Pastoral Reflections

Transcription

1 St. Mark Lutheran Church 1135 Oliver Street North Tonawanda, NY St. Mark Lutheran Church SIGN OCTOBER 2016 Pastoral Reflections Dear members and friends of St. Mark, Last month I mentioned about the devil being like a squirrel that runs around trying to steal the good fruits of the Spirit. The devil can be very clever in how he can ruin God s good produce. One of the ways the devil ruins God s good produce is to get God s people to argue over things that are adiaphora. What is adiaphora? Literally it means indifferent things. It is things God has neither commanded nor forbidden. The Lord gives you freedom in many aspects of your life. In the Sunday Adult Bible Study we have been doing a lengthy study on Worship. We discovered that many aspects of worship are adiaphora; that is they are neither commanded nor forbidden by God. Much of life fits into the category of adiaphora, neither commanded nor forbidden. God does not command where to live, where to work, who to marry, what to wear or what to eat. Although for each of these (and many other items) you will find some commands that apply and some guidance but not a complete and direct answer. For example, nowhere in the Bible did it tell me to move to N. Tonawanda. However, God s Word does provide good direction and even some commands on how I am to treat my neighbors and how to be a good neighbor. Just because something fits into the category of adiaphora does not mean that a person can do whatever they want. Much of God s Word is about relationships: fixing broken relationships and how to have better relationships with other people. Even though something like who does the dishes may be adiaphora and not addressed in the Bible, however the manner in which a person handles the issue is addressed in the Bible. Insults, fighting, arguing, revenge and much more is spoken against in the Bible. Care, concern, listening and developing an agreed upon plan so you live in peace are discussed in the Bible. No matter what issue you face in life there is always a spiritual battle. The devil will use anything to create fighting, arguing, disagreement, dissention and division. The classic example is the church that split over an argument about the color of the new carpet to be installed. The same is true in marriages and families. The classic is the high rate of divorce among couples that build new houses. So many decisions create stress and disagreement that prove to be too much for the relationship. It is true that Jesus came to give us freedom but the Bible also says not to use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. You can be solidly grounded in God s Word but still struggle with these types of situations. This is not a matter of knowledge. It is a matter of a heart filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by the love and compassion of Jesus. As Ephesians 6:12 says, our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil. Let us stand strong in the Lord and His mighty power. In the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Keith

2 Memorials & Membership Changes Given to the Benevolent fund in celebration of Dennis Stange s 60th birthday from Paul & Jan Kolbe Given to the Unified fund in memory of Bruce Ellman from Marilyn Brown & Karen Rader Given to the Endowment fund in memory of Bruce Ellman from Ruth Hacker Given to the Cemetery fund in memory of Bruce Ellman from Robert & Laura Jagow Given to the Endowment fund in memory of William Meyer from Ruth Hacker Given to the Unified Fund in memory of Patricia Leverentz Given to the Cemetery fund in memory of Kristi Gerber from Robert & Laura Jagow Given to the Cemetery fund in memory of Lois Aiken from Robert & Laura Jagow DEATH: Bruce Ellman September 5, 2016 BAPTISM: Teagan Marie MacPherson, daughter of Eric & Amanda MacPherson September 11, 2016 TRANSFER OUT: Kurt Schultz First Trinity Lutheran Church, Wellsville, N.Y. Portals of Prayer The new October-December 2016 Portals of Prayer are in! Please pick up your copy at the church of church office. North Tonawanda Food Pantry The North Tonawanda Food Pantry is requesting food donations for people in need. Your contributions are valuable in our community effort to distribute food and other necessary personal items to the less fortunate citizens of our area. This month s request is: Personal care items (Shampoo, Tooth Brushes, Toothpaste, Razors) Please consider bringing items as we continue to reach out to our community. You may drop the items off at the church. Your donations are greatly appreciated!

