A Word from Pastor John
A woman named Susan Stracke from Ohio writes about a broken sand dollar: "One evening, when my children were playing in our living room, my youngest son hid behind a chair. When he was coming out from hiding, he accidentally bumped a nearby glass table. The table wobbled and picture frames toppled forward upon a large, delicate sand dollar I had bought while vacationing at the ocean one summer."
"Hearing the crash, I rushed to the table and saw the shattered sand dollar. Minutes before, the sand dollar had been beautiful and whole. It now lay in three jagged pieces."
"My son and I carefully gathered the pieces of the sand dollar and carried them to the kitchen. As we glued the parts together, we noticed the intricate structure within. Had it not been broken, we would never have known of the beauty hidden inside."
Are we not like that sand dollar? When our spirits are broken, God puts us back together again. During the healing process, God helps us discover inner resources we would never have known existed within us had we not experienced being broken. The paradox is that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness.
One of the challenges of being a congregation is to see the Gospel as not our own private truth or comfort, but as something to be shared with people in our community. What I love to see is people working out the implications of this in how they minister to hurting people around them. They do not always get visible credit. Sometimes people do not accept their ministries because they are not clergy. I say that ministry is too important to be left to the professionals! As you pray and discover your gifts, passions, and abilities please use them for the building up of the body of Christ.
There is no such thing as retiring from ministry, for any of us. What do you think God is calling you to do, to bring healing to a broken world through the powerful message of Jesus with your lips and lives this Gator football season?
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Prayer Thoughts
Kaleidoscopes - Oh what fun they were! With each slight turn of the long slender tube you could see a different symmetrical geometric pattern. The changing colors and patterns were fascinating to watch as they were formed. Today's kaleidoscopes come in various sizes from the smallest one for children to huge ones that need a stand to hold them up to the light in science museums.
The scriptures are like the kaleidoscopes. With each turn of a page the scriptures present a different facet of God the Father's personality. It is like the changing patterns of the kaleidoscope where you anxiously anticipate the next pattern.
The following is an acronym of the word scripture to help you remember some of the reasons for having a prayer/talk and quiet time to read the scriptures and to discover the different attributes of God the Father.
Scriptures
are the inspired Word of God. "Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for instruction in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:1
Call to
Me (God)"S, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 Isn't it exciting God has His own smartphone number that we can call at any time, day or night. He is always there and willing to listen to us. He does answer when we call, sometimes it isn't in the time frame we expect but His timing is perfect.
Remember "I
remember
Your name in the night, O LORD" Psalm 119:55 "I call to remembrancemy song in the night. I meditate within my heart. Psalm 77:6 "When I
remember
You on my bed, I meditate (reflect, ponder) on You in the night watches." Psalm 63:6 When you can't sleep, meditating on the scriptures sooths, calms, and relaxes your mind. These Psalms are excellent to read in relaxing your mind: Psalm 4; Psalm 91; and Psalm 134.
I
want more of You, LORD. "I seek You, my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You. So I looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory, because Your loving kindness is better than life" Psalm 63:1-3
Personalize
as you read through the scriptures put your name in or change the pronouns to stand for you as you read the promises the LORD has provided in His kaleidoscope. "You have hedged me, your name, behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me, your name. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. How precious also are Your thoughts to me (your name), O God!" Psalm 139:5-6, 17
Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path. Psalm 27:11 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom God the Father will send in My Name (Jesus), He will
teach
you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I (Jesus) said to you." John 14:15 We have an excellent teacher, the Holy Spirit, who will help us with our understanding of the scriptures. How marvelous is that!
Upright
-"The prayer of the
upright
is His delight" Proverbs 15:8 "Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He (the LORD) is gracious, and full of compassion and righteous" Psalm 112:4
Renew
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 "Those who wait on the LORD shall renewtheir strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 What wonderful promises we have, that God the Father has promised to renew our spirits with benefits. "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all my iniquities, Who heals all my diseases." Psalm 103:2-3
Exalt
the LORD our God (lift Him up high), and worship at His footstool - He is Holy. Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill, for the LORD our God is holy." Psalm 99:5,9 "You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You." Psalm 118:28
As you turn the kaleidoscope of God's scriptures look for the gems of His personality; how He shows His amazing love for us. He wants and longs to have a real intimate relationship with us. Just as turning the hand held kaleidoscope shows a different geometrical form, the turning of the scripture kaleidoscope shows you different facets of an amazing awesome God.
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Miriam Circle
Miriam Circle will resume its monthly meetings on the second Tuesday morning of each month with the September 11th meeting. Our meetings begin at 10:00 in the church library with coffee and some fellowship time, then we have a Bible study from the Lutheran Woman's Quarterly until around noon. We have a new Quarterly which will be passed out at that meeting, and we'll do a study from it. We would love for you to join us. If you have any questions, you can call Joan Meyer at 352-473-3978.
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 First Step
Walk a mile, take the first step. Need a savings plan, open an account. With the Lutheran Church Extension Fund it only takes $100 to start a Dedicated Certificate which allows unlimited deposits and penalty free withdrawals. You may look for other options at "
www.lcef.org.
