February 2016, Vol. 16, Issue 2

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1 PastorBrock Cain Web: Phone: Laurie Green, Editor 309 Hwy 90 Waveland, Mississippi The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. It s that time again in the church year when many faithful individuals prepare the way for their commemoration of the Lord s crucifixion and resurrection through sacrifice. The practice has become more commonly thought of as giving up something for the Lenten season and often includes denial of a favorite treat or luxury. Many also see it as a meaningful opportunity to kick a particularly nasty habit or reboot an area of life that might benefit from a little more discipline. I have and continue to observe Lenten sacrifices myself in many of these ways, but in recent years I ve come to better understand the spirit motivating these practices, and my devotion in this season has grown accordingly. The central question for many is why one might observe this tradition in the first place. Many have questioned (and justly so) whether this practice of sacrifice is a healthy spiritual discipline or simply a work that, when followed through to the end, offers a self esteem boost. I certainly think we might ask that question of all of our spiritual practices, including worship, devotion, and fellowship. When our spiritual practices become habits we give ourselves over to in order that we might glorify ourselves or please others, then spiritual health and growth stumble. Whatever we do in the name of God, we are called to do in recognition of His gracious love, the gifts which connect us to Him in this February 2016, Vol. 16, Issue 2 Psalm 51:17, ESV life, and the promise of an eternal place in His Kingdom. In this time and in all seasons, there is a place for giving of ourselves in celebration of God s gifts. Taking away that which distracts us from God s presence and promises draws us in closer fellowship to Him. Those effects are felt and shared by those we encounter who see in us the love and friendship we celebrate. To offer a sacrifice of praise is to acknowledge that our spirits have been uplifted and transformed by the gifts of God s Spirit. In this time we give thanks that we have been released from our lowly state and bondage to the things of this world by the sacrifice that brings salvation to all mankind- the giving of one life on a cross in exchange for all lives. It is this sacrificial gift that gives meaning to all our responses to God. Lenten offerings and sacrifices should not be painful or humiliating demonstrations. Rather they are opportunities to put into action our recognition of grace by letting go of what isn t a gift of God s love. We might achieve this by including actions such as devotion or mercy instead of excluding things. However you celebrate God s gifts, I pray you do so in the spirit of joy and thanksgiving for what has been received. God s Peace, Pastor Brock A pine cone is the seed-bearing fruit of the pine tree; those seeds will plant other trees. Here at the Lutheran Church of the Pines, we believe that our members are not here solely to nourish ourselves; we carry the Word (seeds) with us out into the world to plant in other God s children we meet. 1

2 Greetings from the Outreach Ministry, Thank you to everyone who came out to help work the concession stand for Nereids parade. We had tons of fun and made lots of friends. Between the concession stand and the noise offering we were able to raise $ for CASA of Hancock County. WOW! You all did that! This month has gone by so fast and before you know it February 13 th will be here. Don t forget to purchase your tickets for Italian Night. The money that we make goes toward The National Youth Gathering. Also, this month the teens started a 4-week DVD curriculum called Reframing Jesus. We are having a blast taking what we think we know about Jesus and reframing Him to build a stronger relationship with Him. Next month we re starting a 5- week small group study called Messy Stuff. This study will help our teens examine the reality of our messy lives and discover how valuable they are to God. They will also be learning the right and wrong way to handle those messy situations. In other news, March 21 st will be the start of our newest outreach program. We are calling it Monday Night Life Support, which will host classes and a support group. At this moment the classes will be Life s Healing Choices, Christian Active Parenting, and a support group for parents of special needs children. Keep watching for further details, dates, and times. Once again, thank you all for your continued effort for community outreach. Counting It All Joy, Hope Roche Outreach Ministry Coordinator Italian Night Entrée will be your choice of: Cheese Stuffed Meatballs and Spaghetti Or Italian Sausage Sweet Pepper Fettuccini (All entrees include spinach orzo soup or salad, Dessert, and beverage) Children s Menu: Traditional Spaghetti Or Grilled Cheese (Includes grapes, dessert, and beverage) Dinner times 5pm, 6pm, and 7pm (Dinner will be served by reservation only) Tickets $15 an adult and $3 a child 2

