Knoxville, TN March 2019 - Grace Lutheran Church Knoxville€¦ · Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith by Ann Spangler and Lois

Knoxville, TN March 2019

Y ou are on your way to work, taking your normal short-cut and suddenly the car right ahead of you is slammed head-on. You stop to help and notice the injured driver has managed to get out and is lying on his back on the side of the road. By the time you get there, he’s not breathing. You just took a course in CPR and immediately go

to work on him. All the sudden the man gasps after your chest compressions. You saved his life. Every Christmas there-after he sends you a big gift! It is the most satisfying thing you ever did in your life. It’s a beautiful summer day and you are boating with friends on a placid Tennessee lake. You have anchored in an inlet to do some swimming. Fifty feet away you see some teenagers rough housing. As you watch them you realize that one boy is being bullied. They throw him into the lake as he protests that he can’t swim. You watch him flail around in the water and then he goes under and doesn’t come back up. You think you might have hesitated too long as you jump in and swim toward him. You dive in trying frantically to find him. Finally you bump into his lifeless body. You grab him violently and he comes out of the water choking. You saved his life! He clings to you for dear life as you pull him on to the boat. Later his parents thank you profusely and have you written up in the local paper as a hero. You hear yelling down the street from your home. Running out to see what’s going on you see your neighbor’s house on fire. Others have called 911, but the fire trucks haven’t arrived. All of you hear someone screaming out from the in-side of the home. Without thinking you rush into the house. Your lungs immediately fill with smoke and your eyes water and sting. You catch sight of young girl. Grabbing her you rush outside and both of you drop to the ground coughing and wheezing. As it turns out she was the only one home at the time. When the parents arrive and see that their daughter is fine, the mother takes hold of you, hugging you and crying while thanking you inordinately. “You saved her!” she gushes over and over again. If you were the star in one of these stories, wouldn’t it be hugely satisfying? Wouldn’t it give you great joy? Spiritually speaking there is only one Savior: Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can rescue us and give us eternal life. But according to II Corinthians 5:11-21, we are to play a role in peo-ple being saved. And can you imagine what incredible joy we could experience now and even more so when we reconnect in heaven that we were instrumental in connecting someone with Jesus! I received recently a research article from the Barna Group that revealed that 47% of millen-nials believe it is wrong to share one’s faith with a person who’s of a different faith (not Christi-anity) in the hope that the other person will end up sharing the same faith. What is alarming about this is that these young Christians (and older ones too) might not be seeing this as an eternal life and death matter. Jesus said there is no way to the Father (no way to eternal life) except through Him. There is a final judgement and there is a heaven and a hell and we should want people to go to heaven and have abundant life here on earth. In II Corinthians it says the love of Christ compels us. It also says we should try to persuade people about Christ. We are to be Christ’s representatives and His ambassadors. So please think about how great your joy would be when you are used by the Spirit to convert people. Think about meeting them in heaven! There is no greater joy on this earth than knowing you had a part in seeing people come out of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ. Even being the hero in the above stories would pale in comparison!

~ Pastor Rich

Page 2 March 2019

GraceNet is published monthly by

Grace Lutheran Church – LCMS

9076 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37923

Phone: (865) 691-2823 Fax: (865) 691-4895

E-mail: [email protected]

Reverend Richard M. Elseroad, Senior Pastor

Website: http://www.visitgrace.org

Articles for GraceNet are due by the 1st of each month for the

following month’s edition.

GraceNet Staff Debbie Booher, Editor

Linda Jaekel

Nancy May

Joan Scraggs

Email to Editor: [email protected]

If you have a spe-

cial event you

would like to

have publicized

in GraceNet,

please submit the

information to

Debbie Booher by

the 1st of each month for publication

in the following month’s newsletter.

Grace Prayer Team Welcomes Requests

T he Grace Prayer Team is up and running! If you have a prayer request that you would like prayed over by the Grace Prayer Team, we welcome your requests. Please contact Kristin McGee at [email protected] (865-384-9834) or Ev

Brown ([email protected] (757-870-5603). The request will then be passed on to the team. We continue to welcome Prayer Team members as well. If you are interested in pray-ing for the needs submitted by our church family, please contact Kristin or Ev with your in-terest.

I n March the Columbarium Committee contracted with Eickhof Columbaria for the delivery and installation of a 72-niche granite Columbarium. Each niche has the

capacity of two urns which will be supplied with each sub-scription. It is anticipated that by mid-March the commit-tee will contract for the site preparation located on the west side of the church parking lot directly across from the sanctuary. This facility will be recessed into the berm and be large enough to accommodate future expansion. We anticipate site construction will start mid-April with completion planned for May 1, 2019. Installation of the Columbarium and its dedication is planned for early July. A subscription packet should be available in April at the Church Office. In the meantime, questions will be gladly answered by any member of the Columbarium Committee.

