Loving and Learning in Lodi,
July 12, 2020
The last few months of my life have been very busy, as I deal with
the details of moving to Lodi, leaving Akron, and preparing to sell my house in
Cleveland. I think for me, and maybe for you, at times I feel like I am
drowning in the details. It can feel downright discouraging! And then the Lord
sends me the words of this hymn by Helen Howarth Lemmel: “Turn your eyes upon
Jesus; Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of this world will grow
strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”
Our scripture lesson of the week Luke 5:1-11 is very much about
calling, yet today it speaks to me of God’s ways of encouraging us in our daily
lives. Simon Peter was in his boat, tired and disheartened. Then, Jesus enters
the scene telling the men to put the boat “a little way” from the shore before
inviting them into deeper waters. He guides them through their troubles - with
the fish and with their hearts; Jesus tells Simon and us, “Do not be afraid.”
Keeping our eyes upon Jesus as we take small and sure steps as His
followers, we will surely look to the past with thankfulness and to the
future with joyful expectation!
Pastor Pamela
Scripture
Luke 5: 1-11 Jesus
Calls His First Disciples
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the
people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He
saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were
washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats,
the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then
he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When
he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and
let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon
answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But
because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When
they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began
to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the
other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full
that they began to sink.
8 When
Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord;
I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions
were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and
so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on
you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their
boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Hymns
“We Are
Called”
TFWS #2172
“The
Summons”
TFWS #2130
“I Love to Tell the Story”
#156
Announcements: ~Our reopening committee is hard at work gathering
information and working on plans to reopen. Plan to hear from them, very
soon!
~Please save your plastic caps & lids for a “buddy
bench” at Sylvia Anderson’s great nephew, Braden’s school.
School My Sheep July 2020
It’s been a busy couple of weeks as we’ve still been working
toward the School My Sheep Drive. Thank you to Sue Porter, Judy Foster,
and Joyce Lorrah for spending time in the hot third-floor room at church
sorting through a mountain of clothes. Whew! Two hours of good, hard
work, wearing masks, and focused, we got through everything on hand!
The Facebook Fundraiser collected $680.00! This has allowed
us to take care of the big-ticket items: wired mouse sets for Middle School and
High School (60!) and over-ear headphones for Cloverleaf Elementary (48!). We
have 48 completed supply bags for non-Cloverleaf elementary students,
too. Now we will concentrate on filling in our inventory for middle and
high school, purchasing zippered pencil pouches, and more book bags (we’re
short by 50 at this point).
We still don’t know what this event will look like. We’re
considering drive-through school supplies and limiting the number of people
inside the church. At this point, we don’t plan to use the sanctuary as we
have in years past. It will remain clean and ready for our own
congregation.
Katrina and crew
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