NEWSLETTER November 2017
Peace Talk
House of Prayer on Parker and Main
Saying some goodbye’s… Earlier in October, a visitation was given to our dear Henry and Rae Camin who have been life long memebers of Peace. Henry is the son of the former pastor Henry Camin (Sr.). Henry Jr. as a child actually lived in the original upstairs apartment of the original Benjamin House that was purchased as the first church building of Peace! Both Henry and Rae are moving to VA to live with his son Bob and his wife. We will MISS them both and pray God’s richest blessings on them.
To the right we have a picture of Trudy Makowski who’s funeral was held on All Saints Day, Nov. 1! She was born in Germany but came as an infant to Scranton and was Confirmed in the faith here at Peace in 1941! She has been homebound for about 20 years but we have been praying and bringing God’s Word and Sacrament to her all along for her!
From the Pastor’s Heart
Visiting Henry and Rae Camin are Lillian Colbert, Bill Stavisky, Tom Jones, Arlene Jones, Mason Evans, Pastor Bjornstad, Lorraine Pensak, Chuck Mercer and Ramona Brown.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry…
The people of our world, our nation, our community, and even our church, are most definitely crying aloud at the bitter sounds of this evil (and final) age. Our church has stood for 100 years and we remember and give thanks for the 500 years of Reformation history - but sometimes we almost want to give up the battle against evil. Its forces seem too great for us. We are so TIRED of the fight. Jesus says though in John 16:33: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” We come to the Sundays at the end of the season of Pentecost, and we share in the weekly joy of the Resurrection of Jesus, we look in our readings to the Last Judgement day… we pray that we would be well prepared in our Faith, clothed in the righteous robes of Jesus, and having donned the armor of God (Eph.)… Jesus himself fights for us! Praise the Lord! Let us have Peace in our hearts! Join us in these Sundays in November when we consider what God has to say about the End Times that we live in. We definitely need wisdom so we are not caught up in hopelessness and the lies of the devil. Sincerely in Jesus, Rev. Kristian Bjornstad
The Immanuel Preschool and The Lutheran Academy! Working in partnership with God's people to raise up a new generation of faithful Christian men and women! Visit and share the Academy website at anytime at www.thelutheranacademyscranton.org
Harvest Party Fun On October 31, many parents joined the staff and threw a fun-filled party for the students at the Academy. The afternoon included yummy food, games, sweets and more.
A beautiful table and chairs with a hutch was donated to Peace Lutheran Church with the intention of selling and giving the proceeds to the Academy. We are happy to report this set did sell on October 28th and boosted the much needed scholarship fund by $750! Praise God for generous donation and for the new owners of this table and hutch. One of our students, Tess Nichols did not return to the Academy this Fall. She has instead chosen to attend public school for 7th grade. After an education at The Lutheran Academy she is thriving in public school. She has tested out of 7th grade Honors English and will be taking Honors Biology and Pre-algebra. Her mother, Theresa Nichols, is thankful for the Academy and so pleased with the strong curriculum and how her time at The Lutheran Academy has set Tess up for success in her new school.
The upper grades showing their fun side
This is a wonderful testimony to the hard work of our Academy staff, and their committment to grow students of academic EXCELLENCE! WE PRAISE GOD for the new MUSIC ROOM! It is getting used daily. Many contributions made the renovation of the LMC Lounge into this new teaching space a reality! Mr. BJ is VERY VERY happy with how it turned out! We still need a a new door with a window, and something of a vent with a fan to keep the place ventilated! If you would like to help with those items, please give us a shout!!! TECH NEED: The Academy is in need of a TV (36”-40”) with HDMI hookup for one of our classrooms. If you, or someone you know have one to donate or sell for a few bucks, please let us know. Custodial Help Needed The Academy is in need of a reliable cleaner to come 2 days a week for around 2 hours (when no students are present) to keep the school side of the building in tip top shape. If you, or someone you know, is interested, please contact the office at 570-507-9108.
Miss L’s class of characters
BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION Supporting The Lutheran Academy can be as simple as saving Box Tops for Education. Box Tops are found on almost 200+ items. Each Box Top when turned in earns the Academy 10 cents. These Box Tops can really add up. A collection box is located in the back of the church. Please save your Box Tops. Spread the word and turn them in!
Pray without ceasing - 1 Thes. 5:17 Remember to ask: "How can I pray for you?"
