Experience the Hope of Jesus Christ September Grace and peace,

Transcription

1 Experience the Hope of Jesus Christ September 2018 Grace and peace, Our North American Lutheran Church convened in August in Denver for our annual convocation. The topic was: The person of the Holy Spirit. My week began as the keynote speaker for the Women of the NALC. 40 women came together from the US and Canada. God is good. The whole week was packed with education on Discipleship, Theology on the person the Spirit, an inspiring Mission Festival, and finally our gathering of the clergy, delegates, and visitors. Next year the Convocation will be in Indianapolis, our backyard. I would hope to have a large contingent from House of Prayer for that one. Kevin and I come away from this one with a sense of excitement and hope for the ministry that God has for us. I joined the Dean s meeting for breakfast on Friday at 6 AM. We have 26 Mission Districts in the NALC with Dean s who handle the business and pastoral care. At our meeting we discussed the election of a new Bishop next year as Bishop Bradosky will step aside. All congregations are expected to enter into a time of study, prayer, and discernment to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit for our next Bishop. We have materials to begin our journey. This month we have our Mission District Convocation on Saturday, September 15. We will go to Fort Wayne where most of our congregations are centered. Our theme is technology for today s church. I hope you ll consider coming for the day. $10. God is on the move. I pray that our beautiful House of Prayer will grow this year as we step into the work of the Holy Spirit. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 Pastor Pam 1 P a g e

2 Rally Day! Our Fall kick-off will be September 9 th. This is when we rally up and begin a new school year of ministry and learning. We ll have Christian Education for all ages. We expect to have a preschool class, early elementary, upper grades, and youth along with an adult class. We ve got our teacher all lined up. Let s invite our neighbors. Summer Education Report 2018 On 9 August, Tina Hoff, Cindy Lemons and Kevin Thorson met with Pastor Pam to discuss plans for the upcoming year of Christian Education. HoPE will continue using last year s curriculum: Standard for youth and pre-teens, Here We Stand for teens, and Sola for adults. Rally Day kick-off to the year will be 9 September. This year s plans for education include: Sunday School: 9:15 am Youth Tina Hof Pre-teen Cindy Lemons Teen Kevin Thorson Adult Steve Klotz Bible Study Wednesdays: 10:30 am Saturdays: 9:00 am Pastor Pam Thorson Confirmation Wednesdays: 7:00 pm - Kevin Thorson The Fall 2018 meeting for Christian Education will be on 11 November (7:00 pm) Co-ed Via de Cristo Retreat Now is the time to mark your calendar and fill out an application to attend the Via de Cristo weekend to be held in Indiana. The co-ed weekend is November 1-4. The retreat begins Thursday evening and ends late Sunday afternoon. 2 P a g e

3 Women of HOPE Meet Sep 22nd The Women of House of Prayer will start meeting again for the year on Saturday, Sep 22 at 10:30 AM in the church basement. The meeting is open to all women of the church and their friends. Our theme for the day is Hospitality. Come and join in for some good fellowship and a short devotion. Bring your ideas of how we can show our Hospitality to our church, each other and our community. We always have a great time of fun and fellowship! Hope to see you there! 3 P a g e

4 Money Matters $$$ Direct your Thrivent Choice Dollars(R) to House of Prayer. All Thrivent members receive dollars to distribute to charity. Go online and login to your Thrivent. If you don t have one, you ll need your membership # to login for the first time. Also, did you know that every person who has Thrivent products (insurance and investments) can get 2 $250 gift cards per year to use for mission and outreach projects? That is $500 a year in free money. In the past we ve used them for VBS, yarn for prayer shawls, picnics, fundraisers, and to feed the hungry. Register for 1 on your Thrivent page. Kroger Community Rewards Kroger Community rewards makes fund-raising easy. All you have to do is shop at Kroger and swipe your Plus Card! Please consider connecting your Kroger Plus Card to House of Prayer Lutheran Church. Use the Code TP101 where it asks for name of company participating. From Steve Klotz Just a brief note. Thanks for your gifts thus far. +We are doing O.K. financially but, could be doing better. Hopefully with vacations over, attendance will be better. We have had some monetary gifts throughout the year so far that has enabled us to keep close to our budgeted needs. We have been able to keep some expenditures below the plan, with exception of the cooling expense. The hot and humid summer has been costly. Please remember that we did have a challenge factor again this year, so any way that you can think of that may save us money or ways to bring in additional funding please let me know. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Provers 11:25 4 P a g e

