Mount Calvary Lutheran Church

Transcription

1 CHURCH NEWSLETTER February 2019 Mount Calvary Lutheran Church Rooted in the Past; Sheltering the Present; Reaching Out to the Future; Empowered by the God of the Ages ` P. O. Box South Main Street Mt. Jackson, VA (540) mcoffice@shentel.net Mount Calvary Lutheran Church Virginia Rev. Matthew A. Diehl, Pastor (mtcalrev@shentel.net) Members of Mount Calvary, Ministers Following worship on Sunday, February 10 th, Council President, Susan Foltz, will call to order Mount Calvary s Annual Meeting. Discussion of the 2018 Annual Report of the Parish will be the primary item on the meeting agenda. Copies of the 2018 Annual Report will be distributed following worship the previous Sunday (February 3 rd ). In addition to discussion of the Annual Report, the Congregation Council will also bring forward recommendations on repairs/updates to the organ to be overseen by an organ committee. A potluck lunch will follow the meeting. Who Will Be the Winner in Super Bowl 53? The Open Door Food Pantry, That s Who! Sunday, February 3 rd, you can show your support for your Super Bowl team by bringing canned goods and other non-perishables for Mt. Jackson s Open Door Food Pantry. Each end of a table in the narthex will feature the logo of the Rams and the logo of the Patriots who will be facing off in Super Bowl LIII. Place your food offerings by the logo of the team you will be rooting for in the 2019 NFL championship. A count of the items placed by each logo will be our church family s projection of the winner of Super Bowl 53.

2 FROM PASTOR DIEHL

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5 [from a Project Dutch family] Thank you all very much for the gifts and food. We are very grateful for helping my family. I just can t thank you enough. You all are a great blessing. And most of all thank you for all you do for the community. Merry Christmas and a wonderful blessed New Year. Sincerely, T. H. and Kids MCLC, On behalf of my entire family, I would like to thank Pastor Diehl and everyone for their prayers, cards, and overall support in the recent passing of my step-dad. We are grateful that we could celebrate Larry's life during his service and the flowers you sent were beautiful and certainly brought a smile to all of us. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful church family! Love & Blessings, Steve & Family The July 2015 issue of The Lutheran carried an article titled Adages. Calling upon a number of Biblical scholars, the article considers ten of the most popular adages, examining each for their foundation or lack of foundation in scripture and what each tells us about God s relationship with us, our relationship with God, and our relationship with each other. The following is excerpted from that article. LET GO AND LET GOD by Sue Edison-Swift As a piece of popular theology, Let go and let God is trite and profound, hurtful and helpful. It s hurtful when served with a side of get over it already or you just have to trust. The thinly veiled accompanying message might be You are taking too long to grieve or If your faith was stronger you wouldn t worry consider the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:25-29). It s trite when the perceived meaning reduces God to a Magic 8 Ball decision-maker ( It is certain ) or absolves personal responsibility ( God s work, not mine ). Mary Lynn Hendrickson, a director of faith formation in Stoughton, Wis., wrote: For people who are in recovery who have been to hell and back and found sobriety through Twelve Step programs, Let go and let God is a powerful statement. I embrace that phrase from the likes of them and offer it as a supportive reminder in return. All it means is we let God be God instead of ourselves. In We Know How This Ends: Living While Dying, the late Bruce H. Kramer wrote: The arrogance of my own able-bodied existence allowed me to believe that I was in complete control of my fate. Let go and let God becomes profound when we realize let go is not about ceding control as if it were ours to hand over to God. Instead, we come to understand the emphasis is on let God. When illness or other loss empties our arrogant notions of self-sufficiency and control, we have the grace-space to experience the fullness of God. In July 2015, Sue was director of Faith Life Resources at Bethesda Lutheran Communities, Watertown, WI.

6 Heidi Bodanske February 2 Victoria Hepner February 24 Katherine Hepner February 13 Reba Thompson February 25 Riley Richards February 17 Eli Proctor February 27 Joe Proctor

7 February 8, 1693 The College of William and Mary was founded. February 16, 1911 William Merrill s hymn Rise Up, O Men of God was first published. February 18, 1546 Martin Luther died. He was buried beneath Wittenburg s Castle Church s pulpit 4 days later. February 22, 1805 Sarah Flowers Adams, author of Nearer, My God, to Thee, was born. February 26, 1857 Charles Sheldon author and originator of the question What would Jesus do? was born. February 28, 1066 Westminster Abby opened its doors for the first time.

8 Sunday Worship Offering Attendance Received* December $2,543 December $3,073 January 6 42 $3,335 January 13** [n/a] [n/a] January $2,740 AVERAGES 44.5 $2, *Budget needs per week: $3,345 (2018); $3,302 (2019) **Church canceled due to inclement weather. Christmas Eve Attendance Offering 82 $2,609