jesus two times—just two times!”
If you are saying these things, I totally understand. However, I’d like to share why it would be beneficial for us to start the year this way. James understands that God’s gift of grace is our foundation but encourages us to move forward with our response to God’s grace. Here is another way of saying it. James agrees that we are saved by faith alone—but James equally would assert that faith is never alone. Good works naturally flow from faith. Faith moves us to transformed lives and transformed lives of service to others.
James uses the word “mature” seven times in his short letter. Here is the plan for the readings in our church services in January and the first Sunday in February:
January 5 Profiting from Your Problems James 1:1-12
January 12 Believing Better James 2:14-26
January 26 Taming Your Tongue James 3:1-18
February 2 Practicing Patience James 5:7-11
The book of James begins with this statement: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds.” (James 1:2). The word “consider” is an attitude word. Attitude makes a huge difference, doesn’t it? When my attitude is right, I face the day with a positive outlook—even though something challenging might be ahead. When my attitude is right, I enter a conversation with good intentions—even though the conversation has potential for difficulty.
In World War II Victor Frankl was detained in a Nazi Death Camp. He said, “The Nazis took my business, my home, my family, and my wedding ring. They even stripped me naked. But the Nazis couldn’t take away my freedom as to how I would respond.” That is a positive attitude! We can have a positive attitude too as we enter 2025! I wish you the very best in the year ahead….a year of health……a year of living in God’s grace……….a year of positive attitude!
In His Joy, Pastor J
Peace by the Numbers
Plan for Worship
January 5 – 10:00am Worship service with Communion. Epiphany.
January 12 – 10:00am Worship service. First Sunday after Epiphany.
January 19 – 10:00am Worship Service with Communion. Second Sunday after Epiphany.
January 26 – 10:00am Worship Service. Third Sunday after Epiphany.
Prayer Study
I have a confession to make. I am a person who is poor at praying. I suspect many of you share this same confession. We all know we need to pray to our God. My grandmother, Christina, taught me to pray before bed each night. One of my favorite memories is when grandma would come to visit, and at five years old she would have me pray with her before she tucked me in. I am sure many of you remember the same prayer: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. His love be with me through the night and wake me with the morning light. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. In Jesus name, Amen.” I have kept up the tradition of praying before I sleep to this day. I was curious, as I prepared for this study, where did it come from? What I discovered was a surprise! This simple prayer, or a variation traces back to the 18th century! It has been handed down from parents to children for several hundred years! What other historical prayers are there that I don’t know about?
Questions remain. What is prayer? When to pray? How often should we pray? How should we structure our prayer? Why pray? Does God listen to our prayers? What does the Bible tell us about prayer? How to prepare for prayer? What can we learn about prayer from Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, John Calvin? What has Jesus taught us about prayer? What is a Collect, we do this each Sunday, but why? These questions we are going to explore in January and February and much more. Come prepared to learn and engage in a lively discussion of prayer, and hopefully, together with the Holy Spirit, we all can strengthen our prayer life.
Elder Dave Leding
MidWeek Online Bible Study
All are welcome to join Pastor for an online zoom study about walking with Jesus in 2025. We’ll meet for six weeks beginning Wednesday, January 15 at 10 am. The plan is to meet once a week over six weeks. If you must miss a session or two—no worries—jump in the next session that you are able. We’ll cover the topics of discipling, prayer, resting and many of the other aspects of Jesus’ ministry. These may sound like intimidating topics, but they are truly down to earth ways to walk with Jesus. Let Pastor know if you have an interest in attending. He will share the zoom link. Sessions won’t last any longer than 45 minutes. Hopefully we’ll see you soon!
Men’s Breakfast in January
Begin the New Year by attending the Peace/Zion men’s breakfast
The combined Men’s Breakfast with Peace Philomath will be held Saturday January 4, 2025 at Benchwarmers 1895 NW 9th St, Corvallis, OR. Starts at 8:30. Greg Stucky will be leading discussion.
Wishing you all a very HAPPPY NEW YEAR —
Peace Lutheran Ladies Guild News
Don’t forget that Pieces by Peace is active. If you have a craft idea for item(s) for the group to make for our Bazaar please contact Jani Burton, Chairperson.
If you want to join Guild, please just come to the monthly meeting or contact one of the Guild members. Peggy Krueger is always available to receive your questions regarding our activities. Call her any time.
Just a note, Guild will be meeting the second week in January on January 9, at 10:00a.m. Please come join us!
Peggy Krueger, Guild President
Backpack Ministry Working Party
On Wednesday, January 1st at 11:00am, we will be having our second backpack work party of the year. The work party typically lasts about an hour and needs volunteers to help place warming items (hats, scarves, gloves etc.) into a backpack, as well as hygiene items and food/snack offerings. We will be filling 100 backpacks to be handed out to those in need, especially those without homes. If you would like to bring something to contribute, men’s warm socks (new OR laundered used) or individually wrapped snacks are always needed. There is no requirement for bringing items to help. Our final backpack work party will be held on February 17 at 11 am. Please see Diane Crocker if you have questions. Thank you!
The Truth About JAWS
This month the Philomath Rotary Club has a great presentation from Mr. Taylor Chapple, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries at OSU. He will be dispelling the myths around sharks and bring a science-based appreciation to the forefront. This will be a fascinating presentation providing details about the true nature of sharks and how they fit in with the entire marine ecosystem. We hope you can come and remember – lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to Lindy or Dan if you will be attending so we can plan the number of meals.
