From the Pastor

Summer Bible Study series:

CHRISTIANITY – THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES –From Christ to Constantine.

This is an 8 part video series by Dr. Paul L. Maier. We will offer this study on Saturday at 4:30pm and Sunday at 9:15am.

The first 4 units (June) will be –

  1. SOURCES OF INFORMATION: The New Testament, Roman authors, Josephus, the church fathers, and Eusebius, "the Father of Church History."
  2. JESUS OF NAZARETH – WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW?: Messianic prophecies, the genealogies, John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate, Joseph Caiaphas.
  3. APOSTLES AND EMPERORS: Peter and Paul, Nero and Rome.
  4. PERSECUTIONS AND BISHOPS: James the Just, church government, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the second persecution under emperor Domitian.

Dr. Maier’s studies are always informative and stimulating – at least to me! I hope you will join us for this series.

Pastor Mueller

Our Value Statements 
 (summary of top 4 areas)

    1. We believe that God loves all people, wants them to be saved, and helps us to reach out with the Gospel of Jesus and with actions of love to every person in our community.

    2. We believe that the life of the church depends on God’s Word and Sacraments, and that God enables us to worship with joy and grow in His Word.

    3. We believe that the church is a family in Christ, and that God helps us to build up each other in love and faith, doing all in a way that gives Him glory.

Mission Statement
Our Mission is Proclaiming Jesus’ love to all people through God’.

Is It Mine or God’s?
The Steward asks…
Is It Mine – or Gods?

Okay, so the world is His. There is no need to go picking our way through the Bible poling up verses that assert God’s claim on the whole of creation-and all the creatures, too! There are plenty of the. You’ve seen enough to make the point! The spirit and tone of Scripture is a witness to God’s total claim. The redemptive sacrifice of Christ, who died for the whole world and the whole life of each individual, underlines God’s statements that He was reclaiming His lost/strayed/stolen property-what He had always owned and never relinquished.

The Psalmist’s plea for help in Psalm 51:10 echoes that claim because it is based on the assumption that God has all the power, even down to cleaning the individual heart and renewing each inner spirit. The Biblical position is clear. You are not your own. You belong to Him.

Now He’s getting personal! God’s view of stewards, stewardship and stewarding is wide-ranging. God want the whole 10 yards. He’s deep into the day-in-day-out, every-corner-of-life understanding that Luther cites in his explanation of the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed: "God has made me and all my members, my reason and all my senses…Also clothing and shoes, meat and drink, house and home, wife and children, field, cattle, and all my goods." The truth is-it all belongs to God!

Adapted from the newspaper of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District-LCMS

Stewardship 

STEWARDSHIP

Happy New Year! Isn’t it great to be able to start all over with a new year! It gives us the opportunity to put the troubles and failures of the past behind us and look forward to a new year with joyful anticipation. This is especially true for us as God’s children. Jarsoslav Vajda, a noted Lutheran hymn writer, translated these words of a New Year’s hymn:

Now greet the swiftly changing year

With joy and penitence sincere.

Rejoice! Rejoice! With thanks embrace

Another year of grace.

God, Father, Son, and Spirit, hear!

To all our pleas incline Your ear;

Upon our lives rich blessing trace

In this new year of grace.

(LSB 896:1,7)

As God’s stewards we are reminded that we don’t get a fresh start only on the first day of a new year. Instead we get a fresh start every day knowing that in Christ all that is wrong has been forgiven and with the power of the Holy Spirit we are equipped to move forward in our free and joyous management of all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes. What we include in all of life and life’s resources is described by the hymn writer Frances Havergal with these memorable words:

Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my silver and my gold,

Not a mite would I withhold;

Take my intellect and use

Ev’ry power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store;

Take myself, and I will be

Ever, only, all, for Thee.

(TLH 441 LSB 783::1,4,6)

These verses from that beloved hymn remind us that our whole life is to be dedicated to God so that we use our time, talents and financial resources in ways that bring honor to Him and produce many blessings for those around us.

As we begin this new year let’s remember that we are God’s redeemed stewards who, in cooperation with and encouragement from fellow redeemed stewards, freely and joyfully manage all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes. Let’s consider making this our resolution for 2010: 

"Maturing stewards do the right things for the right reasons and strive for excellence in all they do."

 

"WHOLENESS WHEEL"

Ministerial Health and Wellness

The Wholeness Wheel was developed by the InterLutheran Coordinating Committee as a visual representation of the multifaceted and interdependent nature of health and wellness.

It is intended to assist in understanding the complex nature of health and wellness and the manner in which we can focus on the unique aspects of a Lutheran awareness of health and wellness.

At the center of the Wholeness Wheel is the faithful confidence that, in baptism, God graciously gives us a new life in Jesus Christ and welcomes us into the community of

the Body of Christ. Health and wellness focuses both on the individual as a new creation and on the individual’s relationship within the community of faith and the larger world communities. Through God’s invitation and promises, we are firmly grounded in a relationship

with God and other believers. However, as human beings we often fall short of God’s hopes for our lives and make unhealthly decisions, resulting in forces which send our wholeness wheel careening in unhealthy ways. But the powerful force of God’s Word and promises, made flesh in Jesus Christ, pulls us back into the Spiri’s central faith focus. God’s forgiving grace, conveyed to us through Sacrament and Word, is the empowering force for our health and wellness in our personal, professional, and interpersonal lives.

The Wholeness Wheel is comprised of five further components: physical, emotional, Interpersonal, vocational and intellectual arenas. These components are integrated into a wholistic circle which "rolls" most smoothly when these five elements are well-balanced in a person’s life. Each of these components requires our disciplined nurturing and strengthening in order to remain wholistically balanced. If one area is neglected, it will adversely affect one or more of the other components and conversely, when one area is strengthened, there will be positive impacts on one or more of the other elements. All these elements are surrounded, contained, and supported by our spiritual well-being, for all of creation belongs to God. Every aspect of our lives is sustained and supported by Him.

The outer circle represents how the integration of GodÕs central promises with the decisions we make about our physical, emotional, interpersonal, vocational and intellectual well-being, surrounded by a healthy spiritual life, can lead to "faith hardiness" or the ability to faithfully meet life’s challenges and opportunities, "running with perseverance the race that is set before us."

As you view the Wholeness Wheel, take a moment to identify those areas where you are healthiest and those areas which may need some attention. Imagine one or two behavioral changes you could make right now, confident of God’s sustaining presence, that would strengthen these areas. Identify someone you trust whom you could ask to support and pray for you as well as hold you accountable for more "balanced", healthier living. Remember, every healthy decision is made at the foot of the cross, conscious of God’s redeeming action in Jesus Christ!

Copyright (1997) - Adapted from the InterLutheran Coordinating Committee on Ministerial Health and Wellness