Nipper Notes

Weekly eNewsletter of Our Saviour Lutheran Church

May 13,2016

This Sunday 
OSLC Choir
Celebrating Youth! 
One Service Sunday! 

Our Saviour Lutheran Church, 212 Sunset Drive, Johnson City, Tennessee, will offer one Holy Communion service at 10:45.
 
A nursery is provided.  

All are welcome. 
   
For further information 
about OSLC, please 
visit our website at 
or join us on Facebook.
Pastor Eds 
Daily Devotional Blog

  

Click here or on the picture to go to the daily devotional.

Parents Day Out

Click here or on the picture to go to Parents Day Out.

Join Our Mailing List



Friday, May 13, 2016

Walk / Talk 10:00 AM

Sunday, May 15, 2016

One Service Sunday!
Pentecost Sunday!
Sunday School 9:30 AM
Holy Communion 10:45 AM
Pentecost Tea 12:00 PM

Monday, May 16, 2016

Hannah Circle 1:00 PM
CoEd Softball 8:30 PM
CoEd Softball 9:30 PM

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Parent's Day Out 9:00 AM
Feed the Souls 6:00 PM
LYO 6:00 PM

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Heartsong Band 6:30 PM
Yoga 6:30 PM

Friday, May 20, 2016

Walk / Talk 10:00 AM

A day of surprising joy...

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place..." (Acts 2:1)

Back at this special time in biblical history, there weren't any churches as we know them today.  The faithful gathered wherever they could.  Sometimes, they would meet in the Temple, but usually in the homes of believers.  There they studied the apostles' teachings, fellowshipped together, "broke bread together" (which probably meant they ate together and had communion as well), and they spent a lot of time in prayer.  This is found in Acts 2:42.
Because it was a tedious thing to meet in public sometimes, they seemed to love to gather in each other's houses and just be together.  There is a peace in such numbers, to be sure.

"And suddenly there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house.."  (vs. 2)

We have recently heard with our weather "mighty winds" that sound rather "violent" as it beats against our home and pounds the roof of our house.  The window rattle and the house shakes a little.  It's an impressive experience.  It gets our attention.  The problem in this bible story is that the wind is on the inside of the house, not on the outside.  People outside the house (out in the street) hear the wind and, quite frankly, think it's a drunken party!

"Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them."  (vs. 3)

No one fully knows exactly what this was or how it could possibly happen!  But, we do believe it was something wonderfully strange and amazingly bizarre.  This is something new.  This is something really special.

John the Baptizer would prophesy, "I baptize you with water...He (meaning Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire..." (Mt. 3:11)

Fire has a way of getting one's attention.  Fire is something you cannot play around with - you must be careful around it.  But, this is no ordinary fire.

It's like the fire of Exodus 3:2 (look it up), a fire that was ablaze but did not consume, does not destroy but rather enlightens!
The wind and the fire all point to something new, a new creation, a new birth. 

We call these numbers of different people gathered - now with wind and fire - not just individuals, but rather-the Church!  These were people from many nations (see Acts 2:9-11) - from many different places and yet - this day - they become one!

The Church, as we know it today, was born on Pentecost day, fifty days after the resurrection.  And Jesus did not leave the disciples and others alone.  He gave them the Holy Spirit.  From the days of old, God confused their languages at Babel  (Genesis 11:9) so that they would cease to attempt to be God; now - with Jesus crucified, resurrected, and ascended, He reconnects the circle of life and hope by giving them back their ancient languages:
"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.' (Acts 2:4)
It wasn't gibberish but rather the language of each family's ancestry:
"And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?" (Acts 2:8)

The Church's basic task is to share what God has first given us.  God wants no more confusion.  He wants His Story to be told and not just to people of our own kind-but to the world-to every ancestral tribe on the face of the earth!

Let us be filled with the fire of God's Spirit (signifying this by wearing something red this Sunday); let us come and worship this Sunday at 10:45 a.m. (only one service this Sunday) and celebrate with Connor Hall in his affirming his Baptism, and give thanks for this story that everyone can tell.

Let's gather, then, "all in one place" and give the praise of God where it belongs!  Then - let us venture out into the world and share this grace filled gift with everyone we meet!

