A Message From Our Pastor: Lenten Worship; Time Change

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Just a reminder that we will hold noon Lenten worship in our chapel this Wednesday, and we will be hearing the faith story of Samson from the Old Testament. Lunch will be served in the fellowship hall following worship. The evening Lenten service will be held in our sanctuary at 6:30 p.m., preceded by fellowship and refreshments in the narthex at 6:00 p.m. This week, a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church will share a faith story. Next week’s evening service will be at St. Paul’s downtown.

Reminder: It's early this year – Daylight Savings Time begins Saturday night, March 9, so move your clocks up an hour in order to arrive on time for worship and Sunday School!

In Christ's peace,

Gary

Today's Services Will Take Place

Our Lenten services today will take place despite the snow. The parking lot has been plowed, and will be again if it snows more before the evening service. See details below on service times.

Lenten Worship - A Message From Our Pastor

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Just a reminder that we continue our midweek Lenten services on Wednesday this week. The noon service will be held in the chapel, followed by a light lunch in the fellowship hall. The faith stories we will focus on will be those of Rachel and Leah, from the Old Testament. The evening service, which we share with St. Paul Lutheran Church, will be held at LCOS this week: 6:00 p.m. – fellowship time (with light refreshments) in the narthex, followed by worship in the sanctuary at 6:30 p.m. using Holden Evening Prayer. A member of St. Paul will share her faith story with us.

Gary

Wednesday Lenten Services; Transportation

Wednesday Lenter Services continue tomorrow, February 13, with a service at LCOS at noon (followed by a simple lunch) and a joint service with St. Paul Lutheran Church (downtown Dayton) at 6:30 p.m.

The evening service at St. Paul will be preceded by a fellowship and refreshments starting at 6:00 p.m. Next week's service will be at LCOS. (Click this link for more details and the schedule for the weeks to come.) Each of the evening services will include the Holden Evening Prayer service, and a member of one of the churches will share with us the member's faith story.

If you do not like to drive after dark, we will be glad to provide transportation for you to the evening Lenten services, both at LCOS and St. Paul – just call the church office and ask to be placed on the list. You will be called by your “driver” prior to being picked up. And for those driving to St. Paul, the congregation has plenty of well-lighted parking. We suggest carpooling from the LCOS parking lot. Direction sheets are available in the office and narthex.

Ash Wednesday Service and Supper; Lenten Wednesday Services; Transportation

In observance of Ash Wednesday, the Lutheran Church of Our Savior will hold a service at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow (February 6), preceded by a soup supper at 6:00 p.m. The service will be the traditional liturgy that appears in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, including the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion. We will be joined by members and clergy from St. Paul Lutheran Church (downtown Dayton), and the combined choirs of St. Paul and LCOS will sing. As always, visitors are welcome - join us for fellowship, food, and worship.

During the rest of Lent, we will hold mid-week Wednesday services at noon and 6:30 p.m. The noon services will all be at LCOS; the evening services will alternate between LCOS and St. Paul. The evening service on Feb. 13 will be held at St. Paul.

If you do not like to drive after dark, we will be glad to provide transportation for you to the evening Lenten services, both at LCOS and St. Paul – just call the church office and ask to be placed on the list. You will be called by your “driver” prior to being picked up. And for those driving to St. Paul, the congregation has plenty of well-lighted parking. We suggest carpooling from the LCOS parking lot. Direction sheets are available in the office and narthex.

Driftwood for Window Displays During Lent

Lent starts very early this year - Ash Wednesday is Feb. 6. If you have any driftwood that can be used in the window displays during the season of Lent (a depiction of a dry creek bed), please let Gary or a member of the Worship Committee know, and bring it in by Feb. 3.

