Dear Church Family,
Who doesn’t love a well-told story? Stories grab our attention and sometimes capture our imagination. They have the power to move our emotions. They can shape and even change our behavior. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise us then that Jesus himself was an avid storyteller. Nearly a third of his recorded teachings are in the form of short stories called parables. In a way, the parables of Jesus put flesh and blood to what he taught. They reference ordinary, everyday kinds of things.
Although parables are often quite simple, we sometimes miss the point. Everyone has ears, but not everyone “hears” their meaning. That’s why in this new message series that we’re starting this weekend we’re going to see how the parables of Jesus are not just stories we are meant to read. They are stories meant to also read us!
Join me this weekend as we study The Parable of the Good Samaritan and see ourselves in the mirror of the characters Jesus describes.
To attend in person this weekend whether on Saturday at 5:00 pm or Sunday at 9:30 am you need to register with this form. You can expect us to follow the things outlined in our Phase 1 Plan, and we kindly ask you to also follow those guidelines.
To watch live online with others simply click here either on Saturday at 5:00 pm or Sunday at 9:30 am.
ICYMI: Watch past sermons or services on-demand on our YouTube Channel. Share and provide gospel encouragement with others.
DSKids: Check out the weekly resources being provided by our DSKids team! We are not at this time providing in-person DSKids ministry during our weekend worship services at church.
Weekly Offerings: Last week: $6,247.00 | Needed weekly to meet FY ’20-’21 budget: $9,106.96 | So far $970 has been raised towards Equipping Christian Witnesses | Stay tuned next week for a personal video that I will be sharing with you via email regarding the special opportunity to give towards Equipping Christian Witnesses.
Online Giving: Thank you for your consistent generosity during this time of a global pandemic. Your gifts of love help us continue to share Jesus with our hurting community and world!
Giving online is easy to do either by clicking the “My Giving” tab while logged into MyDSC | by clicking on “Give” on our website: www.divinesaviorchurch.com | or by clicking “Give” while watching live on our church online platform
Week in Review – It was different, with everyone wearing masks and seating in socially distanced arrangements, but it was great this week to see so many of our Divine Savior Academy teachers and staff on and around campus. On Monday I got to lead a 2-hour Bible study on Colossians with the DSA teachers and staff including some from our new Divine Savior School to help set the tone with the Spirit’s blessing on the upcoming new school year. On Thursday in my role as Coordinating Pastor for Divine Savior Church I got to lead a meeting with all the pastors from across our five campuses where we put the finishing touches on our message series plans for the upcoming year as well as to discuss how we can collaborate more on ministry. I’m excited about potential opportunities to leverage technology to connect relationally with people during this pandemic and how that might drive further collaboration among our church campuses. On Friday our DSC-Doral church staff participated in a Harvest Strategy Workshop spearheaded by Pastor Caleb, our lead academy pastor. It was a great way to focus us on the opportunities God has blessed us with here in Doral to build relationships with families and plant gospel seeds. We all have a role to play and God has plans to use each of us in furthering His mission here knowing that He wants all people to be saved and to enjoy a life-long relationship with Him that stretches into eternity.
Equipping Christian Witnesses – is the name of a campaign to raise funds in support of our vital ministry partner, Martin Luther College (MLC). Our pastors and the majority of the teachers at our Divine Savior Academy were trained at MLC and we are blessed as a church that all of them belong also to our Divine Savior Church congregation! To learn more about the goals of the campaign, here’s a video you can watch. If God moves your heart to give to this campaign with joy, please make use of our online giving option being sure to choose the designation as “MLC Campaign.” Our goal is that our congregation can raise $20,000 (or more!) by the end of August that so that we might send a Divine Savior Church gift in support of Equipping Christian Witnesses.
Weekend Playlist – Reckless Love | Lord of All Nations, Grant Me Grace CW 521 | We Love
Changing Lives with Jesus,
Pastor Ben
