THE PARISH PAPER
June, 2009PENTECOST 2009
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
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See Very Important Newsflash on next page!!!!!!
NEWSFLASH: CHANGE OF WORSHIP TIME AT IMMANUEL ON MAY 31
On May 31, the worship time at Immanuel has been moved up to 10:00 a.m. The Joint Hope-Immanuel VBS will present their program at that time. Please join us in celebrating God’s grace with has captured the hearts and minds of many through Vacation Bible School.
BAR-B-QUE FUNDRAISER FOR DAY CAMP
There will be a Bar-b-que dinner served after the Vacation Bible School Program at Immanuel on May 31. A freewill donation toward the costs of Day Camp in July will be accepted. Fund will be matched through the South Central Chapter of Thrivent for Lutherans.
ANNUAL BIKER SERVICE, JUNE 7 AT ADULLAM
On June 7th, the Parish will have one Worship opportunity, 11: 00 a.m. as both congregations will join together for the Annual Biker Service at the Centennial Park across the road from Adullam. You may want to bring your lawn chairs and/or blankets for the day. Also for the meal served following the worship, please bring a salad or dessert. This event will also be a fundraiser to help with the medical expenses of Diana Arp. Funds will be matched through Thrivent.
Volunteers are needed on Sunday morning to help set up.
NEWSFLASH: CHANGE OF WORSHIP TIME AT IMMANUEL
After months of consideration, the Immanuel Council has voted to move our Worship time form 11:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. beginning July 7. this move is being made in response to the Sunday afternoon activities that prevent people from being at worship. This means a change to our Adult Class format on Sunday morning—Pastor Panko will no longer be available as a resource.
PASTOR’S PERSPECTIVE
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
One of the unfortunate casualties of the way American life is lived these days is that the spiritual events of the Christian Faith have been overshadowed by our materialistic culture. The Birth of Jesus is far overshadowed by the coming of Santa Claus. The Resurrection of Jesus is overshadowed by the Easter Bunny. Worship is at the mercy of whatever sporting event is scheduled for that weekend.
It would be easy to join the voices that moan and groan about how our culture has drifted away from God. I WON’T. You see it is not the responsibility of government for anyone else for that matter to change things. The responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of believers. As long as we try to worship the idols of our world and pretend that we are faithful to God, things will not change. We really want to be fencepost believers. We want to give token worship to God while at the same time serving the gods of this world.
I am continually humbled and prodded by the stories of the Christian martyrs in the early centuries after Jesus. If you have never heard the stories, maybe it is time we start sharing them. In general, they are about believers who were under the threat of death. The Roman government would demand that they deny Jesus or die. Hundreds and thousands chose death over denying Jesus. They were thrown to the vicious animals to be torn apart. They were target practices for the gladiators. They were crucified. They were stoned. They were burned. Horrible atrocities were committed against them because they refused to deny Jesus.
It really makes our feeble excuses for not being at worship or not being committed to Jesus look pretty ridiculous. Will we revive that sense of faith and commitment?
In Our Lord’s Service,
Pastor Gary Panko