A Message From Our Pastor

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Our Mid-Week Lenten Services for this week will be held tomorrow (Wednesday, March 14), at noon and 6:45 p.m. in the chapel, with meals served in the fellowship hall at 12:30 and 6:00 p.m. Tomorrow's worship theme is based upon the Old Testament story of God's testing of Abraham. As we continue our journey through Lent to our Easter Celebration, I invite you to join us tomorrow and for the other Wednesdays in Lent. Special craft activities for children are held during the evening worship time.

This Sunday, March 18, at the 10:30 a.m. service, we are receiving new member disciples into our fellowship, and we hope you can be with us to welcome them into our community of faith. We will also provide opportunity for prayers and anointing for healing during the communion celebration at the late Sunday service.

Scripture Thoughts for Lent:
"Be still, and know that I am God!" (Psalm 46:10)
1. Do you have a time that you set aside each day to "be still" and be with God? What I mean is, do you take time each day (however long or short) from your busy schedule to just spend time with God in prayer?
2. If so, think about how spending time with God impacts your life, and ultimately, impacts the lives of those around you.
3. If you do not have a time (or take time), what is keeping you from doing so? What gets in the way? Ask God to help you make room in your life to spend time with God, because not spending time with God also impacts your life and the lives of those around you.
4. Give thanks to God that our Lord always has time for you!

And . . . another thought:
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope to see you in worship this week!

In Christ,
Gary

Taize Prayers

A message from our pastor:

During our Saturday worship in Lent, our service begins with one or two sung Taize prayers as a way to help worshipers center themselves in God. Candles are also available to be lighted and placed in sand as a visual symbol of prayers offered to God. Taize is a Christian community in southern France in which simple songs with powerful messages are sung as prayers. “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom” is a Taize prayer in our hymnal which we have sung in worship over the years.

Tomorrow's Lenten Services

A message from our pastor:

Tomorrow (Wednesday), we will hold our Lenten services (noon and 6:45 p.m.), with lunch at 12:30 p.m., and dinner at 6:00 p.m. Meals are in the fellowship hall, and services are in the parish house chapel. This week’s theme involves the ancient “flood narrative”. I hope you will find time in your busy schedules to deepen your relationship with God by joining us in worship and fellowship.

Decorating for Lent

. . . meant to evoke images of barren land and dry stream beds.

A Divine Appointment

Last weekend, our pastor and some of our youth were at a retreat with people from a number of other area Lutheran churches. There is a shortage of supply pastors, and despite diligent efforts, we weren't able to obtain one to come to our church. Consequently, our Music Director, Ginger Minneman, vounteered to lead our worship services for the weekend. (We normally have communion at all weekend service, but we did not have communion at these services in accordance with ELCA policy.)

Ginger delivered an excellent sermon entitled "A Divine Appointment." The Gospel reading was Luke 4:1-13. In this passage, Jesus is led by the Spirit in the wilderness and is tempted by the devil for forty days. In her sermon, Ginger talked about what happens - or can happen - when we are led to the wilderness, when we "are out of our comfort zones and stripped of the things we grasp most tightly."

Ginger started out by talking about Lent: "During our Lenten journey we too are invited to go to the desert, to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. It is a time of self examination. A time to take stock of our lives and make changes if necessary. A time of repentence, of turning away from the distractions of life and turning to God. Remembering that in our baptism we have been called not to live a self-centered life, but a God-centered life that is sustained by grace."

Ginger went on to say that while the Lenten journey is a planned one, "most of our visits to the desert are journeys that we have not planned on taking." She talked about the time, years ago, when she was hit by a drunk driver and spent weeks in a body cast in a hospital an hour from home. For the first time, she was separated from her small children, and she had few visitors because of the distance. "I had a lot of time alone in bed to think." She worried about who was going to do all of the things she was supposed to do during those weeks. "The short answer was that it wasn't going to be me. I had to let go, surrender and trust God."

Ginger went on to talk about when "the desert is in our mind and the testing comes from within. Those inner demons are particularly nasty. They can attack us at any time and in any place." They tell us things like "you are not worthy," and "you're not good enough." The truth, however, is that "you are God's child. You were worth dying for."

