Peace Talk - MAY 2010
Apostolic Mission Congregation of the LCMS www.yourpeace.org Pastor Kristian Bjornstad 2506 N. Main Ave. 343-9828
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. - Ps. 67
FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART: The blessings of God that are showered upon us through our mothers are thrilling to behold. I was so blessed with my own mother. My mother was not perfect by any means, but now, two years after she danced her way into heaven in the arms of Jesus, I am ever thankful for her many gifts she gave me. Beginning with giving me a first home in her womb, to birthing me and nurturing me through all those years…. How she didn’t get angry with me when I got in trouble with the police for my reckless bike riding… How she taught me the scriptures as well as how to garden and cook and bake and study and manage my money. She worked so hard to feed me and clothe me and encourage me in my education and vocation… and finally she taught me how to die a Christian death full of hope and love. In all the years gone by before she died I wasn’t very good about Mother’s Day cards and gifts and such. And now? Of course now I wish I had another chance to honor her better. But the blessing in not being able to honor my “real” mother is that I recognize more and more the “mothering” that goes on in my life by so many other beautiful women! Sometimes we think we can do better without them, but the reality is that we need them desperately. In this “Year of the Family”, join with me this May in honoring ALL the mothers in our lives! They are foundational in making our congregation a true family of families!
In the Risen Jesus, Pastor Bjornstad
POT ROAST DINNER Sat. MAY 8th 3-6 pm in support of The Lutheran Academy!
MISCELANEOUS NOTES: PRAISING GOD! + Our FOURTH MEN’S NETWORK MEETING was attended by FIVE men who seek God! Our goal in life is the authentic Christian life as Men of God! Our next meeting is Saturday May 22nd at Panera Bread in Dickson City (9 am). We are looking for 10 men at each meeting. Open to all men! Please bring a friend! + Josh Schulz achieved the President’s List at Keystone College for his academic work! Congrats! John Price and Mike Evans will be graduating from Abington High this June! Congrats! + PRAISE THE LORD at the Baptism of Laura Kate Hoffman, daughter of Bill and Lisa Hoffman! +PRAISE THE LORD for the baptism of Emma Durkin which will take place Sunday, May 2nd! They will have a little luncheon after the worship service which the congregation is invited to!
an active interest in the life and teachings of the church and called the Council of Nicaea in 325 at which orthodox Christianity was defined and defended. His mother, Helena (ca. 255-329), strongly influenced Constantine. Her great interest in locating the holy sites of the Christian faith led her to become one of the first Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Her research led to the identification of Biblical locations in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and beyond, which are still maintained as places of worship today. ++++++++++++++++++++ Deu 5:16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
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Jesus is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!!! Amen!!!! +++++++++++++ Christian History: Emperor Constantine, Christian Ruler, and Helena, Mother of Constantine Commemorated Friday, May 21. Constantine I served as Roman Emperor from A.D. 306 to 337. During his reign the persecution of Christians was forbidden by the Edict of Milan in 312, and ultimately the faith gained full imperial support. Constantine took
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PRAYER CORNER:
Please remember to pray for our shut in members of our congregation! This Month we pray especially for our upcoming confirmands as they prepare for their Confirmation. As well we pray for those seeking membership as they prepare to affirm their faith publicly! Also pray for our shut ins Edith and Elwood Korban, Lilly Smith, Trudy Makowski, Betty McKeen, Marilyn Wright. Please Pray for Mark Koenig as he waits for a kidney transplant. Pray also for the Durkin Family as Cliff is in need of work. ++++++++++++++++++++
STEWARDSHIP: Church Finances update: We thank God for the wonderful support the church receives
financially from its members! Please Remember: Our congregation is totally self supporting! This year our church budget has increased dramatically because it has committed itself to support the Ablaze mission movement by $5000! Through the month of March Deb Price our Treasurer reported that our receipts were not quite keeping up with the budget. Please remember that your sacrificial tithe is blessed by the Lord for Kingdom work! Please do not forget your offerings to the church! ++++++++++++++++++++ CPH SPRING BIBLE SALE: Ever want to study the Bible but found it kind of confusing and overwhelming? Join the club! Join the club of those who have the new Concordia Study Bible! Sign up on the chart at the back so we can order one for you! The best money you ever spent! ++++++++++++++++++++
GUESS WHO THIS IS! Installment #1: For FUN! Put your answer in the “answer box” at the back of the church!