3 Did You Know? Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which correlates to Jesus s 40-day fast in the wilderness, culminating on Maundy Thursday. In this period, we prepare ourselves for Easter when we ritually pass over with Jesus from death to new life. During this Lenten season, we remember Jesus s baptism and His anointing with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was anointed to show and to be mercy and we are reminded that we are called to be His instruments of mercy. We receive the ashes on our foreheads this day as a sign of penitence and baptismal remembrance. The ashes are prepared by burning palm branches from last year s Palm Sunday. In a dramatic way, their use suggests God s judgement and condemnation of sin, our frailty and total dependence on God, and our humiliation and repentance. The words spoken are just as imposing, Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. These words were first spoken to Adam after his fall into sin. However, the use of ashes also suggests cleaning and renewal, as they were once used as a cleaning agent. Thus, the imposition of ashes in the shape of a cross symbolizes both judgement and grace. Source: LCMS Document Library Ash Wednesday Service, The Spirit Annointed Christ for Mercy Lenten Worship Series FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES Dear Lord, Thank you for the time You have given us with our loved ones. Please bless the coming year as we celebrate with the ones still here and honor those who are now with You. Guide us as we treasure these memories and make new ones. Amen. Linda Cuevas 3 rd Colby Spiers 18 th Fred Lister IV 4 th Leslie Williams 19 th Josh Eichelberger 5 th Natalie Myers 20 th Paul Wolf 6 th Anna Cucurullo 21 st Fred Breland 11 th Frederick Lister III 24 th Mallorie Cantrelle 11 th Rev. John Ellermann 25 th Terry Guenard 13 th Celine Shankle 25 th Josie Wicken 14 th Sasha King 26 th Patricia Vandervort 17 th Ryan Proulx 27 th George Kessner 18 th Vernon Paroli 27 th Leo & Shirley Hastman (In Memory of Leo) Leo & Martha Driscoll Fred & Carole Janssen (In Memory) 2 nd 14 th 19 th 3

4 Please consider donating flowers in celebration of marriages, anniversaries, baptisms and birthdays, or to say Congratulations or Thank you. You may sign up on the flower chart posted on the wall outside the sanctuary. Your donation will be included in the Sunday bulletin and/or here in the Pine Cone. FEBRUARY WEEKLY HELPERS Flower Donations Date Flowers provided by In Honor/Memory of 2/7 Nan Bousfield In memory of Mom, Grace Bousfield 2/14 Tommy Martin 2/21 Lauren & Tim Cross In memory of brother Rusty 2/28 Juanita Weary If you would like the Altar Guild to purchase flowers on day you sign-up, please contact Shirley Halterman at or Dave Kelso at ). After the morning worship, you may take home the flowers you have donated or, if you prefer, the blooms can be delivered to shut-ins, hospitals, or other facilities, bringing beauty and community to those who cannot be physically present in church. Date/Time 2/7 Greeters Sunday Worship Service Helpers Altar Assistant 8:30 Juanita Weary Dave Kelso 10:30 Cassie Breland 2/10 6:30PM N/A 2/14 2/21 2/28 Gene Jackson Gene Jackson 8:30 Juanita Weary Dave Kelso 10:30 Paula & Terri Carter Gene Jackson 8:30 Juanita Weary Dave Kelso 10:30 Tina Peters Gene Jackson 8:30 Juanita Weary Dave Kelso 10:30 Chandra Dalton Gene Jackson Ushers Nursery Staff Readers Acolytes Nolin & Ginnie Briley Paula Carter & Tommy Martin Bruce Prestien & Brandon Witt Sasha & Terry King Bruce & Debra Rushing Mark Myers & Vernon Paroli Colby Spiers & Haleigh Hanley Leo & Martha Driscoll Laurie Green & Becky Wilde N/A Hope Roche MJ Haleigh Hanley Cassie Breland Mallory N/A N/A Mallory N/A Christina Eichelberger Richard Hackmann Penny Allen Mariya Mallory N/A Terry King Mariya Aubrey Green Betty Ho Mallory N/A Laura King Mariya Stephanie Eichelberger Paula Carter Mallory Wednesday Night Grub 2/3 Hope Roche & Shanna Dixon 2/10 Pot Luck, please have food here by 5:30 2/17 Tommy Martin 2/24 OPEN 4

