Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Upcoming Tuesday Bible Study Topics Decided
At this evening's gathering of the Tuesday Night Bible Study, participants decided on topics we'll be delving into in coming weeks.
We enjoyed the four-session study of the New Testament book of First Peter from the Augsburg Fortress small group Bible studies. (Augsburg Fortress is the official publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.) The upcoming studies will all be from this series.
The upcoming studies will be:
- Blowing in the Wind: A six-session Bible study on the Holy Spirit
- Galatians: A four-session Bible study of living freely in Christ
- Justice for a troubled world: A four-session study in Amos
- Epistle of Joy: A four-session study on Philippians
The study on the Holy Spirit will begin next Tuesday evening, February 27, from 7:00 to 8:30PM. It was written by Wilfred Bockelman, a son of Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Napoleon Township, Ohio, about five miles from the congregation Pastor Mark served as pastor for six years before coming here to found Friendship. His nephew and his family were members of that congregation, Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Okolona, Ohio. Plan on attending and invite a non-churchgoing friend!
Habitat for Humanity 'Noisy Offering' is This Coming Sunday, February 25
Lent Starts Wednesday, February 21
During the rest of the six-weeks of Lent, the church will hold Wednesday Soup and Salad gatherings. Those gatherings will happen at 6:30PM. During these gatherings, a light dinner will be provided, followed by discussion of a set of daily readings and faith action steps.
The gatherings are open to the public.
Lent is a great way to prepare for Easter and to get tuned into God!
[For more on what Ash Wednesday and Lent are about, see here.]
Friendship is in the News
You might want to forward these links to friends you want to invite to worship with us.
Ash Wednesday and Lent at Friendship, Amelia News at Cincinnati.com
Preaching Beyond the Pulpit, Amelia News at Cincinnati.com
Catechism Postponed
If you have a sixth-through-eighth grade student who hasn't yet gotten their book for this year, see me after worship either tomorrow night, Saturday night, or Sunday morning.
January, 2007 Financial Report
Financially, we had a rough January, only partly because of missing one weekend with bad weather. If February doesn't see us all offering at our estimated giving levels, we may be forced to dig into our building and kitchen reserves, something it would be best to avoid completely.
Please pray for our congregation's spiritual, numerical, and financial growth. God will grant growth to a congregation committed to sharing Christ and to inviting others to worship with them!
[Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Monday, February 19, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Habitat for Humanity TGIF's Event Rescheduled...and Other Habitat Reminders
Lovely weather we're having, isn't it? But I can't complain when I compare it to the snow our family and friends are getting back in upstate New York!
Just wanted to let you all know that the fundraiser event that had been scheduled at TGIF's for Thursday, 2/15, has been cancelled by Donna, the store manager. Seems several of her key servers will not be available this Thurs. pm, and as Donna wants this particular fundraiser to go really well, she asked us to cancel. And in light of the weather and Valentine's Day tomorrow, etc., I'm sure it's for the best anyway. So....
Please mark Thursday, March 8th on your calendar as the date to dine @ Anderson's TGIF to support the Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity. If anyone would like to experience what it's like to be a server, a hostess, a greeter, or a busser---well, I'd love to help you fulfill this lifelong goal! You'll need to be at the restaurant around 4:30 and would be put to work from 5-9 pm. We don't get to eat food during that time, but we do get to have whatever non-alcohlic beverage we need throughout the evening. If unable to serve, please come and dine with us on that evening. Habitat gets to keep all the tip money from the night. (Donna does something different for her "real" servers at these events and apparently they are eager to work with us in this capacity!)
Also, the spaghetti supper for February 25th will be from 5-7 pm at St. Veronica's on Mt. Carmel-Tobasco Road. The entertainment for the evening will be the handbell choir from All Saints Lutheran. I stopped by to see their choir director last evening for some Thrivent business, and they were practicing their concert program. They have 4 full octaves and they sounded amazing last night! They are so excited about helping with Habitat and about working in our own community. Adult dinners are $7, children $5, and no family will pay more than $20 unless they want to give more. Hope you can come to this event as well.
Guess that's it for now. Hope you are all staying warm and keeping dry. Remember, Phil did not see his shadow, so spring is just around the corner! :-)
God Bless,
Jan
Tuesday Night Bible Study Scrubbed
Monday, February 12, 2007
Habitat for Humanity 'Noisy Offering'
Catechism
Lent is On Its Way
Your Help Needed
diaper bags
sleepers
baby shampoo
baby lotion
baby wipes
baby wash
age appropriate toys (0-12 months)
small rolling suitcase
large onesies (24 months and up)
age appropriate toys (18-36 months)
Please bring in your items over the next three weeks, no later than February 18. Thanks so much. You can ease the transitions of children taken into foster care by creating these wonderful care packages!
Friendship Youth's Next Gathering
February 18 Brings CASA Bake Sale
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Your Friendship Pictures Needed
One of the things I'd like to get on the site (and this news blog) are your pictures of various Friendship people and activities. So, if you have any jpg files of your Friendship photos, please send them to MarkLuth@aol.com as attachments. If you have prints that I could scan, that would be great as well. I hope that the site can be a more dynamic, real-time place in the future.
But continue to come back here for the latest Friendship news.
Due to the Continuing Snow...
Monday, February 05, 2007
This Month's Outreach Gathering
Past Weekend's Announcements (Updated)
Please pray for all in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ask God to bless the efforts of our youth group as they plan and prepare for their Week of Hope misision trip in June, 2007.
Ask God to bless Sinanzinkosi Moyo, the Zimbabwean girl our congregation sponsors through World Vision. Our sponsorship helps Sinanzinkosi and her fellow villagers to have schools, clean drinking water, and the opportunity to know and follow Jesus.