MISSION NEWS/PRAYERS! In support of Andile (“Pretty”) Zulu! Our first door offering for Pretty Zulu will be made May 9th! We are supporting this young mother in South Africa attend secretary school so she can better support herself and her family! We need $50/month! It IS more blessed to give than to receive!
PRAYERS FOR THOSE IN THE MILITARY It is good for us to remember and value the debt we owe to those who defend the interests of this country and many peoples around the world in active service of our nation’s military. April 25 saw a young woman name Janelle Wertman visit us from the neighborhood. She had been in touch with Pastor Bjornstad through the church website and she finally was able to worship with us a few days before she left for active service in Iraq through the Air National Guard. During that service we gathered all our veterans, laid our hands on her, and lifted her and her family (including her new husband and 3 year old daughter Danica) up in prayer, that the Lord would care for her and give her every courage as she serves in this important way. If you would like to share a note of encouragement with her, please send it to: SSGT WERTMAN, JANELLE E RAMP SECTION 332 ELRS/LGRA APO AE 09315-9997 Cliff Durkin also wrote in a recent email: I just spoke with my friend Katie Kasper in Ft Huachuca, Arizona. She and her "battle buddies" would love to get mail, especially from children. We love mail from kids, and I'll tell ya getting a letter from a 6 year old will make anyone cry. Here is their contact info (pick one or write them all:) Pvt kasper, C co 305th attn Rattlesnakes, FT huachuca,az, 85613 Or if you want to write the other soldiers, just fill in their name at the same address. Here are the other soldier's names: pfc kemp, pvt mountain, pvt pirtle,pvt glasgow, pvt oates, and pvt glassie . By the way, "rattlesnakes" is their platoon nickname. That is how the male is sorted in the company, by platoon nickname, so it is important to add that on the envelopes. Thank you for supporting these young soldiers in the rest of their training.
2010 NEPA MISSION FESTIVAL held at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Wilkes Barre, April 25th! Members of many NEPA churches gathered together to celebrate our mission together to bring Christ’s name to all the world. Above Rev. Fisk led a workshop on witnessing to Jesus Christ in the upcoming generation of young people called the “Post Moderns”! We thank St. Peter’s for hosting this event for the first time! They did a beautiful job - especially on the great food! Almost $400 was raised for missions from an offering!
Lutheran Academy News
April was a very busy month for the Academy. We were blessed with two field trips: One to tour Wagaman’s Grocery store where the kids learned about healthy shopping and eating, experiencing the riches of God’s provision of the body. We also participated in the NEPA Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concert where we experienced how music can actually tell stories! In May the Academy will be singing and playing at the Thursday May 13th Ascension Day Worship (7 pm) at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Dickson City. Please join the celebration of this feast of the church! The Lutheran Academy’s third year will be ending with a bang this year – and we would love to have you participate! The kids have been working on a short musical called “100% Chance of Rain” which we will be presenting here at Peace on Thursday, June 3rd at 7 pm. We would be THRILLED to have you come and celebrate with us that evening! Then very early the very next day the whole Academy family will be traveling to Washington DC – and we would LOVE to have you come with us (as long as there is space!) The cost of the transportation to DC will be $50, but that does not include the cost of any museum admissions, food, and lodging. Please speak with Pastor Bjornstad or call Roger Borchin our Academy Principal. As well, we would ask that everyone in the church be our faithful ambassadors. If you know families who are seeking an alternative education for their children that you please tell them about the Academy. It IS a very BEAUTIFUL place for a child to grow in body, mind and in the Holy Spirit!
Christian Education Sunday School has been operating VERY smoothly this year with quite a few exciting things happening! We continue to be thankful for the teaching of Lori Harsche which rounds out our teaching staff organized by Beverly Gedrimas. Hannah and Erika Bjornstad and Chuck Mercer rounds out the faithful staff! PLEASE THANK all these VOLUNTEER teachers! CONFIRMATION BANNER: Our Sunday School Jr. Class has been working on a special Confirmation Banner for Confirmation Sunday – which by the way is MAY 23! Let us pray for our young people as they deal with a world which is so uncertain and confusing! TESTIMONY SUNDAY BREAKFAST: Join us Mother’s Day for breakfast here at Peace as we witness the faith of our young people and the testimony of people from many walks of life in our congregation who are experiencing the blessing of God in their lives. Please come and share your own story of faith – to the praise and glory of God! TESTIMONY SUNDAY BREAKFAST: Join us Mother’s Day for breakfast here at Peace as we witness the faith of our young people and the testimony of people from many walks of life in our congregation who are experiencing the blessing of God in their lives. Please come and share your own story of faith – to the praise and glory of God!