5 Devotion for Children: Lent Bible Verse: Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 Message: In about 40 days we will be celebrating Easter. That s the time we celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead. In our church we call this 40-day preparation period Lent. It s a special season of prayer where we take a look at our own lives and make sure we are doing what God wants us to do and becoming the people God wants us to be. I want you to pretend someone has asked us to come and play in the park. Let s go! But first let s pretend there is a road right in front of us here. What should we do? Should we just go straight across? No, first we need to STOP. Then what should we do after stopping? That s right - we need to LOOK to see if a car is coming. Then what? That s right - we need to LISTEN. OK, we took time to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN. It looks safe so now we can cross. If we are going to keep safe while going to all the exciting places in life, we need to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN before crossing streets. In life it is important to do the same thing. We get so busy and we are often in a rush. It s very important that we take time to STOP, to LOOK around and think about what we are doing. Are we doing what God wants us to do? Are we becoming the sort of person that God wants us to be? And we need to LISTEN to God, by reading the Bible and taking time to pray. This season of Lent is a great time to do just that. If we do take time to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN, we can make sure our lives our lined up with God, that we are safe and that we will enjoy all the wonderful adventures that God has for us. Pray: Dear God. Help us always remember to take time to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN when we are crossing a street. Help us also to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN especially during this time of year called Lent. Activity The Legend of the Lenten Pretzel A very long time ago, a monk (person who lives his life for God and lives with other monks in a monastery) was preparing a special Lenten bread of water, flour and salt because he lived in a time when you could not eat meat or milk or eggs during Lent! The monk decided to use the leftover pieces of Lenten bread dough for something special. He formed the dough into thin strips crossed into a looped twist to be like the folded arms of children in prayer. That was how children held their hands to pray in those days. This treat was given to the children as they learned their prayers. They began calling the treat "pretiola," which means "little reward" in Latin (a common language of the monks). Soon it was known the world over as a pretzel. And pretzels are still made of water, flour and salt. The simple shape of the pretzel, arms folded in prayer, reminds us to pray every day. So every time you see a pretzel, remember prayer! 5

6 Budget Noise Offering Last month s noise offering was for CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) for Children. CASA is a national network of volunteers who advocate on behalf of abused and neglected children in the community. Volunteers provide stability to these children s lives by staying with the child until a permanent home is found. More information about Hancock County s CASA can be found at their Facebook page: Lutheran Church of the Pines raised $ for this mission through its Noise Offering last month. February s noise offering will go to the Hancock Food Pantry. The Pantry was founded in 1986 by area churches to provide food and personal hygiene products for Hancock residents who have an immediate crisis, or emergency, need. It is the only full-time pantry in the county, despite being 100% operated by volunteers. Qualifying heads of household can receive provisions once every 90 days by presenting documents at the Pantry building on Hwy 603. More information on seeking assistance or offering support to the Pantry can be found online at or by calling Last month, we installed the new leadership team: And then there was the day of the parade 6

7 Christianity in the News! Kick Soccer Aside, Kids Need Religious Education Published January 18, The Bible says, Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22.6). This verse is comforting in its directness and certainty that a well-instructed child will forge a good path for adulthood. How re we doing with that, America? Given our busy lives and our children s over-scheduled status, religious education seems to have taken a backseat in the family car. On any given Sunday in the fall, spring or summer, that car is more likely to pull up at a soccer field than a church. There is a sentence religious education teachers hear over and over again in the new millennium: I won t be here I have a game. I can t tell you how deflating that is, to hear from your students that sports has once again taken precedence over religious education, a 7th-grade Catholic CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) teacher in Austin, Texas, told LifeZette. It all boils down to the parent, and what that parent considers important. It seems as if children s sports teams and other activities are the new Gods we serve. There needs to be separation of church and sports, and that separation must comes from the moms and dads out there. Chris Roberts, a father of two, is not prepared to simply accept the new-millennium status quo of sports on Sundays. We have to model for our kids what our priorities are, he told baptistmessenger.com. If enough kids didn t show up, teams or leagues would have to re-evaluate the schedules. There are many important reasons your child should be involved in religious education. Children can explore what their call to faith is through religious education, Mickie Abatemarco, assistant director of professional development for the National Catholic Educational Association, told Lifezette. After baptism, parents are the child s first teacher, but CCD or enrollment in Catholic school continues that in such a meaningful way. Many parents agree with the importance of religious education. According to the latest Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) report, which provides data culled from their social science research on the Catholic Church, there were nearly 2.7 million elementary-age children enrolled in Catholic education in the U.S. in In the northeast you do hear more about churches and parishes closing, but down in the south, and particularly the southeast, our numbers are very robust, said Abatemarco. It can be a struggle to get your kids on the same page regarding a commitment to spiritual education. I literally dragged my boys for years to Sunday school and church, and I uttered some words I m not proud of, not your normal Sunday words, waiting for them to roll out of bed and get ready. I m sure they uttered some, too, a Washington State dad told Lifezette. But, he continued, it became routine after a few months. And I run this ship, and one hour a week given to God will benefit them as men. I figure I am caring for their souls by ruining their Sunday morning. An emphasis on religious instruction is very important in the Jewish faith, too. More than a coming of age ritual, the bar mitzvah (for boys) and bat mitzvah (for girls) is relevant in the 21st century because of three major factors, said Rabbi Jason Miller of Detroit. First, it puts an emphasis on learning. Yes, young adults learn in school, but this ritual encourages extra-curricular learning for its own sake. Second, it demonstrates the importance of community. Bar and bat Mitzvah celebrations are important to Jewish communities as a whole, acknowledging our cultural history, promoting unity and the significance of our faith traditions. Finally, these lifecycle rituals teach young adults that their accomplishments are worthy of celebration, he added. We, as a community, celebrate their new adult-like responsibilities in a Jewish setting. Whether your child is enrolled in Catholic school or attends CCD, the learning should never stop, said Abatemarco. It is so important for this not to be a drop-off thing, but for families to really get involved together in church life. And confirmation isn t graduation; after students complete their years of instruction, they can do service together with their family. She added, That connects a family in the strongest way possible. By faith. 7

