A Word from your Pastor— May the fullness of the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord, dwell in you richly! Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. At the time of the Revolutionary War, there's a story about a certain Lutheran pastor named John Peter Muhlenberg. One day, after leading the Divine Service of God's Word and Sacrament... and after the final benediction was proclaimed.... he declared "There is a time to preach and a time to fight, and now the time to fight has come!" In dramatic fashion, he then threw off his clerical robe and stood before the congregation in the uniform of a colonel in the Continental Army. I can't verify the authenticity of this story, but I do know that this weekend our nation celebrates Memorial Day, a day set aside to commemorate U.S. men and women who died while serving in the military. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the Civil War, Memorial Day was expanded after World War I to include all the fallen men and women of the Armed Forces. It's a day for all Americans to reflect upon and give thanks for those heroic men and women who responded to the call to serve their nation, even to serve by making the ultimate sacrifice for their country, for freedom. We too —all Christians— are called to serve. Jesus tells us, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in THE ANCHOR LINE June 2010 Hope Lutheran Church and Angels of Hope Preschool 700 S. Superior St. De Pere, WI 54115 ~ (920) 336-9843 On the web: www.hopedepere.org ~ e-mail: [email protected]Matthew Christians, pastor office: 336-9843, home: 336-9582 emergency cell: 615-5136 e-mail: [email protected]Gail Thiel, preschool director office 336-9843 e-mail: [email protected]Our Vision at Hope: that we would be a growing, vibrant, praying, caring congregation– boldly reaching out with Jesus Christ in word and deed.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
A Word from your Pastor—
May the fullness of the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord, dwell in you richly!
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the
Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
At the time of the Revolutionary War,
there's a story about a certain Lutheran pastor
named John Peter Muhlenberg. One day, after
leading the Divine Service of God's Word and
Sacrament... and after the final benediction was
proclaimed.... he declared "There is a time to
preach and a time to fight, and now the time to
fight has come!" In dramatic fashion, he then
threw off his clerical robe and stood before the
congregation in the uniform of a colonel in the
Continental Army.
I can't verify the authenticity of this story,
but I do know that this weekend our nation
celebrates Memorial Day, a day set aside to
commemorate U.S. men and women who died
while serving in the military. First enacted to
honor Union soldiers of the Civil War,
Memorial Day was expanded after World War I
to include all the fallen men and women of the
Armed Forces. It's a day for all Americans to
reflect upon and give thanks for those heroic
men and women who responded to the call to
serve their nation, even to serve by making the
ultimate sacrifice for their country, for freedom.
We too —all Christians— are called to
serve. Jesus tells us, "You are the light of the
world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light
to everyone in the house. In the same way, let
your light shine before men, that they may see
your good deeds and praise your Father in
THE ANCHOR LINE
June 2010
Hope Lutheran Church
and
Angels of Hope Preschool
700 S. Superior St. De Pere, WI 54115 ~ (920) 336-9843
Our Vision at Hope: that we would be a growing, vibrant, praying, caringcongregation– boldly reaching out with Jesus Christ in word and deed.
heaven" (Matthew 5:13–16). What this means is
that all of us have a call from God to put our
faith into practice. In glad response to the Word
and Sacraments of God, we are called to be
God's light, showing others the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus. We ask ourselves, "Am
I letting my light shine in the circle of influence
in which the Lord has placed me? Am I
conscious of opportunities to be a good listener,
someone who cares, and sharer of an invitation
to be known by Christ?
It's not always easy. There is resistance.
That's how wars are, too... and keep in mind that
Satan is waging war against Christ's Church!
There may be resistance, but there is also great
joy and celebration. As Jesus says, "There is
rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10).
My point is that, as Christians we respond
gladly to the forgiveness Christ won for us on
the cross. As Jesus gave us His whole life, we
too give back our whole lives to Christ. We need
to get past the thinking that it's good enough to
give so much money to the Church or to go so
many times to worship. It's all about our calling
to bring the freedom only Jesus can give to a
world trapped in sin. It's all about having Jesus
impact everything we think, say and do. It's all
about responding to Jesus' call, as individuals
and as a congregation... responding gladly when
Jesus calls by saying "Here am I. Send me!
Send me!" and then going, equipped by the
Spirit for battle (see Ephesians 6:10-17), and
rejoicing in our Lord Jesus's victory! To Christ
be the Glory. Amen.
Yours, humbly, in Jesus' name,
Pastor Matt
.
"Hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, sothat [you] may be able to give instruction insound doctrine and also to rebuke those whocontradict it." (Titus 1:9)
The Catechism CornerThe Second Article
And [I believe] in Jesus
Christ, His only Son, our
Lord, who was conceived by
the Holy Spirit, born of the
Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Plate, was crucified,
died and was buried. He
descended into hell. The
third day He rose again
from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits
at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and
the dead. What does this mean?
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God,
begotten of the Father from eternity, and also
true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord.
Who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned
person, purchased and won me from all sins, from
death, and from the power of the devil; not with
gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood
and with His innocent suffering and death, that I
may be His own and live under Him in His
kingdom and serve Him in everlasting
righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just
as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all
eternity. This is most certainly true.
(submitted to "The Anchor Line" by Pastor Matt)
Life Quote
"When I think of freedom . . . I
often think of Martin Luther.
In his famous treatise, The
Freedom of the Christian,
Luther wrote, 'A Christian man
is the most free lord of all, and
subject to none, a Christian
man is the most dutiful
servant of all, and subject to every one.'
