Church Blog
Stewardship Minute 10/06/2019
Martin Luther penned his final words: “We are beggars. This is true.”And this is the truth that our Lord says makes you free. Ironic, isn’t it? That, in order to be free, you must be a beggar; you must be utterly dependent and reliant upon God. This makes us uncomfortable – the way we’re uncomfortable when someone gets us a Christmas or birthday present when we haven’t gotten them one. We feel we owe them. And we don’t much like being in someone’s debt.
But what Luther would remind us is that we are all indeed beggars. But we’re not just anyone’s beggars. We’re God’s beggars. And this is His legacy to the Christian Church. Christ came for sinners. He came to seek and save the lost. He came to heal the sick and raise the dead. He came for sinners, and He dwells only with sinners.
And, if we are to be where He is, we must be willing to be counted among the lost, the sick, and the dead. We must be willing to be beggars. We must cry out for mercy, for grace, and for his undeserved love and kindness. We must be dependent solely on Him and what He gives.
And here’s the beauty: He gives us everything. Everything – forgiveness of sins, salvation from death and the devil, and eternal life. This is not because of any worthiness or merit in us, but it Is because of His divine goodness, mercy, and grace.
Stewardship Minute 9/29/19
Matthew 18:3 – “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Children trust their parents. They look to their parents to bless them and care for them. We are children of the heavenly Father, and He invites us to trust Him. He has given us proof of His trustworthiness by sending His son to save us. Children delight in giving their parents gifts. Parents delight in receiving these signs of love and thankfulness. Can you see how this applies to us giving gifts to our heavenly Father?Stewardship Minute 9/22/2019
Luke 16:8 – “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” The sons of this world know that they should use their wealth wisely to provide for their future. Shouldn’t we “sons of light” know that the wealth God has allowed us to manage should be managed for God’s purposes in the roles He has given us in Church, home and society?Stewardship-August 2019
Have you ever noticed the subtle ceremony of receiving the offerings during the Divine Service? The offerings are collected in plates or basket, and they are brought forward and given to the pastor or an assistant. The pastor turns toward the altar, and, as he bows his head, offerings are raised slightly to the Lord and placed on the altar or an adjacent table.
Originally, this ceremony included more than simply bringing forward what was collected in the offering plates. The elements for the Holy Communion – the bread and the wine – were brought forward with the offerings. The offerings and elements were lifted toward the Lord and placed upon the altar. The altar, now made a table, would be set for the Lord’s Supper.
For what is offered to the Lord from the sweat of His people’s brow – the bread of anxious toil – comes back to us as the bread of life. The bread comes down from heaven that whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup will receive life through the forgiveness of their sins.
What a blessing! God provides for us in all things. He provides bread from the sweat of our brows. He receives this from us in the first-fruits offerings we give to Him in thanksgiving and praise, and He turns these into spiritual bread. He gives this heavenly bread – the bread of eternal life – back to us so we might have joy.
Birthday Group-August 2019
On THURSDAY, July 11, we celebrated the birthdays of Bobbie and Jerry Ankenbrandt, Jim Brunner, BJ Lahr, Mary Ann and Ed Meinardus and Patricia Sax at Clara, a restaurant in Carlsbad Village. Our group took up an entire wall which had no impact at all on the fellowship throughout the group. We contributed one hundred ninety-nine ($199) dollars to Birth Choice.
We’ll celebrate the birthdays of Pastor Augie, Gary Reiswig, Dave Taylor, Ken Voertman and Gary Wilson in our first all-male birthday celebration on THURSDAY, August 29 at Dini’s Bistro, 3290 Carlsbad Boulevard at 11:30 a.m.
Lunches range from ten to eighteen ($10-18) dollars. In addition to your lunch, we request a one dollar contribution per celebrant which will go to Del/Mar Solana Beach Optimist Club for their Rady’s Children’s Hospital project.
Everyone is welcome to join us but you do need a reservation with the Birthday Coordinator, Jo Voertman, jvbytheseaagain@gmail.com, 760-721-6674.
Free to be Faithful-August 2019
Free to be Faithful (a.k.a. Salt & Light) is dedicated to raising awareness within our Christian Community that we have a responsibility to be informed and to participate in the Civil arena; most importantly to vote for candidates that share our Christian beliefs. As individual Christians this responsibility must be taken as seriously as any other duty in our lives. How can you love your neighbor and yet vote for someone who will pass legislation allowing your neighbors daughter to have an abortion without parents’ consent?
A recent article on the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty website (part of the LCMS Free to be Faithful program) talked about a specific legislation that deals with public funding of abortions. Their guidance is this: “Now is the time for us to speak as a moral people, refusing to incentivize a procedure that, even though legal, should be sparingly used. The debate about the Hyde Amendment won’t let us hide anymore!”. The Church, for their part, must encourage members to get informed and be involved.
Hyde Amendment: A legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. First passed in 1976
Isaiah 5:20: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” – Dan Bitner