8 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Adult Bible Study 1pm Contemporary Worship Dinner 5:45pm Worship Service 6:30pm 4 Lifetree Café 7pm-8pm 5 Haltermans Bible Study 7pm 6 Ladies Night 6pm 7 Worship Service 8:30am SS/Adult Bible Class 9:15am Worship Service 10:30am Teen Night 6pm Ash Wednesday Potluck Dinner 5:30pm Worship Service 6:30pm Lifetree Café Haltermans Bible Study Italian Night 7pm-8pm 7pm 14 Worship Service 8:30am SS/Adult Bible Class 9:15am Worship Service 10:30am Teen Night 6pm Men s Group 6:30pm 17 Adult Bible Study 1pm Contemporary Worship Dinner 5:45pm Worship Service 6:30pm Lifetree Café Haltermans Bible Study 7pm-8pm 7pm Darkness 2 Light 10am-noon 21 Worship Service 8:30am SS/Adult Bible Class 9:15am Worship Service 10:30am Teen Night 6pm Adult Bible Study 1pm Contemporary Worship Dinner 5:45pm Worship Service 6:30pm Lifetree Café Haltermans Bible Study 7pm-8pm 7pm 28 Worship Service 8:30am SS/Adult Bible Class 9:15am Worship Service 10:30am Saints Alive Brunch noon Teen Night 6pm 29 Notes: 8

9 February Message Board If you have announcements for upcoming 36 th Annual JOY Spring Auction events or general messages for the congregation, be sure you let the editor know. You can call me or text me at , me at Wednesday, March 9 albalaurie@gmail.com, or leave me a note in the newsletter mailbox of Mrs. Liane s office! Please sign up on the 2016 Flower Chart by the picture board Pinezino s Restaurant Italian Night Saturday, February 13, 2016 Tickets go on sale Sunday, Jan 3 $15 per adult $3 per child As always, thank you to our wonderful team. I couldn t produce this newsletter every month without you. Laura, Rachel, Shanna, Christina, Hope, I appreciate you more than you know! -Laurie Bible Study Friday nights 7pm Haltermans residence - Laurie Featuring quilts, crafts, home-baked goods, plants, vintage items, and estate items 9 Lamb of God Lutheran Church Allen Rd Slidell, LA *Doors open at 9am *Auction begins at 9:30am *Complimentary light lunch at 12:30am *Auction resumes at 1pm In support of CCC, NAMI, STARC, & Mt. Olive Feeding Center Teen Night Sundays at 6pm Bring a friend!! Men s Group will meet every 3 rd Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm. For questions, ask Gene Jackson at Darkness 2 Light seminar sponsored by Hope Haven February 20 10am noon Fellowship hall For questions, ask Hope Roche SEND ME YOUR PICTURES! Whether it s pictures of personal or family events or if you were taking pictures at a church event, send them to me and I would love to include them in the newsletter! You can text them to me at , them to me at albalaurie@gmail.com, or leave them in my mailbox in Mrs. Liane s office. - Laurie

10 Lutheran Church of the Pines 309 Highway 90 Waveland, MS Sent with love and a prayer for: Topics this month: 2/4 Why are you so hard on yourself? 2/11 The Witch Next Door 2/18 Conquering Conflict 2/25 Loving Those with Cancer Thursdays 7pm-8pm Worship Opportunities: Worship with Holy Communion 8:30am Sunday School & Adult Bible Class 9:15am Worship with Holy Communion 10:30am Wednesday Contemporary Service 6:30pm (Contemporary Service with a light meal before at 5:45pm) 10