The Love and the Light
Greenville Area Ministerial Association Good Friday Worship
The Holy City
Annette Solo from today (Palm Sunday)
TO PREPARE FOR WORSHIP,
MARCH 6 and 10 Lent begins with Ash Wednesday this week, March 6. Receiving the imposition of ashes as a mark of the cross on our foreheads reminds us: “We live from ashes to ashes with the assurance of our Lord’s resurrection.”Before next Sunday, read Romans 10:5-13.In his Letter to the Romans, Paul uses three different Greek words and one idiomatic phrase quoted from Proverbs, which all convey or are related to the idea of shame (v.11). What are some things that might make you feel ashamed or disgraced? Someone might feel ashamed of the Gospel, but Paul insists he, himself, is not ashamed of the Gospel and neither should we be.How do you honor the Good News of the Gospel in your life?
Opportunities For Success – Christmas Giving
JOIN THE TEAM
Hey! We’d love your help with our upcoming Thrivent Action Team.
| Opportunities For Success (Christmas Giving Tree) |
|---|
| Christian Growth Ministry Team (Pastor Jeff Wilhelm) |
| Now through Epiphany Sunday, 1/6/19 |
| Opportunities for Success will receive monetary and material donations to assist local school students and their families in need. Items to be provided are socks, hats, gloves, sweatshirts, sweatpants, after school snacks, and personal care items. Please register as a volunteer participant! Thank you for giving! #livegenerously |
| REGISTER NOW |
Advent
Advent, a preparatory time of waiting and watching, communicates the message of hope, assisted by the color of the sky, BLUE. Our Christian faith rests on the hope that Christ, who came in history assuming our flesh, will also return on the last day of time from that same blue sky he ascended into long ago.
During Advent we are urged to slow down, wait, and look past ourselves. We do this by taking our time (four Sundays and weekdays) getting to the manger. We do this by staging our journey to Christmas in steps — Advent greens, an Advent wreath, Christmas trees, a Christmas manger scene, and then “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night.” We do this by keeping Christmas long after the trees are put outside and the decorations packed away — a full twelve days that stretch out what we have waited so long to celebrate. It’s important to realize that when we over-schedule church activities, we mirror the busyness of the world in a bad way. Sometimes there are so many things going on at Church that it seems literally like a roller coaster ride to Christmas. Advent should be slower and much more deliberate. During this season, we do not compete with the harried schedules of the world around us by matching them event for event. No, we compete by offering what no one can find except in the Church — the Gospel of the Incarnate Lord Jesus Christ! Most importantly, we celebrate Advent by listening to the Word of the Lord, and by hearing that Word with the ears of faith, and by the joyful acknowledgment that the Christ of the manger has come among us to deliver the fulfillment of His promised gift of forgiveness, life and salvation.
Christmas Focus
Christmas is the season in which we hear the “tidings of great joy” that the Savior of the world was born in Bethlehem. The Second Person of the Trinity had to become man in order to redeem man. After the Feast of the Resurrection, then, the Feast of the Nativity is the greatest in the Church. The atmosphere and appearance of the church building, in addition to its message and music, reflect the exceeding gladness of this celebration.
A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great. (Proverbs 18:16)
God’s gift to us at Christmas is a little like a very special gift received in the mail. The gift looks plain on the outside, but God knows that when we take the time to carefully unwrap the package and get to know what’s inside, we will appreciate the gift very much. In fact, it’s the best gift we could ever receive!
Similarly, we are like the brown paper wrap. There are messages about Jesus Christ to be sent and delivered all around the world today and they can be delivered by people who are humble, simple, and plain, just like the brown wrap. You don’t need fancy words or clothes. Look at Jesus who was born in a barn. It was not a fancy place, yet God’s message and gift to us came so precious and beautiful, just like the fancy ribbon and paper.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help me be the sender of the Christmas message to someone who needs to hear your Word. You are the best gift anyone could receive. Use me, Lord to be the packaging wrap of brown, simple paper and not to be afraid to tell others about eternal life in heaven. Amen.
Joy of Generosity
Experiencing the Joy of Generosity — Three weeks of Daily Devotions are available for you here.
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Experience the Joy of Receiving, Managing and Sharing God’s Blessings!
Take Heart, Take Action | Michigan District, LCMS
Take Heart, Take Action | Michigan District, LCMS
Download Conference Booklet Here
michiganLCMS Download Conference Booklet below Everywhere we go, we go as a witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But what does it mean to be a witness? How can my witness persuade someone to believe? How can I be a witness to people who really don’t seem to care about church or the faith? Take Heart, Take Action is a theological conference for laypeople and church workers, and the featured speakers will share practical advice and insight into our calling as witnesses of the Gospel.
God Sightings – Give us examples of how God works in your life!
My mother and father moved into a retirement community when Dad could no longer provide all the necessary care for Mom’s dementia, diabetes, digestive problems and spinal stenosis that makes her wheel-chair bound. That huge adjustment and expense could be eased if Dad’s long-term care insurance could be approved to pay the in-home care for Mom. On the day the insurance company sent a RN to do the physical check of my mom the nurse found her vitals to be concerning and recommended mom be taken to the hospital ER. An endoscopy and colonoscopy was performed among other tests and found cancer in the right side of Mom’s colon. Prayer requests went out and were answered. Mom’s colon surgery was successful and her related physical therapy has allowed her to walk better than she had in 12 years!
-submitted by Dave Gantz
At the apartments where I work a tenant came to the office very angry about noisy neighbor kids often unsupervised by their parents and how many times he has complained without seeing anything done by the management. His apartment is next the only playground on the property and kids also live near him. All I could do is thank him for his information on the noisy neighbors and insure management was investigating. On my drive home that night I asked God for him to have a peaceful diversion from the problem. I prayed, Lord give this person some serenity and a break from his frustration; like Your Holy Spirit gives me when I’m walking my dogs in the country.
A few weeks later I saw the guy in the parking lot talking happily to others so I went up and ask how it was going. He said, “Hey, I had a God-thing happen to me. I was walking my dog in the park
[a few miles away from our apartments]
when I saw a lady with a dog like mine. I went up to her and realized it was a friend from High School I hadn’t seen in years. We had a great conversation . . .” He went on to say, that only God could have made that chance meeting occur and that they both have the same breed of dogs!
-submitted by Dave Gantz
Thank you church family!
We turned around on our way to our vacation at the news of Lori’s mom passing away from complications of dementia. Throughout the grieving we received many thoughtful cards and flowers from our Mt Calvary family. These constant reminders of our Lord’s gracious blessings and hope for eternal peace gave us a view to God’s will for us and the heavenly act of Christian love.
