Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it…”
The writer of this Psalm is telling me that every day we should be thankful for. Every day! But, I think some days we can be more thankful than others. I am a big fan of this recent weather. It feels so good to have the windows open again. Having fresh air come blowing into your house/apartment. Yes, we need to be thankful for all days, but I believe some days are better than others.
There is still a little teacher in me going, “Yikes, school is starting. What happened to summer?” For all the teachers out there, I feel for you. I have been out of teaching for approximately 15 years now, and I still get this feeling. I wonder if it will ever go away?
It sure doesn’t help that our church is preparing for the start of school. Sounds sort of strange that the church would do this, but we are. CSLE is having a welcoming picnic next Sunday for all of us, but especially the children in our congregation. Hope to see all of you there. It is a great evangelical tool so bring a friend either young or old. It is also a great way to introduce our Sunday School program. We would love to have all the Sunday School teachers present if possible.
We will also be blessing the backpacks on that weekend. Teachers, please bring your bag also. We will be blessing all of them for the start of the school year.
We have been doing this for a number of years now. We will be decorating the sidewalk on Shooting Park Road, welcoming the children for the start of the school year. We will be doing this on Sunday, August 17th. No artistic ability required.
Just a note, we will still be having Saturday service next week at the normal time.
I know we are asking a lot from our congregation. We have two things going on. One, we continue to collect money for ELCA World. As of this letter, we have collected $2,793. Most of you know that we have someone from our congregation who will donate a thousand dollars if we get to three thousand dollars. This is so generous. Is the Spirit stirring your heart about this? Could it be another thousand? Or maybe it is a hundred or fifty. This way your donation would be doubled by the church and then doubled by the Synod. Is there someone out there willing to do this?
Then we are collecting all types of clothing for Northview Elementary and school supplies for area schools. Still plenty to choose from on the chalkboard. I found it very difficult to find #.5 shoes. I tried Amazon and Walmart? Any suggestions? If worse comes to worse I would suggest buying the next size up. Elementary students grow fast. Thoughts?
And then you can’t forget your monthly offering. Like I said, we are asking a lot from you. Listen to the Holy Spirit inside of you. Maybe you can’t do anything extra. I know CSLE need servers for the picnic on Sunday. Can you help with this event. We are not always looking for money. Sometimes I think we need volunteers more than anything else.
Crossed marked and spirit sealed,
Pastor Tom
815-223-1144
Readings for the Ninth Weekend after Pentecost– August 9& 10
Genesis 15:1-6 Psalm 33:1-12 Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Luke 12:32-40
Reading the Bible in a Year- Monday, August 4 to Sunday August 10
Day Daniel Psalms Proverbs 1 John
Monday Ch 8:15-Ch 9:19 29:10-18 Ch 2:28-Ch 3:10
Tuesday Ch 9:20-Ch 11:1 137 Ch 3:11-Ch 4:6
Wednesday Ch 11:2-35 138 Ch 4:7-21
Thursday Ch 11:36-Ch 12 139:1-10 Ch 5
Haggai 2 John
Friday Ch 1-Ch 2:23 29:19-27 Ch 1
Zechariah 3 John
Saturday Ch 1-Ch 4 139:11-16 Ch 1
Jude
Sunday Ch 5-Ch 8 139:17-24 Ch 1