ASCENSION NEWSLETTER. ~ Equipped to Respect and Love as Christ Does ~ October Officers

Transcription

1 October 2018 ASCENSION NEWSLETTER Officers John Peterson, President Richard Tellman, Vice-President Alex Norton, Treasurer Ruth Partain, Recording Secretary Kathy Schulz, Financial Secretary Directors Open, Evangelism Linda Hall, Education Cheryl Pitts, Stewardship Susan Dube, Fellowship David Ellis, Grounds Charles Kettell, Board of Properties Open, Public Relations Elders Eric Marrero Michael McAllister Jim Pitts Michael Schulz 8888 County Rd 64 Daphne AL Church: Rev. Ralph Hough, Pastor ~ Equipped to Respect and Love as Christ Does ~ 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one has ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the Church- for we are members of His body. For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery- but I am talking about Christ and the Church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5: Just over a month ago, Aretha Franklin was laid to rest. Her long career as a vocal performer lent her the moniker, the Queen of soul! Her break through hit R.E.S.P.E.C.T. brought to light the need for respect to be received and given to our fellow man in order for harmony and peace to exist between us, male/female, black/ white, etc. Harmony and fellowship were and still is God s plan for fruitful human existence so that everything, well-ordered, might be for the glory of God and for mankind s good. From the beginning, Jesus would say (Matt 19), and For this reason, Paul says a husband will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. The union between husband and wife is no coincidence: God planned for this relationship to mirror Jesus relationship to the Church, His called-out believers, who by faith trust His sacrifice as the price paid for our sin. In Christ we are forgiven, given the gift of the Holy Spirit and made a part of His family who seek to follow Him as His gathered people in time and for eternity. Luther would say in our catechism: For all this it is my duty thank and praise, serve and obey Him! We obey Him as we allow Jesus to be the head, the one who leads us by His Word in the way He wants us to respond to and by His grace. Our obedience is done together as we are washed with water through the Word to be holy and blameless As we worship, learn, care and reach out, we grow in love for one another as God s love and mercy fill our soul with every good thing from above. When we do not respect the role God has given each of us, then we will fall short of His desire for us to be one in Him. Our personal plans for the future then dovetail the Church s plans as God s representatives in the world to be a witness to the world of His love, grace and acceptance through Jesus. As a husbands love for his wife shows forth the love Jesus has for the Church, the wife s respect for her husband shows forth the respect the Church has for Jesus and His Word. Continued on page 2

2 Missional Thinking Is our Church a Fort 30% of members ride into the fort ONCE a week and then ride back out intending NOT to be influenced or to influence the people who live out on the frontier. Frontier people have no interest in discovering what fort people do inside their forts or if it might add any value to their lives. Some churches like being forts. Forts keep the bad people out, their influence out, and away from the good people who ride in/out of the fort. Many churches, and their leaders, don t like being forts. They see the biblical disconnect of a people called to Go and Make Disciples As the Father sent me; so I send you But the forces of the fort make it almost impossible to break the ride-into/ride-out-of-the-fort mentality and so there is little influence on the frontier. What is Ascension to you? A fort or frontier. Do we keep our influence in or out? Are the leaders holding you back? I hope you said frontier, we want to be out, and no one is holding me back. That is what Missional Thinking is. We are aware of our influence and are making relationships with those around us. We are building trust with those who are around us and when the trust is there we bring them into our fort. Not the fort of above but the fort of Jesus who surrounds us each and every day. Pray for those around you and pray for them to come to the Fort of Jesus. Sarah Hough OCTOBER WORSHIP THEMES Oct 7 Receiving the Gift as God has Given Oct 14 Believing So You Can Live Oct 21 Doing the Impossible Begins With God Oct 28 The Witness of the Church All Ladies are invited to the Wedding Shower for Loren Peterson. Come on October 29th at 6 pm to wish her well in her upcoming marriage. She is registered at Bed Bath & Beyond. Please bring an appetizer or salad to share. Dessert & drinks will be provided. Call Kathy Schulze if you have any questions. Continued from page 1 Working together to grow in God s grace He equips us to serve a world that is broken, beaten down and thrown away by Satan with unseen rebellion as seen in the horrible acts we humans do to one another. Christians stand in the gap by prayer, involving ourselves to bring solutions of healing and hope so that lives are restored and brought back into harmony with God s people and plan. That s why we are here and why we continually look to the future God has planned for us. In Christ, all things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose and who love Him. Romans 8 Let s Submit ourselves to one another out of reverence to Christ. Got an idea, want to serve, need some encouragement give me a call In Christ service to you, P Ralph 2

