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When I Think of Earthquakes, California Comes to Mind THE TORCH Trinity Lutheran Church Wichita, Kansas Church Office Telephone– (316)685-1571 Email Address [email protected] SUNDAY SCHEDULE 9:30AM Sunday School and Bible Class 10:30AM Hospitality in Fellowship Hall 11:00AM Divine Service “Sharing Christ’s Salvation Story So That Every Soul is Saved.” Passing on Tradition… “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:8 While most parents would call their kids ―the light of their eye‖ or their ―greatest joy;‖ children can be a handful. They have a way of testing every nerve, teaching us real patience. Young children seem to act up exactly when we want them to behave most—for instance, at Church. What do you do with toddlers who‘d prefer not to sit still, to listen attentively, or keep quiet? Do you keep them in the sanctuary, causing, what seems to be a disturbance? Do you bribe them? Or, do you take the easy way out, not coming at all—waiting ‗til they get older? Attending Church with children can be difficult—a nightmare, even. But is it worth it? Yes; by all means, yes! It‘s worth every drop of sweat trying to keep them in line. It‘s worth every shred of pride and dignity you feel you‘ve lost for your child acting up. It‘s worth it all—every hassle, struggle, and embarrassment. Why? Well, for many reasons, but two in particular. First, because this is part of their learning, their growing in the faith. They are the baptized; and baptism without teaching isn‘t the way our Lord gave it: ―Baptize them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I‘ve commanded you‖ (Mt 28:19-20). The baptized need to be taught. And part of their teaching includes sitting still, when to be quiet and loud, and learning to come to Church. Children actually enjoy this teaching, often called ―discipline.‖ They like structure; they like to sleep, eat, play, and go potty. It would do great harm to say, ―just do what you want, when you want.‖ That sort of ―freedom‖ (which is actually no freedom at all) will hurt them. Therefore, saying, ―when they grow up they can decide for themselves‖ is perhaps the most harmful thing you can do as parents. They learn the faith by simply coming and being taught how to worship. The Book of Proverbs says, ―Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it‖ (Prov 22:8). Part of that training, that disciplining, is bringing the baptized up in the faith. It‘s teaching them to worship: to fold their hands and bow their heads, to sit still, to notice the colors, recognize the pastor, listen, and to say ―Amen.‖ These simple things are the ways in which worship takes place, the traditions, by which the faith is handed down. As parents (or grandparents!), this teaching, this disciplining, this handing down of tradition, is given to you to bless your children. And secondly, by bringing your children to Church, you bring them to Christ—to the place that He‘s promised to be for them. ―Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them,‖ Jesus says, ―for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven‖ (Mt 19:14). Yes, the Kingdom is given to whiney, loud, overly-opinionated children. It‘s given to kids who don‘t pay attention to the sermon and who color during the readings. It‘s given to those who really don‘t deserve it (and yes, that includes us parents, too!). In the Divine Service, children, toddlers, infants, receive the salvation of their Lord. So—is it worth the sweat and headache of keeping the children in the service? Is it worth the sudden outbursts and occasional tantrum? Yes, it is! They‘re kids—they don‘t come out knowing when to be quiet and when to be loud! That‘s our job as parents. And the Church rejoices when children cry and parents teach. Please, don‘t keep your kids from the Divine Service (or from any part of it); don‘t take them out of the service but for a minute to recoup and try again if needed. While they won‘t get anything out of the words of the sermon yet—they‘ll eventually learn well the discipline of sitting still. And that discipline, learned early in life, will be with them the rest of their lives. They‘ll benefit greatly from this, from watching their parents: learning the structure and forms of worship, as well as receiving the gifts Jesus has for them. They might even listen to the sermon some day! And in the meantime, they‘re right where our Lord Jesus wants them, and no bother to the rest of us! Yours in Christ our Light, Pastor Boyle February, 2011 Do We Speak Their Language? 19For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 When we send people into the mission field we send them first to a school where they learn the language of the people they are being sent to. We do not expect the native population to learn the language of the missionaries before they can hear the saving Gospel. We do not however change the message, we only change the language, the delivery system. I ask the question again, ―Do we speak their language?‖ Jesus‘ gift of salvation is for everybody and He wants his church to be that way too. He wants his church to serve people, not vice versa. In all of the church‘s blessed work of spiritual reclamation, it is Jesus‘ intent that the tellers adapt to the hearers, speaking their language, telling the great stories of divine rescue in terms that the hearers will understand and appreciate. One of the goals that was proposed at our annual planning meeting was to have an ―Each One Bring One‖ weekend. The idea is that each one of us knows someone who does not know the Lord Jesus as the only way to heaven. (John 14:6) This also means that they may also not know all of the ―churchy‖ words we might use. All we need tell anyone is our story as it relates to His story. What has been your experience as a Christian? How has knowing Jesus made an impact upon your life? After we have invited our friends to church, we must make sure that we help them understand our worship practice. Sit with them so that they know when to stand and when to sit. Help them navigate through our liturgy. Help them understand our communion practice. Help them in singing nice and loud our hymns. Help them understand the message proclaimed every Sunday at Trinity – Jesus loves them; He died upon a cross so that each and every sin they have ever committed may be forgiven; and He wants only to have them believe this glorious message. We have the greatest message in the world. No other religion has such a freeing message of salvation. Our God does not require anything of his followers that he does not also give them. Let us make sure that as we invite, tell, and bring our un-churched family and friends to hear the Good News that has been shared with us, that we speak and worship in a ―language‖ that is both God pleasing and understandable. POWER & PEACE <>< pastor terry “I have plans for you”, says the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11 2011 STAFF AND OFFICERS OF THE CONGREGATION PARISH STAFF **Pastor: Geoffrey Boyle BOARD OF EVANGELISM **Assistant Pastor: Terry Wiechman, * Chairperson: Kendall Patterson, Parish Secretary: Ruth Valdez Bookkeeper: Carolyn Kime, BOARD OF STEWARDSHIP * Chairperson: Michael Claypool, OFFICERS OF THE CONGREGATION AND MINISTRIES CHRISTIAN EDUCATION * President: Dave Lemcke, * Chairperson: Vicki Lessman, * Vice Pres: Cecil Arb, * Secretary: Linda Claypool AUXILIARY MINISTRIES OF THE * Treasurer: Bobby Johnson, CONGREGATION * Financial Secretary: Sheryl Anderson, Member-At-Large: Delmar Quade, TRINITY LADIES GUILD, LWML President: Irma Quade, Secretary: Elizabeth Booher, Treasurer: Mary Zwemke, ELDERS * Chairman Roger Clark, Cecil Arb, *Voting Member of the Church Council ** Non-Voting Member of the Michael Claypool, Church Council 4-25-10 Linda Claypool, Council Secretary Roger Zwemke, Lois Winter TRUSTEES * Chairman: Roger Zwemke, William Bolz, Bruce Lingenfelter PLEASE CONTACT THE church office, Pastor Boyle, your Elder or Pastor Terry if you are in need of Pastoral care. ALSO, if you find yourself being admitted to the hospital, we would encourage you to have a AND THOSE IN CARE HOMES relative contact the church office with the Please contact the church for further information on information.
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