Latest News – Page 57 – Holy Spirit Lutheran Church

From the Pastor

May 2014

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

All during the Easter season this is our call. This is our message to the world. Well, let’s be really true. This is our message to the world every day of our lives.

We have just come through the most important week of the year for Christians, where we heard the great story of our salvation. With that story fresh in our ears, what shall we do to encourage other people, and each other, to lay aside the trappings and temptations of society so that the message of the risen Lord Jesus may be shared in word and deed?

This is our question as we move into this time of the year. I could use this space and go on about our continued need to pray and study and be present at worship. And I could highlight how the ministries of the congregation need to be attended to by more people as we move into our future.

But that runs the risk of making the message about ourselves. If we learned anything from Holy Week, it is that the message is about what God is doing. We respond by giving thanks for what God is doing, and we show our thankfulness through the ministries God has called us to offer the world.

So let’s get started in making our offerings of word and deed, giving thanks in our worship, and giving thanks through our service. By these actions, our cry of “Alleluia Christ is risen,” will be more true.

CLIFTON D. ESHBACH

Pastor

Community Yard Sale

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Community Yard Sale

Saturday May, 3, 2014 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Mark your calendar now for this annual event which benefits our youth group’s mission trip to New Jersey. This is a big event and it takes all of us to make it a success. It’s a fun day with food, music, a kid’s fair and plenty of bargains waiting to be scooped up by savvy shoppers. It’s a great way to reach out to our neighbors and introduce them to Holy Spirit. Here’s several ways for you to get involved and help out.

1. Reserve a space and sell at your own table all those items that have been cluttering up the garage or the clothing the kids have outgrown!

2. Don’t have enough items for your own space but want to get rid of some things? Donate them to church’s table. We will be accepting donations on the last three Saturdays of April from 9:00AM until 12:00PM, and Sundays after church. Children’s clothing and toys, household items, sports equipment and small appliances in good working order are all good sellers. Please do not bring plush toys, adult clothing or exercise equipment, none of which have sold well in the past.

3. Sign up to help set up, clean up, man the church’s table, direct traffic control, oversee the kids fair or participate in several other jobs that need to be done to have a successful day.

4. Tell your friends, neighbors and co-workers about the yard sale and invite them to come.

5. Pray for warm temperatures and blue skies on sale day.

If you have any questions about the yard sale please contact the church office: 717-394-6771

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