What good can come of our experiences in the desert? "When we are in the desert, if we are to emerge from the experience victorious, we must know the truth about who we are. We must have a sense of divine purpose in our lives and we must be committed to living out that purpose regardless of the cost." The opposite is to become "impotent victims, which is exactly what the devil wanted for Jesus and wants for us."

Ginger ended with these words: "May we learn to embrace the desert as a place of growth and transformation. May we learn to surrender to the loving hand of God. May we know the truth with every fiber of our being that it might set us free. May we recognize the time of testing as a fork in the road, a defining moment, a divine appointment. Amen."

Ash Wednesday; Lenten Wednesday Services & Meals

We will have two services on Ash Wednesday, February 21, at noon and at 6:45 p.m. The services will be traditional, including the imposition of ashes, and will use the liturgy appearing in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Both services will be in the sanctuary, and the Chancel Choir will sing at the 6:45 service. Lunch will follow the noon worship service, and dinner will precede the 6:45 p.m. worship service. Visitors are welcome at the services and meals - there is no need to make reservations.

Beginning on March 28, we will also hold informal services at noon and 6:45 p.m. on each of the Wednesdays of Lent. Pastor Eichhorn will be preaching a series of sermons based on five of the readings from the ancient Easter Vigil. These are five of the most prominent stories that announced hope and salavation to the people of Israel. Lunch will follow each noon worship service, and dinner will precede each 6:45 p.m. worship service. Once again, reservations are not needed, and vistors are welcome.

A Message From Our Pastor

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

As we prepare for worship this weekend, please know that the parking lot is plowed and walkways are shoveled, and we are now good to go!

Due to the projected cold temperatures for tomorrow (Friday), the church office will be OPEN – it was originally scheduled to be closed due to planned electrical work that would shut off the boiler for the day. We'll let you know when the new date is set.

This weekend is the final weekend during the season of Epiphany (Festival of the Transfiguration), and the children/youth SCS classes created banner panels depicting the various names given to Jesus in Scripture. The panels are being sewn into two large banners which will enhance our "season-ending celebration" this weekend. Pictures of two of the panels are in a posting below.

Ash Wednesday is next week, February 21, which signals the beginning of the season of Lent. Literally translated, Lent means "lengthening of days", referring to the transition time between the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring, when the period of daylight grows longer each day.

From a faith development standpoint, the season of Lent is a time for prayerful discernment on the part of believers, attempting to answer the question, "What difference does it make in my life that Jesus is my Lord?" Throughout Lent, this question is lifted up for us in a variety of ways, as we seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in looking for ways to use our Baptismal identity and gifts so as to make a difference in someone else's life. To help, we will again provide mid-week worship experiences every Wednesday during Lent, using the same schedule as that of Ash Wednesday: 12:00 noon – worship; 12:45 a.m. – lunch; 6:00 p.m. – dinner; 6:45 p.m. – worship. I hope you will plan to join us. Activities for children will be available during worship.

I attended the annual summer confirmation camp planning retreat at Lutheran Memorial Camp this past Sunday afternoon through Tuesday noon. It's been many years since I have walked out onto a frozen lake! While I love the camp, especially at this time of year with snow on the ground, it is great to be home – Tuesday's drive to Dayton was an adventure, to say the least!

Thought for the week . . . "Imagination is more important than knowledge." – Albert Einstein

Hey . . . snow or no snow this weekend, let's meet in worship!