5 September is disaster relief for global needs. Relief for India, Hawaii, and other areas of global disaster. Flooding in India from the worst monsoon in 100 years has killed 300 people so far and forced 200,000 into relief camps. The mission funds will go to India through Lutheran World relief. You may put a donation in the offering plate marked India or donate to Lutheran World Relief at Homeless Intervention Services (H.I.S) Jesus commands us to love our neighbors. That means love in action. Consider helping at Homeless Intervention Services this summer or Warm Blessings Soup Kitchen, or even Feast on the Word monthly outreach. See Robin Grega or Pastor for more details. Throughout 2018 we will be collecting items for the homeless shelter operated by the Homeless Intervention services. The items are listed below. September - Combs, brushes, shave gel, razors October Canned foods November Blankets December Towels and washcloths Yard Sale! There will be a yard sale on Saturday, September 15 at church. This will be hosted by RuthAnn Baker who hosts the Friday night meal and ministry as well as feeding and ministry to about 50 people at Warm Blessings the first Sunday of every month. This yard sale will give her the needed funds to do the ministry. Our donations will support this ministry. 5 P a g e

6 Compassion Sunday September 16th Our church is participating in Compassion Sunday on September 16th at 10:30am This is a national event that helps us grow in our understanding of God s very special love for the poor. It s also an opportunity for each of us to interrupt the cycle of poverty and make a difference in the life of at least one child. For more information, contact Robin Grega. Back to Church Sunday September 16 We re having service to welcome people back to church, so now is a good time to start praying about who you will invite. This year s Back to Church Sunday theme is You Belong Here, based on Romans 15:7. The fact is that 75% of Americans admit to feeling deep loneliness. In addition, the number of Americans with no close friends has tripled since That s why we are here for people to get plugged in, form friendships, and have the chance to serve together in the community. This is the perfect opportunity to invite your friends, family, neighbors and coworkers to join you and grow deeper in their faith, or perhaps encounter God for the first time. Check out for more information and all the details. The Flower Chart is posted in the narthex. Sign up to provide flowers for a special Sunday in honor, memory, or a special occasion. Please designate Altar Flowers on your check in the amount of $20 and place in the offering plate. 6 P a g e

7 Care Group I would love to see us start a care group for House of Prayer. The purpose would be to reach out to people on the membership roll who have not attended in a while unless they have moved or are now attending a different church. I appreciate how we as a church are welcoming and friendly and this would take us a step further. We can also reach out to our regular attendees when they have missed more than a few Sundays in a row. We can break down the numbers and assign people to be responsible for a manageable amount. We can meet to talk about how we can reach out - either via personal note, phone call or even a visit if needed. If you're interested in joining in, please contact Suzanne Kiser. kisersuzanne@gmail.com or CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA Beginning Wednesday, September 5, The Chancel Choir and the House of Prayer Orchestra will resume weekly rehearsals following a modified summer schedule. The Orchestra, directed by Kevin Thorson, rehearses on Wednesdays at 6:30 and play on the third Sunday accompanying the hymns and during the Offering. The Chancel Choir rehearses at 7pm on Wednesdays and sing during the Offering, usually twice a month and occasionally serve as the Cantor during the service. Anne Lusk is the director of the Choir. The HoPE church orchestra continues to present musical offerings on the third Sunday of each month. The orchestra presents both contemporary and traditional music as an offering for worship. If you have a suggestion, please contact any of the musicians. For further information, talk with Kevin or Anne. 7 P a g e

