How than do YOU k s to g God ive ?
November 2013
Peace Talk Peace Lutheran Church
570-343-9828
www.yourpeace.org
On All Saints Sunday We Give Thanks Eph. 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. The Sunday after November 1st is always the observance of All Saints Day in the church where we remember and give thanks for all those in the faith who have gone before us and shown us the Christian life and victory over sin, death, and the devil. Martin Luther, while objecting to the vereration of saintly relics and the idea that the saints can confer their storehouse of righteousness to us (as that would take away from the forgiveness of Christ), affirms the Biblical truth that ALL of the children of God are saints. He writes about how we should properly understand saints: "They are not called saints because they are without sin or have become saintly through works. On the contrary, they themselves, with all their works, are nothing but condemned sinners. But they become holy through a foreign holiness, namely, through that of the Lord Christ, which is given them by faith and thus becomes their own. This faith is so strong and powerful that it covers and wipes away all sins and shortcomings that remain in flesh and blood. I have often said that the kingdom of Christ is nothing but pure forgiveness, a kingdom that deals only with sins and always wipes them away, covers them, and cleanses us of them as long as we live here below."
35 years later Impong Gives THANKS for Peace! The office door bell rang late in the morning one day at the close of the month of October. The man introduced himself as Paul - Inpong Sengproseuth. He was wanting to have the address of Pastor Tim Nickel, a pastor who served in the 1970s. He explained that he was passing through town and wanted to get a hold of Pastor Nickel because he wanted to say thank you for all the kindness he showed to him and his family when he was sponsored by Peace church from his country of Laos. Having heard of this family from Elsie Schweitzer many times, and seen pictures of their baptisms, Pastor Bjornstad realized who he was talking to. Inpong was THRILLED to hear that Elsie was still alive (!) and after a phone call Pastor Bjornstad took him over to her house. He literally jumped out of his car and, leaving the door wide open, RAN and embraced her on her porch. It was a most incredible moment to see. Elsie took him out to lunch! After moving from Scranton to Indiana so long ago, Impong worked every day - and at night earned a MASTERS degree! He wanted everyone to know how important the congregation was to him and that he will never forget our kindness. To the left Inpong is standing next to the same baptismal font he was baptized from 35 years ago. Please pray for that Baptismal faith to be continually renewed in his life even today!
An A p o st o lic Mission C o n gregat ion of The Lut heran Church Missouri S y nod
The Lutheran Academy and Immanuel Preschool/Kindergarten Growing in Abounding Grace! + We will be welcoming Gabriel, a first grader, and Elizabeth, a Preschooler into the Academy and Preschool in just a few days! We welcome their parents Benjamin and Lisa and their infant child Michael into our school family! Please welcome them! + October 24-25 Mrs. Mandile and Mrs. Luklanchuk both flew to Milwaulke,WI and had a wonderful time at the national convention of the Lutheran Educators Association. After becoming CHEESEHEADS, they came home with their own relationship cemented and lots of great ideas on how to make our school even BETTER! (HARD TO DO!) + October 31st was a FABULOUS Harvest Party with lots of excellent costumes! Thanks to Amy Betts and Sarah Catalano who helped organize and chaperone! + WE NEED YOU AS A PRAYER PARTNER WITH A STUDENT: We would like to pair up each of the students with a secret prayer partner to be connected with throughout the school year. Each prayer partner will receive a personal letter from their student. The prayer partner will commit to praying daily for their student and may receive other letters from their student requesting specific prayers. The prayer partner may write back to the student but identity will be kept concealed until our Lutheran Schools Potluck in March, at which time a revealing will take place! All correspondence will be screened by a teacher or board member to keep this a safe and positive activity for all. Sign up sheets are available! UPCOMING EVENTS: + November 5th the students will travel to the Scranton Health Care Center to sing and bring the comfort and love October trip to Miller's Orchard! of Jesus to the residents there! + Everyone is working very hard to prepare for the upcoming FESTIVAL OF LESSONS AND CAROLS that will be held Dec. 4th at 7pm at Immanuel Lutheran Church - mark your calendars to be there! + The Academy will again be the main "musical talent" at the MADD prayer vigil on Dec. 15th at the Trolly Museum. Come and join us if you like!
PASTOR'S REFLECTIONS ON HIS TRIP TO THE SEMINARY IN FT. WAYNE, IN: After worship on Oct. 20, Pastor Bjornstad dashed out the door to catch a ride with two other pastors from Baltimore to a conference at the LCMS Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana which focused on URBAN MINISTRY. It was truly a fabulous time full of fellowship, worship, and learning. The highlight of the whole trip was the Holy Communion Service on wednesday morning with the chapel full of booming voices, instrumentalists, choirs, and the BLESSED WORD AND SACRAMENT. A few of the themes of the conference included 1. how to help those who are in need in a way which is beneficial to them (not just a handout, but a hand UP). 2. Issues of race and how the church needs to pay attention to it. 3. Partnering with local community organizations and BUSINESSES to accomplish the renewal and sustaining of the urban community. 4. Funding the mission of the church in hard to reach situations. Pastor Bjornstad now has about 1000 more things that need to be done before he wins the crown of glory! Other than that: The seminary campus is absolutely beautiful! If you are going through Ft. Wayne, make sure you stop by!
