Faith Lutheran Church April, 2018 Newsletter

Transcription

1 Faith Lutheran Church April, 2018 Newsletter April 1 April 7 April 8 April 15 April 29 Special Events Easter Worship at 8:00am & 10:45am; Easter Brunch & Egg Hunt at 9:30am Set up for LWML Garage Sale at 5:30pm LWML Garage Sale at 8:00am Call Committee Potluck & Pastoral Survey Presentation at 12:30pm 5 th Sunday Brunch at 9:15am Drawing everyday people to faithfully follow God s Word NW Loop, Stephenville, Texas Website: faithlutheranstephenville.com church.office@faithlutheranstephenville.com

2 Pastor s Page April, 2018 JESUS IS RISEN! -- No fooling. You know the drill for April Fools Day, the first day of April. Pull a prank on someone, and when they fall for it, say April Fools. Yes, it can get kind of silly and simple, or can be quite sophisticated and elaborate. In the end, it is, or should be, a harmless diversion. While no one at Time Magazine or the History Channel knows the exact origin of April Fools Day, there are plenty of theories to go around. You can look them up and decide if you want to believe any of them. The one sure thing I do know about fools is what the Bible says about them: The fool says in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1. Logic alone should verify that. While it may seem intellectual to doubt God s existence or to question certain beliefs about Him in the interest of scientific discovery, it is plain foolish to insist that He does not exist. Not just foolish, but incredibly arrogant. Given all that we know we do not know, how can we know for certain that God does not exist? Only an unscientific mind closed to further discovery would think that. Some honest doubt can lead us to the truth, but assertive atheism is foolish. Among those who accept that God is real, there are still foolish ideas about Him held by those who think they are wise. They insist on God being just and awarding salvation to those who earn it by their own righteous deeds. Yet God s wisdom, which is foolish to many, is that we can only be saved by the foolishness of the cross. God is wise to know that He must do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He is loving to do so. To do that His Son Jesus had to die as a willing sacrifice, which He did. As His body was buried, His enemies, pawns of the devil, thought they had the upper hand and could go on with their preaching of self-righteousness. They did not realize that Jesus had just earned their righteousness for them on the cross. The confirmation that Christ had fulfilled the requirements of God s law for them came on the third day the first Easter. Jesus pranked his enemies by unexpectedly rising from the dead. Were it to happen this year, it would be the ultimate April Fools event. Had Jesus not risen, we would be the fools to believe in Him. But he is risen, and we are wise to accept Him and place our lives into His nail-pierced hands. May the foolishness of the cross make us wise! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! (No fooling.) Alleluia! Pastor Tom Konz April Sermon Themes 1 Christ is risen. In him we rise! Romans 6:1 9 Easter Day 8 That You May Believe John 20: Why Are You Troubled? Luke 24: I Have Other Sheep John 10:16 29 God s Greatness--in You 1 John 4:4

3 Sunday School is for Everyone. Just as God gave His Son to walk here on Earth, He also gave us Jesus in the form of His Word. I encourage you to plug in for Christian Education from 9:45-10:30am every Sunday morning. Youth Classes Adult Classes Journey through Romans with Pastor Tom in the narthex. Everett Seider leads a study on Christian Caregiving A Way of Life in Room Nine. Easter Brunch & Egg Hunt Bring a dish and join us for a potluck brunch at 9:30am. Egg hunt around 10:00am Sunday School resumes April 8. Children 3 and under play in the nursery. Preschool through 1 st graders meet with Cheryl Hatton or Sarah Osterloh in Room 5. 2 nd through 4 th graders meet with Lindsey Genz in the Library. 5 th and 6 th graders are participating in Bible Survey with Bethany Espinoza in Room 8. 7 th through 12 th graders are investigating the lineage of Jesus with Emily Lansmon in the FLY Room. Save the Date: Vacation Bible School July For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 Challenge yourself. Let s grow together in Christ by studying His Word.

