Dear Church Family,
Have you ever had to create a job description or complete a resume? “Christian-killer” wouldn’t seem impressive on anyone’s resume, much less that of an apostle, would it?! Yet, that is exactly who Jesus chose to grow his Church! Paul (aka Saul) was an unlikely candidate to become a Christian, much less an apostle of Christ.
In the same way, you might consider yourself under-qualified for the mission of Jesus’ Church. You might not feel you deserve to have a role at all. But God loves to be glorified through unexpected servants! He often calls those who might be considered the least likely to serve his plan of saving and changing lives. Might Jesus be calling you to join him on his mission? He is, after all, the God of grace.
I hope you can join me for worship this Sunday as we continue our series Act II – The Rest of Your Story at 9:30 AM for our English service, or for our Spanish service at 11:30 AM. All are welcome!
Parking with the Pastor – First of all, thank you if you were able to park further out this past Sunday so that all 308 people who attended our service were able to find a spot. How great to hear the 1st graders from DSA singing with such joy with the Lord’s house so full! At the same time I apologize that I did not get a chance before the service started to take a look out in the north parking lot to be able to award a special “pastor prize” like I mentioned in my last email. But stay tuned…there will be more opportunities! Thanks for having a mindset that is considerate of our guests and wanting to make our church feel as welcoming as possible. What thoughts do you have about how to make our church feel as welcoming as possible every Sunday?
The WELS International Youth Rally will be held at Bowling Green University in Ohio from June 26-29. Any high school aged young people from Divine Savior Church are welcome to attend. The cost is $345 (until April 30) PLUS transportation. If you are interested in attending, please let Dr. Landwehr or one of the pastors know ASAP to arrange the specifics.
Building Volunteer Teams – Musicians, keeping reaching out! We want to build a large team of people to serve joyfully on a rotating basis. Contact me or reach out to my wife Sarah who will help you find your place on the team. And everyone, stay tuned for more opportunities to serve on other teams as well. This is going to be on ongoing process (Think like over the next 18 months…so please be patient with me!) but I believe that the church is most effective when everyone takes ownership of the mission and steps in like Jesus did to humbly serve others using their gifts and abilities.
Connect Groups – This is on my radar (one of a dozen things right now!). I’m convinced that truth becomes transformational when shared and lived out in community with others. I want to help provide opportunities for you to connect with Jesus and each other not just on Sunday but during the week. So right now I’m learning what’s been done here in the past and look forward to helping you connect in small groups soon. On my mind too is the whole big picture of discipleship and how we can be a church that intentionally helps people grow more and more like Jesus.
Telling the Next Generation – This past Saturday, Ryan Loberger and I got to attend a one-day workshop at Ascension in Sarasota on the importance of developing a harvest strategy between a church and school. We piggy-backed with the Divine Savior group from Delray Beach so it was a great opportunity to talk ministry with them.
The big idea of having a harvest strategy is to ensure that we are not just enrolling students but also being intentional about engaging families with the gospel. I’ve also been talking with Pastor Steve and Becky Mueller about all that they’ve been doing for years now here at Divine Savior. They’ve put together some great plans and have gathered some helpful resources we want to use for training. We’re also going to be meeting regularly with school leaders so that we can work together to see families’ lives changed with Jesus.
I’ve got so much more to learn here but I’m excited to see what God has in store. Please pray that God gives me wisdom on how to wisely use my time and arrange my priorities and use my best energy to help change more lives with Jesus!
Worship Arts Center Update (From Pastor Carl) – Building our Worship/Arts Center is not something that is just going to happen by itself. It needs the support of all of us. At this point, it could be said that “we’re on our way, but we’re not there yet.” Below is what the bank expects of us and where we’re at.
- $9,200 average weekly offerings. Returned pledges are at approximately $8,400 or about 90% of target
- 75% of the offerings are done on line. We are very close to this goal.
- 200K in a Building Fund. We are about 60% of the way there. (If our offerings reach the $9,200 level, we should be pretty close to our goal by the end of the year)
- 200K or more in a capital campaign. This campaign is just beginning. Currently it has $27,500 in gifts.
Since the school is also involved in this loan, the bank wants to wait until August or September when the school has firm enrollment numbers to review our loan application.
Giving Our Firstfruits (From Ron Hansen, our Church Treasurer) – As we prepare to build a House of Worship to our Lord and a fine arts center needed by our school, we should model ourselves after the Israelites when it came time to build the tabernacle. In Exodus 36 we read the Israelites gave so willingly to the construction of the tabernacle, they actually had to be restrained from giving so much more than needed! We should always return first to the Lord from those gifts he has given us, not give him the leftovers. One way to do this is to establish recurring giving through ACH giving. Enrolling in ACH ensures you give back to the Lord on a regular basis, whether you attend church that Sunday or not. If you are interested, ACH Debit Authorization forms are available and easy to complete. All you need is a voided blank check and the form both to be handed to Ron Hansen, Church Treasurer, or any of the Ministry Team. If you’d like an ACH form, contact Pastor Ben who would be happy to email you one.
Sunday Playlist – Here are the songs coming up in this Sunday’s service. Check out the YouTube videos, sing along ahead of time, and help fill God’s house with praise on Sunday.
Gathering Song: Lord I Need You. Forgiveness Song: My Victory. Hymn of the Day: Chief of Sinners Though I Be. Communion Song: We Remember You.
Daily Devotions – The new issue of “Meditations” has arrived. Pick one up on the table after church. (I will actually have them out there this week!)
Your Time of Grace – If you’re looking for a place to connect with God each day, these daily videos from our friends at Your Time of Grace are a great place to start! You’ll find that they encourage you and help you find guidance for each day from God’s Word.
Changing Lives with Jesus,
Pastor Ben
