ST. PAUL's EPISTLE Published by St
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ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE published by St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church - Telford, PA (215) 723-8981 Fax: (215) 723-3363 Editor: Ashley Bromley Deadline for News: 12th of the month Dated material - Please expedite LANSDALE POSTAGE PD. POSTAGE NON PERMIT # PERMIT ORG. US US ORG. - PROFIT PROFIT 695 , PA , SENIOR PASTOR Shirley Guider July 2019 215 -723-8981 Home 610-791-1230 Guiding Thoughts — Cell 610-217-2200 E-mail: A Pastor’s Ponderings pastor@ stpaulstelford.org On Tuesday mornings, I attend a weekly bible study with many of the pastors in Upper Bucks ASSOCIATE Conference (with a few others attending from time PASTOR OF SENIOR to time). At one of our recent meetings we talked MINISTRY John G. Huber, Jr. about Pentecost. Not just Pentecost Sunday, which 610-584-3856 was fast approaching, but the season of Pentecost. This season of Pentecost (the Sundays after DIRECTOR OF CHRISTIAN Pentecost as we call them) is the longest season of EDUCATION the church year. I call it the long green season—the Marian Henry 215-723-8981 altar guild in most churches are happy because you dce@ stpaulstelford.org don’t need to change the paraments for a long time. OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Just for comparison, the season of Advent is four Ashley Bromley 215-723-8981 Sundays, Lent is five, Easter is seven but there are E-mail: between 20 to 26 Sundays after Pentecost (the secretary@ stpaulstelford.org number depends on how early or late we celebrate DIRECTOR OF Easter, less this year since Easter was so late). The MUSIC/ season lasts from the Sunday after Holy Trinity ORGANIST Kristine Fosbenner Sunday which this year will be on Father’s Day 215-257-4707 (this is being written early June) to Christ the King th Sunday which will be November 26 . FEAST & CELEBRATION DIRECTOR In some traditions they are called the Sundays in Mike King 215-723-8981 Ordinary time or Common time. When the Lutheran church aligned its readings with those who CONGREGATIONAL COUNCIL use the common lectionary, we began to call them PRESIDENT Proper X, a few years ago that changed to Jim McMichael 267-885-8026 Lectionary X. I’m glad that we never called them E-Mail: council “ordinary time,” because that makes these Sundays @stpaulstelford.org seem ‘normal’ or ‘uneventful’. True there are few festival Sundays from now till Advent. But these SEXTON Al Lightner Sundays are not ordinary or common. Those words 215-368-0374 downplay what this season is all about. This is a 2 time when we hear the story of the life of Christ. We walk with the disciples as Christ teaches us by word and example what the love of God looks like in action, incarnate. That certainly doesn’t seem ordinary or common to me. We are in year C, so the gospel of Luke is the primary resource for our worship this summer. We will be reading it a “semi- continuous” manner. This means that on June 23rd we will start reading from Luke, beginning in chapter 9. Through the summer and into the fall we will continue to hear from the Gospel of Luke (skipping some verses—which is why it is called semi-continuous reading). Come and listen to Luke’s story of Jesus. It gives us a rare opportunity to spend time with the word of God as told by one author. That is important because it is one means by which we are assured God’s presence. Luther taught, and the Lutheran Church continues to teach, that there are five ways that the gospel (the good news of God) reaches us. First is through the spoken word. The word of God is read and proclaimed every Sunday. Second is through the gift of baptism where via the water and the word God’s spirit comes to us. Third is through the gift of communion where through bread and wine and the word of God we receive the gift of God’s saving grace. Fourth is through the power of the keys. This is something we don’t talk about much in our tradition. But there is power in confession and forgiveness. The Lutheran tradition doesn’t generally emphasize individual confession of sins, except on Ash Wednesday. But we do confess our sins in our corporate confession that we say before the service begins. In our confession, we ask God to forgive us for what we have done and left undone. And then we receive forgiveness from God. The last means of grace is the