4 From the Call Committee: The Pastor Profile survey has wrapped up, and we are pleased to announce that 91 surveys were completed! That s a very high number for a congregation our size. Great job Faith Lutheran! Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 15 th. Reverend Yohannes Mengsteab, mission and ministry facilitator of Area B, will present the Pastor Profile summary information to the congregation. We will gather for a potluck meal at 12:30 PM in the family center followed by Rev. Mengsteab s presentation at 1:00 PM. We look forward to seeing everyone and taking the next step to identifying our next spiritual leader. Sincerely, Call Committee Members: Gary Revere, Everett Seider, Lisa Stroebel, Donna Strohmeyer, Ronnie Tate, Sarah Weaver, Melissa Weber, Greg Wertz, Terry West Excerpted from President Reverend Ken Hennings letter to Pastors and Congregations of the Texas District. On behalf of the Texas District, thank you for your generosity in After Hurricane Harvey, we experienced a decrease in giving by a number of congregations in the Houston area. Through December, the Texas District was behind in its overall anticipated congregational giving. However, January 2018 receipts were abundant the largest ever received for this month. Your tremendous outpouring of generosity has allowed the district to end the fiscal year with a balanced budget. With your support, the district can continue to reach the lost, disciple the saved and care for people. HYMN SING We all have been invited! Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ at Calvary Baptist Church (155 River North Blvd here in Stephenville) have invited us and all of the Stephenville Community to join them for Heavenly Highway Hymn Sing on Saturday, April 14 at 6:00 PM. Note it on your calendar and be there to raise your hearts and voices to God in song!

5 Faith Lutheran Church Stephen Ministry Reach the Lost Disciple the Saved Care for People These are among the first things you see when you go online to the Texas District LCMS website. Strengthening congregations to focus on all of the above, including these locally and globally. We, as members of Faith Lutheran may be parents and children, husbands or wives, neighbors and friends, employers or employees, officials and citizens. Our location within this network of human relationships describes our role and to some extent prescribes it. The needs of those whom we find around us function as God s calling to be his co-workers. Among the most precious and useful of all the gifts given to humankind in creation to assist in carrying out the commission of dominion is the gift of reason. This gift is used to decide how, where, when, and to what extent we serve as God s coworkers. There are no biblically prescribed inventories or strategies to discover, develop, and deploy our gifts. God has given us the gift of reason to develop such instruments and tools. (Paraphrase from: A Report of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod September 1994) This year Faith Lutheran will again be asking all members to participate in another Spiritual Gifts inventory. Not only is this personally beneficial to you, but it also will assist your leaders and our incoming Pastor when God chooses to let us know whom he has sent. As we all continue in our daily lives and maintain focus on the charge we have on Caring for People, your Stephen Ministry leaders are in the early stage of planning for another Stephen Ministry training class next spring. It s not too early to let your leaders know of your intention to join this training and expand your personal understanding of how to more enrich the gifts God has given you. Though relatively new to Faith Lutheran, God has richly blessed this program for over 41+ years to help us all grow in compassion, patience, listening, persistence, insistence and empathy as they become more personally apparent through caring for those in need. Through this and other programs, God may be calling you to be one of these caring, committed servants who offer Christ s love to those who are hurting. Consider making an inquiry or fill out an application and put it in our mailbox. Your leaders will set up a meeting to discuss your interest and timing for joining this ministry.

6 Christ in the Passover Meal

7 aith utheran outh Thank you to all the youth who helped at Faith School s 5k and Craft Show! It was a very successful event, and I had a lot of fun checking out the petting zoo and playing at the dunk booth! Coming in April: we will help with the LWML Garage Sale, observe Easter and all corresponding events, hang out on the 2 nd and 4 th Sunday afternoons, and pick back up with our regular FLY schedule! June Camp Shiloh June Mission Trip July VBS April Calendar! If you have home events, please let me know! Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday SS 9:45 FLY 6-8pm 8 SS 9:45 Hang out 4-6pm 15 SS 9:45 Anna s Bday 22 SS 9:45 Hang out 4-6pm 29 5 th Sunday Brunch Tori s Bday Mission Trip MTG FLY 6-8pm Rett s Bday 23 Eric s Bday 30 Jamee s Bday 18 FLY 6-8pm FLY 6-8pm Final Payment for Camp and Mission Trip due 5 6 Set up Garage Sale 7 LWML Garage Sale 8am-2pm Noah s Bday