3 Nominations for the next Church year Below are the current openings for the church council. Nomination are sought and will be voted on by majority of the Voters Assembly for a term of two years starting on January 1. If there is a position that you feel God is leading you to fill, please make this known to one of the Board members or Pastor so that you may be nominated. If you want to nominate someone else please ask their permission first! Generally, the positions require (preferred) attending monthly council meeting. Part of what goes on in the meeting is ongoing training so that the board remains in step with our mission as we represent the congregation. Nominations for 2019 Officers and Boards (odd Year) And currently serving OFFICERS: President John Peterson (not committed to serve 2019) Secretary Ruth Partain (not committed to serve 2019) Treasurer Alex Norton BOARDS: Board of Elders (Half elected this year: elect 3) 1 Mike Schulz 2 Mike McAllister 3 Position Open Elder 4, 5, 6, are not up for re-election 4 Eric Marrero 5 Position Open 6 Position Open Chairperson, Board of Stewardship, Position -Open Chairperson, Board of Youth, Position -Open Chairperson, Board of Fellowship Susan Dube (not committed to serve 2019) Chairperson, Parochial School, Position -Open (only if voters approve school ministry) (Not up for election, would serve one year than be re-elected) Evangelism, Position -Open Public Relations, Position -Open Save the Date for our annual Thanksgiving Feast for Sunday, November 11th. Turkey will be provided. Please sign up for sides! Sign up sheet coming soon to the Narthex board. We will also celebrate our Veterans so please bring pictures for our dessert table! Christine Dawson 10/1 John Peterson 10/4 Ryan Pazdera 10/6 Pat Burke 10/7 Sharon Hulon 10/13 Pat Zortman 10/14 Clark Hall 10/16 Cheryl Pitts 10/17 Eden Krob 10/18 Kenneth Tews 10/20 Nathan Tews 10/27 Ashley Tews 10/1 Anna Thies 10/4 Lydia Peterson 10/9 Deanna Brown 10/14 Michelle Gray 10/15 Jennifer Tellman 10/16 Morris Weseloh 10/16 Robert Ivy 10/18 Keith Hogancamp 10/20 Donald Gleaves 10/25 Mark Leavins 10/31 Tyler & Christina Krob 10/4 Mel & Vangie Willie 10/24 3

4 Stewardship After the Storm We recently watched in amazement and horror as Hurricane Florence devastated town after town in the Carolinas. As this is written, some of the flooding is still going on. Thousands of people will never return to the life they had the day before Florence arrived, and those who do recover will not do so without years of struggle. Our response as caring Christians is to do something. While physical help and supplies are needed, the greatest need currently is financial. Monetary donations allow for the purchase (often at bulk discounts) of supplies. Two suggestions for your donations are listed below. One is through the Missouri Synod Disaster Response and the other is through the Southeastern District of the LCMS. Both resources are promising that 100% of donations will go to Florence relief. LCMS Disaster Response LCMS World Relief and Human Care s Disaster Response is on the ground in North Carolina, led by Southeastern District President Rev. Dr. John Denninger, as they visit LCMS congregations hit hard by floodwaters following Hurricane Florence. Gifts may be given directly through the LCMS Disaster Response website. The easiest way to get there is to Google LCMS Disaster Response. Options for giving are available there. Also on the page is the opportunity to have gifts matched through Thrivent: Gifts Matched! Double your impact through Thrivent. Learn more and donate at Follow the instructions under Hurricane Florence. Southeastern District LCMS Churches affected by Florence are located in the Synod s Southeastern District. Disaster response teams are already at work in the hardest hit areas. The District website requests prayers for the people and congregations impacted by the disaster. If you wish to donate through the District, donations can be made by: Online: SE.LCMS.ORG/GIVING Phone: Call at the SED office between 8 am and 4pm M-F Mail: Make checks payable to Southeastern District Disaster Relief; 6315 Grovedale Dr.; Alexandria, VA Your generosity is greatly appreciated as are your prayers for the people living and serving in the Carolinas. Cheryl Pitts, Stewardship Chair Children s Ministry Team The Daphne area has been growing for a while and from all indications will continue to grow well into the future. Some of the demographic information shows that conservative Christian moral beliefs and beliefs about God and Jesus are very traditional to traditional in nature. This fits very well with our Lutheran doctrine and faith that God s Word is right and true at all times and in every place for salvation and the good of our community. It also fits very well with the Church s emphasis on leading the children to Christ by means of formal education. Both of these emphasize the need for Ascension to be instrumental in training up the next generation of faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ through means of classroom instruction (beyond Sunday School). As the team continues to put together the Voter Meeting presentation please keep us and this process in your prayers so that we have clarity of mission, clarity of the steps needed to take to accomplish what our Lord Jesus desires of us and for a parochial governing board to oversee the management of this ministry! You may inquire more about his to John Peterson (president), or P Ralph Hough or any others on the team: Cynthia Tellman, Jean Canupp, Jim Dube or Sally Norton. Thank you. 4

