Nipper Notes

Weekly eNewsletter of Our Saviour Lutheran Church

March 18,2016

This Sunday 

OSLC Choir

 

Our Saviour Lutheran Church, 212 Sunset Drive, Johnson City, Tennessee, will offer three Holy Communion Services 8:15 traditional, 10:45 traditional and Heartsong 10:45.

 

A nursery is provided.  


All are welcome. 

   

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"...and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him..."  (Matthew 26:4)

The Chief Priests and the Elders of Jerusalem had gathered.  They were worried about the influence that this guy named Jesus was going to have on the people there for the Passover.  Jerusalem was a busy place this time of the year.  It would be similar to going to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, just less the decadence of the revelers of our modern day. 
 
Although, one has to wonder if there wasn't a different type of decadence going on even in Jerusalem.
 
What were the elders worried about?  This is just one man.  Were they worried about Jesus' "sway" He might have on the immense income that they would rake in at the Temple as people poured into their city for this annual festival?  Were they truly concerned for the families of the gathering, that He might cause a riot and people could be hurt?  Or - was it pure jealousy for the stronghold they had had over the people for these years - that it was about to be broken by this one man? 
 
They were on the verge of losing control, a certain power they held over so many.
 
He must have been a very powerful man to cause such concern among the Sanhedrin.
 
But - this guy was from a relatively small town:  Nazareth.  Can anything good come out of such a place?
 
He held the esteem of being a simple village carpenter.  He welded the power over tables and chairs and an occasional plow and doorpost. Why was that such a challenge to the mighty establishment of Jerusalem?
 
He sought no power, for three years prior, it had been offered to Him by the devil himself and He refused.
 
His strength and faith came only from above.  One in the Sanhedrin knew this and knew it well.  Nicodemus, who came to Jesus "by stealth himself" (in the night so that he wouldn't been seen with Jesus lest he might lose his place in the Order) learned that one "...must be born from above..." (John 3:7b)  It is the way of God, a way that the leaders of Jerusalem had lost.
 
As we quickly approach Holy Week again, how shall we approach it?  With all the vim and vigor of having to go and buy new Easter clothes and eggs for dying and hams for baking?  Or, can we find many moments in the week to stop - to Sabbath - and recall what God is doing in this blessed story?  Shall we succumb to the world and lose sight of the real power that exists in the world-a power that is not like anything that the world has ever known or sought after?
 
It is the power of compassion for one another.  It is the supremacy of peace that we can offer to someone who has less.  It is the authority and clout of love that we wield that shows itself in the sharing of what we have with those in need.  There is the real and most honest power you will ever see.
Fear not the stealth of the world.  God has defeated it with the resurrection!  He has conquered the almighty attempts of the world to continue to dominate our lives and our faith in Jesus Christ.  Again, they will not win.
 
So - try to pause this coming week.  Discover this new-found power of God.  How will it move you and your loved ones? 
 
The end result will be peace.  A sense of deep satisfaction.  A sense of grace that surrounds our lives and permeates our existence to where we see a new power:  the power of love.
 
Remember, God loves you and so do we!
 
Pastor Jim
 
P.S. THANK YOU ALL for your prayers for Mary Alice's brother, Robin Barnett, who successfully received a new heart this past week at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, Texas.  He is doing well.  Again, thank you for your prayers!
Jesus Anointed At Bethany
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
 
Palm/Passion Sunday - Reguar worship and Sunday School times (8:45 and 10:45 a.m.), however, everyone will meet outside of the main narthex on the front church steps at 10:45 a.m. for the annual procession and blessing of the Palms.  

Maundy Thursday - 6 p.m. Pot Luck meal in the Fellowship Hall; 7 p.m. "Holy Communion-at-table" in the Fellowship Hall.  

Good Friday - 7:30 p.m. "Tenebrae Service-Service of the 7 Last Words of Jesus" - Nave of the Church.  Nursery provided.   

Holy Saturday - Annual Easter Egg Hunt (meet in the fellowship hall) 2 p.m.
Coming Up at OSLC 
 
SERVICE PROJECT:  
The Women of ELCA are putting together Personal Care Kits for Lutheran World Relief.  We are still seeking these items to be donated:  Light-weight bath towels of a dark color, any brand bath-sized bar soap, adult toothbrushes.  If you can't bring items, you may give a monetary gift!  Checks may be made out to OSLC with "Health Kit" in the memo, and placed in the offering plate.
 
CANDY FOR EASTER EGG HUNT:  
Our High Road Sunday School Class needs of bags of individually wrapped Easter candy to fit inside the plastic eggs used in the annual Easter Egg Hunt.  Candy donations may be placed in the specially marked baskets in the main hallway or fellowship hall by Sunday, March 20. Help us make this the biggest Easter Egg Hunt at OSLC ever!  Easter Egg Hunt will be on Saturday, March 26, at 2 p.m.
 
EASTER LILIES: 
Sign up today!  $12.50 per pot. Sign-ups are in the hallway! This Sunday is the last day to sign up!
 