Pray God’s guidance for all world leaders and that their wills will be open to that guidance.
Pray for Friendship, asking God to help us to be faithful in our mission of reaching out to others with the love of Jesus and thereby experience growth in faith, love, unity, outreach, prayer, discipleship, giving, numbers of disciples, numbers of worshipers.
Pray for our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), asking God to grant the same sort of growth to our entire denomination that we seek for Friendship.
FRIENDSHIP FOLKS HAVE BEEN A BIG HELP TO CLERMONT CASA FOR KIDS! Our help is needed again. We’re conducting another drive for items to go into diaper bags. But only a few items are needed at this time:
diaper bags
sleepers
baby shampoo
baby lotion
baby wipes
baby wash
age appropriate toys (0-12 months)
small rolling suitcase
large onesies (24 months and up)
age appropriate toys (18-36 months)
Please bring in your items over the next three weeks, no later than February 18. Thanks so much. You can ease the transitions of children taken into foster care by creating these wonderful care packages!
LENT, A TIME FOR SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, BEGINS WITH ASH WEDNESDAY WORSHIP at 7:00PM ON FEBRUARY 21. We’ll once more have our Wednesday Soup and Salad gatherings during Lent. Daily devotionals will be provided, built around the theme: Making Room for Jesus. Thanks to Rochelle Feine and Betsy DeVore for coordinating these gatherings! (By the way, if you’d like to help pay for the materials used during the Lenten season, add another $1.00 to your offering. That should cover costs and shipping.)
Holy Communion is now offered at Friendship at least three times a month. It happens during worship celebrations on the second Sundays of each month and every other Saturday. This is part of our long-time vision of having multiple worship services each week, eventually affording the opportunity to share the Sacrament during at least one of them each week.
What is GoDeep? It’s a worship celebration that consists of a brief time of prayer and an indepth look at a passage of Scripture. It takes place at 5:30 P.M. on most Saturdays. Make sure that you invite friends who might not be able to make it on Sundays or who want to go a little deeper in their faith.
Want to know more of the background behind the Bible lessons used in Sunday morning worship? Want to get more out of the Sunday message and worship experience? Mark Daniels meets each Sunday morning at 9:00 A.M. to delve more deeply into the Biblical passages and themes around which Friendship’s weekly worship is built. Plan on being with us.
Those wishing to use Friendship’s building facilities are asked to fill out the yellow, half-page request forms you can find in the lobby, tacked to the church activities bulletin board.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I want to help. I want to give back to the community, but I don’t know what I want to do.”
Self-assessment is the first step in determining what you want to do. Exploring your values, interests, personality, and skills will help you narrow down your choices and focus your search for your perfect volunteer opportunity. Aristotle once said, “Happiness is the utilization of one’s talents along lines of excellence.” Take your first step toward happiness and attend this workshop!
This workshop will be presented on February 11, 2007 after our regular Sunday Worship Service. It will end at 1:30 and lunch and childcare will be provided. Pre-registration is required! To do so, email: cheneya@greatercincinnatifdn.org.
1. Exalt the Lord
2. Each One Reach One
3. Engage in Service
4. Expand Your Vision
Women's Book Club Cancellation
Friday, February 02, 2007
Another Way of Discovering Your Servanthood Niche
Why volunteer? Because one person can make a great difference…
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I want to help. I want to give back to the community, but I don’t know what I want to do.”
Self-assessment is the first step in determining what you want to do. Exploring your values, interests, personality, and skills will help you narrow down your choices and focus your search for your perfect volunteer opportunity. Aristotle once said, “Happiness is the utilization of one’s talents along lines of excellence.” Take your first step toward happiness and attend this workshop!
A Reminder
"Without Me, you can do nothing," Jesus says in the Gospel of John.
Let's remember to begin every meeting, every group, every rehearsal, every ministry project, every time we invite a friend to worship with us, and every class at Friendship with prayer, asking God's help and inspiration and that everything we say and do will glorify Him.
I know that sometimes in my rush to "get things done," I forget that. I suspect that the same may hold true for others.
When I sent a similar reminder to folks a few months ago, I had several people approach me to thank me for it. One man told me, "You can tell such a difference in what happens when we pray." That's because when we approach the Father in Jesus' Name, we're powered by God and not by ourselves!
I would even say that such prayer is even appropriate for those who kindly volunteer to do the important work of cleaning our church building, ushering, greeting, reading the Bible lessons, and so on. Let's saturate our Church in the power of Christ by seeking His help in our prayers.
Friendship has always been a praying church. Let's expand that reality:
- Pray at the beginning of every meeting, every group, every rehearsal, every ministry project, every time we invite a friend to worship with us, and every class. Ask for God's help and inspiration and that everything we say and do will glorify Him.
Labels: Prayer
Thursday, February 01, 2007
During Both Worship Celebrations The Next Three Weekends...
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 21.
After Worship This Coming Sunday...
2. Also:
What do you know about your personality “shape”? Are you a good at reading body language or do you like for people to be direct? Do you get excited by new ideas or do you prefer to finish old business first? Do you make quick decisions or do you like to work by group consensus? Do you like to be busy or would you rather see your “in-box” empty at the end of each day??
People have different styles that they use when interacting in teams, when working one-on-one with others, and when making decisions. On February 4th, after our Sunday Worship Service, Tim Vogel will be presenting a fun and light-hearted workshop to help you discover the Shape of Your Personality. This is the first of several workshops the Servanthood Team is arranging to help us find our niche in the greater community and as a member of this serving congregation.
This workshop will end by 12:30. Refreshments and childcare provided.