Heart Beat. The Power of the Gospel Story. of Lebanon Mennonite Church ANNOUNCEMENTS VOLUME 28, ISSUE 4 APRIL Dear Church Family,

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1 VOLUME 28, ISSUE 4 APRIL 2016 Heart Beat of Lebanon Mennonite Church The Power of the Gospel Story Dear Church Family, 2100 S. Second Street Lebanon, OR These past few weeks have been filled with a plethora of emotions! The Lenten season is always a yearly highlight as we focus our attention on the monumental sacrifice of Jesus the Christ but this year was more intense for me than previous years. When my father died on December 5, 2015 it was not a surprise to us who had been walking with him as his health declined. He lived a rich full life of almost 88 years, deeply loved and respected by his family and the community surrounding him. We celebrated his God-given life here at Lebanon Mennonite Church on December 11 th but also felt it was important to have a Life Celebration and/or Memorial service in Kalispell, Montana since he was born there and lived over 90% of his life in that small rural community. We recently journeyed to Montana and on March 12 th we read the Scriptures, sang a wealth of songs, quoted poetry, laughed and told stories while Editor: Lynn Brubaker Reporters: Everyone Pastor: Brent Kauffman Purpose: To promote a spirit of love and caring by getting the heartbeat of the church family in their individual and corporate life activities. All information given to the newsletter must be signed if it is to be printed and if considered controversial may not be used. Please direct any questions, comments or complaints to the editor or pastor. ANNOUNCEMENTS Sunday, April 24th - Church Business Meeting following worship. Then stay for the April Birthdays Potluck lunch! Monday, May 30th - Annual Memorial Day Chicken BBQ & May Birthday Celebration!!

2 VOLUME 28, ISSUE 4 APRIL 2016 worshiping Joe s Creator God and remembering his life. Mountain View Mennonite Church was packed with about 200 people and it was a grand celebration of my father s life! I m certain if he had been present in our reality he would have enjoyed it immensely. Immediately upon our return to Lebanon we hosted the Saint Luke s Production of The Passion performed by critically acclaimed actor Leonardo Defilippis. It was a spectacular event of sight and sound in which Leonardo dynamically recited numerous chapters from the Gospel of Luke dealing with Jesus teachings, crucifixion, resurrection and Emmaus Road experience. One of the numerous blessings in hosting Leonardo was getting to hear the story of his life and Saint Luke Productions. Leonardo was working as an actor in Ashland in the Shakespearean festival when he experienced a spiritual awakening which lead to a re-focusing of his life and the creation of Saint Luke Productions. Their sole purpose is to tell and re-tell the Gospel Story through dynamic theatrical presentations. astounded and humbled by the power of the Gospel. The 100+ decibels of sound and bright spotlights of the theater are a stark contrast to the solitude of northwestern Montana and yet both Joe and Leonardo s lives were forever changed by embracing the Gospel Story of Jesus. Leonardo has traveled the world, corresponded with Mother Teresa and shared the dramatic presentation of the Gospel in theaters, churches, prisons and schools while my father spent the vast majority of his life teaching grade school in rural Montana with his memorial service being held only ¾ mile west of his birthplace. Two drastically different lives and vocations and yet both lives reflect God s passion for loving and serving people that only the Holy Spirit can instill. Hebrews 4:12a states For the word of God is living and powerful and I pray that God s word may dwell in each of us richly! I also pray for its transforming power to mold our lives into Jesus image! May the Holy Spirit empower each of us to love all people and hold fast to the hope we have in Jesus! Keep the Faith! Pastor Brent As I reflect on the last several weeks of this Lenten season I am again