OSLC PRAYER CHAIN:  
There is a sign-up sheet on the WELCA bulletin board for volunteers who would be willing to be callers for our Prayer Chain ministry.
The OSLC Prayer List
Praying Hands

Members: 
Trudy Blackmer; Erica Dalton; Berla Smith; Pat Keffer; Otto Zinser; Marjene Chapman; David and Martha Herting; Penny Van Hooser; Larry McCoy; Mike Rice; Barbara Diehl; Tom Loveday; Janet Ecklund; John Stafford; Anne Godsey; Kay Scheurer; John Paul Neas; Betty Marshall; Josiah Flint; Pat Tomita; Irene Ackley; Truman Billings; Phoebe Sand; Mary King; Janice Knipp; Mary Ostermeyer; Jennifer Stafford; Wendi Garrison; Lori Markstrom; Debbie Garrison.

Family Members and Friends:  
Alice Sulkowski; Jason Rakel; Carey Outen; Jessica Jernigan; Sharon Neuhaus; Lou Fox Baskette; Haskel Sykes; Reese Creasy;  Rev. Willis Bowers; Josh Nunn;  Ann Carter; Bruce and Betsy Shine; Glenn Nutter; Mark Mullinex; Howard Parsons; Brian and Jen Milliken; Linda Linden; Bonita Martin; Taylor Miller; Jim Ackley; Barbara Noe; Rosalina White; Preston Burke; Robin Barnett; Angie and Amber Frazier; Eve Hargrave, Abi Amato, Ashton Drinnon, Mark Singleton, Mark Helton (Pastor Jim's cousin), Bob Fetterolf, Eric & Chrissy Essmann (family of Becky Hamilos); Ray Osejo, Marsha Milhorn (friend of Maggie Flint); Ben Ivey (friend of Brenda Whitson).
 
Special Prayers this week:  
The family of Rev. Alan Chapman, and family, upon the death of his wife, Marjene.  She will be truly missed at OSLC. 

Military Service - Members:
Chance Johnson (Army); Nick Harris (Air Force); 

Military Service -
Friends and family:
Nick Hodge (Air Force) friend of the Flints; Chase Estep (Marines) brother of Clint Estep; Matthew Sibenaller (Army) godson of Ed Wolff; David Guck (Marines) friend of the Pat Wolf; Jeremy Downes (Navy) cousin of Joni Cannon; Adam Beier (Army) nephew of Carolynn Bailey

03-16-2016 10:16:00 AM

 

"Christ has no body but mine, no hands but mine, no feet but mine.
Mine are the eyes through which we are to see Christ's compassion for the world.
Mine are the feet with which Christ is to go about doing good.
Mine are the hands with which Christ is to bless now. Amen." 

   ~ St. Teresa of Avila, a prayer offered by Bishop Mark W. Holmerud of the Sierra Pacific Synod as written in the 40 Days of Giving Devotional.

The youth of Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison, Alabama are living out St. Teresa's poetic prayer and finding amazing ways to "go about doing good."Using the 40 Days of GivingCampaign as a catalyst, the youth of Messiah have responded to the call to end hunger in their community. 

Messiah's Director of Outreach Ministries, Claire Strand reports that the congregation is 'giving generously' in an effort to meet the ELCA World Hunger's challenge to raise $2 million by Easter morning. From the 40 Days of Giving Campaign came the ingenuity to use the hands and feet of Messiah's members to actually provide sustenance to those in their community living in poverty or living with food insecurity.

"Just this past weekend, our youth groups delivered 466 pounds of food to a new local food pantry as part of their service project, 30-Hour Famine," Strand said, "What great kids!"

Messiah is using another program to accompany the 40 days of Giving Campaign called Feed the Need.  According to Feed the Need's Facebook page, the program mobilizes and engages volunteers with hands-on opportunities. Hands on... "Christ has no body but mine, no hands but mine," St. Teresa prays.

The congregation exemplifies the model of the ELCA World Hunger's comprehensive approach. The approach simultaneously addresses issues of hunger domestically and globally. Messiah models this approach by including international needs in its giving.

Strand wrote that a portion of the Lenten offering taken up for both the Feed the Need program and the 40 Days of GivingCampaign, were designated to build a desperately needed kitchen next to an elementary school in rural Honduras.

"Their original kitchen was adobe and had to be demolished due to termite damage. This [new] kitchen will allow parents to make the school lunches under sanitary conditions, as well as save them from trekking the food over the mountainside each day, " she said.

On behalf of the ELCA World Hunger Team, thank you Messiah Lutheran Church for sharing your story and being God's hands and feet in a world of need and hope.

Contact Adrainne Gray - ELCA Southeastern Synod World Hunger Ambassador - with questions or for other opportunities to join the World Hunger Campaign to end hunger. 
ajtdelta@gmail.com
Thought for the Month
                                                                              
 
"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

Abraham Lincoln
 
 
 



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Our Purpose
Make disciples, and grow in grace.

Our Vision
We love God and neighbor, so that all people will be disciples.