Dear Peace Members and Friends,
I wonder if, before you read the rest of my note, you would pause to pray for two groups; for all who remain affected by the wildfires in California, including the firefighters, and also all those in Israel/Palestine; giving thanks for the truce and praying for all those who are just beginning to recover from that long and horrible conflict. Thank you.
So why do people come to worship? There are all sorts of answers to that question. Some go like this: “I’m looking for something up lifting—something that will help me make it through another week.” “Life is hard. Worship gets me through.” Or, “worship makes me happy.” There is some truth to all those responses to the question, “Why do people come to worship?”
But the problem is none of them line up very well with Sunday’s prescribed Gospel reading from Luke. In it, Jesus preaches at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. Everything is going along swimmingly until Jesus says something that gets his listeners angry and the next thing you know his hometown neighbors are chasing him out of town and trying to push him over a cliff! What did Jesus say that got them so riled up? We’ll find out in Sunday worship (9:30am). We’ll hear this Gospel story, we’ll have a children’s message from Pastor Joe, we’ll share the Lord’s Supper, and I will have a message entitled, “Should This Sermon Make You Happy?”
During this Sunday’s Adult Education hour (10:45am) we will preview next Sunday’s Annual Meeting of the congregation. The proposed budget will be presented, the written annual report distributed, and we will spend some time in small groups discussing goals for ministry in 2025.
Looking ahead, a reminder to you that the Annual Congregational Meeting of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church will be two weeks from Sunday, February 2nd, at 10:45am. At that meeting, 2024 ministry will be reviewed, a proposed budget for 2025 will be discussed and voted upon, and new Council members nominated and elected. All Peace members are encouraged to attend both gatherings!
Last of all, the Service and Mission Committee will be collecting children and adult winter coats on Sunday, February 9th. The donated coats (preferably clean and without stains) will be delivered to an organization called, Reach & Restore in Hopkins. They, in turn, will distribute those coats free to any and all who need them. My thanks ahead of time!
See you Sunday!
Mark