From Pastor David
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EPIPHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH Epiphany’s Epistle April 2015 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: From the Pastor 3 Worship 4-5,18 Council President 6 Stewardship 7 Congregation News 9,14 Bible Study & 8,12 Education Youth Fund Raiser 10,17 Activities 12,13 Support Ministries 15 Birthdays & 16 Anniversaries Thrivent 18,22 Council Minutes & 19-21 Financials We are disciples of Christ We follow Him by leading others to His Grace through Worship, Education, Stewardship and Outreach To those in need And in service To All Special Announcements New reader? Come Visit Us! We’re glad that you picked up this newsletter and hope you will find it interesting and worth your time. If you do not have a church home, please worship with us. Our Sunday worship times are 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM, with Sunday School at 9:45 AM. We are a grow- ing, active church with friendly people who are journeying with God through Jesus Christ. Come join us! Please call us at 770.483.6222 for more information. Pastor David’s Office Hours Monday through Thursday Sunday, April 12th is the 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM deadline for information to be The afternoons he will dedicate to submitted for the May newsletter. You can e-mail hospital or communion visits; please call the office, 770.483.6222, if you wish to your news to the church office make an afternoon appointment. at [email protected] or place your news in the basket in the Church Office. Thank You! Office Hours Monday - Friday 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM For 20 years, Epiphany has The Altar Flower calendars for the been my extended family, as year 2015 are now available my family lives primarily on in the narthex We have two the West Coast. Now, as I calendars available so peo- start a new job in Jacksonville, FL, I ple can share the same date. thank you each and every one of you for You will be able to purchase all of your support, kindness, and fellow- one flower arrangement for ship during all of my life challenges over $25.00. Check your calendar for spe- the years. It has meant the world to me cial dates you would like to give glory and I give you all big hugs and kisses. I to God through the gift of altar flow- will be back to visit, rest assured, and I ers. If you have any questions, please look forward to Epiphany’s next chapter call the church office at 770.483.6222. as I look forward to finding a new church in my next chapter. I love you all and God bless you and keep you. Julie Sisson 2 From Pastor David “Christ is risen!” We are about to cry out on the highest celebration of the church year, shouting out the central mystery of our faith. “Christ is risen!” But what do we mean when we proclaim this church, for it is more than just a body being resusci- tated. After all, we are told that Lazarus was in the tomb for four days when Jesus raised him, but we do not follow Lazarus. “Christ is risen!” On the one hand, we say that as Jesus was raised from the dead, so we too shall be raised from the dead. Christ is “the first fruits of those who have died” (1 Corinthians 15:20), Paul declares. Because we know that God raised Jesus, we know that we do not need to fear death. Death is not the end. It is but the beginning of a life found in God. “Christ is risen!” On the other hand, the resurrection is not simply about the afterlife. The resurrection of Jesus is also about this life. The resurrection tells us that we are not bound by our old life with its sin and strug- gles. Jesus took upon himself all of our hostility. Jesus took on all the violence from Jew and non-Jew alike. When God raised Jesus from the dead, God made a statement that our hostility and our violence and our sin will not have the last word. Love wins. Grace wins. Forgiveness wins. Paul has a marvelous way of expressing this, using the words of our baptism: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4) We identify with Jesus in his crucifixion as we die to our old self, so that we may identify with Jesus in his resurrection and walk in newness of life. Whatever has happened before in our lives no longer matters. We can be changed. We can be transformed through the power of God’s grace, love, and for- giveness shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So let our voice be heard in this Easter season. Let them ring out with this proclamation of hope and love. May the good new change us, and may we be the change we wish to see in the world. “Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Christ is risen!” Christ is risen indeed! Amen! In Christ, Pastor David 3 Worship March 29th SUNDAY OF THE PASSION PALM SUNDAY 8:30 AM Holy Communion Service 11:00 AM Holy Communion Service April 2nd Holy Communion Service at 7:00 PM with stripping of the Altar at the end of our worship in preparation for Good Friday. April 3rd GOOD FRIDAY You may visit the sanctuary for a quiet time of prayer from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Good Friday Service at 12:00 PM Good Friday Evening Service at 7:00 PM 4 April 5th EASTER SUNDAY 6:30 AM – Outdoor Sunrise Service st 7:30 – 8:15 AM, 1 seating Easter Breakfast* 8:30 AM – Festive Holy Communion nd 9:45 –10:30 AM, 2 seating Easter Breakfast* 11:00 AM – Festive Holy Communion *Cost for the Easter Breakfast is $3.00 per person or $10.00 per family. The breakfast menu will be scrambled eggs, ham, pancakes, fruit, juice and coffee. 5 Ash Wednesday Service of Holy Communion Council President Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In the past couple of months you have heard talk about Epiphany starting to do Missional Planning. On March 14th we held our first Missional Planning Workshop. There were six (6) people who attended it from the church council and there were six (6) more people that attended from the congregation. It was wonderful to have this participation and to have input from such a diverse group. I am sure a number of people in our congregation have heard of this planned process and have imaged that this will lead to major changes in our church. As is usual, people can be scared of change. Missional Planning should not be a scary process but should be looked at as a way to better serve God. Part of the process involves the re-examination of who Epiphany is, what we do internally and externally to spread God’s word. During the workshop we did an exercise which was called “SWOT”. This is a method of identifying Epiphany’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It was so encouraging and exciting to see the large number of strengths Epiphany has, the ways we reach out to each other and to people outside our church, all in service to God. Sometimes we can be so close to something that it is hard to see the reality, not being able to see the forest for the trees. Over the next couple of months we will be continuing the process. We would like to ask everyone to prayerfully consider becoming a part of the process. There will be a lot of opportunities for everyone to plug in. Please become a part of our Missional Planning. Continue looking in the newsletter and the bulletins for announcements. Yours in Christ, Ron Lyons Council President 6 Stewardship A Word About Stewardship From The Council President When the word Stewardship is mentioned many people cringe. They feel that the discussion is going to be about financial Stewardship. As discussed in the past Stewardship involves Time, Talents and Treasures. There are hundreds of books and papers written about Stewardship. Many definitions exist for Stewardship and we have talked about Stewardship many times. Today I want to simply leave everyone with this prayer. Stewardship Prayer O God, I resolve to put You first in my life. I recognize that You have blessed me with all that I have and all that I am. As your steward, I resolve to sacrifice when necessary but always to do so out of a spirit of sincere love, just as your Son, Jesus, did for me. I humbly accept the challenge to share from my means rather than from my excess. I recognize that being a good steward is nothing more than being truly Christian. Dear God, I resolve, to be generous with my time, talent and treasure, giving in proportion to the gifts I have been given. I commit myself to taking care of my body and all of creation. I know there will be times when I will fail to be good steward, but I pledge to keep trying. I will confidently live each day with a spirit of true peace and joy in knowing that I am doing your will.