The PLAN, an online Bible study tutorial is available HERE.
Wednesdays
Confirmation is at 6 PM, in the church basement.
February 23rd is the last class for the 7th graders.
8th graders will return after Easter.
A copy of the Confirmation schedule can be found HERE!
Evening Bible Study is at
7 PM in the sanctuary.
Sundays
Sunday School
Ages 3-Adult
9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
Altar Flowers
02/06 OPEN
02/13 OPEN
02/20 In celebration of Lori & Ashley's birthdays from Sandy Barsh.
02/27 OPEN
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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.
February Birthdays
Matt Brown 02/02
Stacey Cline 02/02
Debby Axmann 02/03
Keith Pritzel 02/04
Shawn Helms 02/07
Steve Sweyko 02/07
Grace Rolofson 02/09
Grace Walania 02/10
Christian Eickhoff 02/11
DJ Pooler 02/11
Madeline McDaniel 02/12
Daniel Bell 02/16
Harvey Lightner 02/18
Wayne Carlson 02/19
Garrett Rolofson 02/19
Carolyn Hoskins 02/20
Mable Graham 02/24
Ben Sweyko 02/24
Michael Allen 02/25
Tim Ott 02/26
Tyler Stewart 02/28
February Anniversaries
02/14 Chris & Gail Brown
02/22 Randy &Tricia Rausch
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
Worship: 8 AM, 10:30 AM
& 7 PM
Sunday school at 9:15 AM.
Office Hours:
Monday-Friday
10 AM- 2 PM
Please contact us if we missed your birthday or anniversary so we can update our records.
Christ Our Savior newsletter is published monthly and produced in email and print versions.
Pastor Andy Writes...
Church
The Epistle readings in the middle of January were from I Corinthians, chapter 12. Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit and then he describes the church as the body of Christ. As I read Paul’s description, I am painfully aware of the dysfunction of the Church. The body is a unit that functions best when all parts work together for the common good. When one part does not function properly the whole body is affected. As I look at this analogy I could focus on the dysfunction of the church. But despite the dysfunction, God still works in and through His church to extend His Kingdom. This reminded me of story written by an Episcopal priest named Martin Bell. This is how a gracious God deals with our dysfunction.
“Rag Tag Army” by Martin Bell
I think God must be very old and very tired. Maybe he used to look splendid and fine in his general’s uniform, but no more. He’s been on the march a long time, you know. And look at his rag-tag little army! All he has for soldiers are you and me. Dumb little army. Listen! The drum beat isn’t even regular. Everyone is out of step. And there! You see? God keeps stopping along the way to pick up one of his tinier soldiers who decided to wander off and play with a frog, or run in a field, or whose foot got tangled in the underbrush. He’ll never get anywhere that way. And yet, the march goes on.
Do you see how the marchers have broken up into little groups? Look at that group up near the front. Now, there’s a snappy outfit. They all look pretty much alike—at least they’re in step with each other. That’s something! Only they’re not wearing their shoes. They’re carrying them in their hands. Silly little band. They won’t get far before God will have to stop again.
Or how about that other group over there? They’re all holding hands as they march. The only trouble with this is the men on each end of the line. Pretty soon they realize that one of their hands isn’t holding onto anything—one hand is reaching, empty, alone. And so they hold hands with each other, and everybody marches around in circles. The more people holding hands, the bigger the circle.
And, of course, a bigger circle is deceptive because as we march along it looks like we’re going someplace, but we’re not. And so God must stop again. You see what I mean? He’ll never get anywhere that way!
If God were more sensible he’d take his little army and shape them up. Why, whoever heard of a soldier stopping to romp in a field? It’s ridiculous. But even more absurd is a general who will stop the march of eternity to go and bring him back. But that’s God for you. His is no endless, empty marching. He is going somewhere. His steps are deliberate and purposive. He may be old, and he may be tired. But he knows where he’s going. And he means to take every last one of his tiny soldiers with him.
Only there aren’t going to be any forced marches. And, after all, there are frogs and flowers, and thorns and underbrush along the way. And even though our foreheads have been signed with the sign of the cross, we are only human. And most of us are afraid and lonely and would like to hold hands or cry or run away. And we don’t know where we are going, and we can’t seem to trust God—especially when it’s dark out and we can’t see him! And he won’t go on without us. And that’s why it’s taking so long. Listen! The drum beat isn’t even regular. Everyone is out of step. And there! You see? God keeps stopping along the way to pick up one of his tinier soldiers who decided to wander off and play with a frog, or run in a file, or whose foot got tangled in the underbrush. He’ll never get anywhere that way!
And yet, the march goes on…
(The Way of the Wolf: The Gospel in New Images by Martin Bell)
The Worship Word
The last 13 seconds…
The Bills/Chiefs game has been the topic of every discussion since it was played. Therefore, my original draft for the newsletter was trashed and I started this one.
What would we do in the last 13 seconds of our game? This question has been used many ways over the years, in the last weeks/days/hours/seconds of our lives what would we do? Would we spend all the money we have? Would we tell everyone we love that they are loved? Would we spend time in prayer? How would we spend the last 13 seconds of our life? Would we be like Travis Kelce who recognized what was needed and didn’t waste a single second, motivating his teammates to just go for it? Would we sit on the sideline with our head down thinking all was lost? Would we pray for a miracle?
The Bills coach, Sean McDermott said in an interview “I’ve watched the last 13 seconds a million times in my head and in my stomach. We have to face this not run from it, it will be a part of our story. Now it is hard, I am proud of the team”. One final question was, what would you have changed, his answer was “the execution”.
The chiefs Coach Andy Reid, “When it looks grim be the grim reaper.”
As Christians our faith should drive our answer. I would like to think we would have peace knowing we lived a life of good. Knowing every day, we “went for it”. We shared God’s word and love. We work diligently to help our church grow and not tear it down. We endured the struggles, and in the end, we have no regrets, and we have peace.
But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Matthew 13: 16-17
I will end with my plea, let’s nail our execution, we need council members, we need a Sunday school program, our church needs us working to preserve it for the future.
Think about how you can contribute and reach out to myself or Pastor. We want you to “Go for It”!