Dear Church Family,
Instead of bitter words of anger, Jesus’ first words from the cross were words of love, asking his Father to forgive those who were wronging him. In his second words from the cross, Jesus turns his love and compassion toward his family and friends. He wants to make sure they are taken care of in ways that are good for their bodies and souls. What tender love he shows, even while dying for us!
To join me in person this weekend whether on Saturday at 5:00 pm or Sunday at 9:30 am please register with this form ahead of time. To worship online with others simply click here to visit our livestreaming platform either on Saturday at 5:00 pm or Sunday at 9:30 am.
DSC on YouTube: Watch past messages, worship services on-demand, and other Christ-centered content on our church YouTube channel. To watch DSA chapel services visit our chapel YouTube channel.
ICYMI: Here’s a link to the first of our Lenten devotions that I led this week based on Psalm 3. Thank you to Jeremy and Grace Seeger for adding their music gifts with the beautiful new song! And here’s a link to my message from last weekend based on Jesus’ words from the cross, ‘Father forgive them…”
Congregational Update: Join our church family for a presentation this Sunday after worship in the commons on the progress of the building project for our new church and ministry center. The Church Council and the Ministry Team are excited for this opportunity to share God’s blessings on this project. Check your e-mail if you are unable to attend in person for the Zoom link.
DSKids: We invite all children ages 3 to 3rd grade to join us this Sunday for our in-person DSKids Sunday morning program. Simply stop by our DSKids table outside the church doors on your way into worship and we’ll get your child checked in and ready to join us. See you Sunday!
Download Our Church App! – Simply go to your app store and search Divine Savior Church or text DIVINE SAVIOR CHURCH APP to 77977.
Midweek Lent– “The Struggle” Each Wednesday morning between now and Holy Week we will share a link to a 15 minute YouTube video devotion provided by a different pastor each week from our five Divine Savior Church campuses. Each video will include a devotion, a prayer, a song, and 2-3 discussion questions under the theme “The Struggle” based on Psalms. You are encouraged, as you feel comfortable doing so, to invite another family over for dinner Wednesday evenings and to worship together using the video devotion. Look for next week’s video Wednesday morning via email, social media, and our new church app. Here was this week’s devotion in case you missed it. You can also find it in the app.
Divine Savior Ministries – This week I attended our quarterly meeting of the DSM governing board in my role as coordinator pastor. Despite the challenges presented during the pandemic God has showered many blessings on our ministry. We get to serve over 1,300 students and their families each day with increased enrollment on all our academy campuses. There are 185 employees across our ministry. Our academy campuses continue to meet in person while offering “hyflex” teaching to also support online students. Our staff has done an incredible job navigating this challenge though it is not always ideal or easy.
Enrollment on each academy campus: 989 at DSA-Doral | 12 at DSS-Doral | 75 at DSA-Delray Beach | 141 at DSA-Sienna | 104 at DSA-Santa Rita Ranch. The Delray Beach academy has seen the most growth since the school year began and is calling for a principal. Keep that in your prayers. The Sienna campus continues to move forward with planning for their high school. Their principal Mr. Pat Cortright is undergoing treatment for cancer currently. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. Santa Rita Ranch is aggressively planning for phase II of their building plans to keep up with the explosive growth they’ve experienced in year one of operation. Our worship and ministry center building plans in Doral are moving forward.
It’s been almost a year since Covid came to try and shut down the world. Yet we praise God for his abundant blessings and faithfulness in keeping our ministry going, and in fact thriving. Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support of our all important work of sharing Jesus and His love!
Attendance in-person at our Divine Savior Church campuses is about 60% of what it was pre-covid. Nevertheless, giving and support has remained consistent and for that we also give thanks to God. At the same time, outreach initiatives and starting point classes are bearing fruit. Families from our schools are connecting with the ministry of the God’s Word offered by our church. A focus on harvest strategy is something we share in common. We are excited about our new church app as a communication and collaboration tool. We continue to encourage people to return to regular in-person worship as the best option and to make use of livestreaming or on-demand via YouTube as the next best option. We want to continue to use all the technology and tools to share God’s Word with more people. However, we don’t want this to be considered a regular replacement for in-person worship and the fellowship of believers.
Journey to the Cross – Save the Date: Sunday, March 21, 3:00-6:00 pm. Encounter the sights and sounds of Jesus’ journey to the cross together as a family. All ages welcome. Reserve your “departure time” (at link coming soon!)
Giving: To give electronically simply follow this link to go to our secure giving page, or click Give at the bottom of the new church app. You can make one-time gifts or set up automatic giving as well.
Church Offerings Update: Ash Wednesday: $423.10 + Last weekend: $12,843.12
Marriage Moments are short, weekly videos highlighting one Biblical marriage thought. Click here to watch this week’s episode – Leave. Produced by our national church body, the WELS.
Weekend Playlist – Jesus Thank You | My Song Is Love Unknown CW 110 | The Love of Christ Who Died for Me CWS 749
Changing Lives with Jesus,
Pastor Ben
