+++ Spotlight November 2010 +++

Schedule of Events

Advent Services 2010: Christ, Elkhart will have their services on Wednesdays. Faith, Hugoton will have their services on Thursdays. Services will be held at 7:00 at both locations.

Faith

Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.

Faith Sunday School – Sunday 10:15 am.

Faith Midweek Confirmation 1 Class – Wed., 4:15

Faith Midweek Acts Class – Wed., 6:45

November Volunteers at Faith:

Elder – Steven. Usher – Greg. Altar – Kepleys. Cleaning – Hickeys.

Christ

elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com

Sunday School – Sunday 10 am

Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.

Christ Confirmation Class – 4:00 pm Sundays.

November Birthdays

11/5 Virgil Brune

11/5 Tom Frederick

11/7 Nila Belle Nusser

11/10 Colton Hardy

11/11 Aidan Fincher

11/12 Darrell Hickey

11/24 Karen Yoder

11/25 Rebecca Van Donge

11/28 Milton Brune

November Anniversaries

11/03 Melvin & Ruby Bultman

November Baptisms

11/26 Miranda Brewer

Faith, Hugoton

Faith Lutheran Voters will meet next Sunday, November 7 after services. Service times will be reversed in order to have this meeting. Potluck.

Mission Giving Possibilities. At our next meeting, we will be dealing with the issue of our mission funds for the coming year. Last year the voters decided to direct the funds to an area in which they would be applied more specifically. The pastor is recommending that we direct our mission giving for the year to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological Education in Haiti. The advantage to this giving is that gifts become a part of the perpetual fund which remains untouched, but the interest is applied to assist those studying for the ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. It is hard to estimate how much benefit will be received on the basis of a one-time gift of this fund, because in fact the fund itself will outlive all of us, and continue working for the kingdom of God for many years.

+++

Christ, Elkhart

Christ Lutheran Church Clothing Bank is closing. There are a number of reasons for this. The primary reason is that there is a vast difference between the number of clothes donated and the number of clothes actually needed in our community. Donations consist primarily of adult clothing, and demand is primarily for children's clothing. Also, demand is somewhat lower now than it was at the beginning of the project. If anything, we will be keeping children's clothing on hand to allow for us to meet specific needs as they arise.

Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ voted at their last meeting to support a student directly rather than going through the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The student selected in cooperation with Pr. David Carver, whom we supported a couple of years ago, was Sem. Samuel Wirgau. Keep Samuel, his wife Dorena and their daughter Sarena in your prayers during his fourth year of seminary.

Service Times Switched

(Christ at 9 am, Faith at 11 am).

Sunday, Nov. 7. for Faith's annual meeting.

Mark the calendars, remind your family and friends, and set the alarm clock to make it to church on time!

Upcoming Events

• Circuit Winkel Tuesday, December 14 – Holy Cross, Dodge City.

Important dates

Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. will be the ARC meeting between Hugoton and Elkhart. The meeting will be held at Christ Lutheran Church, Elkhart.

Oct. 24 - Voters meeting will follow Sunday morning services and a potluck dinner.

Kids - Sunday School at 10:00 each Sunday morning.

+++ Spotlight October 2010 +++

From the Pastor's Desk:

This month I have been asked to share this space with one of our members at Faith, Hugoton, Steve Lucas. His contribution came out of a meeting at Faith, but the words are good ones for all of us to hear:

“The financial state of Faith is always changing. We have good months and not so good months. The not so good months usually occur during vacation and recreation times. Many eventually make up missed offerings but some have this slip their mind. The Biblical testimony on giving and money is clear, yet we are not called to guilt or sad resignation or even grim-faced duty. Instead, we are called to joy. Giving must be a joyful response to God's grace.

“Paul asked for money like this: I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). In other words, the difference between moralists (those who think that God accepts them because of their goodness) and Christians (who know they are sinners saved purely by grace) is that a Christian wants to give as generously as he or she has received. The first and last truth that must guide us in all we do, including the stewardship of our possessions, is God's grace for us in Jesus Christ. As we follow him, we trust that he will provide for us as individuals and as a church, and we know that his Kingdom will continue to flourish in our midst.

“We have the wonderful opportunity to manage His church with our conscious and prayerful commitment to serve and financially support Christ's mission in this life.”

Steve is right. All too often we think that we are giving for the church, almost in the same way in which we pay for a hamburger at McDonalds. In fact, the first reason God has commanded to give is for ourselves. We need to give, to be reminded that our money, our bodies, and our time are not our own. They all belong to God, and as we give them into his hands of grace, trusting him to care for us, his grace works through what we have given to provide salvation for us and for others. What greater honor is there than to be co-laborers with God? As we draw closer to the end of the year, let us look at our finances with this fact in mind—God has given us everything we have, and we are trusted by him to manage everything we have wisely, realizing that his gifts are not for us alone. He intends for us to share everything we have, generously, with his church and with those who are in need.

