Lutheran Church of Providence

September, 2019 Newsletter

Pastor’s Corner

“I can’t wait to get away from here.” “I’m looking forward to going away and maybe I won’t come back.” “I just want to veg out and do nothing for a week.” “I can’t wait to have a vacation where I don’t have to think about anything.”

Above are some sentences I hear regularly from people as spring comes and people look forward to summer. Now that summer is about over, it’s back to the ‘old grind’ with little to look forward to.

Aren’t we glad that God doesn’t say things like we do but is always with us and is ruling over heaven and earth. God would have good reason to want to get away when we realistically look at ourselves and see our disobedience, unfaithfulness and the sins that we commit daily. I’m sure that everyone who is a parent knows the frustration of not being heard, and receiving excuses that we know aren’t realistic from our children. How often we have wanted to ‘get away from it all’ even for just a few minutes?

However, even when we sin and are disobedient and break the ten commandments, God looks on us with love and pity. Instead of wanting to be away from us, He seeks us out and wants an even closer relationship with us. That is why weekly in church we hear the words of God’s forgiveness and receive the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion to reestablish our closeness to God who doesn’t want us to go on our own.

God does His part and then it’s up to us to change our sinful ways and seek to draw closer to God. I wonder how often we wrestle with a particular sin and put together a plan so we don’t duplicate that sin but that we eradicate it from our lives.

Many people do not know about or appreciate God’s love for all humans. Our job is to invite by word and by example to seek God in His house and to develop a personal relationship with Him. When is the last time that you invited someone to come experience God’s presence in His house on Sunday morning? When we love God as He loves us, we are eager to see Him at any opportunity. The devil often makes offers of other things to do but the pay-off is only momentary whereas in God’s house, the forgiveness of God wipes out our sins forever when we have faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior.

This year we will be working closer with the preschool than we have in the past. The parents and preschool children will want to meet the God we worship. Let’s be open and loving as we embrace them in church. Let us look at those in our neighborhoods who don’t have a home church or have fallen away from the church and invite them to attend with us. Let’s pray daily for them and see how we can be of help to them.

In the past people have seen the friendliness of the members here at Lutheran Church of Providence. Keep up the good work and commit yourself to be in worship every single week.

May God, who never sleeps and never grows weary of us, bless us and keep us in His care.

In His service,

Pastor Weikart

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Fellow Children of God,

September is starting and the final days of summer vacation are just around the corner. As I walked through the local Walmart school supplies were in the main aisle and back to school sales are the order of the day. These school supplies got me to thinking about our grand-daughter and how she says she loves school!

In the last week of September our granddaughter will start school in the Fourth grade. We are all excited for this big step in life for Rylee. But school is more than just a new escapade. Starting any grade in school is an entry into much a bigger world around us. Each grade is a new adventure!

Rylee knows they will be studying about math, reading, writing, science and social studies. She doesn’t know she is also entering the world of cliques. This will increase and complicate a child’s social life, the academic ante is upped as well, requiring her not only to be responsible for her own work but to work in groups as well. This year is the genesis of the too-heavy backpack, as each subject in 4th grade usually has its own book and notebook. That is a big arena for a 10-year-old!

So, I am praying for Rylee, AND I am praying for her teachers. Please pray for your kids, grandkids

and their teachers!

Do you remember when teachers were respected? When I got in trouble in school as a child, and it happened often, I would get more punishment at home than I did at school. My parents trusted and respected my teachers. From what I read today, when teachers discipline students, so that everyone can learn more about reading and writing and math, teachers are often challenged by parents.

Teachers are being asked to do more than to just teach academics. More and more teachers in schools are being asked to provide values and nurture that sometimes children are not receiving otherwise. Most teachers I know care about children and want to help children grow into maturity toward adulthood. But, while teachers are being asked to do more, there are things teachers now cannot do, and teachers often receive less respect for the job that they do. Maybe you understand why I am praying for Rylee’s teachers.

Yet, teachers are not the only ones whose jobs have become more difficult in our country. Law enforcement officers do not receive the same respect I remember from days past. Doctors and health care professionals are often questioned. Imagine being a Christian and trying to serve as an elected official! I know some people who say it is impossible to live one’s Christian faith and to serve in office. Personally, I am thankful for Christian people who struggle with the political system in order to bring honor and values to our society.