NOVEMBER EVENTS: NOVEMBER 8: SPECIAL YOUTH EVENT begins at 6pm - EDUCATIONAL TOUR ALL ABOUT THE HOMELESS! We will meet those who run the homeless shelter here in Scranton and maybe even meet with a homeless person. We are going to be thankful for all the comforts of our homes and families! NOVEMBER 10: LUTHER DAY DINNER begins at 2pm! Held at The Melting Pot! NOVEMBER 17: CONGREGATIONAL VOTER'S MEETING AFTER WORSHIP... let's try POT LUCK! please see the accompanying sheets on the house purchase and the proposed budget! NOVEMBER 24: Fellowship/Coffee Hour following worship! NOVEMBER 27: 7pm Thanksgiving Eve Worship
NOVEMBER 28: 1pm COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING DINNER! OPEN TO ALL WHO NEED A FAMILY TO FEAST WITH! We will open with a short devotional worship. We will definitely need a lot of help with the cooking and prep and cleanup! Call Bonnie Cornog to sign up to help at 1-334-655-2201 100th ANNIVERSARY IDEAS:
Nov
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In 2017 Peace will be celebrating our 100th anniversary as a congregation! We really do need to start working on this observance. Soon we will obviously need to strike some sort of task group to begin the work, but maybe we can start dreaming and brainstorming even now... + What would be a good theme? Bible Verse? + Write a poem or hymn + Go on a cruise together + Raise $100,000 for our endowment fund + Start a new mission church + Have 100 likes on our Facebook page (we are almost there already!) Here is pastor Bjornstad's idea: have an AVERAGE of 100 people in church every Sunday for the year! (This would be VERY possible!) Who is going to make the idea box to put in the back of the church?
WORSHIP AND SPIRITUAL LIFE at Peace Lutheran Church In November we will be focusing on the End Times and the stewardship of our lives in view of it - living in true THANKSGIVING to God. Our worship services are at 8:15 am and 10:30 am Sundays, with Sunday School and Bible Study at 9:30am! Invite your friends and neighbors to join us! NEW ADULT BIBLE STUDY LEADERS for Sunday Mornings! Elders Ky Betts and Chuck Mercer, along with Church Council President Chad Tyk will take turns leading Bible Study! (Pastor will be downstairs with the youth.) Come and share the faith with your fellow pilgrims on the way to heaven! YES! SUNDAY SCHOOL IS IMPORTANT! We have children who should/can be in Sunday School but are NOT! Make the invitation! Volunteer to teach! PRAY, PRAY, PRAY! Life is too short to sell God short! In November now we will be starting to practice for our Christmas Pageant!
NEWS AND NOTES: Erika Bjornstad continues to proceed with her church worker studies at Concordia University, St. Paul, MN. She is, however, transfering to Concordia University, Irvine, CA after Christmas! It just so happens that a young man named Caleb is ALSO going to school at Irvine and is studying in the same degree program as Erika! Funny how that is! James McHale and Timothy Hackenberg, playing for Dunmore and Lakeland, respectively, played against each other this past month - and Tim lived to tell the story! Congratulations to both young men!
PLEASE PRAY: + for our Congregational Voter's meeting on Nov. 17 as we seek the Lord's will for our church. + For our Academy and the Immanuel Preschool - that all our children would be well equipped to lead a Godly life in service to our fellow man! + For the ministry of the Gospel that is being accomplished in Pastor Brian Nichols in the church he is serving as a vacancy pastor, as well as his every day work as a Hospice Chaplain! + For our Shut In's Elwood and Edith Korban, Marilyn Wright and Trudy Makowski, Mark Herie.
VERY IMPORTANT CONGREGATIONAL VOTER'S MEETING IS COMING UP IN NOVEMBER! Please speak with Chad Tyke, our President, if there are issues you believe need
addressing. As well, we WILL be having elections this year and we DO need your earnest and willing participation in the leadership of our congregation. Look for the opportunity to stand up and be counted! :) GIVING THANKS FOR OCTOBER: + The October 27th Reformation Invitational Service was a wonderful experience all around. We had five total pastors present and an attendance of about 65 or 70 representing six area congregations. Pastor Baker had a great sermon and the choir sounded WONDERFUL thanks to everyone's hard work. There was good fellowship following for everyone who came down! + Several of the ladies of the congregation caravaned down to St. John's Lutheran Church in Pittston for the LWML Fall Workshop on Oct. 6th. It was hard to get to the church and get back without getting lost, but they made it! + It was SUCH a blessing to witness God's seal of blessing in the baptism of THREE children in the month of October! Alayna McHugh, Lilly Walsh, and William Hoffman. Below is the family of Lilly.
NOTE: The church currently has the funds in our Building Fund to purchase this property outright with no mortgage. (Thanks largely from a bequest several years ago from a member of the Schweitzer family.)
PLEASE PRAY ABOUT THIS PROPOSAL AND MAKE YOUR OPINIONS KNOWN! WE WILL VOTE ON THIS AT OUR NOV. 17TH CONGREGATIONAL MEETING!