Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church Newsletter |
|
|
|
Strengthen Faith, Build Hope, Share Love in Christ Our Savior
|
|
|
|
Pastor Andy Writes...
 |
| Pastor Andy Keltner |
God Comes to Us
Why should I come to worship on Sunday? After thirty-five years in the Pastoral ministry I have heard all the excuses. Over the years the names and the faces change but still people come up with reasons not to come to church. I acknowledge that when someone does not come to church there is a reason. There are some legitimate reasons not to come to worship. Emergencies happen even on Sunday morning. Illness and work responsibilities can keep us from coming to worship. But too often we just make excuses for not coming to worship without good reasons.
I worry when people don't come to worship. I worry when people grumble and complain about the church. Worship is about what we receive from God. He forgives us and speaks to us through the proclamation of his word. He gives us his precious Body and Blood in the bread and wine. I believe that it is important that the music convey the truth revealed in Scripture. We are all sinners who deserve God's wrath yet, God gives us life through his Son.
God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt. He sent Moses to lead them into the promised land. The Israelites responded by complaining and grumbling about Moses' leadership. Moses realized something very important. "And Moses said, When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him-what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord." This is affirmed throughout the Bible. Our grumbling when it comes to worship is not against man but against God. The questions we need to ask when it comes to worship is not about entertainment value or comfort, but we need to ask is the worship faithfully communicating the Word of God.
Our sinful nature and the world constantly work to influence us to not attend worship. There are so many other things that demand our time and our resources. Why should we come to worship? Why should I participate in the local church?
When we come to worship, we humble ourselves. We testify that we need forgiveness of our sins. We testify that our faith is weak, and we are facing challenges in this sin broken world. God comes to us. God comes as the light of the world. He comes to us through his Word revealed in the sacred scripture. He comes to us in the corporate worship in our church. He comes to us in our Baptism and in the Sacrament of the Alter. It is foolish for us to separate ourselves from the love He gives us because of our pride and arrogance. When we grumble against those who share with us God's Word we grumble against God.
When we come to worship prideful, we miss the gift God gives. When we come looking for mistakes and taking offense at every error, we miss God's grace. When we come humbly before the cross of Christ, God comes to us in worship. We miss the Christ when we only see the flaws in others.
When we grumble and complain against God and separate ourselves from the fellowship of his church, God does something remarkable. He loves us. He forgives us. He humbles Himself. He comes to us through the encouragement of others. God comes to us despite our disobedience and sin. God loves us and forgives us. It is unreasonable that we grumble against the author of life. God comes to us. Come and see what the Lord has done. Use the gifts He has given you. Share the love He has given you with others. Worship is not about you. God comes to us in worship. Worship is about celebrating the gift of life God has given us in his Son our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thomas S. Rainer has a great article where he lists Nine Good reasons to Attend Church Regularly. If you are looking for a good reason to come to church, here are nine. I would encourage you to follow this link and read his reasons for weekly church attendance.
|
|
Children's Christmas Program
 
 A few images from the dress rehearsal of the children's program. If you didn't make out for the program, you can still see it by checking the church's Facebook page. Stacy Grove and Mindy Bell would like to t
hank all the children that participated in the Children's Program. They did a wonderful job, and they worked very hard.
|
|
COS Worship Word by Janie Ott
Walking with my Lord
As I matured in my faith, I created a code of ethics for myself. Without going into a long philosophical narrative, it really came down to the following: "My life decisions must be made to honor God". If I can't honor God I must decline on the activity. This has guided my decisions on purchases, career decisions, social activities and most importantly family decisions, really everything in my life.
Matthew 16:26 NIV - "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" This is the single verse I default to when I think about honoring God. It is incredibly powerful and almost scary. Let's keep this in mind as we ponder the following.
Pastor talked about Joseph in his sermon on the 22nd, he spoke about Joseph's conviction to honor God. How he honored God by being a good husband and father in a time when it was challenging to take on such a lofty and politically charged duty. Joseph honored God when he wed Mary, who was with child. That child was teaching the gospel at age 12 and we all know how the story ends. But if Joseph hadn't committed to honoring God, the story would been drastically different.