Remember the story in Matthews 14 about "five loaves and two fish" to feed thousands? Think of what God could do when you invest in his ministry.
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Tuesday Tasters
We are looking forward to starting up our monthly Tuesday Tasters luncheons. It's time to catch up on all the summer news from our church ladies!
Come and join us.
If you know of any changes in your information, i.e. phone number, email address, transportation problems, etc. either call Judy Helling at 376-8607, or email me at [email protected] so your information can be updated. If you know of someone who is interested in joining our group,
let me know.
Our first gathering this fall will be Tuesday, September 18. We generally meet at 11:30am at the chosen restaurant. There are lots of places that can accomodate us, and we choose different ones each month. As soon as I have a reservation at a specific place I will send out the details to you via email.
If you don't like email I can call you on the phone. You can respond to me by replying to my message, or call me, or tell me at church.
I look forward to seeing you all in September,
Judy Helling
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September 9th - First College Lunch
September 14th - Friday Night Chill Kick-O
ff
September 22nd - St. Augustine Beach Trip
October 19th - Reformation Party & Bonfire
November 9th- Friendsgiving Food-4-Kids Service Event
December 7th - Holy Jesus Child! Christmas Party
EVERY WEEK:
Tuesday
Night
Bible
Studies
"Modern
Miracles" at
7:30pm
College Lunch, every Sunday starting September
9th!
Friday
Night
Chill,
Every
Friday
around
7pm
at
the
Campus House
-
games,
study,
snacks,
bonfires...it's a time to hang!
Starting September14th.
Join
us
for
the
LSF
Tailgate
in
the
Campus
House
during
UF Home games: 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 10/6, 11/3, 11/10,
11/17
Contact Pastor Ken Chitwood via email for more information about Campus ministry.
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Have you ever wondered why we pray, who to pray for, when the best time to pray is, or how to teach your kids and grandkids to pray? Join Stephanie Karolus for a Bible Study on Prayer on September 9 at 8:45am.
We will be looking at some of the common questions we have about prayer, prayers we can pray, and resources for prayer.
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Starting on September 9, families with children are invited to join Stephanie Karolus for lunch in the fellowship hall and a short devotion & music time afterwards.
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National Youth Gathering
A Parent/Youth National Youth Gathering (NYG) Meeting will be held on September 9, 2018, following church, for all current Freshman through Seniors in High School who plan on attending the NYG. At this time registration forms will be handed out and we will go over: expectations of youth participants leading up to the Gathering, the overall estimated cost, the amount each participant will be responsible for, initial travel plans, and the timeline of meetings, Bible Studies, and Group Building Experiences over the next year. If your child plans on attending the 2019 National Youth Gathering they along with one parent must attend this meeting or meet separately with Stephanie Karolus.
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What if you were following a plan for your money that you KNEW worked? With Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, you CAN take control of your money, get out of debt, and create a plan for your future. Starting September 10, First Lutheran will be offering Financial Peace University. This 9-week course will meet Monday Nights at 5:30 pm. Dinner will kick the night off, and the class begins at 6:00 pm.
Register online at:
FPU.com/1065466
We have 10 Membership Kits available in the office for $50. All other membership kits must be purchased through the Financial Peace website for $129.
If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Karolus or Pastor John Glover.
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Open Arms is off to another great school year. This month marks Open Arms 10
th
Anniversary. We have grown so much over the years and are one of the best preschools in Gainesville. Many thanks to the congregation for your continued prayers, love and support, we couldn't do it without you. There are many ways to get involved at Open Arms and for more information on volunteering please see Stephanie or my-self and we will get you involved. The Welcome Back BBQ was a wonderful event. I loved how the members of FLC were making the Open Arms families feel welcomed and how much the children and staff enjoyed the water slides. Our next major event is the annual Trunk or Treat Wednesday October 24
th
@ 5:30pm and we would love to have members join us for that activity.
Blessings,
Ms. Angie
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We are going to be celebrating International Coffee Day with our Open Arms Parents on Friday, September 28! Please consider donating some coffee creamer for parents to enjoy with their coffee! We are also looking for one or two smiling faces to help serve the coffee Friday morning! If you are interested in serving coffee, please talk with Stephanie Karolus, if you are donating coffee creamer, please bring to the church office by Monday, September 24.
*Coffee-Mate Almond Milk Creamer
*Coffee-Mate Hazelnut Creamer
*Coffee-Mate French Vanilla Creamer
*Coffee-Mate Carmel Macchiato Creamer
*Coffee-Mate Pumpkin Spice Creamer
*Silk: Dairy-Free Soy Creamer
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Trunk-or-Treat Volunteers
Come help with Trunk-or-Treat! We would love for you to participate in the First Lutheran and Open Arms Trunk-or-Treat on October 24! We would love to have you help by decorating the trunk of your car and passing out candy! Check out some of these amazing trunks from last year! If you plan on participating, please contact Stephanie Karolus (352-376-2062).
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