8 Greetings in the name of the Lord! It s April and we rejoice in the great blessing of Easter and knowing God fulfilled His promise to send a Savior. The promise and prophecy was fulfilled that special morning we now call Easter. Praise the Lord! We are also praising the Lord for the wonderful support of our Faith Lutheran family. You always continue to generously support the Mite projects with your donations each month. You gave $45.37 in February and $ at our special Muffins for Missions brunch in March. Below are the reports on Mites collected Texas District (all projects in Texas only) and also International totals (projects all over the USA). And the skit about shooting stars and sparklers) was wonderful and reminded us to keep sharing the Gospel and God s love! A report of one of the projects is elsewhere in the newsletter. Texas District Mites Report Texas District Mite Report through February Projects District Goal $362, Mites Received $314, Total Mites Still Needed $47, International Mites Report International Mites Report through February Projects International Goal $2,075, Amount Received $ 831, Total Mites Still Needed $1,243, We also gave $50.00 to Lutheran World Relief for the costs of shipping quilts and kits. continued

9 Four couples completed the Marriage Bible study led by Brandon and Whitney Lee. It will be repeated sometime in the future. Some discussion has taken place about helping fund a Big Screen TV for the Narthex area. It was decided to table this until some future date when the next pastor is here and offers more input. Our next big event is the annual Church Wide Garage Sale on April 7 th. Set up begins at 6:00 Friday evening in the Family Center. Please bring your donations priced if at all possible, and help put them out on tables or around the gym. If you need things picked up, please call the church office or Lynann Simpson. To help on Saturday, contact Lynann Simpson. All proceeds are to benefit various church ministries and our Youth (thanks SO much to all the Youth for their help each year!) On Sunday, April 8 th, several of our ladies will attend the Spring Workshop for LWML at Holy Cross in Arlington. We will ride together, leaving church about 12:30pm. Speak with Marlene White for more information. The Texas District LWML Convention is to be held in Waco July 6-8 th. Below you can see the theme and also a link to control/click on to get more information on registering. Rachel Moravec and Marlene White are planning to attend to represent our group. Whitney Lee will be there as the Districe Communications officer. It is an amazing event. Consider going even for a day, since it is so close! Control/Click on this Link for more convention information, registration, etc. Our next planning meeting will be Monday, April 9 th at 6:00pm in Room 6 of the Family Center. ALL women are welcome to come. Blessings to all! Serving the Lord with Gladness

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11 S.A.I.L. (Seniors Alive In the Lord) Thank you Lynann for the wonderful trip to Cabo St Lucas. Lots of sunshine and fun things to do. We were all ready to pack our bags and head out. We had ten (10) people attend this month's meeting to discuss our activities for the next several months. We will have a Bible study with Pastor at Good Tree on April 5. Then we are going to Clark Gardens April 19th. There is a gate-fee of $7 per person. We will have carts for some to ride and some of us will be able to walk and enjoy all the great things to see. We will have lunch on our way back A sign-up sheet will be put up on bulletin board for anyone who wants to attend. Early sign-up for this activity will be greatly appreciated. We are going to sponsor a church wide book gathering starting April 2nd. If you have books to donate, a box will be set up in the narthex. Donated books will be taken to Ft Worth to sell. Any money generated will give SAIL funds for special projects. In May, we will have a Bible Study with Pastor on the 3 rd, and we will go to the Braille workshop on May 17th. Look for more details on this trip next month. Anniversary Acknowledgement Since June is normally recognized as being the traditional month for weddings, this year on Sunday, June 3 rd, we will honor all married couples of our Faith Family who are celebrating a special anniversary this year. Those include any multiple of 5 years (5, 10, 15, etc.) and all those of 50 years or more. If this includes you, please send a message to Lisa Stroebel (Lisa.Stroebel@faithlutheranstephenville.com) or Arnold Ramming (Arnold.Ramming@faithlutheranstephenville.com) so we can include your information in that service.