Larry Belt, Andy Caddle, Dale Henderson, Ted Murphy, James Ray, Sam Steele

Coming Soon Grace Columbarium

Memorial Garden

Evelyn Jane Abraham

Born: February 11, 2019

Proud Parents: Keith and Jessica Abraham

Ruth Elizabeth Kabela

Born: February 22, 2019

Proud Parents: Erik and Megan Kabela

Page 3 March 2019

Grace Lutheran Women in Mission

Page 5 March 2019

DATE THEME VERSE

March 3 Acting like Jesus shows we’re

Christians.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

March 10 God will forgive us when we

sin..

But you are a forgiving God, gracious and com-passionate; slow to anger and abounding in love. (Nehemiah 9:17)

March 17 Jesus wants us to serve others. If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all. (Mark 9:35)

March 24 Jesus died to take the punish-

ment for our sins.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

March 31 Jesus is alive!

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

I n an attempt to connect the adults and children of Grace just a bit more, I will be letting people know the theme and verse of the week in our children’s Sunday school classes. I would love it if the adults would join in memorizing or at least talking about it to the children as they see each other in the halls. Listed

below are the themes and scripture for March.

~ Frieda Guthrie

March Children’s Curriculum Themes

Sleep’s Sweet Spot: Not Too Long, Not Too Short

E xperts know that too little sleep, or too much, is bad for heart health. A new study of more than one million adults has now found that the “sweet spot” is six to eight hours a night. Both long and short sleepers had a greater risk of dying from coronary artery disease or stroke, and that sleeping too much was worse than

sleeping to little. Sleeping too much was a 33-percent greater risk compared to an 11-percent increased risk. Doc-tors at Greece’s Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center stated that “evidence is accumulating that prolonged nightly sleep deprivation or excessive sleeping should be avoided.”

HealthLine

P lease note that everything written in this column will be backed by research, various studies, and facts. There will be no personal opinions.

~ Sheila Wittke

Page 5 March 2019

New Books and Videos for March

New Non-Fiction The Life of Moses: God’s First Deliverer of Israel by James Montgomery Boice (222 Boi): Boice delves into the life of Moses from Exodus 1 through his death in Deuteronomy 34 uncovering the rich meaning of his life and its gospel impli-cations for Christians today. He demonstrates what we can learn from Israel’s successes, failures, strengths and sins—all pointing us to the awesome power of the God we serve.

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg (232.9 Spa): The authors take their readers back to 30AD to study with Rabbi Jesus as one of His disci-ples. The gospels take on new meaning when the reader understands the customs, beliefs and traditions of the Jew-ish culture of the time.

Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was. What He Did. And Why He Matters by N. T. Wright (232.9 Wri): Wright is among the world’s leading Bible scholars who breaks down the barriers that keep people from fully accepting Jesus; who view the Bible as a 2000-year-old story that is not pertinent to their lives today. He takes his readers on a journey to recover the real Jesus, our Messiah, and empha-sizes why everything Jesus did matters to our lives today and for our eternity.

This Is the Day: Reclaim Your Dream, Ignite Your Pas-sion, Live Your Purpose by Tim Tebow (248.4 Teb): Te-bow writes, “Imagine when hearing the sound of the morn-ing alarm, instead of groaning or slapping the snooze but-ton, you awaken—mind, heart, and soul-to possibility. … Imagine waking up each day fueled by a whisper: ‘This is the day.’--the day to overcome bad habits or a character flaw; to fight for what is right; to change someone’s life for better.” (back cover)

In the Line of Fire: Daring Stories of Man’s Best Hero by Ace Collins (636.7 Col): This companion title to Collins’ Man’s Best Hero and Service Tails tells the stories of dogs who serve in the military as equal members of their compa-nies. Collins explores the long history of canines who have put their lives on the line from spirit-lifting mascots in the Civil War to hunting for IEDs in today’s military.

New Fiction

Legacy of Mercy by Lynn Austin (Fic Aus): In book two of this series, follow the story of Oma Geesje de Jonge as she immigrates to America from the Netherlands in the 1830’s. In this title set in Chicago in the 1890’s, Anna Nicholson, Oma Geesje’s granddaughter, hopes to learn about her mother, even hiring the Pinkerton Agency to help her. But Anna soon learns that some secrets are better left secret.

