**The Church Council is looking to fill the position of Financial Chair. This is an oversight position dealing with stewardship and budget. If this is something you would be interested in please contact Janie Ott or Pastor for more information.**
Counting Our Blessings... And Giving Thanks!
Many were instrumental this month and deserve our heartfelt thanks.
To:Jim Bell for all of the work he's done around the church. Thank you for keeping us running!
To: All of the Sunday School teachers! Thank you for giving of your time to help teach our children. You are a blessing.
June Birthdays
06/01 Sandra Rangel
06/02 Emily Helms
06/05 Lois Rausch
06/06 Ken Cline
06/09 Robert Chester
06/09 Rebecca Paul
06/11 Trevin Lohse
06/12 Conlee Hovey
06/13 Steve Edgar
06/14 Brenda Nay
06/16 Don Newman
06/20 Paul Richards
06/21 Bill Murphy
06/22 Cade Holtzen
06/25 Jason Allen
06/25 Luke Roth
06/25 Kelly Stohs
06/25 Nate Walania
06/30 Richard Moore
June Anniversaries
06/04 Pastor & Debbie Keltner
06/13 Bill & Heather Smith
06/15 Howard & Sharon Meyer
06/18 Joe & Carrie Gregar
06/24 Bill & Sharon Murphy
06/26 Travis & Katie Becker
06/27 Andrew & Gentry Harding
06/28 Paul & Linda Richards
In the Military
Military members and friends of our congregation include:
Colin Alexander
Dylan Ash
Jim Buckman
Garret Cline
Mark Edgar
Maurissa Glick
Megan Honeywell
Jeremy Howard
Zac Howard
Freddy Hurt
Greg Jeffrey
Tyler Jordan
James Keltner
Tom Moore
Danny Myers
Austin Nicholes
Rob O'Bannon
Garrett Rausch
Lindsey Rausch
Allison Walania
D.J. Weaver
Altar Flowers
06/06 OPEN
06/13 In honor of Don Newman's 80th birthday!
06/20 In celebration of Nate Walania's 21st birthday!
06/27 OPEN
Those who have signed up for flowers have two options:
You can provide your own. They must be at the church before the 8 AM service.
Sandy can get them for you for $20. (Make checks payable to Sandy Barsh.)
Flowers may be taken home after the 10:30 AM service. Please return vases to the church when flowers are done. You may contact Sandy Barsh at 913-548-9588 for questions or to fill and open date.
Worship: 8 AM, 10:30 AM
& 7 PM
Sunday School:
9:15 AM-10:15 AM
Office Hours:
Monday-Friday
10 AM- 2 PM
Christ Our Savior newsletter is published monthly and produced in email and print versions.
Please contact us if we missed your birthday or anniversary so we can update our records.
Pastor Andy Writes...
Opportunities
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
What does this mean?
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.
I am sure you all recognized this as the third article of the Apostles Creed and Luther’s Explanation. For some of you it will remind you of confirmation class. I hope this is not the first time you have seen this. I would ask you to walk through the explanation with me.
First, we are sinners. Scripture tells us that we are dead in our trespasses. We cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus or come to Him. We are spiritually dead and enemies of God. In our hopeless, lost, condition, the Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel. Throughout the narrative of God’s relationship with fallen humanity God seeks out His foremost visible creatures to give them life and restore the relationship that was broken by man’s disobedience.
Jesus did everything necessary for our salvation. We are the redeemed and chosen children of God. We are bought at a price; we are not our own. Jesus gave His life for us. God comes to us through the person and work of His Son, our Lord, Jesus the Christ.
The Holy Spirt calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth. We have been called to the true faith. We have been made holy. We have been enlightened with gifts we can use to serve God and our neighbor through the church. We are richly and daily forgiven. The life-giving Spirit empowers us for service in the church and the world.
As I write this, I am aware that there are opportunities for service in our worship that no one is willing to fill. There are opportunities for ministry in our community to serve and needs are going unmet. This makes me sad because I know that God has provided us with abundant resources to fill the ministry needs of the congregation. He has enlightened His people with gifts to serve others.
As I reread the explanation of the third Article, I can identify challenges. First God’s people do not gather regularly in worship. The Spirt comes to us through the means of Grace. The means of Grace are Word and Sacrament. When we are separated from the Word and sacrament ministry of the church we are not growing in the Spirit. Secondly, we miss opportunities to serve others when we are not grounded in the study of Scripture. Scripture guides us into all truth and leads into a life walking with Christ. When we are not grounded on Scripture we are easily lead astray.
We are called by the Gospel. We have been enlightened with spiritual gifts. There are opportunities to serve the Lord with gladness. Take advantage of the opportunities God gives to live out your relationship to Christ as you are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Service Changes
We will be implementing the following changes to our morning services in July. If you have any concerns about any of them, please talk to Pastor Keltner, Janie Ott, or Debbie Keltner.
We will add acolytes to light the candles and extinguish the candles. The acolyte can sit in front by Pastor or return to sit with their family. The acolyte will not be collecting the communion cups. Please contact the church office if your child can acolyte. (Grades 3 and up – training will be scheduled as necessary.)
We will use an usher to collect the offering and Prayer Cards. Please contact the church office if you would like to usher. (High school and up)
We will use readers at the 2nd service for the first two readings with a brief description. Please contact the church office if you would like to be a reader.
Prayer Cards will be available on the shelf in the podium. The prayer cards should be given to the usher, separate from the offering.
Should you need a blank offering envelope they also will be available in the podium.
Facebook Live will be used at the 8:00 AM service only.
We will not change the way communion is distributed. If you sit together or drive together, attend communion together.
We still encourage distancing when choosing a place to sit.
As always, if you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, please do so.
Education News
VBS News: VBS is scheduled for July 19-22. There will be sign up sheets in the Narthex for anyone interested in doing VBS. Please fill out form and turn back in by June 13th so we know how many kids we will have. There is also a sign up sheet for helpers! Please sign up if you can help. We could us some youth helpers for activities!
Youth Gathering 2022: If your child will have gone through conformation next year (8th grader) and any youth up to a Senior next year can go to the youth gathering in Houston, TX in July 2022. If your child is interested in going I need to know by July 1st. A deposit will need to be made. I will have a meeting once I know the number of kids interested in going. The fee will be around $2000 per child. We will plan fund raisers over the summer to help with costs. For any questions please email Mindy Bell.
If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas how to make this newsletter better, more informative or you see a mistake that needs fixed, please contact Becca Burton directly. You can call the office (913-837-4502) or email her by using the button below.
If you'd like to submit an article or need something announced, please don't hesitate to get in touch!