12 Faith has updated how we Stay updated at faithlutheranstephenville.com communicate members need for prayer, and it s easy to join. Simply text PRAY to the number on your cell phone, and you will be connected to the prayer team. When special or urgent prayer is needed, you will receive a text message from the church with the request. If you need a prayer, contact the church office, and the request for prayer will go out to the prayer team on your behalf. April is a 5 th Sunday Food Collection Month for H.O.P.E. During months with five Sundays, Faith Lutheran collects non-perishable food items to donate to H.O.P.E. s food pantry. If you would like to help, please bring your items to church during April and leave them on or under the table in the narthex. At the end of the month, we will take all collected food items to H.O.P.E. Thank you for supporting this important community resource. Like us on facebook at FaithLutheranStephenville LWML Garage Sale Set up: Friday, April 6 at 6:00pm Sale: Saturday, April 7 from 8am until 2pm. NO technology items, please. For online purchases through Amazon, use the following link, and choose Faith Lutheran as your charitable organization. A percentage of the proceeds from your purchases through Amazon Smile will be given back to Faith Lutheran. Thank You for Your Support!

13 Safety Team Update As the Safety Team continues their efforts to keep Faith a safer place to worship, please take note of the following reminder: Beginning Sunday, April 8, the south door between the playgrounds and both sets of double doors beneath the breezeway (to the family center and church) will remain locked on Sunday mornings. A greeter / attendant will be positioned in the hallway to greet folks and assist them in. Regular church greeters will remain at their location near the sanctuary. The Safety Team is requesting additional volunteers to serve as greeters / attendants. The greeter / attendant will be asked to remain in the narthex and/or hallway through the duration of worship service to help people in. With sufficient volunteers, the Safety Team intends that greeters / attendants will serve only one Sunday per month. If you have questions about being a greeter / attendant, please speak with one of the Safety Team members Everett Seider, Lee Barlow, Magan Carrasco, Troy Kimbrough, Brandon Lee, Gary Revere, Jeff Stroebel, Lisa Stroebel or Donna Strohmeyer. A sign-up sheet for greeter / attendant is located on the church bulletin board. And, beginning monthly in April during Witness Word, the Safety Team will speak on various safety topics including: AED (Automated External Defibrillator) Units Emergency Exits Tornado Safety Fire Safety CPR / First Aid If you would like to join the Safety Team or if you have ideas to share, please speak with Everett Seider. Remember: Our goal is to help make Faith a safer place for our church members, Faith School children and guests. Call-Process Presentation with Potluck Mowers Needed Look for the sign-up sheet on the church bulletin board. Sign up with a friend or a pair of friends. Mowing takes less time with a group. Sunday, April 15, at 12:30pm in the family center Please volunteer to bring food. Sign-up sheets available on the church bulletin board & at FD0-callprocess