8 The NALC vision calls for every congregation, small or large, to have an active, intentional relationship supporting a local community ministry, one of the NALC mission congregations in North America, and one global mission. The Way The purpose of the Great Commission Society of the NALC (GCS) is to mobilize disciples for the work of the Great Commission. Our mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that is in desperate need of the Good News. We propose to do this by networking congregations and individuals who have a passion for the proclamation of the Gospel and a commitment to the calling of the Great Commission. The Truth Our culture teaches that truth is relative. The Great Commission Society proclaims that truth is not relative but is personal and found only in the person of Jesus Christ. The Society will not seek to be all things to all people but will focus on the one thing that all people need the truth about God as revealed to us by His Son, Jesus Christ. The Life The Great Commission Society fully believes that new life is to be found in Jesus Christ. Society members are therefore expected to reflect this new life through focused prayer, Bible study, inspired witness, contributions of time and talent, and financial support of missions locally and globally. Society membership funds will be used to support missionaries, mission starts, and renewal initiatives. Your Calling As a member, you will be supporting both NALC missionaries and mission projects that have emergency financial needs, as well as new mission starts in North America. You and your congregation may also choose projects to support locally and abroad from those described on these pages. 8 P a g e

9 Graham Cooke Author 9 P a g e

10 Lutheran Week and 2018 NALC Convention Report By Kevin Thorson House of Prayer was represented at this year s NALC convention by Pastor Pam Thorson (clergy) and Kevin Thorson (lay). The convention was held at the Denver Airport Conference Center on August (Tuesday thru Friday). There were approximately 400 voting members in attendance: 212 lay members and 151 clergy. The theme for the convention was Holy Spirit: Calling Gathering, Enlightening, Sanctifying. Pastor Pam was a guest speaker at the Women of the NALC session on Tuesday. She also attended the Theological Series. Pastor Pam attended the Mission Festival. I joined Pastor Pam on Wednesday evening for the Mission District Meeting. The Mission festival continued Thursday Morning. The keynote speakers for the Mission Festival addressed how the Holy Spirit is working in the World. I attended the breakout session for Small and Rural Churches The Hope for the Future. Pastor Brad Hales, the leader is new Director of Domestic Missions, a new addition to the NALC staff (half-time for NALC, half-time pastor in Culpepper, VA). He emphasized that three-fourths of the 424 NALC congregations are considered rural (101) or small towns (214). (63 are suburban and 46 are metropolitan) I was pleased to see the NALC recognizes rural and small as its backbone. His presentation was well received the largest breakout session of the convention. He emphasized the Holy Spirit will be present where two or three are gathered in His name and that congregations should not try to do everything. Small congregations can be vibrant and they play a vital role in their communities. Relationships are key: Friends, Relatives, Associates and Neighbors (FRAN). Pastor Gemechis Buba, Assistant to the Bishop for Missions, was the finale speaker for the Mission Festival. Pastor Gemechis is a very inspirational speaker. He called upon us to remember the Footprints of the Holy Spirit: 1. Remember the Promise of the Father to Send the Holy Spirit. 2. It s not our hands that do the work it s the Holy Spirit. 3. The Holy Spirit will fill the Community before He fills Individuals. 4. Remember the Focused Message of the Gospel, not its diverse audience. 5. Once the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles, they stood together. 6. The Holy Spirit puts Fear in the enemy and Fearless in us. 7. The Holy Spirit will convict sinners to repent. 8. Baptism fills us with the Holy Spirit. 9. Join the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit. 10. Always Bring It Home Make Christ Known! Check out his message on Facebook P a g e

11 Sept. 2 Pentecost 15 September Lessons for Sunday Deut. 4:1 2, 6 9 Sept. 9 Pentecost 16 Is. 35:4 7a Sept. 16 Pentecost 17 Is. 50:4 10 Sept. 23 Pentecost 18 Psalm 119: Psalm 146 Psalm 116: 1 9 Eph. 6:10 20 James 2:1 10, James 3:1 12 Jer. 11:18 20 Psalm 54 James 3:13 4:10 Mark 7:14 23 Mark 7:(24 30) Mark 9:14 29 Mark 9:30 37 Sept. 30 Pentecost 19 Num. 11:4 6, 10 16, Psalm 104: James 5:(1 12) Mark 9:38 50 A Prayer for the Sick Father, Your love is as wide as the oceans As deep as the sea And as tall as the heavens. May your spirit rise like a mighty wave and come and restore those who are ill. kl; You are the water of life, You are a fresh spring, You are healing rain To all those who are in need. Come Lord! 11 P a g e

12 Noon Eucharist 1 st, 3 rd, 5 th Healing 3 rd Wednesday Sunday Schedule Christian Education 9:15 AM Worship 10:30 AM Wednesday 10:30 AM Bible Study 12 P a g e