3 Sometimes You Need to Recharge the Batteries. First, I want to thank the church for the opportunity to attend AVDS in Hesston. It really came at an important time for me. As many of you know, I've struggled with participation and drive since Matt, Kelli and Roosevelt left us last August. It hasn't been a struggle of faith but rather a struggle to feel that I could have any positive impact or influence, to be a part of bringing a sense of vitality or energy that I feel has been lacking. In short, I've been in a rut. When Katie and I were invited to attend AVDS I was deep in that rut, in my head I was trying to think of ways to nicely decline without sounding ungrateful, I was making excuses to myself on why I couldn't go, why I shouldn't go. I'd read the information, the schedule, it didn't sound bad, in fact it sounded pretty great. I still hadn't convinced myself to take it very seriously. Katie, understanding my dilemma, encouraged me to attend to, in effect, recharge my batteries. The AVDS theme this year was "Not Just on Sunday", the presenter, Shane Claiborne, founder of an intentional community in innercity Philadelphia. The theme's he kept coming back to were less about "church" than they were to the idea of living your faith everyday, in every way. "To live as if Jesus meant what he said and was talking to us.". He said, "Perhaps it's not so much fear, but a feeling of being numb. Stuck in a routine. We're just too -- comfortable-- to do anything new. And yes, we know something's missing. There's a joy that is missing.". It's like he was talking to my innermost feelings, he knew my struggle, had tools to overcome it and was going to explain to me how to escape those feelings. What I came away with might be less about "church" and more about relationship with Jesus and how that can and should, direct our lives, our activities, our relationships and our interactions with others out in this big world of ours. I ask this question; What CAN service look like in our lives? This is an open question that can be answered a thousand different ways. Maybe the more important question to ask our self is, what am I passionate about? Is it homelessness, child welfare, peacemaking, addiction, social justice, bringing God to the godless? Find what it is you are passionate about, step out of your routine, make a difference. This doesn't have to mean that you will go to work with the likes of Mother Teresa, like Shane did in years past (but if that is your calling, GO DO IT), but could be as simple of serving a meal at the soup kitchen, helping the homeless community with a load or two of laundry, being a mentor in an addiction intervention group, simply sitting down and having a real conversation with a homeless person and finding out where they are in the world. What I'm saying is that we don't need to live in an intentional community in order to find a way to live intentionally. This might call you to serve in some capacity in our church family, it might not. What

4 I hope it will do is to open up your thinking to how we can serve Him. Church, shelter, community nonprofit, it doesn't matter. Serve, serve Jesus in your daily life, make it an intentional part of your day. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45 Thank you for the recharge. Tom Leggate First, I would like to thank Lebanon Mennonite Church for giving me the opportunity to attend the AVDS (Anabaptist Vision Discipleship Series) at Hesston College. Although I never attended Hesston College it brought me back to my formative years at Eastern Mennonite University where I converted to the Mennonite faith. The speaker this year a AVDS was Shane Claiborne who at firs glance didn t look like the typical speaker you would expect to see at a Mennonite Conference. His message Friday evening was very impactful and though provoking. During his message Shane mentioned that he spent time with Mother Theresa and regards to helping the poor she said, It s very fashionable to talk about the poor but it s not as fashionable to talk to the poor. After hearing this it made me think about how many times here in Lebanon where God gives me the opportunities to help those that are less fortunate and I just turn a blind eye. Then on Saturday Shane was speaking before the afternoon sessions and was talking about the church. What really stood out to me was when he said the world isn t looking for a church that is perfect but a church that is honest. During the afternoon sessions on Saturday, I went to hear another speaker named Nes Espinosa, who was geared more towards those that work with youth. Nes gave his testimony of living and growing up in North Philadelphia. He gave statistics and demographics of North Philadelphia. Nes mostly talked about an outreach program that he helped start with some other people called Timoteo. Timoteo is a church run flag football program that helps keep kids motivated and off the streets. Nes said that, Timoteo was not created to drag kids into a church but to serve them, spend time with them, hang out and provide the gospel in their context. There were a few statements that stood out to me during Nes sessions. First, Sometimes we get more concerned about saving the souls of people instead of helping people. The other comment that Nes said during his session that was impactful was serve the people in your community first before you look outside. A few days after we got back from AVDS there was a horrific shooting at at business in Hesston. I pray for those involved- not just for the victims families but for the family of the shooter, as well. Jeremy Gibson

5 APRIL MEMORY VERSE The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox. They shall not hurt or destroy on all your holy mountain, says the Lord. Isaiah 65:25

6 April Birthdays 3rd ~ Ruth Shank, th ~ Faye Dykast, th ~ Kendall Leggate, th ~ Sue Stutzman, th ~ Dan Lais, th ~ Sterling Burkey, th ~ Sailor Brubaker, nd ~ Karen Litwiller, nd ~ David Bain, nd ~ Lynn Brubaker, rd ~ Mike Baker, rd ~ Chelsea Hodge, th ~ Mike Rivers, th ~ Gladys Mast, th ~ Liz Baer, th ~ Torsten Nilsson, th ~ Mike Stutzman, th ~ Andrea Gibson, th ~ Chuck Bennett, 1933 Anniversaries 65 years 4/27 ~ Earl/Grace Miller 47 years 4/05 ~ Dale/Gwen Kropf 40 years 4/16 ~ Chuck/Jannie Bennett 25 years 4/27 ~ Doyle/Teri Nofziger 15 years 4/14 ~ David/Cecelia Wagner