NEWSLETTER July 2017
Peace Talk
House of Prayer on Parker and Main
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. Philem. 7
From the Pastor’s Heart: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Recently I was away in New Mexico attending the LWML convention. I was tent camping out of town and it was impractical for me to attend the final LWML Sunday worship service and still make my flight out of town that departed at noon. So on the way to the airport I stopped in at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, outside of Albuquerque, for a 9am worship service. It was a blessing to have fellowship with the saints in that place and to represent our congregation to them. It was not only an encouragement to me, but it was an encouragement to THEM. They showed me their Lutheran School that they had built with their own hands and how God had blessed them through it. The organist was proud to show off the cutest church organ I had seen in quite some time. It was a blessing to worship The Lord with them and to hear God’s Word from a visiting missionary pastor from Hong Kong.
SUMMER CHURCH VISITATION CHALLENGE! Many of us are traveling in the summer and away from Scranton. But that does not make the worship of God somehow impossible! I can assure you that WHEREVER you go in this country there really IS a church near to you, if not just around the corner, that would be glad to welcome you into God’s house to sing and pray and hear God’s Word with them. This is the fun challenge for us all this summer: visit as many churches as we can when we are away from Peace and report back to us! •
Take a picture (or two or three) of the church.
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Take a mental note of what it felt like to come into a church as a visitor. How did you feel? How were you welcomed? Did you feel comfortable? What was it that made you comfortable? (In being a visitor perhaps God is helping you minister to visitors at Peace!)
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Take note of the worship service. How was it the same as, or different from, our worship at Peace? Most importantly, note if Jesus Christ crucified for sinners was a focus.
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Perhaps answer the question: “How did I grow in faith?” through this experience.
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Finally, was there something in the church that you felt we could learn from at Peace?
After your experience, post your pictures and any reflections you want to share on our “God’s Peace at Parker and Main” Facebook page. We will put a big map of the country on our church bulletin board noting all the churches our members have visited, and maybe we can give away a few Peace t-shirts to the folks with the best entries! PLEASE NOTE: Although you might attempt to look for the nearest Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation and be happy to attend Holy Communion with them, if there is not one nearby, it is GOOD to attend OTHER churches as well! Feel free to call up me up afterwards with any questions about the theology and practice of that church denomination! May God bless our worship visitations!
Your servant in Jesus, Pastor Bjornstad