News

Mom’s Mentoring Group

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Christian Education Committee has heard some interest in some type of Mom’s Mentoring Group being formed at our church. In an effort to figure out what kind of group would be of interest and what would work best for everyone as far as timing, the Christian Education Committee will be hosting an evening for Moms!

This get-together has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 27, in the GSLC Fellowship Hall, at 6:00 pm. Dinner and dessert will be provided and childcare will be available if you need it. We hope by bringing everyone together a decision can be made on when, where, and what kind of group would be of interest to the moms in our congregation.

We will also be extending an invitation to moms at Immanuel Lutheran Church to come and join us that evening. We thought it would be good to include other moms in our area.

If you are a mom and would be interested in being involved in a group of other moms, please join us. It would be wonderful to have a large group there to help us figure out what would work best!

VBS 2018

The dates for this year’s Vacation Bible School, “Splash Canyon”, have been set for July 22-26, with a kick-off party on Saturday, July 21. Mark your calendars for this fun week of learning about our faith together!

Christian Education News

After several Sundays of Christmas Program practice and other fun activities, the Sunday School classes are back to their regular lessons. The lessons the rest of the winter quarter will focus on seeing God’s love at work. The Sunday School Children will be singing in church on Sunday, March 4, at the beginning of the late service to share with the congregation some of the songs they have been working on during opening. Offerings for the months of January and February from Sunday School and Adult Bible class will be sent to LCMS World Relief to help those affected by the hurricane in Houston. We are looking forward to seeing everyone in Sunday School as we study God’s word together. If you would be interested in teaching a Sunday School class or would like to be on our substitute list, please contact Denise G.

Sacrificial Love

Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

This year we have the interesting development of Valentine’s Day falling on Ash Wednesday. Lent begins on a day when we would normally not be thinking somber Lenten thoughts. Valentine’s Day is usually thought of as a happy time where we think about those we love and what they mean to us. This is a different kind of feeling than the one typically evoked by Ash Wednesday where we go to church to have the pastor put ashes on our head in a sign of sorrow and contrition as he says, “Dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Yet, at the same time love is a broad thing. In English, we have just the one word. In Greek, the language of the New Testament, there are at least 3 words for love (some people add in a 4th). You feel a different kind of love in different kinds of relationships. You love your kids and your spouse and your friends and your Lord with slightly different forms of love. Keeping this in mind, are Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday completely opposite when it comes to the feelings they invoke? Not necessarily. There is a type of love that is sacrificial. Ash Wednesday opens Lent which prepares us to observe our Savior’s death. Why did He die? Because He loved us. “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.” It is this kind of love that all Christians are asked show to their neighbor. When Paul tells us to “Walk in Love” it is this kind of love that he has in mind.

Perhaps that is a thing we can consider this coming Lenten season. Christ’s call to love our neighbor includes not only the cheery more positive aspects of love that we are most inclined to think about, but also the somber notes that are struck when we think about giving something up for someone else. For we ourselves are recipients of this kind of love in the grandest of ways. When we think of love in the next couple of months it would be appropriate to remember that some love has a price. The best love has a price. For “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.” And through His love you are now God’s beloved child. How do you walk in this love?

~ Pastor Mehl