Concepts of Christian Parenting: The Bjornstad Basics
TURN THE (ONE) TV OFF
The TV in our house is just OFF unless there is something SPECIFIC that is going to be sat down and watched (from beginning to end!) Currently with four children in the house we watch a Netflix movie a week, six hours of football a week during the season (everyone except Erika likes to watch football), and maybe one or two shows like House and The Mentalist every week. Although the television does not have to be evil, the reality is that the vast majority of it is either unwholesome or simply a waste of God given resources of time and attention. If your kids do want to watch the TV, make sure that you sit down and watch at least the majority of the shows WITH them. The one thing that should be completely banned is a TV in a kids’ room. I hear from elementary kids who tell me how they watch their TVs into the wee hours of the morning in their own rooms!
Can we really trust our senses? Can we believe what we see or feel? What happens when those "markers" we depend on to keep us going in the right direction, or going, period, fail to make sense to us? Some of you who have seen the movie, "Groundhog Day", wherein the main character experiences the events of one day, over and over, might see where I'm going with this. Others might have had a similar experience due to illness, or maybe surgery, when it seems you've "lost" a day out of your life. It can be scary. Recently, I pulled what I call an "all-nighter": couldn't sleep at all, ended up being awake for about 28 hours before finally being able to sleep. That sleep came at around 2pm. Afternoon. Daylight. Wonderful rest. FINALLY. Woke up about 5 hours later, completely rested, felt great. My watch said 7.30. I'm excited, it's a beautiful day! Go out front to get the paper, there isn't one. See my upstairs neighbor coming home from work (dead giveaway - lunch box). We spoke, I commented about his coming home at such an odd hour. ??? I called about my missing newspaper; the office was closed. OK, so they aren't there at 730am. No problem. I'll just wait til later in the day. Turned on the computer, noticed there wasn't any new email. Not possible. There'd at least be junk mail! The date on the computer said, April 19. NOT. IMPOSSIBLE! It was FRIDAY, April 30. I KNOW, I had slept from Thurs. afternoon through until Friday morning! Called my daughter, wondering why the date was wrong on my computer. She told me how to change the date, saying "that happens, sometimes". I found that hard to believe, but hey- SHE'S the computer expert. Changed the date. STILL no new email.
UPCOMING EVENTS! Thursday, May 13 Joint Ascension Day service at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Dickson City! 7 pm Sunday, May 9: TESTIMONY SUNDAY BREAKFAST! Come and join the congregation for breakfast at 9 am to hear the testimonies of our Confirmands and others in the congregation! Sunday, May 23: CONFIRMATION SUNDAY! JUNE 6th WORSHIP TIMES CHANGE TO THE SUMMER HOURS!!!! 10 am! June 6: 3:30 A.L.F. Ransom Valley Lutheran Church Memorial Service. Lunch is earlier! See Audrey for reservations to lunch!
Meanwhile, the beautiful day had gotten darker. The "tv weather dudes" hadn't said anything about rain for Friday. ?? Then it got REALLY dark! TORNADO? In Scranton? How come I was unaware of a warning or possibility? I had the Christian radio station on, but it's not located IN Scranton. Hmmmmm. My watch now said 8:30. Something was definitely not right. I called a Christian friend and asked her, "What time is it and what DAY is it?" She reminded me I had called her around lunchtime to say I was going to take a nap. She said it is now 8:30pm, and it's THURSDAY, May 29. And, she didn't laugh at me. Wow! For a whole hour, it was as if I were in another world, one that looked the same, if not better than usual. But, the "facts" that my mind received did not seem to "compute". The watch gave me the time, but not "a.m." or "p.m". My eyes observed the weather, but my brain couldn't put it in the right context. My brain refused to believe what the computer was telling me, to the extent that I CHANGED what the computer was telling me! The saving grace? My thoroughly grounded Christian friend! Moral of this Groundhog Day revelation? OBVIOUSLY, things are not always what they seem. Sometimes the "facts" are WAY out of context. Sometimes just lacking knowledge of ONE thing (the fact that I slept all those hours, but only in one afternoon, not overnight) can seriously, and sometimes dangerously, affect our perceptions of our whole "place in space", so to speak. Praise God, nothing untoward happened to me but a good story. However, because I DO have Christian friends whom I can call at any time to "check in" and who will keep me in check, I need not fear straying too far from God's reality.
