Beautiful OCTOBER 2017 Savior Lutheran Church Newsletter HOW CAN I REACH BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR? Phone: 480-967-2660; Email: office@beautifulsaviortempe.org or check us out on the WEB: www.beautifulsaviortempe.org Mail or in person at: 1337 W. 11 th St., Tempe, AZ 85281 Church offices are open Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. FELLOWSHIP HOUR SPONSORS sign-up sheet for October is on the bulletin board in the fellowship hall or let Dorothy know which Sunday you can volunteer for: October signups that still need sponsor are: 8, 15, 22 & 29. Please sign-up in the fellowship hall or Call Dorothy at 602-276-7076. ***If you put food in the refrigerators please put your name and the date you put it in on the items! Thank you, Dorothy BY THE NUMBERS September average Sunday attendance 50; September Adult Bible Study average attendance per class 11 CHURCH GARDEN I am happy to share the progress with our church garden. This is our second summer growing season. Our pumpkin are doing well. Three have been harvested & used in cooking and more are on the vine, at this time, with many buds on the vine. The garden has been a blessing to me; I enjoy working with the soil and find it a peaceful time to connect with the wonders of nature. If anyone cares to take part in the cultivation process I would be happy to facilitate with anything. A special thanks to Don Schinke for installing the irrigation system, he put in an automatic drip system for the watering. Jeff Martinez Senior Adult Ministry (SAM) of Gethsemane Lutheran Church Thirty people attended the Senior Adult Ministry (SAM) meeting on September 7th. Pastor Jerry Kosberg led the new video Bible Study called This is the Life. This was a TV series and the 9 episodes included in this study feature famous stars. The first episode was The Missing Ingredient and was one of Jack Nicholson s first performances! Everyone is welcome to attend this study on Oct. 5th at 1:15 PM. If you would like to meet the group for lunch at Rigatoni s, please call Charlotte Grefe at 480-967-8559. Their October business meeting will be on the 19th The additional activity in October will be the free ASU Tuba Fest at Tempe Center for the Arts on Tuesday, October 17th. The group plans to meet at 9:15 AM to get a block of seats together. BSLC members and friends are invited.
Time Out Ladies of Gethsemane Lutheran Church Thursday, October 12th is the date for the meeting of the Time Out Ladies at Beautiful Savior. They will meet at 11 AM for devotions and Bible Study. Please bring your lunch. All BSLC women are welcome to attend. HIGHLIGHTS OF BSLC SEPTEMBER 2017 COUNCIL MEETING The BSLC Council met on Sep. 19th. Highlights from that meeting are: Approval of August Council meeting minutes Pastor submitted report about September and October travel to California, visiting members in hospital and rehab, spoke at LWML meeting, attended Tempe High football dinners Pastor and Elders are considering a Thanksgiving service Treasurer and Board of Finance reported positive balance in August; loan balance is down to $1800 Finance reviewed 5 years of quarterly giving and reported a slight increase Free will offering in church service and Bible Class raised $1260 for hurricane relief to be given to Orphan Grain Train through Thrivent Finance recommends asking Voters whether or not to continue issuing mid-year contribution statements Christian Education will meet in October to begin planning for Winter VBS Trustees logged 28 volunteer hours; have had sanctuary carpet repaired; received bid of $7700 to repair roof Elders reported Fish Fry planning is underway Elders would like to find copy of Mixtec New Testament translated by Jana Shields and given to BSLC many years ago; please contact Skip if you have any information about it Stewardship will be sending out pledge letter in October Stewardship Sunday scheduled for Nov. 5th with meal following worship service. LWML met Sept. 16th with Pastor Misch as guest speaker, yearbooks have been distributed. Zone Fall Celebration will be Oct. 14th at Eternal Life Lutheran Church Gethsemane Senior Adult Ministry and Time Out Ladies will be meeting at Beautiful Savior through December. TEMPE HIGH SCHOOL DINNERS ARE THE NIGHT BEFORE THE HOME GAMES Final Dinner - Thursday, Oct. 26 2017 4:30 school cafeteria Volunteers can meet at the school cafeteria at 4:30 to help set up, serve, and clean up... Your help is very much appreciated in this out reach for BSLC
BOARD OF FINANCE:
STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE: October, 2017 Jesus parting command was, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus was very direct and explicit with His mandate that we are to share the Gospel with all people everywhere. Because God has chosen us as His tools to bring salvation to all people, we must use our lives and gifts to spread the Good News. Paul wrote, We are therefore Christ s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us, (2 Corinthians 5:20). As Christians we know that God has a claim on us so we willingly and cheerfully give of our time, talents and treasures to witness to all people. Stewardship Committee delivered the collected items to Gililland School and Holdeman School on Monday, September 25. Both schools sent a thank you and appreciation message to the staff and members of Beautiful Savior Church for our generosity. Jana Shields, Missionary, is celebrating 50 years in the ministry and our church will have a recognition celebration for her on October 8, 2017. Jana was commissioned at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, started her career as a Wycliffe Bible Translator, served as the Missionary to the Mixtec Tribe in Mexico translating the New Testament in their language and is the founder of Friendship House at Drake Park, Long Beach, California. Stewardship Committee is supporting the collection of story books for Jana s Friendship House. The books can be new or used in good condition. A container for the books is in Fuerbringer Hall. Cap Makers continue to meet at church on the second and fourth Mondays, 9:30 11a.m. Sharon Owens, International Friendship House at ASU, is one of the cap makers and requested forty caps for her students. Caps are donated to cancer centers as well as charity organizations and the homeless. Two more cap makers have joined the group--more, knitters or crocheters, are always welcome. Stewardship Committee encourages members of our church to give of their time and talents to the work of our Lord. On the bulletin board in the narthex is a list of contacts who can give suggestions on how you can use your talents in Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church. Grace Timm, Gladys Meyer and Dorothy McShee. Stewardship Committee SCHOOLS WISH LIST Pencils #2 Back Packs Erasers that fit on pencils Hygiene products (comb, washcloth, Dry erase expo markers & dry erase erasers shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, hand Red pens sanitizer, Kleenex, hand lotion, dental floss) Colored pencils Markers Items should fit in a one gallon zip lock bag Crayons that can be sent home with students. Grace Timm, Gladys Meyer, Dorothy McShee, Stewardship Committee
BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR LUTHERAN WOMEN IN MISSION The BSLC LWML had its first meeting of the 2017-2018 year on Saturday, September 16th. Pastor Misch provided a thought provoking program describing generations and the positives and negatives shaping their behavior. Five ladies were in attendance. Yearbooks for 2017-2018 were distributed at the September meeting and on Sunday morning to BSLC women. BSLC will be recognizing the LWML on Sunday, Oct. 1st. Jana Shields will be recognized on Sunday, Oct. 8th for her 50 years of service as a missionary. She was commissioned at Beautiful Savior. We are collecting story books for the children who attend Bible Classes at Friends House at Drake Park, a mission outreach Jana founded 20 years ago. Please look for the donation bin in Fuerbringer Hall. The LWML Zone Fall Celebration will be Saturday, Oct. 14th at Eternal Life Lutheran Church with speakers Pastor Jeff and Cheryl Ehlers of Garuna Fundation. This organization supports the emerging Lutheran churches in Southeast Asia with prayer, volunteers, and financial support. Registration is $10 and includes lunch. Reservations are due Oct. 7th. Thank you for your support of LWML! Sandra Wardwell, Acting President LWML PACIFIC SOUTHWEST DISTRICT Fourteen of the 16 grants selected at the 2016 district convention have been paid. All 9 Arizona grants have been paid. They are: 1. Cornerstone Mission Project, Inc., Kingman, AZ - $5,000 2. Reaching Families with Hope and Care New Life Pregnancy Center, Yuma, AZ - $10,000 3. La Mesa The Table Ministry, Christ s Greenfield, Gilbert, AZ - $9,600 4. Yuma Community Food Bank, BackPack Program, Yuma, AZ - $10,000 5. Make a Joyful Noise Music Ministry, Yuma Lutheran School, Yuma, AZ - $10,000 6. Raising the Roof: Expanding Early Childhood Christ Lutheran, Vail, AZ - $10,000 7. Playground Equipment at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sierra Vista, AZ - $10,000 8. Arizona Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Association (Camp Aloma), Prescott, AZ - $10,000 9. Celebrating Recovered Lives, Christ Lutheran Church, Phoenix, AZ - $5,400 Thank you for your support!! LWML PRAYER CHAIN Sandra Wardwell, Acting President Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church has a Prayer Chain sponsored by LWML, also called Women In Mission, who are ready and willing to pray with or for you. Anyone who would like to join the Prayer Chain can be added to the list just by notifying Gladys Meyer at 480 897-2236 or 480 258-0889 or by email geneglad@q.com. Please give your choice of receiving prayer requests by telephone or email. We presently have 19 members. All prayer requests (prayers for thankfulness, healing, safety, guidance, to mention a few) are accepted and forwarded to the prayer chain members as soon as possible. Call your prayer requests to Gladys Meyer (same contacts as above) or Pastor Misch, 602 582-7473 or 480 967-2660. A Monday Prayer is sent out to the Prayer Chain Members. This includes a mini devotion, a related prayer and prayer requests. Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, (Psalm 55:22). God welcomes your prayers; He listens to and answers all prayers. Gladys Meyer, Prayer Chain leader.
PASTOR MISCH: Speed Up: October always seems to be a busy month for folks in the valley. The temperature cools down, people start to recover their energy, and the winter visitors begin returning to the desert. October marks the beginning of the reason people love living in the valley, but it is also easy to start to prioritize other things above our spiritual lives. A challenge that occurs when we speed up in the fall is that we can forget to take some time and spend it God s word. The weather is nice and maybe we have some Sunday day trips planned. Football season is in full effect and maybe we want to that a Sunday off of responsibilities and park ourselves in front of the T.V. Maybe we our jobs and our commitments start to boil over and we don t have as much free time as we did over the summer. As things get busier I wonder how is the state of our spiritual lives? God shapes us through his word. God s word has tremendous power. Power to create something out of nothing. To create faith in a person where before there was nothing. God s word shapes the way in which we see one another and the world. How often to we interact with such a gift? I know a temptation is to believe that we already know what it says. Maybe we have been going to church for most of our lives and we were confirmed? Maybe we think we know what it is we need to know? We know that Jesus died for us and that our sins are forgiven. What else is there to know? A temptation that we face is that we think the Bible is about knowledge. We think it has the information we need to know for salvation. We think it might has the information to make our lives better. However, when we reduce the Bible to a book full of knowledge we forget that the Bible is not there just to give us knowledge but to bring us closer to our God. During this fall, when the weather cools down and our energy returns to us, I encourage you to spend more time in the Bible. Start with the book of the Bible that you think you know the best, and return to the scriptures allowing God to shape you with his word. As followers of Jesus we are to delight in his word and we allow his word to shape us when we are in it. It is a great gift that he has given to us, a gift that is full of power. May God bless you as you seek to be in his word. Pastor Misch