In Christ,
Gary

Chancel Choir

Now would be a good time for anybody who is interested in joining the Chancel Choir to come join us. You might ask: "What kind of music does your choir sing?" Our Music Director and Director of the Chancel Choir is Ginger Minneman. Ginger likes a wide range of music, and her anthem choices reflect this. Last Sunday, we sang True Light, arranged by Keith Hampton. The soloist was Jobe Jackson, a former student of Ginger's from when she taught at Stivers. Other pieces currently in our folders:

• Blessed are the Men Who Fear Him from Elijah, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
• Wondrous Love, Alice Parker & Robert Shaw
• Blessed Be the Name of the Lord, Dale Grotenhuis
• Song, Bob Chilcott
• Kyrie, from Messe G-Dur, Franz Schubert
• Walk with Me (An African Walking Song), Patrick M. Liebergen
• Beati Quorum Via from Three Motets, Charles Villiers Stanford
• Uvi caritas from Quartre Motets, Maurice Duruflé

Next week, the Chancel Choir will also start reviewing Setting Five from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, so that we'll know the setting well before we first use on Sunday, February 25 (the first Sunday in Lent).

For information, contact Ginger Minneman at the church.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship - Coming to Our Pews This Month

It's been nearly six years since we first heard about the Renewing Worship Project, and the fact that the LBW would some day be replaced. That day is quickly approaching. On Ash Wednesday, February 21, we will begin using the new worship resource Evangelical Lutheran Worship. After the service on Febuary 18, we'll remove the old copies of the LBW and WOV from the sanctuary, and replace them with new copies of ELW. (I think it's going to take most people a while to get used to talking about the "ELW" rather than the "LBW"--I'll bet that before long, many people in most congregations will be just calling it "the red book.")

During Lent, we will use at the Sunday 10:30 AM service a setting of the Communion service from the ELW that was adapted from a setting in the The Service Book and Hymnal. The Service Book and Hymnal was the red hymnal that was replaced by the LBW in 1978. People who were in congregations that used that hymal will remember the melodies of this setting, and others will be able to learn them quickly.

During the Easter season, we will at the Sunday 10:30 AM service be using a setting from ELW that uses the same music as Setting II from the old LBW.

Meanwhile, we are continuing our fund drive to pay for our copies of ELW. Of the 450 copies that we have purchased, funds have been donated for 200 of them. That leaves us with 250 to go. Please consider helping us pay for these copies. Donations can be made in honor or memory of loved ones, pastors, teachers, choir directors, or anybody else who has been a part of your faith journey.

Ash Wednesday; Mid-Week Lenten Services

We will have two services on Ash Wednesday, at noon and at 6:45 PM. The services will be traditional, including the imposition of ashes, and will use the liturgy appearing in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

Following Ash Wednesday, noon and 6:45 PM services will be held each Wednesday during Lent. These services are informal, and will feature a sermon series on five readings from the ancient Easter Vigil. These are five of the most prominent stories that announced hope and salavation to the people of Israel.

Lunch will follow each noon worship service, and dinner will precede each 6:45 PM worship service.

A Message From Our Pastor

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

The worship theme this weekend celebrates God’ coming to us through everyday experiences (the wedding at Cana), and call us to share God’'s gifts with others as we meet them in our everyday schedules.

During the season of Epiphany, we are keeping up the lighted trees in the sanctuary as a reminder of the light of God that leads our lives to the Source of all life.

Special thanks to all the Saturday night worshipers (kids, youth, and adults) who stayed after our Epiphany worship last week, for they removed all the candles from the pews, all of the votives from the windows, and all the poinsettias from the chancel!!

Last Sunday, we celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and we used the new Baptismal Bowl. This Sunday, again at the 10:30 service, we will dedicate the new Baptismal Bowl to the glory of God during the prayers.

REMINDERS: our Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 4, 11:30 a.m. in the fellowship hall. Lunch will be served first: – fried chicken, drinks and place settings are provided; please bring a food dish to share. Activities are planned for children. The purpose of the meeting is to: receive 2006 ministry reports, act upon the 2007 budget proposal, and act upon the HVAC proposal.

LOOKING AHEAD: The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 21), which will kick-off our mid-week Lenten services and soup meals. We need Soup Chefs. If you are interested in helping to prepare one or more of the Wednesday soup meals during Lent, please let me know by responding to this email. Thank you.

As we continue our journey into the new year, let’s meet in worship to praise the One who leads us on our journey!

In Christ,Gary