The View From Rainshadow Bay by Col-leen Coble and Secrets at Cedar Cabin (Fic Cob): Books 1 and 3 in the Lav-ender Tides series get readers up-to-date with Coble’s suspense and ro-mance stories set in Washington’s beautiful Puget Sound area. Pair them with The Inn at Ocean’s Edge , Book 2.

New on DVD

Clifford’s Puppy Days (DVD J Bri): A four-feature set of DVD’s about Clifford the big red dog. Each disc includes 8 episodes and a section entitled ideas to grow on. Disc titles include: “Helping Paws Puppy Playtime”, “New Friends—Little Puppy, Big Adventure”, “Puppy Sports Spectacular”, and “The Perfect Pet.”

God Bless the Broken Road (DVD Fic God): A young moth-er struggles to raise her young daughter after she loses her military husband in Afghanistan.

When Love Is Not Enough: the Lois Wilson Story (DVD 921 Wil): When Bill Wilson returns from the battlefields of World War I, he finds himself fighting a different battle—one with alcohol. When he sobers out, he founds Alcoholics Anonymous to help others. Lois Wilson identifies with the frustrations family members face and launches the Al-Anon program.

Unbroken: Path to Redemption (B-R/DVD 921 Zam): Con-tinuing the story of former P.O.W. and Olympian Louis Zam-pernini, this film covers his time back in America haunted by the painful memories of his torturers. He wants re-venge. But when his wife finds faith at a Billy Graham cru-sade, Louis also finds the peace and forgiveness he desper-ately needs for his life.

The Courageous Heart of Irene Sendler (DVD 940.54 Cou): This film tells the unforgettable story of Irene Sendler, a social worker in Poland during the German occu-pation. Having access to the Warsaw Ghetto, she first saves the daughter of a friend and then realizes there are many other children in need of rescuing. With the help of friends and co-workers, she saved 2500 children before being cap-tured by the Gestapo.

Find these and other materials new to the library’s collec-tion on display throughout this month.

~ Mary Schultz

Page 7 March 2019

“Hear Our Prayer”

Daylight Savings Time

Begins

Sunday, March 10

T ed Turner was born into a devout Christian family. He was a firm believer. Then his sister fell ill. He prayed fervently for her to be healed. She died, anyway. He rejected his faith in God because his prayer was not answered. What we call unanswered prayer is a very difficult problem for Christians.

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cup of suffering might be removed from Him, but, He still went to the cross. Paul prayed that his thorn in the flesh might be removed, but, it was not. Jonah prayed that God would take his life and put him out of his misery, but, God did not. Articles on the Internet about unan-swered prayer often stress all manner of conditions, including not enough faith on the part of the one praying. Imagine being told your spouse did not recover from cancer because "we" did not pray hard enough to get the devil out of the one who died. "Prayer concerns itself with a Person, with God, not with a recipe of human meth-ods."* Prayer is about God's promises, not about our procedures. While God promises to hear prayer (and to answer it), the exact outcome is not automatic as if it were a formula, like putting coins into a vending machine and receiving a snack when we push the button for our chosen selection. John 14 to 16 mentions prayer several times with strong promises attached. The assumption is that the one praying has a relationship with the Father through Jesus and is a believer. John 15:7 is a good example: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you." God hears the prayers even of those who are weak in faith and struggle to believe God's promises. Mark 9:24 was cited in the article listed below. In that passage a believing man asked Jesus for healing of his son and asked Jesus for help with his own unbe-lief. The son was healed. We hear a lot about praying in Jesus' name. Gerhard Kittel's theo-logical Dictionary of the New Testament (V, 245) says this is not a magic formula, but a reference to the world of business where bank repre-sentatives, especially, ask the question, "To whose account should this be charged?" Our prayers are charged to Jesus' account through faith in Him, even if those words are not included in the prayer. God's will is according to His saving purpose for us and for the world. In each case of unanswered prayer from the second paragraph above, God's purpose would not have been served by answers that cor-responded exactly to the requests made. It is intended that our will grows and merges into God's gracious will.

~ Rev. Phil Bohlken * "Beten" Lexikon zur Bibel, Fritz Rienecker & Gerhard Maier. (Wuppertal: Brockhaus Verlag) 1994, p. 245. (Translated--This entire article is heavily indebted to this Bible dictionary entry.)

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Grace Lutheran Church-LCMS 9076 Middlebrook Pike Knoxville, TN 37923-1557 (865) 691-2823 Fax: (865) 691-4895 E-mail address: [email protected] Sunday Worship: 8:00 a.m. (Traditional) and 9:30 a.m. (Blended)/11:00 a.m. (Contemporary) Wednesday Worship: 6:30 p.m. (Blended) Sunday School & Bible Classes @ 9:30 a.m./11:00 a.m.

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