Our lives are complicated, life is complicated. Having guidance is critical to help us get through. A simple criteria for making decisions can be "does this honor God". If it doesn't, then what is the correct action? The complication is when our society interjects other alternatives. The options often have big implications for example it might mean changing jobs or bucking the societal norms.
But God will provide a way to help us honor him. New positions and opportunities will present themselves. Much like they did for Joseph, he was the father of an amazing man. We must be prayerful and ask for God's help.
How do we honor God each and every day? I believe Martin Luther really says it best!
Back to the bible verse I referenced in the beginning. Nothing is more important than our soul.
Your COS worship board members are Debbie Keltner and Janie Ott, please contact us if you wish to serve and honor God. Blessings to all!
|
|
|
Council President: Goodbye
It has been a pleasure to serve as your Church Council President for the past few years. I wish our new President Janie Ott a successful term.
Now that I am officially retired, I look forward to spending more time at the lake (but I'll see you at church on Sundays)!
--Paul Richards
|
|
Council President: Hello
Hi, I'm Janie Ott.
Psalm 143:10 T
each me to do your will for you are my God, let your good spirit lead me on level ground.
I thought I would share my Bible verse, it truly captures the essence of how I try to live my life and I hope and pray it guides me in my new role with our church.
My husband Tim and I live south of Louisburg. Tim is a lifelong Lutheran and I converted to Lutheran when we married. I tell with people that I have been spiritually grounded since I was a very young girl however I never felt "at home" in a religion until I became a Lutheran. Everything just came together for me and I love the Lutheran church.
We have two children Aaron and Emma, they are married to Sarah and Dan and we have five amazing grandchildren. Tim and I love being grandparents and we try to fill our lives as full as we can watching these adorable children grow.
We have a beautiful German Short Haired Pointer and her name is Mossy. Mossy plays an important role for us. Not only is she a great pet but because of her, we each get our 10,000 steps each day. The American Heart Association recommends 10K steps every day and a sure way to get those steps is to get a high energy bird dog that needs lots of walking. Mossy is a blessing!
Tim is employed with Whitetail Properties Real Estate, specializing in farm, ranch, and recreational properties in Missouri and Kansas.
I am employed with the University of Kansas Health System. I have been in healthcare my entire career. I can't think of a better way to serve.
I am excited and grateful to serve in this new role with our church. We are a church made up with AMAZING people and I know that we will grow and thrive.
|
|
Council Treasurer: Goodbye
I want to take a few lines to thank everyone who supports Christ Our Savior with prayers, gifts, donations and offering. Seriously, we could not have done it without your generosity. Even the smallest financial contribution or a few minutes of your time have made a difference. The Church Council has done its best to be good stewards of your contributions and offerings.
As we look ahead to 2020 there are a few things I am asking you to pray about. Our budget for 2020 is lower than 2019 and 2018. This is by necessity, we be as realistic as possible about our finances. We have cut expenses as much as possible. We need your continued support to make our regular obligations - mortgage, payroll, utilities, worship materials, Sunday School materials, Portals of Prayer, licenses, insurance, etc.
Please consider utilizing one of these options:
- Electronic giving through our arrangement with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. It is a great way to budget your support for COS and it helps us ensure a steady flow of offerings. Forms are available in the Narthex and Linda Richards can assist you if you need help,
- Designating Christ Our Savior Louisburg as the charity to support when you use Amazon Smile to make purchases. Amazon makes the donation, it costs you nothing.
- Thrivent members have Choice dollars that can be designated to COS. Check with your Thrivent representative for more information.
- We now have an app for that! Find the GivePlus+ app in the Google play store and then find Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church. You can ask Becca for help, if you need.
It has been a privilege serving as your Treasurer for the past 5 years. I look forward to where we are going at COS. HAPPY NEW YEAR! --
Cindy Karrow
|
|
Council Treasurer: Hello
Hi! I'm Sandra Rangel. I'm a Speech Language Pathologist who works in the Shawnee Mission School District. I've been married to Tom Rangel for 22 years and we have 3 children. We've lived in Louisburg for the past 8 years, and I've been a member of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church my entire life. I look forward to serving as your Treasurer.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
