Author: Church Office

God’s work. Our hands. Part 2

Sunday, September 7, 2014
We will be packing school kits and personal care kits to send around the world.

“God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday is an opportunity to celebrate who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — one church, freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor. On Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014, the nearly 10,000 congregations of this church gather to serve communities in ways that share the love of God with all of God’s people. – See more at: http://www.elca.org/dayofservice#sthash.qWdCElyI.dpuf

Holy Spirit will again be participating in this event by packing school kits and personal care kits for Lutheran World Relief.

Remember to wear your yellow shirt that day.

Yellow: Wear it and Share it!

From the Pastor

April 2014

I’m not one to use a lot of superlative adjectives to describe something. “Great” and “Awesome” is about as far as I usually go.

But there is an exception to everything.

The emphasis that is placed on the need for, and the value of, attending worship during Holy Week is something that requires the use of adjectives. Words like “significant,” ‘magnitude” and “sacred” should be used frequently to describe the importance of the worship experiences of this week.

The week from Passion Sunday through Easter Day is the most significant week of the year for Christians. The magnitude of hearing the passion story has an impact upon us as we strive to live out our call to serve in the name of Jesus. Hearing the sacred readings of salvation history during the Easter Vigil provides a connection for us that we are part of an eternal, divine neighborhood of saints who are loved by a God who never stops to reach out, pick us up, love us and encourage us with the saving power of grace.

This is what we worship during Holy Week. And experiencing all of it gives considerable assistance to us in our understanding of God’s grace, the love of Christ, and the strength of the Holy Spirit to serve.

I look forward to serving you and worshipping with you during this week.

Clifton D. Eshbach,

Pastor

 

Holy Week at Holy Spirit

The most significant week of the year for Christians takes us from the heights of cheers and palm branches, to the depths of death upon the cross…

HOLY WEEK at Holy Spirit

The most significant week of the year for Christians takes us from the heights of cheers and palm branches, to the depths of death upon the cross, and back to the new fire, rebirth and celebration of the resurrection. Fully enter into magnitude of this time by being present for each of these times of sacred worship.

The Sunday of the Passion – April 13th, 9:30 a.m.

We begin with the Gospel procession with palms and transition to hear of the events of the Passion of our Lord.

 

 The Great Three Days

The Triduum: one service over three days,

Maundy Thursday – April 17th at 7:00 p.m.:   On the night before his death, we hear how our Lord Jesus provides the example of humble service through the holy meal, washing feet and leaving a great commandment to love.  We transition to his arrest and trial with the stripping of all worship appointments.

Good Friday – April 18th at 12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m.: The service continues as we hear the story of the death and burial of Jesus and venerate the cross on which held the salvation of the world.

The Great Vigil of Easter – April 19th at 7:00 p.m. This year Holy Spirit hosts the culmination of the Triduum. The service of light leads us to hear stories of salvation history, to a remembrance of our baptism and the celebration of the first Eucharist of the resurrection.

 

The Resurrection of Our Lord

Easter Sunday – April 20th at 9:30 a.m. Our patience and mediation during Lent and the three days is rewarded with the glorious words and songs of resurrection. Let the celebration begin!

 

From the Pastor

March 2014

Recently someone said to me, “It must have been good to have more time to get ready for Lent.”

That can be a blessing…and a curse. I have appreciated the time to work with you on preparing for Lent. That sure is a blessing. But having this amount of time can be detrimental because we run the  possibility of becoming lazy when it comes time to put our plans into practice.

And if there is one thing we do not want to be during Lent, it is lazy. Lent is an extremely significant season of reflection, confession, prayer, fasting, and engaging in acts of charity. All these helpful disciplines center our spiritual life on the great gift of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is a season where we alter our schedules to engage God in these disciplines so that we can love and celebrate the gift of salvation we acknowledge on Easter.

Yes, during Lent we need to change some of our patterns. Our monthly parish meetings need to be shorter and fewer. We need to use that time to be in prayer and worship as one community on both Sunday, and on Wednesday. When you turn to the next page of this newsletter you will see our worship schedule for Lent. Remember it. Participate. Often. Remember we also have a time of learning following worship on Sunday and on Thursday nights. That is another precious resource. And there is also the new daily devotional booklet that your brothers and sisters at Holy Spirit have written for our use.

These times of worship and learning directs our words and our deeds into future Christian service. I commend to you both the disciplines and the opportunities of this season.

 

CLIFTON D. ESHBACH

Pastor

 

Worship in Lent

Midweek services of Holy Communion during lent are held Wednesdays at noon and 7:00 p.m. The Sermon Series this year is “The Questions of Jesus”.

Worship in Lent

Lent is an important season for us to focus on our devotional and worship life as individuals and as a parish family. Please participate as often as possible with the worship opportunities during this season.

Sundays: The Holy Communion,  9:30 a.m.

 

The Wednesdays of Lent

The Holy Communion

Noon (spoken liturgy) and 7 p.m.

The sermon series at Wednesday worship will focus on

“The Questions of Jesus”

We certainly have asked questions of Jesus in our prayers and devotional times. But what about those time when Jesus asks a question of us? Pastor Eshbach will focus his preaching during the Wednesdays of Lent on five of those questions. They are:

March 12: “Why Were You Searching for Me?” – Luke 2:41-51

March 19: “Who do You Say That I Am?” – Matthew 16:13-20

March 26: “Why is My Language Not Clear to You?” – John 8:39-47

April 2: “What Do You Want Me to Do For You?” – Mark 10:35-40

April 9: “Does This Offend You” – John 6:52-63