This is the year of the 500 ^th anniversary of Luther nailing the 95 Thesis on the Castle Church Door in Wittenberg, Germany.  His desire was to enter dialog with the leadership of the church and work together to reform practices in the Roman Catholic church.  Luther was branded as a heretic and was condemned by the Roman Catholic church.  The result was known as the Lutheran reformation.  Luther was followed by the radical reformers which lead to the formation of Lutheran and Protestant denominations.

 

To celebrate this anniversary, the LCMS has a host of resources visit: https://lutheranreformation.org/.  There are local activities to celebrate the reformation.  We will have a float in the Labor Day parade and on October 21 ^st we will have a reformation celebration.  There will be a Lutheran Hymn Festival at the Kaufman center on October 15 ^th.  The reformation has been recognized as one the momentous events in world history.  It is great that we can celebrate our Lutheran Heritage.

 

Remember confirmation class starts for seventh and eighth graders on September 6 ^th at 6:00 p.m.  Sunday School classes will start on September 10 ^th.  This will be preceded by Rally Day on September 3 ^rd.  Sunday school is for adults and children.  Classes start at 9:30. The plan is to have some music before the classes start at 9:15.  If you are interested in helping with Sunday School let Pastor Keltner know.

 

You have noticed the smell and the work that has been done at the church.  We have had two significant storm damage events.  When we got 5" of rain that blew from the north we had water come into the church above the front entryway.  The water ran down the walls into the basement.  We had to dry the walls, patch the stucco, and replace sheet rock.  We have not received the final bill for this project but we have generous donations from Bill Richards and Rich Walania so we are close to having this covered.

 

This week our sump pumps could not keep up with the 9+ inches of rain.  We had two inches of water in our basement.  We lost power and the sump pumps got behind.  The basement has been drying since Tuesday.  The baseboards have been removed and sheet rock has been removed.  It has been quite a process.  I am thankful for the quick response from Rich Fauss, Quality Home Improvement and the volunteers who have helped mitigate the damage.  We are waiting for our insurance company to decide if we are covered.  The bill for this could be upwards of $10,000.

 

I would ask you not to take from you regular offering to pay for the building.  Our budget has very little margin.  We depend on the regular offering to meet expenses.  If you can do something over and above your regular offering, please consider this.  I know many of you have had damage and have dealt with insurance companies.  You will understand when I tell you that patience is a virtue we need to exploit.

As we start the fall activities your participation in worship is something I celebrate.  We meet to encourage each other.  One of the early critics of the Reformation complained that stopping the spread of Luther's teaching was difficult because when the Lutherans got together they sang their doctrine.  We meet and share God's truths as they are revealed in Scripture.  I was reminded of one of the main differences between Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism.  When a Roman Catholic is asked a question about one of their teachings they respond: "Let us see what the church says?"  When a Lutheran is asked a question about one of our teachings we respond: "What does the Bible say?"  Therefore, we meet and study God's Word.