Devotion from the Pastor Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman

Transcription

1 Devotion from the Pastor Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1 This is one of my favorite verses of scripture, so please excuse me if I ve used it before. But in as much as this is September, the month we in the U.S. celebrate LABOR day, this is an appropriate word for us. These words remind us that we need to understand that there needs to be a purpose for the things we do ALL the things we do. And, since September is the month that we get back to work, ending the summer fun-and-frolic season, and we crank up our more routine work around here, and our children are back to school, and all the other things which note the season, such as football, leaves beginning to change, and everything else which comes with the fall season, we pause now to ask WHY? Why is it that we mark the end of the summer with this send-off? Sure, the kids are going back to school, kids of all kinds and any of you who might be educators too like Dr. Wilkerson, among others. And as I mentioned above, with school comes football both Friday night and Sunday, (and maybe a Thursday or two thrown in for good measure). This too may cause some worshippers to become more apt to check their watches that our service starts on time, and that the guy who normally leads our worship service doesn t get too windy in his sermon, so we don t miss the kick-off at 1pm But back to our labors, all of them and the admonition we are provided through His words given us by the Psalmist, to remember who s truly in charge of the things we do the one who made us, and gifted us with abilities to do the things we do ALL the things we do. And remembering who makes it possible, because He s always with us and watching over us, Let s be sure to ask His blessings upon the things we do so that we might bring Him the Glory due Him FOR ALL THE THINGS HE S DONE FOR US now and forever AMEN!

2 September 2016 NEWSLETTER OUR SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH HERALD

3 BIRTHDAYS September 7 September 8 September 9 September 11 September 14 September 18 September 24 September 25 Nancy Hoover Christine Kalagian Brenda Siemsen Gretchen Plough Alicia Smith Maggie Zeeryp Linda Walter Abigail Wilkerson Dale Price Dale Stanton Anniversaries September 11 David & Jacquelyn Costello

4 Readings for September Week one Sept. 1 1 Kings 18:1-19, Eph. 1:1-23 Sept. 2 1 Kings 18:20-40, Eph. 2:1-22 Sept. 3 1 Kings 19:1-21, 1 Kings 20:1-22:53, Eph. 3:1-21 Week two Sept. 4 2 Kings 2:1-18, Eph. 4:1-24 Sept. 5 2 Kings 2:19-25, 4:1-7, Eph. 4:25-5:14 Sept. 6 2 Kings 4:8-22, 32-37, Eph. 5:15-33 Sept. 7 2 Kings 4:38-5:8, Eph. 6:1-24 Sept. 8 2 Kings 5:9-27, Phil. 1:1-20 Sept. 9 2 Kings 6:1-23, 2 Kings 6:24-8:29, Phil. 1:21-2:11 Sept Kings 9:1-13, 10:18-29, 2 Kings 13:1-18:8, Phil. 2:12-30 Week three Sept Chron. 29:1-24, Phil. 3:1-21 Sept Chron. 31:1-21, Phil. 4:1-23 Sept Chron. 32:1-22, Hos. 1:1-14:9, Col. 1:1-23 Sept Chron. 33:1-25, Jonah 1:1-4:11, Col. 1:24-2:7 Sept Chron. 34:1-4, 8-11, 14-33, Nah. 1:1-3:19, Col. 2:8-23 Sept Chron. 35:1-7, 16-25, Zeph. 1:1-3:20, Col. 3:1-25 Sept Chron. 36:1-23, Philemon 1-25, Col. 4:1-18 Week four Sept. 18 Neh. 1:1-2:10, Hag. 1:1-2:23, 1 Tim. 1:1-20 Sept. 19 Neh. 2:11-20, 4:1-6, 1 Tim. 2:1-15 Sept. 20 Neh. 4:7-23, 1 Tim. 3:1-16 Sept. 21 Neh. 5:1-16, 6:1-9, 15-16, 1 Tim. 4:1-16 Sept. 22 Neh. 7:1-4, 8:1-18, Ezra 1:1-10:19, 1 Tim. 5:1-16 Sept. 23 Neh. 9:1-21, 1 Tim. 5:17-6:2 Sept. 24 Neh. 9:22-38, Neh. 10:1-13:31, 1 Tim. 6:3-21 Week five Sept. 25 Mal. 1:1-14, Matt. 3:1-17 Sept. 26 Mal. 2:1-3:5, Matt. 4:1-11 Sept. 27 Mal 3:6-4:6, Matt. 4:12-25 Sept. 28 Deut. 1:1-18, Matt. 5:1-20 Sept. 29 Deut. 1:19-36, Matt. 5:21-48 Sept. 30 Deut. 1:37-2:15, Matt. 6:1-15,

5 Commentary from Doris Of Do s, Don ts---and Dues Ever think on the good things you do? How about the bad things you don t do? Well, of course, we try our best (??) to do good things. And, we don t purposefully act on those things which are morally and physically wrong. Now, let s look at the do and don t from another perspective. When we clearly see a wrong being done or hear something deriding being said, do we step-in and speak out against what is going to be harmful to someone or to something? Or, do we feel a.)it s not my concern; b.) Nothing I say or do will make a difference anyway; or c.) I ll probably cause people to make fun of me, deride me, or even hurt me? OK, let s speak to those feelings. Are we already accepting our own inadequateness as to being able to make a positive change in the situation? And, by the way, why isn t any negative talk or act NOT our concern? And, of course we don t want people to think badly of us now, do we? Good grief! We certainly aren t foolish enough to put ourselves in harm s way!! When we fall into those traps we re in denial. Yes indeed. Denial that when we act in good/godly faith, no matter the circumstances or consequences, it s up to us, and us alone. To that, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I say a loud PHOOEY!! We cannot follow Christ s teachings only when we pick and choose those with which we are comfortable. It s all or nothing here! Christ and His Holy Spirit are always the enabling forces within us. Every opportunity which presents itself for us to act upon-to do something-is a blessing. Why? Because those acts are but a small chance for us to pay our dues to Jesus and to the Father. What? Pay our dues? Yes; oh, we don t pay back Jesus paid it all for us. But we do pay it forward by glorifying the Father and His Son, and by trusting THEM to use us to bring justice and right behavior to the place where we have been planted. And that, friends, is the most profitable dues we will ever pay.

6 LOOKING AHEAD COUNCIL MEETING on September 1 st. SECOND SUNDAY ANNIVERSARY & BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION with cake after Service September 11 th. CPH Bible sale see flyer on office door. LWML meets September 10 10:00. East Tennessee Zone LWML Eagle Rock Sept.23 rd - 25 th. Sign-up sheets are on the table in the Narthex. MID-WEEK BIBLE STUDY will resume September 7 th. EVENING BIBLE STUDY will resume September 12 th. ADDITIONS/UPDATES TO THE CHURCH DIRECTORY Nancy Hover Kathy Sachs hoovernancy6.gmail.com sachssachs@hotmail.com Cell phone: Carroll & Sally Allen Phone: (423) Sally s Cell: (423) Our Directory has been sent to your s (pdf) so if you have any corrections to be made please me at oslc@musfiber.com and I will change it and put corrections in the next NEWSLETTER. Thank you. Cathy Visit Our New Web Site: Find current news and announcements for OSLC. Happiness consists in giving, and in serving others. ~ Henry Drummond