3 LEGO Club The next Lego Club session will be held on Wednesday, October 19 from 6:00-7:30pm in the large Sunday School room in the church basement. Join us to enjoy lots of building time, learn some cool new things, and participate in our building challenge! Lego Club is for kids ages 6 and up. Feel free to invite others to join, too! Noah Nursery During the Sunday worship service we have a staff nursery for newborn and preschool aged children. We ask those using the nursery to provide information regarding allergies and specific needs of your child including any snacks, diapers/wipes, creams necessary, drinks or favorite toy when you arrive at the nursery. We are open and accepting applications for volunteers to serve. If you are interested in serving you must be willing to submit to a background check for the security of our children. Call or speak to Alice Pfonner at Adult Night Please join us the third Sunday of each month at 6pm for an evening of fun and fellowship at Adult Night. This group has been meeting for a few years now and has a small group of regulars but we would love to grow. There is usually a table of euchre and another game going at another table. Bring a snack to share & a drink for yourself. If you have a game you like to play bring it along. See you October 16th! Rada Cutlery Pre-Sale Quality Rada knives will be sold at the Candy Cane Fair. These make an excellent Christmas gift and help raise funds for our Woman s Ministry. Visit the Welcome Desk and take a Rada catalog with enclosed Instructions, Order forms and Return Envelope. Orders placed by Oct 16 will be available at the Candy Cane Fair on Nov. 5. Orders placed between Oct 17 and Nov 6 (deadline) will be available by Thanksgiving. Thank you for helping our Women s Ministry. Young Professionals Group Join us! We meet twice a month: once for an activity event and once for brunch to plan details for the activity events. All year olds are welcome to join this group, whether you're in town and can participate in-- person whenever you have time or are out of town and can participate virtually to stay in touch. Visit to join our Facebook group. If you're not on Facebook, you can connect with us at StMarkYP@gmail.com. Connect with us either way to stay up-to-date with what we're doing. We hope to see you at our next brunch or event! Dorcas Quilters and Stitchers Our group continues to enjoy our gatherings each Thursday at 10:30 making Lutheran World Relief quilts. We will have a "booth" at our Candy Cane Fair and hope to have a few lap robes for you to purchase as well as a few quilts. This will help us raise funds to purchase the Warm & Natural batting for warm quilts. Your donated sheets are still used for backings and liners as well... thank you! When donating fabrics to us, please remember we cannot use patriotic, camouflage or religious fabrics due to some governments of the receiving nations. We can use secular symbols such as rabbits, eggs, and poinsettias. Also accepted are clean used flat blankets which LWR accepts in separate shipping boxes from our quilts. If you'd like to join us for working with your hands and your heart for blessings to families around the world, no "sewing" is necessary! Come and see for yourself!

4 Preschool Here we are already rolling in preschool! We're learning how to walk in a line, sit, and listen. We've learned about Creation and how God created the world just by speaking! When we create we use blocks, paint, markers, or other tools. God made you, me, and everything we see just by speaking it into being. While we certainly can't do that, it is another example of the power of God. We also talked about how we are God's special creation. God made man last and created us in His own image! God loves us so much that He sent His only son to die for us! Even in the book of Genesis we see Jesus revealed as the Savior of the world! How neat is that! Come October we will talk about Fall and Autumn. We are so blessed here that we are able to see all the seasons as they come and go. It is a wonderful demonstration of God's creation. We also will see fire trucks as they come to talk to us about fire safety. Additionally, we will go on a Field Trip to the Pumpkin Farm for a hayride. There are always exciting things happening in preschool! We do still have some spots available! If you know anyone who was unsure about preschool at the beginning of the year, please encourage them to check us out! In Christ, Jessica Neuman Women s Ministry is hosting a Bible Study, written by Donna Pyle on the first Thursday of the month, for four months at 12:15 PM. Please join us for this study, all are welcome. Bring your lunch. A study of Exodus 2:24-25: Is there a statute of limitations on hope? In trying circumstances that have stretched out for long periods in your life, have you found it difficult to hold on to God's hope? The Israelites spent over 400 years in an alien land. Cruel bondage and bitter enslavement defined the later part of their captivity. Several generations of Israelites lived and died never knowing a different life, a better life or freedom. Amazingly, through it all for that long span of time, the Israelites still HOPED. That same hope is ours today through Jesus Christ. Through this 4-lesson Bible study, hear those truths pour into you as God's Word reaffirms His hope for every circumstance in your life. (Written by D. Pyle)

5 Report from your Treasurer We ve only had one month of activity to report and so far have a positive income. The budget figures below are 1/12 of the annual budget. Income Aug Budget Aug Actual Envelopes/Simply Giving $18, $15, Special Envelopes (Birthday, Energy, Initial) Evangelism Family Life Ministries 2, Miscellaneous Church Income 3, , School Building Use Head Start Reimbursement/Miscellaneous School Building Rental 3, , Head Start Utilities Reimbursement * Total Income $28, $22, Expenses Church $26, $14, School Building 5, , $32, $16, *This includes a late reimbursement from June. Pauly Textile Shed August $43.42 Thrivent Choice Dollars August $ Take your bottles and cans to Bottle Junction at 3050 Niagara Falls Blvd. Just give them our church name when you take your own or please call Marty Held at if you need pick-up at your house. Order your gift cards by the 10 th of each month. Deb Dexheimer currently has gift cards for immediate purchase after church services as follows: Bob Evans, Denny s, Dunkin Donuts, Panera Bread, Tim Horton s, and Tops Markets. The church receives 1.5% to 16% on sales depending on the gift card. Women s Ministry of St. Mark The Women s Ministry of St. Mark is open and welcome to all women. Our business meetings are held from March to December on the first Thursday of the month in the church basement. The next meeting of the will be on Thursday, October 6th. Included in the business meetings are reports by the LWML (Lutheran Womens Missionary League), and the Dorcas Quilters. We meet at 12:30 for our bag lunch, dessert is provided. Our business meetings begin at 1:00 pm. The St. Mark Women s Ministry Christmas Luncheon will once again be held on the second Saturday in December, the 10 th, at 12:30pm in the school gym. We are planning on having Chet Fery, the Breadman as our speaker. While very entertaining, he is also a very thought provoking speaker, and very popular. Once again we will be inviting our friends, and sister churches Put this on your calendar, and BRING A FRIEND! Whenever we have mission projects, fundraisers, dinners and the like, the generosity and willingness of so many of those women who cannot attend these meetings becomes visible, and very welcome. We thank all who help us in our mission of doing our Lord s work! May God Bless all of our Christian Endeavors! Phyllis Phillips, President