CHURCH NEWS AND NOTES: + SPECIAL PRAYERS For Frank Schulze. Frank has reached 21 months waiting in jail for a trial. He has been through so much and remains faithful to God. The hardest part is being away from his son. Continue to pray for spiritual growth, his daily safety, and for his son Xander. WE PRAISE God as Beverly Gedrimas’s prayers for a job have been answered and she is very blessed by God with what she needs. + WELSH COOKIES FOR SALE Cookies have been baked and are available TODAY for just $6 a dozen. If you did not have a chance to reserve your order last Sunday, there will be a limited supply available for purchase. Don’t miss out on this time-treasured recipe! Also, they make a lovely gift. + ANNUAL VOTER’S MEETING It is time again for our annual congregational voter’s meeting. Agenda items include election of new council officers, passing of the 2018 Church budget, presentation of community outreach plan. The meeting will be held following the 10:30am worship service on Sunday, Nov 12. + WALTHER LEAGUE DANCE Thank you to those who attended the Walther League Dance held on October 8th. The intention was to remember a much-loved activity of the church for much of the 1950s. A special thank you to Ramona Brown who led 5 weeks of line dance lessons to get members prepared for the fun evening.
+ HOMELESS BACKPACKS MINI-MINISTRY! Thank you to Elizabeth Kramer for answering God’s call to help the homeless in our area. You can bring in backpacks as well as a variety of items to fill them. Ideas include hygiene products, socks and cold weather gear, non-perishable food, gift cards. The collection will end on Sunday November 19th. THIS is our FIRST example of a ‘MINI-MINISTRY”! What is God calling YOU to do in YOUR community and what is on YOUR HEART? IN THE COMMUNITY:
Choral Society of Northest Pennsylvania Concert A Mighty Fortress: Chorales, Hymns and Psalms of the Reformation Sunday, November 5 at 4pm Covenant Presbyterian Church of Scranton Adults: $15, Ages 18 and under are free A LOOK AHEAD . . . Wed, Dec 6th Wed, Dec 13 Wed, Dec 20
+ REFORMATION DINNER AND MOVIE Thank you to Susan Crosbie, and all those who brought desserts, for whipping up a wonderful German dinner. Over 20 people enjoyed the meal on October 28th. Following the meal, we were joined by a few others and members from Peace, Immanuel, St Stephens and even St Matthews in Wilkes Barre. + THANKSGIVING MEAL TOGETHER?!? Are you looking for a place to gather for Thanksgiving this year? Please reach out to Pastor or call the church office if you are interested. If we have enough, a meal will be held at Peace mid afternoon on Thanksgiving.
ADVENT WEDNESDAYS 6pm Soup Supper and Advent Devotions 7pm Decorating the Church 7pm Festival of Lessons and Carols (led by the student of the Academy and held at Immanuel Lutheran Church) 6-7:30pm 100th Anniversary Caroling Meet at Peace and we will take the Peace Van to sing and bless members in our neighborhoods
CHRISTMAS PAGEANT Calling all youth of the congregation! On Sunday, December 24th at the 10:30am Worship Service, the youth will present their Christmas pageant. Practices will be held during Sunday School hour Dec 3, 10, and 17 with a final dress rehersal on Sat Dec. 23rd. Mark your calendars now. BAPTISMS! PRAISE THE LORD! Little Emerson Scott Keith, born to Erika (Bjornstad) and Caleb, was baptized into the name of Jesus October 15th (in CA)! Marked with the sign of the Cross on Nov. 5th, will ALSO be Jordan Merieski, born to Megan (Mercer) and Ross Merieski!
+ HOW ARE YOU SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY? Pastor always loves to see his congregation members out and about doing their Godly work. Feel free to share photos any time of you doing your work on the Peace Facebook page, or email to Amy at the office for inclusion in the next newsletter.
Church website: www.yourpeace.org
email: pastor@yourpeace.org, amybetts@yourpeace.org
LMC: 570-703-0607
Rules for children in the worship service By Cindy Beal Justice and Peace Consulting One. If you find that you're sitting in front of a child and they can't see, lean to the side. Two. If the children seated behind you are rustling papers, hand them a crayon. Three. If there is a baby that is crying, offer to take it from its parent and walk to the back of the church and rock it for a while. The parent really needs a break. Four. If the teenagers are whispering give them some Smarties. The rustling and crinkling will replace their whispering. Five. If an adult complains to an usher about the noisy children near them, offer to trade seats with that adult and then apologize to the parents of the children. Six. When a child is running around giving everyone high-fives during the time of passing the peace/greeting your neighbor make sure to give them an extra fun high-five, and then high-five the next five adults that you see. Seven. If a child has worn tap shoes to church and is dancing on the wood portion of the floor, slip the sheet music for "The Entertainer" to the pianist and roll with it. Eight. When the children can't hear because an adult around them won't take off their puffy jacket and it keeps squeaking and distracting the children, offer to help them off with their jacket and go hang it up for them where it goes. Nine. When the three-year-old insists on standing on the front pew turned backwards looking at the rest of the people, give the child a pair of very dark glasses. That will prevent the child from catching any adult's eye, which would lead to distracting them. This will protect the adults who as we know have very short attention spans and are easily distracted. Ten. When a child in front of you is very squirmy, and then they finally turn around and you realize suddenly, "Oh, it's Jesus!" take it in stride and play Got Your Nose till he turns around to the front again. This humorous list can be a good guide for us all as we welcome the YOUNG and not so young to worship here at Peace. The Installation of Deacon John Babbitts will occur during the 10:30 service on Sunday, November 12th. Please make every effort to be in attendance as we at Peace are blessed to welcome a new worker to our church staff.
