Thanksgiving Eve Worship

November 27th at 7:00 pm

Thanksgiving Eve Worship

The annual community Thanksgiving Eve Service with Concordia, Columbia and St. Paul, Millersville congregations. will be here, at Holy Spirit, on Wednesday, November 27th at 7:00 pm.  Make plans now to attend this service.

 

End of the Year Gifts

End of the Year Gifts

As we move into the final two months of 2019, please consider making an additional “end of year” gift to Holy Spirit. Such a gift will be important to maintain good financial footing, and to begin the new year with positive momentum which your gift can provide.

Please refer to the several ways by which you may make a gift. Thank you for your dedication to make sure Holy Spirit continues to be a place where the love of Jesus may be shared in word and deed.

 

12th Annual Christmas Tea

Thursday, December 5

12th Annual Christmas Tea

Thursday, December 5 
 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

We invite you to spend a delightful afternoon at the 12th Annual Holy Spirit Christmas Tea.  Held in Fellowship Hall, a festive holiday atmosphere will surround you.  A selection of delicious things to eat, several varieties of tea, seasonal music, and entertainment are planned. And, there are always a few surprises!  Come and share the fun and fellowship.

There is a poster in the narthex for you to sign up.  Invite friends and join us for tea.

We hope to see you there!

(Anyone whowishes to attend and has a transportation issue, please notify the church office (717-394-6771) and we will make every effort to make arrangements for you.)

From the Pastor

October 2019

Every so often, someone will ask me, or it will be asked via a third-party conversation (which is mostly when this happens) questions like this: Why are we doing this or that? What is its purpose? I must admit to being slightly surprised by the question. After all, discipleship ought to be self-evident.

But since this is October, the month when we remember the beginning of the Reformation, a little Luther is helpful to answer this question:

“We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor…He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor. Yet he always remains in God and in his love…” (Luther’s Works, 31. 371.)

This paragraph comes from Luther’s treatise, The Freedom of a Christian. This long writing can be condensed into a simple premise that a believing Christian is free from sin through faith in God, yet bound by love to serve the neighbor.

Where might Luther get such an idea? The same place we get our ideas of witness and service. The gospels. One example is Matthew 25:39-40, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

God’s family is pretty large. Our family members in Christ are across the street, and across the world. When we serve anyone, we serve Christ. If we remember to see Christ in our neighbor, we no long have to ask the questions “why” or “what.”

As Luther also said, “God does not need your good works. But your neighbor does.”

 

Clifton D. Eshbach,

Pastor