6 Candy Cane Fair Craft Show The Candy Cane Fair Craft Show will be held on Saturday, November 5 th this year. As mentioned before, since we no longer have access to the classrooms, we will have smaller space to work with, but we are hoping to accommodate most of our former crafters by using space we had not used in the past. We will once again be having the Visiting Nursing Association dispensing flu shots from 10am to 2pm. When you get your flu shot from a VNA nurse, you help yourself and also someone in need. The VNA is the only local not-for-profit agency whose proceeds from immunizations stay here in WNY to provide charity home care. And it is a very convenient way to obtain your flu shot. Keep this in mind. The Candy Cane Fair Committee has been meeting, and many tasks have been delegated. We hope more of you will step up, as there are still some holes to be filled. Among them: We will have only one date for setup, the Friday evening before the craft show, and we have always had two nights for this in the past.. After setup on Friday night, need several people to work with me to identify the correct spaces for the individual crafters tables and chairs, and put identifying numbers on them corresponding to the crafter using that table. This will follow the rough setup, (and is the night before the Craft Show.) Also need someone to volunteer to place our signs on telephone poles. All of our sign placements are on a list, and you would be given that list to follow. We also need two men to bring the driveway signs out of the shed and placed. We already have a volunteer for placing the staked signs. Also need some people to take flyers around to business and offices to get free advertisement out there. If you wish to help, please sign up on the sheet, even if you just want to get more information as to what the job entails. Also there will be a sign up sheet for the Bake Sale. Since our luncheon desserts are also baked goods, perhaps when making one item you could bake two? The Sign Up sheets will be on the Candy Cane Fair display in the Narthex Since this event is not merely a fundraiser, but an evangelistic tool, which brings the community into our space, and allows them to see us in action, as we work together in Christian Fellowship. And while here, to learn of our church services and Youth schedules, and the many Christian events available for families. Call Phyllis Phillips at for any questions you may have, or margery001@aol.com.

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8 LWML (Lutheran Women s Missionary League) SAVE THE DATE. LWML Niagara Zone is inviting all women of the congregation to attend our LWML 2016 Fall Rally, October 30, 2016 from 2 5 PM at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 107 Scott Street, Tonawanda There will be a brief business meeting, elections and Mission Moment Speakers. All women of the congregation are invited to attend, if you need transportation to the event call, Alice Pfonner at Come and see what we are up to. Niagara Zone invites YOU to join us for the June, th Biennial Convention in Niagara Falls, NY. Details forthcoming in the link (LWMLeasterndistrict.org). 15 Active societies and congregations of the Niagara Frontier (home of the birthplace of the LWML-Eastern District are committed to serving the Lord as your host. A small group met at St. Peter s Church, Lockport, NY and will be submitting a list to the Eastern District for the theme. Lutheran World Relief (LWR) sent a thank you note for our Youth partnership, energy and enthusiasm for sending School kits to LWR. Our Youth brought hope to our neighbors around the world. They informed us that the School Kits were sent to Nicaragua and left the LWR warehouse in June, Future National Convention Sites: Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 22-25, Birmingham, Alabama, June 27-30, 2019 Recycling Fundraiser-Eastern District LWML Thank you for your continued support of this ministry to LWML. Collection of the ink cartridges/electronic devices recycling program as a fundraiser is ongoing. Please refer to the updated Recycling Flyer on the bulletin board. Recycling can be placed in the pink bin in the coat room. Cancelled postage stamps program is flourishing. We are encouraged to be saved and placed in the narthex box for the purchase of Bibles for prison ministry. Simply cut off stamps leaving ¼ inch around the entire edge of the first class, commemorative or foreign stamps (do not collect presorted or bulk stamps). There were approximately 78 institutions that received the Key to Freedom Bibles this past year. Thank you! LWML Quarterly magazine subscriptions. Accepted year round for $6.00 given to Marilyn Brown LWML Sunday, October 23 Campbells Labels for Education program has changed significantly and we will no longer be collecting Labels for Education for our Preschool program. We will however continue to save Box Tops for Education for St. John s School. Box Tops for Education should be given to Becky Dena.

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