Jesus knew about the struggles of His disciples to live in this world. He talked to our Father in heaven about such struggles. On the night before He died Jesus prayed with his disciples and John recorded this prayer. In part of Jesus’ prayer, He asks His Father, “¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”  (John 17:15-17)

Many have taken the words of Jesus’ prayer to describe the struggle Christians face. We are “in the world, but not of the world.” In other words, instead of serving just ourselves using the values of the world around us, Christians are called to serve God and others, following God’s guidance and trusting His help.

As Rylee enters this larger 4^th grade world she does have help. She has help from her Creator, and from the one who loved her and died for her. As teachers,  policeman and lawmakers and all who might be God’s children seek to serve the Lord in our sinful world, they need help too. That is why I prayed for Rylee, and why I also prayed for her teachers. After all, that is what Jesus did for His disciples.

Also worth noting: we need volunteers to help with the many duties around the Church. Please see our Council members or Pastor. They will let you know what is needed! See you all soon … October is coming right up!

A Child of God, Praying for my grandchild, her Teachers, and all of us at Providence Lutheran,

Roy Armstrong, Council President

QUILTS

We are doing well working toward our goal of 100 quilts. To date we have 29 quilts and several more being put together at this time. Thanks to all the hard working group. We could use more volunteers for tieing, ironing and helping pick up when we are finished for the day. We meet the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM. Come join us.

Thank you, Sandy Wylie

MEMORIALS

A memorial in memory of Mr. Dale Weiberg, dedicated to the Roof Fund, was given by Grace and Kathi Grages.

Lutheran Church of Providence                                     June, 2019 Newsletter

Pastor’s Corner

When we look at the Old Testament in the Holy Bible we cringe at what they did and how they acted. Often it seems so bizarre that we don’t even look at the Old Testament. We see children being killed or being offered to the pagan god Molech; we see people at war against each other; people lying, stealing and cheating to get ahead; people turning away from the true God and trusting in themselves for all their needs; people forsaking God’s laws and commands and going their own way; and sexually acting out with asherah poles for the immediate pleasure of the participants.

Sadly, we haven’t learned from their mistakes. I see many in our country going down a parallel path that we see in the Old Testament. How horrific this seems to many people but we aren’t changing our ways.

Children today are being killed in large numbers in the womb and now many states have laws that living babies can be killed after coming out of the womb. We justify this by saying it’s a woman’s right to have the baby killed. Is this much different from the Old Testament times?

Lying, stealing, cheating, making false accusations are rampant not only throughout the world but also in our own country and in our government. Getting even and making people pay for sins real and imaginary is the protocol of the day. This is often born out of greed and jealousy. Unfortunately this never stops but just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

As times become more prosperous in the United States as well as other countries we begin to rely on mankind and fall away from God. We even see laws being passed to force us to follow the government and society rather than God Almighty. Churches are being abandoned and people are finding other things to do rather than to sing the praises of God. Living for ourselves rather than God is the direction we are pursuing. The Ten Commandments are being violated regularly and we even justify our rebellion by saying that we’re living is a new era and that God’s laws are out of date. We cheat, lie, steal, murder, bear false witness and lust after what others have.

Our society has also become very sexually oriented. We see people on the ‘red carpet’ with see though clothes and people posing nude for others to view their bodies. We talk about honoring human sexuality but then we treat it with very little honor and respect.

With all the above, and more, going on in our country and in the world, is it any wonder that we have so many problems? In the Old Testament God allowed foreign nations more corrupt than Israel to rise up and conquer God’s people. God was calling His people into repentance in a way that they couldn’t reject. Is this where we are headed as a country? Have we learned from history or do we want to wipe history out and thereby unconsciously repeat history?

As a congregation we need to be a light and a guide to this community. During the summer months we need to reach out and invite others to see who God is and to establish a relationship with Him. We need to be in His Word and learn from our ancestors with the sins and mistakes they made. This summer we need to pray regularly that God has mercy on us and that He restores us to be His people who strive to do His will. Let us be supportive to each other and aim for peace and unity.

Have a blessed summer as I look forward to worshiping with you and loving you as part of God’s family here in Deltona.

In His service,

Pastor Weikart