OSLC Email Blast for April 20, 2020
Tuesday, April 21, 7:00pm —– Women’s Evening virtual Bible Study. If you are interested in attending, please contact Bonita B or Dorothy O by e-mail, and they will send you the link to join in the Zoom meeting.
Wednesday, April 22, 1:00pm —– BIBLE STUDY!!
Sunday, April 26 —– LIVE Zoom Worship Service at 9:30.
Message from Pastor Marty
Hey All,
I hope you are well as we head into this week! The weather is shifting to being more sunny, and no matter what happens in our society, Spring is underway! May the light of Christ shine in our hearts, and may the light outside brighten our moods.
Yesterday we had our first ever online worship service with communion! About 40 of us gathered over zoom for a liturgy of Word and Sacrament. It was a rich experience and many people have mentioned to me about how powerful it was for them to receive the body of Christ in their home. Adaptation is part of this time, and I want to thank everybody for your efforts and grace in this first experience. I will be posting the service to our youtube page later today (Here is the link for the previous digital worship service) so folks can participate whenever and wherever they can. I believe that the words spoken and the faith in our hearts makes this a very real means of grace. I hope you feel included and share in the serving (even to your self) done in the refrain of The Body of Christ broken/shed FOR YOU. God wants us to hear the FOR YOU through this meal. May your heart be emboldened as we hear and receive these powerful words.
I think we will continue to do a live worship for a while, with Communion. Next Sunday we will figure out how to do the audio a bit better, and Caleb will lead us in some music too! We thank God for being with all of our members who have been enduring this coronavirus over the past weeks. It sounds like all are on the mend and doing much better, and I haven’t heard of any new cases in our community.
If you didn’t participate last week because you didn’t have communion elements ready, please know that you can make this communion happen with the simplest of elements. If you have wine that is best, but juice will suffice. Virtually any bread or starch will do, as we realize we are making ceremonial sacrifices of our normal behavior to adapt to this time. We will reflect and grow from our conversations about this experience too. Please don’t hesitate to write me a note if you have strong feelings about how this is affecting you. I expect it will.
We are also very excited that Violet is joining our staff this week! As she gets started, we are going to take this first week to help her begin in some foundational ways. In the next couple of weeks we will be introducing her to the congregation and building a new infrastructure for communications within our congregation. This is an interesting time to begin with us, but our communication is so essential right now, that I can’t wait to have a new partner in ministry who will help us specifically with this during this time. Thanks to all of you for your patience and support during this massive transition in our front office. Now we are laying a new foundation for how we will be in the new reality. Please pray for Violet and all of us during this time as we get this new role going in a positive way!
See you all on Wednesday this week for Bible study at 1:00pm. Also see you Sunday at 9:30 for worship, and 10:30 for Coffee Hour!
Peace be with you all and have a great week!
Pastor Marty
This ‘n’ That
Care of Creation. I used to think that if we threw enough good science at the environmental problems, we could solve them. I was wrong. The main threats to the environment are not biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change, as I once thought. They are selfishness and greed and pride. And for that we need a spiritual and cultural transformation. (James ‘Gus’ Speth, Yale.edu) Action: Ponder how the Covid19 pandemic has heightened your awareness as to what kind of world you want post-crisis. Share your thoughts with someone now.
Readings for Sunday, April 26 – 3rd Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
I Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
Mission Statement
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church connects people to God and Each Other. We embody this mission through Word and Sacrament Worship, Music, Faith Formation, Service, and Authentic Community.
