Join us for part 5 of 6 as we take a look at the cultural challenges Paul faced within the church and society in Corinth. We hear Paul’s corrective messages on the values and behaviors of a Christian Community. And we hear Paul’s famous message on the way of Faith, Hope, and Love. We hope that you can join us. Please select here for the complete study playlist.
Tag: lutheran
Summer Faith Formation Series: A Study in Corinthians Part 4
Join us for part 4 of 6 as we take a look at the cultural challenges Paul faced within the church and society in Corinth. We hear Paul’s corrective messages on the values and behaviors of a Christian Community. And we hear Paul’s famous message on the way of Faith, Hope, and Love. We hope that you can join us. Please select here for the complete study playlist.
OSLC Blast for April 20, 2020
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.
OSLC Blast & Council Update
Hello Everyone.
With Pastor Marty taking the week to recharge after an intense Holy Week, I am reaching out with some updates for the congregation from church council. Before I start on the update, I did want to celebrate our coming together as a community during this difficult time. Shelter in Place is not easy, and I know I have struggled during it. I miss the ability to give someone a hug, to give a high five, or to just smile while making actual eye contact with someone I care about. Zoom is a fantastic tool, but I am feeling the lack of actual physical presence sharply. Pastor described it during a council meeting as this unique thing where while your mind thinks you are being social, your spirit knows there is something missing.
As we are all stuck home, I hope that the activities at Our Savior’s have helped every one of you as much as they have helped me. This is a loving community where you can see God’s work actively happening. In my case, I even snuck into a choir zoom session alongside Emilee. For those of you who have sat near me during a service, do not worry. I didn’t sing!
Council Update
I also wanted to provide an update regarding Council’s efforts over the past month or so. We have been meeting weekly, and we have much work to share. To that end, we put together the following YouTube video. You can think of this as the equivalent to an update after a Sunday service. Watch below!
In this video, I discuss:
- Closing the church building and forwarding the mail,
- Our on-going transition to an outside vendor to support our finances including the short-term plan for check donations,
- Our new hire of a Communications Administrator, Violet Breeden.
Much love from me, and Council, to everyone in this community. We are connecting to God, and each other, in a powerful way right now.
Peace, Dan Baack
Message from Pastor Marty
Hey All,
Happy Easter! Christ our Lord is Risen. He is Risen indeed—Alleluia! I hope everyone had the chance to hear the Easter Gospel of the Good News of Jesus in our lives as a Resurrected Lord! Peace to you as we engage this message in new ways in this strange time.
A Word about Next Sunday’s Worship Service. We are going LIVE!! We will try a new style of worship next Sunday as we gather together on a Zoom channel. I wanted to wait to try this until after Easter, so let’s give it a try! Please look for the link for worship later in the week with a copy of the bulletin. Also, get some bread and wine ready for next Sunday as we will be doing some digital Communion. I will bless you all with words, and we will be fed by the Christ who meets us behind locked doors and in small communities dispersed.
Finally, thanks to everybody for your flexibility during these times. Many of you have stepped up to provide digital material to help me put these services together. Let’s keep it up, especially as we move forward in some new ways after Easter!
Christ our Lord is Risen! He is Risen Indeed—Alleluia!!
Peace, Pastor Marty
This ‘n’ That
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Bread for the World letter-writing campaign on Maundy Thursday afternoon via Zoom. We collectively wrote 33 letters to our congressional representatives asking them to support Senate Bill 1918 which would provide federal funding for lunches to be served at schools all summer since so many families have lost income in the pandemic. OSL participation will be reported to BFW. You can still write a letter. The information is posted on the OSL web site. Thanks again for your engagement in this mission of our congregation.
Care of Creation – How does the COVID-19 virus relate to the climate crisis? Scientists have speculated that climate change is melting permafrost soils that have been frozen for thousands of years. As the soils melt they are releasing ancient viruses and bacteria that, having lain dormant, are springing back to life. Not that COVID-19 came from there, but it is creating the kind of scenario that scientists have been considering possible. COVID-19 is helping us prepare for what could lie ahead. Action: April 1 was officially national Census Day! Be sure to fill out your Census!
Save those toiletries, because Helping Hands will be back collecting items for the disadvantaged when we are up and running again.
Readings for Sunday, April 19 – 2nd Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
I Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
Maundy Thursday Letter Writing Campaign – Bread for the World
Please break bread with us on Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2020, as we have our annual letter writing campaign for the charity Bread for the World, which works to end global hunger, and is currently working to address hunger issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bonita Bock will be leading by Zoom.
You can follow along by downloading this Power Point presentation:
BFW Presentation
Where and When?
Join us at 4pm, on Thursday by Zoom at the following link:
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 242 594 910
Password: 002458
If you can help me know what glitches you experience, or hopefully how smoothly it goes(!!), that will better prepare me for my work coming up a couple weeks from now.
What is the need and what are we doing?
For those who are unfamiliar with this practice, BFW makes an annual request to congregations to write congress to lift up either specific legislation or an issue in relationship to hunger issues, either domestic or international. OSL has participated in this practice for many years. Kristi Olson started the practice in honor of her Mom who was a charter member of BFW. Now is a good time for us to join together and participate in this request again this year and we can thank Kristi as we do so. One pastor friend of mine said, “you don’t get the physical nourishment you need from virtual soup”. So we are asking congress on behalf of hungry people that they get what they need. We at OSL have long seen God calling us to lift up concern for those who hunger as part of mission. This letter writing is another way of responding to that holy call. Thank you again.
How can I prepare for this ahead of time?
There will be a powerpoint with instructions we will walk through together during the zoom session. Thank you to Mary Fulton for helping me with the powerpoint. We will still be able to see each other too.
Please prepare ahead of our zoom time by getting yourself paper and envelopes, depending on how many letters you want to write. You will be given a sample ‘ask’ and addresses for our two federal senators. We have different representatives depending on where we live, but you will be given the mailing address for them too, so please know who your representative is in the federal House of Representatives if you would like to write to them too.
You all are helping me too as I need practice doing this before I get before a large group of people in one of the many Denver retirement communities to present a lecture. So thank you for that too.
I appreciate our faith community so much, and it is so helpful to do this together during these times.
With love in Christ,
Stay safe, stay well,
Bonita Bock
Emerita, Director of Urban Studies
Wartburg College West
Denver, Co.
wartburg.edu/west
cell: 303-887-9147
Wartburg College West
Denver, Co.
wartburg.edu/west
cell: 303-887-9147
Bonita Bock is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Bread for the World zoom letter writing
Time: Apr 9, 2020 04:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 242 594 910
Password: 002458
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