14 1 October 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 9:30am Easter Brunch & Egg Hunt~FFC 8 5:00pm Board of Evangelism Meeting~Library 6:30pm Stephen Ministry S&CE~ Narthex 15 LWML Sunday *Anna Gray 12:30pm Call Process Update w/potluck Meal 1:00pm Narthex Rental 2:30pm LWML Trinity Zone Spring Workshop 22 9:30am Board of Stewardship Mtng~School Off. 6:30pm Stephen Ministry S&CE~ Narthex 29 *Tori Cameron 2 4:30pm Board of Education Mtng~Emily s Off. 5:45pm Delta Kappa Gamma Mtng~Narthex 6:45pm FaithField 9 *Emily Lansmon *Brianna Hodges 6:30pm Board of Elder s Mtng 6:45pm FaithField 16 *Donna Kirklen 6:00pm Church Council Mtng~ Room 6 6:45pm FaithField 23 *Eric Carrasco *David Stelter 6:30pm Safety Team Meeting~ 6:45pm FaithField 30 *Tyler Lee *Jamee Nelson *Rachel Cinquepalmi *Celebrating Birthday 6:45pm FaithField 3 *Jessica Evans 5:30pm PFS Mtng~Narthex 6:00pm FaithField 6:30pm Call Committee Mtng~Rm 9 10 Circuit Pastors Conference 6:00pm FaithField 17 *Rett Douglas *Chase Hamaker *Cindy Stafford 6:00pm FaithField 24 *Sarah Weaver *Jim Myers 6:00pm FaithField Sunday Schedule 8:00am Divine Service 9:15am Brunch 9:45am Sunday School for all ages 9:45am 5 th /6 th Grade Bible Survey Class 10:45am Divine Service (follow this schedule unless noted otherwise) 4 *Pat Weber 11 *Sheila Small *Ken VanMatre 5 *Delaney Hodges 10am S.A.I.L. Bible Study at Good Tree 6:00pm FaithField 6:30pm Adult Vocal Choir~Sanctuary 12 6:00pm FaithField 6:30pm Adult Vocal Choir~Sanctuary *Kameron Seider 25 *Julian Barksdale *Ann Calahan 8:30am S.A.I.L. Trip to Clark Gardens 6:00pm FaithField 6:30pm Adult Vocal Choir~Sanctuary 26 *Justin Pack 6:00pm FaithField 6:30pm Adult Vocal Choir~Sanctuary 6 *Tyler Mitchell MOW Pack 10am Creative Kindness Craft Ministry 5:30pm Set up for LWML Garage Sale 13 MOW Sparkman 20 *Noah Ashley MOW Faith Staff 27 MOW - Simpson Wednesday Schedule 4:30pm Children s Music~Narthex 5:00pm 7 th Grade First Year Confirmation Class~Room 6 5:00pm 8 th Grade Second Year Confirmation Class~Youth Room 6:00pm FLY Meal & Fellowship in the FFC 7:00pm Adult Chime Choir~Narthex (follow this schedule until otherwise noted) Tuesdays & Thursdays in April Faith Family Center Occupied ~Linne / Dupre Attending 6:00pm 9:30pm 7 *Cindy Franz 8:00am LWML Garage Sale 14 *Kaci Hatfield *Mark Gallagher 21 5:00pm FFC Occupied~ Nehring Attending Faith AllStars meet on FaithField every Monday in April at 5:30pm. The family center is the backup bad weather location. 28

15 Acolytes 1 st Service Acolytes 2nd Service 1st Mason Hatton Tyler Lee 8th Joseph Gray Tate Maruska 15th Kallan Kimbrough Logan Hanna 22nd Tori Cameron Daniel Carrasco 29th Kameron Seider Elliott Nehring 1st 8th 15th Readers- 1 st Service R. Tate/T. Kimbrough Tisha Gray Bethany Espinoza 22nd Joann Schulze 29th Terry West GREETERS 1 st Dorwin & Joann Schulze 2 nd Lisa Stroebel Ushers 1st 8th 15th Readers- 2 nd Service Whitney Lee Will Lansmon Mark Weber 22nd Magan Carrasco 29th Rosanne Keilers 1st 8th 15th 22nd 29th 6th Meals on Wheels Pack 13th Sparkman 20th 27th Faith Staff Simpson Altar Flowers Easter Lilies Osterloh Family Gray Family Open Cameron Family 1 st Bob Small & Open 2 nd Will Lansmon & Jason Young Altar Guild Cheryl Hatton Date Snack Snack Snack Drink/Server 1st Easter Brunch Everyone brings a breakfast item to share and/or juice or milk 8th West Wertz Konz Moravec 15th A. Ramming Carrasco Keilers Fredrickson 22nd Hatton Angerhofer Cameron Bills 29th 5 th Sunday Brunch Everyone bring a breakfast item to share and/or juice