mutual conversation and consolation of the baptized. In other words, as Matthew tells us, “Where two or three are gathered in my name there will I be also.” God is there in the midst of us when we care for one another in Christ’s name. But the first means of grace is what interests me today; the word of God. This is central to our worship experience. When I was at the seminary, we were taught that you did not have a worship service 3 unless the word of God was read. It didn’t matter what surrounded this. You could sing songs, talk, dance even. But if you were gathered in Christ’s name and read from the Bible, it was worship, no matter how simple. The opposite holds true, you could have the form of a service with all the pomp and ceremony you want, but if you didn't read the gospel, the word of God, it wasn’t a worship service. This is how strongly Lutherans have felt about the word of God as good news, the gospel of our Lord. The word of God proclaims God’s grace to us. It is not law, it is not a you should, you ought, you better do this. Rather the gospel is just what it says; it is good news. Pure and simple. And the good news is that Christ is our Savior, that God creates us, cares for us and sends the Holy Spirit to sustain us. If you ask me that is not ordinary or common no matter if it is just a ‘regular’ Sunday service or a celebration such as Christmas or Easter. God’s grace and mercy is good news each and every time we hear it. So, let’s celebrate the Sundays after Pentecost, our long green season, our growing season by listening and learning about the wondrous love of God in Christ Jesus. Your Sister In Christ, Pastor Shirley Mark your calendars!!! July 7 – September 1 ONE Holy Communion Worship Service at 9:00 am 4 Church Family News Congratulations to Clark and Lydia Dhein on the birth of their son Grayson Clark Dhein, born on June 10, 2019. Grayson was 8 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches long. Grayson is the grandson of Rick and Paula Dhein. Income and Expenses (past 13 months) Month Offering* Expenses Difference May 2018 $27,746.98 $30,132.12 -$2385.14 June 2018 $25,872.69 $35,325.84 -$9,453.15 July 2018 $26,299.80 $28,463.86 -$2,164.06 August 2018 $29,714.93 $31,007.86 -$1292.93 September 2018 $32,976.06 $31,961.00 $1015.06 October 2018 $36,903.24 $28,947.25 $7955.99 November 2018 $25,980.25 $31,596.01 -$5615.76 December 2018 $49,366.00 $33,081.27 +16,284.73 January 2019 $29,950.40 $38,499.00 -$14,548.65 February 2019 $24,206.28 $32,975.55 -$8769.27 March 2019 $29,232.01 $34,740.86 -$5505.85 April 2019 $21,949.91 $22,335.53 -$385.62 May 2019 $40,750.85 $29,556.45 +$11,194.40 *Offering includes: Current, Benevolence, Building and Special The church nursery will not be available during the months of July and August. The nursery will resume on September 8 at the 10:45 service. Reminder!: Please remember that if you have any changes to your address, home phone number, cell phone number, email address, etc., please let Ashley in the church office know so that we can continue to keep our church records as up to date as possible. 5 Pastor Shirley received this from a friend in Alabama. It is being shared with everyone because you may know someone who needs help. Feel free to share with anyone who might be able to connect hungry kids with food this summer. This has been tested out for our area and it works. When you text, you will get a response asking for you to put in your zip code and they will text back information: places, phone numbers, hours and what kinds of meals are being provided. “If you have kids in need of breakfast and lunch this summer, simply text "FOOD" to 877877 and you'll receive a message with the closest location where they can get free summer meals. ***There's no paperwork to fill out, no income requirement to meet. They just feed the kids. It’s really that simple. They serve kids 18 and under. As long as they can eat table food, they can eat with this program. No Kid Hungry has access to information about tens of thousands of groups serving free meals nationwide as part of the the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Program." For children ages three through those who just finished 4th grade. Being held this summer at Zwingli United Church of Christ on Wile Ave. in Souderton. Music - Crafts - Bible skits - Science - Games - Snacks - FUN!! Bring a friend! Register online at St.