Adult Bible Study
There is a simple way to support Peace Lutheran Church when you shop online. If you have an Amazon.com account you can chose to have 0.5% of the purchases you make go to a charitable organization of your choice. Good news, Peace is now on that list! * Log on to your Amazon.com account * Click the “Your Amazon Smile” under the Your Accounts tab. * Search for “ Peace Lutheran Church Scranton” * Confirm your choice and you are done. Now you are all set to impact Peace with every purchase you make. To be sure Peace gets the 0.5%, you will need to begin your shopping experience at smile.amazon.com If you have any questions or need assistance setting this up, please call Amy at the church office and she will be more than happy to help you. If you plan to shop with Amazon.com and don’t have an account set up, she can also assist you in the process. Thank you for your part in support the work of Peace Lutheran Church.
What is the hardest task God has ever given you personally to do? Telling strangers or even the neighbors we’ve know for years about God can be difficult enough. What if God asked you to go to an enemy nation like Iran or North Korea and tell them to repent their sins and follow him or he would destroy them? How anxious would we be to go? We might enjoy telling them God would destroy them. But what if they actually repented and instead of them being destroyed nothing happened? How would we feel? Come join us at the Adult Bible class starting November 12 and see that the story of Jonah is so much more than prophetic fish bate.
Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God Our Father and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
All Invited to This Fun and Informative Evening!!
In determining what to write for my first article to the newsletter it was suggested that I tell you a little more about myself. So I decided I would like to share with you my favorite bible verse. Galatians 6:14 God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ in whom the world is crucified to me and I unto the world. Everyone of us has been given unique gifts from God. Everyone of us have accomplishments of which we are proud and wish others knew about. It is just as true though that we have those actions, thoughts and deeds we hope no one ever finds out about. Those mistakes whether sinful or not that trouble us. That we hope the witnesses of those times have long since forgotten even if we can’t. The cross allows us to look beyond all that. Not only have those sins been forgiven and our shortcomings as imperfect human beings forgotten, but I can actually glory in them because they tell me I need a Savior. So I can glory in my weaknesses because it is through them that the perfection of his strength is made obvious. This shouldn’t be confused with a participation award. Rather because it is Christ who has done all things for us it’s more like a non-participation award. With which I could not be happier! All we bring to the cross is undesirable. We bring our ignorance, our sins, our weaknesses of body and soul, our imperfection, our filthy rags, our blindness, our deafness, our impatience, and our doubts. There at the cross Christ teaches us. He works through and corrects our errors. He replaces our filthy rags with His white robe. He opens our eyes that we might see His path and the victory He has won for us. He opens our ears that we might hear his voice and the voices of those in need around us. Just as our sins were crucified to the cross with Jesus, when he became sin for us, so too have been all the sins of the world who still do not know Him. Our sins and their’s are dead in Jesus. This means that we have the joyful task of glorying in Jesus victory over sin, death and the devil and forgiving others the wrong they have done to us and in telling everyone what He has done. We can bemoan the path of the world or the examples of famous people but it is only in Christ, by grace through faith through the power of the Holy Spirit that the world will change. I have a lot to learn. Not the least of which are all your names and gifts. I would be most grateful if this month you could share with me your name and favorite Bible verse with me. May God keep you in His care. SDG, Deacon John
EVENT SPACE FOR RENT!!!! BIrthday or Anniversary Party . . . Family Reunion . . . Baby Shower. . . Retreat . . . and more Please consider the Lutheran Ministry Center Fellowship Hall (with spacious kitchen) for your next event. Share the news of this great space. Priced to fit even the tightest budget. Reservation form avialable on the website and at back of church. Call the church office to reserve your date The lights stay on and the heat flows when we have revenue coming in to the LMC, so please help by spreading the word about our lovely space at 1546 Monsey Ave! BEING SOCIAL MEDIA SAVVY Are you on social media? Have you taken a moment to follow God’s Peace at Parker and Main? How about The Lutheran Academy, Scranton? Take a moment to follow us and then “like” and “share” the church/school Facebook posts. Every time you “like” and/or “share” these posts it helps spread the good work of the church and our missions. Please ALSO once in a while "check in" to church... Just like you "check in" to a restaurant... This is an exercise in not being ashamed of our Lord Jesus Christ. .