5 Sunday Morning Bible Study Opportunities SOMETHING FOR ALL OF US! 1. (Lead by Pastor Ralph) We are continuing our study in the book of Daniel. Soon to come: Life s Big Questions God s Big Answers sometime around late October, early November. More info to follow or check online at 2. Beginning Sunday, October 7, (Lead by Cynthia Tellman) we will begin a study of the consequences and contributions of the 1517 Reformation women. Katharina von Bora provides an elegant, determined example of how Protestant women especially those married to Protestant reformers constructed and legitimated new social roles for themselves, thus, promoting the legitimacy of the Reformation itself in daily life. These women maintained the traditional social norms and customs expected of them and overlaid their confession(s) on their lives. In doing so, von Bora, through her actions, devotion and dedication, aided in the development of a new social role for Protestant women created as one of the many outcomes of the 1517 Reformation: the pastor s wife. Join us in the lobby at 9:15 a.m. to dig deeper into the Reformation! Wednesday Morning and Evening Bible Study continues in the Book of Revelation. Classes are Wednesdays in the morning (9-10:30) and an evening class (7-8:30pm). We have been learning what figurative language for the end times mean and how we are being prepared to face trials and temptations. The format will be Welcome-Intro, Table discussion from homework assignment, question/answer lecture, and prayer. Share in the fellowship and grow in the faith through this exciting book of victory in Jesus that breeds encouragement among the saints! It s not too late to join us! Invite a friend, the more the merrier! More info available online! ourdaphnechurch.org Man Up Men s Breakfast will happen on October 13th. Besides food and fellowship we will enjoy some good devotional discussion (Chapter 8 The Portrait of Man: Christ ). You do not need a copy of the book a discussion guide is provided. Please feel free to invite a friend and join us! 7:30-9am. Confirmation Elijah Stevens and Noel Thies are our confirmands and it is a joy to have these young folks in class! Please keep our youth in your prayers. If you have any questions call P Ralph

6 Upcoming Events CAFÉ devotional Praise/ Prayer and Share gathering will be October 16. our time of praise, devotion and prayer will center on our October Newsletter Scripture. Come and be blessed. Invite a friend and share in the praise of our Lord Jesus! 6:30-8:30 pm, music begins at 7. Young at Hearts Young at Hearts will meet on October 11th. At 11 am we will listen to a speaker from an area ministry or local entity and share in a pot luck meal. All are invited and your friends can come, too! Remember: It will only be good if you are there! So says Keith Hogancamp. Bethel Lutheran Church in Point Clear will have their 67 th Harvest Home anniversary on October 21, 2018 at 1pm. Special speaker and music will be part of the celebration! All are invited. There will be a group from Ascension attending this event. Contact P Ralph for more info! We will start our Ascension Samaritan's Purse Project on Sunday, October 7th. It will be a four week campaign this year. Our goal is 50 shoe boxes!!! We need 50 synthetic wine corks for big boy fishing kits, please bring them to the church. Instructions will be provided with how to choose the age of child box you would like to fill, postage donations that are required, and what and how to add special items. Please see Susan Dube or Christina Krob if you have any questions. Ascension Lutheran Church 8888 County Road 64 Daphne, Alabama To a future Addressee We are a congregation committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ reflected in our ministries of worship, learning, care and outreach to our community.

7