MORE NOTES! A Blessed Visitor at Peace
Peace was visited by a Richard Olsen who was riding his bicycle through Scranton, saw our church, and joined us in worship! We were singing the sermon hymn when he got out his trumpet and started playing along! It was such a thrill! And then at the end he got out his Shofar (Ram's Horn trumpet) and played that for us as well. Richard stayed for Sunday pancakes at the parsonage with some of the congregation and we all had a wonderful time!
Mother's Day Portraits
Pastor Bjornstad will have his Portrait Studio set up at church Sunday May 2 and 9 for any who would like to have Mother's Day Portraits taken! If you are happy with the picture a donation would be appreciated and given to The Lutheran Academy!
- Contributed by Marilyn Wright GUEST PREACHER REV. GREGORY DWYER: On April 11th, Rev. Gregory Dwyer, Director of Church and Alumni Relations, Concordia College-NY, shared a blessed sermon which tested our knowledge of the movie Titanic! Then after a luncheon (featuring Lasagna cooked by Anita Holzman!), he shared a 45 minute presentation on important principles of attaining Personal Financial Freedom. Oh, how our lives would be different if we were not in financial bondage to the world! New plans were made up to bring our youth to see Concordia College this summer! WE WELCOME BACK OUR SNOW BIRDS! Trickling back “home” from their “home away from home”, we welcome back the Hoffmans, Krigers, Hafichs, Ciziks!
WO W! !! JE SU SR OC
THE PEACE LUTHERAN LADIES GUILD IS JOINING IN THE FRAY WITH GATHERING HEALTH KITS! KS
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A NEW YOUTH INITIATIVE!!!! BY YOUTH FOR YOUNG CHRISTIANS!!!!
NEW LIGHT YOUTH MEETING! April 11th @ 5pm at McDade Park!!!!
There is a citywide Lutheran drive to gather up as many health kits as we can for Lutheran World Relief to distribute to places like Haiti! On July 8-9 Pastor Bjornstad will be leading a group sponsored by The Association of Lutheran Friends to New Windsor, MD with a trailer or van FULL of these health kits! Look for more information about this trip that YOU can go along with to volunteer at the LWR warehouse!
HEALTH KITS People who must flee their homes quickly often do not have time to pack essential items. Health kits can help refugees maintain personal hygiene while living in exile. Items may also contribute to a new start for those who can return home. Include the following items in each health kit: CAMP PIONEER TRIP COMING UP MAY 14-16!!!! Kevin Woolverton and George Price will be bringing up a 15 passenger van paid for by Audrey Russell (THANK YOU AUDREY, WE LOVE YOU!) for a Camp Cleanup weekend! The van is almost full, but there are still a couple seats! Talk to George Price if you want to come along for a BLAST!!!
BANANA CRAM!!!!!! St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Wilkes Barre has extended an invitation for a BANANA CRAM at their church Friday and Saturday June 18-19! Let’s PLAN on being there IN FULL FORCE!!!
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One hand towel, dark color recommended ! •! One washcloth, dark color recommended ! •! One bath-size bar (4 to 5 oz.) of soap, any brand, in its original wrapping ! •! One adult-size toothbrush in its original packaging ! •! One sturdy comb, remove packaging ! •! One metal nail file or nail clippers with file attached, remove packaging (do not substitute cardboard emery boards for the file) ! •! Six Band-Aids® (or similar brand), preferably 1/2" to 3/4"; secure together with a rubber band Do not add other items or leave out any of the items listed. All items should be new and in good condition. Wrap smaller items in the washcloth; wrap washcloth and remaining items in the towel and tie securely with ribbons or yarn. Do not enclose the kit or any of its contents in plastic bags.