— Dennis Di Mauro, President
Northern Virginia LFL
(submitted to "The Anchor Line" by Pastor Matt)
Patristic Quote of the Month
"We learn that just as the
Father is made visible in
the Son, so also the Son is
recognized in the Spirit...
Light cannot be separated
from what it makes visible,
and it is impossible for you to recognize
Christ, the Image of the invisible God, unless
the Spirit enlightens you. Once you see the
Image, you cannot ignore the light; you see
the Light and Image simultaneously. It is
fitting that when we see Christ, the
Brightness of God's glory, it is always through
the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
— St. Basil the Great (AXD 330–379)
Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca
(submitted to "The Anchor Line" by Pastor Matt)
Old Lutheran Quote of the Month
"The devil is a scoundrel
who furtively sneaks up
behind us to see if he can
somehow divert us from
prayer. So we must prepare
ourselves to oppose him and allow nothing to
deter us."
— Martin Luther (AXD 1483–1546)
Lutheran theologian & professor
(submitted to "The Anchor Line" by Pastor Matt)
New Lutheran Quote of the Month
"Lutheran theology differs
from Reformed theology in
that it lays great emphasis on
the fact that the evangelical
church is none other than
the medieval Catholic Church purged of
certain heresies and abuses. The Lutheran
theologian acknowledges that he belongs to
the same visible church to which Thomas
Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux, Augustine
and Tertullian, Athanasius and Ireneaus once
belonged. The orthodox evangelical church is
the legitimate continuation of the medieval
Catholic Church, not the church of the
Council of Trent and the [First] Vatican
Council which renounced evangelical truth
when it rejected the Reformation. For the
orthodox evangelical church is really identical
with the orthodox Catholic Church of all
times. And just as the very nature of the
Reformed Church emphasizes its strong
opposition to the medieval church, so the
very nature of the Lutheran Church requires
it to go to the farthest possible limit in its
insistence on its solidarity and identity with
the Catholic Church. It was no mere
ecclesiastico-political diplomacy which
dictated the emphatic assertion in the
Augsburg Confession that the teachings of
the Evangelicals were identical with those of
the orthodox Catholic Church of all ages, and
no more was it romanticism or false
conservatism which made our church anxious
to retain as much of the old canonical law as
possible, and to cling tenaciously to the old
forms of worship.
— Hermann Sasse (AXD 1895–1976)
German Confessional Lutheran Author
(submitted to "The Anchor Line" by Pastor Matt)
Adult Bible StudyThe Bible Study on Worship" continues
"June—what a crazy month!" June used to bethe most popular month for weddings, somuch so, that "June brides" became a partof our vocabulary. Now there may bemonths when more weddings take place butJune is still a hectic, busy month. Not onlyare there weddings, but there are alsograduations, vacations, plans for vacationsand other summer activities. So muchhappens that it can get overwhelming andtake the joy out of such a special month.
The same thing can betrue of our lives asGod's stewards. Whenwe start thinkingabout stewardship asthe managing of all oflive and life's resourcesfor God's purposes wecan also getoverwhelmed.Stewardship is not justabout time, talents
and treasure – the well-known three T's –but also about our stewardship of sharingthe good news of Jesus, the building andmaintaining of relationships, the care of ourbodies, the care of God's creation and somuch more. The challenge of being a goodsteward of all that God has entrusted to uscan be so big that we might be tempted tosimply give up! But to do so would rob us ofsome of life's greatest joys!
Stewardship is not meant to be anoverwhelming thing but rather the best wayto live in this world. People seek purposeand meaning in their lives. They want tomake a difference! They want their lives to
be bigger than themselves. Being God'sredeemed stewards is one of the best waysfor bringing the real meaning and purpose toour lives. It helps us to identify who andwhose we are. We are God's redeemedstewards who have been chosen andequipped to manage all of life and life'sresources for God's purposes. Can anythingbe better than that??? Not for people whoappreciate the great sacrifice that Jesusmade too set us free from our sinful andselfish condition and help us to be thechildren of God in thoughts, words andactions.
St. Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit,wrote these words to Titus and us: "For thegrace of God that brings salvation hasappeared to all men. It teaches us to say'no' to ungodliness and worldly passions,and to live self-controlled, upright andgodly lives in this present age, while wewait for the blessed hope—the gloriousappearing of our great God and Savior,Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us toredeem us from all wickedness and to purifyfor Himself a people that are His very own,eager to do what is good."
How wonderful it is that by God's grace weare called, gathered and enlightened to livea way that gives due glory to God andblessings to our fellow stewards! As God'schildren we are in this together so we canencourage others and, in turn, beencouraged by others!
"God's redeemed stewards, in cooperationwith and encouragement from fellowredeemed stewards, freely and joyfullymanage all of life and life's resources forGod's purposes!" What a blessed life that is!
Financial Figures
April 2010 Total: $12,807.45
20/20: $550
2010 average per week: $3,258.48Budget per week: $3,765 Difference: ($506.52)
20/20 Total for 2010: $3,759.03
Those Who Serve in June
New signup sheets are available for ushers, altar
aides, greeters, readers and acolytes.
Sunday Coffee – a new signup sheet is available.
If you want to bring snacks, you will also need to
set up drinks (coffee, lemonade, etc.) Coffee will
not be set up for you during the summer
months. Lemonade may be a nice alternative.
Thank You To Those WhoServed in May
Ushers: Bruce andBrenda, Darryll, Dan andJane, Dave and Bonny,David and Mary, Pauland Nancy, Bill andTroy.