Remember - God loves you and so do we!
Pastor Jim Nipper
Pentecost
Products of the Month
 
Family Promise

For the next two months, we have designated Family Promise (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network) our agency to donations. Promise sponsors a network of churches, volunteers and community members to assist homeless familie with children. Through Family Promise, families can remain together while addressing the challenges confronting them to obtain housing. Families receive counseling and assistance to address their particular needs. Visit their website at: 
www.familypromise.org.

When a family leaves the program and goes to an apartment or a house, they need products to clean and "fix up" their new home. They also need personal items such as deodorant, soap, tooth paste, toilet paper, etc. As the OSLO family, let's put together 3 laundry baskets filled with items to start their homes. Two baskets will be in the narthex and one in the fellowship hall. Let's see if we can give three families a boost and love with a gift from OSLC.

Coming Up at OSLC 
 
Thank you very much: 
 to our WELCA for all the hard work they did to have this wonderful Pentecost Tea following worship, and to everyone who provided food and drink! (All are welcome!)

Blood Pressure Checks:   
this Sunday, in the hallway.                                                                                                  
Parish Nurse "Ministries in Motion": 
Thursdays, 6:30 p.m., Yoga - Youth Room - please bring your own mat; Fridays, 10 a.m. - Walk/Talk - prayer, devotion, joke of the week and "Chair Yoga."

Hannah Circle: 
Monday at 1 p.m. - Trudy Blackmer's home, 160 Raven Court, Telford, TN "Healing, God's Forgotten Gift" is the topic.

Softball:  
Monday, 8:30 (v.s. Grandview Christian) and 9:30 p.m. (v.s. Bethlehem Lutheran) both games will be at Field #1 - Winged Deer.  Y'all come on out!!!

Remember: 
 at this time, our OSLC office hours during the week, Monday through Friday, is 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

PARENTS DAY OUT:  
We are now enrolling for Fall 2016, ages 1-4 years old.  For more information, contact Cat Hopper, our OSLC Parent's Day Out Director at 423-232-0077.  Registration Packets are available in the OSLC Office.

PENTECOST TEA:  
Our Women of the ELCA will host the annual Pentecost Tea after church on Sunday, May 15 in the Fellowship Hall.  There is a sign-up sheet for your help that you can find on the WELCA bulletin board in the library hallway!
  
REMEMBER - CHURCH OFFICE HOURS are: 
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon.
The OSLC Prayer List
Praying Hands

Members: 
Barbara Gish, Mary King; Margaret Allown; Mary Ostermeyer; Erica Dalton; Beverly Van Camp; Trudy Blackmer: Pat Keffer; Otto Zinser; David and Martha Herting; Penny Van Hooser; Barbara Diehl; Tom Loveday; Janet Ecklund; John Stafford; Anne Godsey; Kay Scheurer; John Paul Neas; Betty Marshall; Irene Ackley; Truman Billings; Phoebe Sand; Janice Knipp; Jennifer Stafford; Wendi Garrison; Lori Markstrom.

Family Members and Friends:  
Alice Sulkowski; Jason Rakel; Carey Outen; Sharon Neuhaus; Lou Fox Baskette; Haskel Sykes; Reese Creasy;  Rev. Willis Bowers; Josh Nunn;  Ann Carter; Bruce and Betsy Shine; Glenn Nutter; Mark Mullinex; Brian and Jen Milliken; Linda Linden; Bonita Martin; Taylor Miller; Jim Ackley; Rosalina White; Preston Burke; Robin Barnett; Angie and Amber Frazier; Eve Hargrave, Abi Amato, Ashton Drinnon, Mark Singleton, Bob Fetterolf, Eric & Chrissy Essmann; Chris Toft; Cameron Crawford; Ben Ivey, Marsha Millhorn, Carmen Yoder, Jessica Mowell; Beth Neas; Karen Winter; Al Rudolph; Jennifer Bremmermar, (friends of Dale & Joni Cannon)

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

"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 Giving
Campaign 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 Giving
Campaign, 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
                                                                              
 
O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." ~ Psalm 34:8
 
 
 



Flowers
ARE GIVEN THIS WEEK: to the glory of God by Kasey Sorenson and to honor Patty on their 26th Wedding Anniversary, May 5th. 

Famlies
Ella & Mike English Faith Akin

Our Purpose
Make disciples, and grow in grace.

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