If we flip through our checkbooks, does the record of how we have used God's money tell us that we are people of faith? Hear God's call to repentance and joyful, earnest obedience, sent this time through our brother Steve, in Jesus' name.

October Birthdays

10/18 Miranda Brewer

10/20 Ruby Bultman

10/21 Andrea Reza

10/30 Tom Brewer

10/31 Tracie Bowker

10/ Lindy Yannis

October Anniversaries

10/21 Larry & Karen Yoder

10/15 Tom & Sue Frederick

October Baptisms

10/09 Mica Nave

Schedule of Events

Faith

Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.

Faith Sunday School – Sunday 10:15 am.

Faith Midweek Confirmation 1 Class – Wed., 4:15

Faith Confirmation 2a – Wed., 5:30

Faith Confirmation 2b – Sat., 10/16 & 30, 9:30 am

Faith Midweek Acts Class – Wed., 6:45

October Volunteers at Faith:

Elder – Paul. Usher – Ray. Altar – Josh.

Christ

elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com

Sunday School – Sunday 10 am

Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.

Christ Confirmation Class – 4:00 pm Sundays.

LCMS

Each congregation has received a Constitutional Amendment Ballot in connection with the resolutions passed by the 2010 Synodical Convention. Congregations must use the official ballot to cast their affirmative or negative vote and return it to the Secretary of the Synod. A two-thirds majority vote by all congregations will result in ratification of the amendments. The voters of each congregation will have an opportunity to discuss the amendments and their implications at their next meeting.

Faith, Hugoton

Voters Meeting – Sunday, Nov. 14. Service times will be switched for our annual meeting (Christ meeting at 9 am, Faith at 11 am). Potluck!

Mission Giving Possibilities. At our next meeting, we will be dealing with the issue of our mission funds for the coming year. Last year the voters decided to direct the funds to an area in which they would be applied more specifically. The pastor is recommending that we direct our mission giving for the year to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological Education in Haiti. The advantage to this giving is that gifts become a part of the perpetual fund which remains untouched, but the interest is applied to assist those studying for the ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. It is hard to estimate how much benefit will be received on the basis of a one-time gift from this fund, because in fact the fund itself will outlive all of us, and continue working for the kingdom of God for many years.

+++

Christ, Elkhart

Christ Voters are due to have a meeting in the month of October based on Article II – Meetings in the congregation's Bylaws. This is not our annual meeting, which is held in January, but still provides an opportunity for fellowship, for dealing with the Constitutional Amendment Ballot we received from the Synod, and for the always enjoyable potluck!

Christ Lutheran Church Clothing Bank is closed for the month of October. During the month of September, there were four total visits, and at least one family of children was provided for. The problem that we are facing is that we receive far more donations than we are able to give away, especially when it comes to women's clothing. The pastor is considering limiting our focus to children's clothing and winter coats, in order to meet those needs that are most urgent when they arise.

Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ voted at their last meeting to support a student directly rather than going through the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The pastor has the names of a number of students. If there are students at either seminary who are known to you personally and who you would like to see our congregation support, please submit the name to the pastor before the next voters' meeting

Christ.

Mission Giving: The check sent from Christ to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological Education was received and directed to the perpetual fund, from which interest is applied to the costs of training pastors for Haiti. A letter of thanks is on the bulletin board in the narthex.

Service Times Switched – Sunday, Nov. 14. Service times will be switched for Faith's annual meeting (Christ meeting at 9 am, Faith at 11 am). Mark the calendars, remind your family and friends, and set the alarm clock to make it to church on time!

+++

Upcoming Events

• Kansas District Pastors Conference in Junction City, October 17 – 19.

• Circuit Winkel Tuesday, November 9 – Grace, Ulysses .

• Circuit Winkel Tuesday, December 14 – Holy Cross, Dodge City.

+ + + Spotlight September 2010 + + +

From the Pastor's Desk:

I have had a wonderful vacation—unfortunately,
vacation means not working, so while I have plenty of
thoughts concerning the life of our parish, they have
not been written down. It is the first of the month,
the newsletter is overdue, so I must forbear. God's
peace be with you as school starts again and as you
continue that day to day struggle which is the
Christian life!

September Birthdays
9/03 Hannah Rodriquez
9/05 Ray Reed
9/15 Bob Johnson
9/16 Carolyn Langley
9/23 Chance Yoder
9/24 Mica Nave
9/24 Ruby Reed

September Anniversaries
9/01 Tim & Tammy Hardy
9/07 Walter & Taren
Hicks
September Baptisms
9/25 Colton Hardy
9/25 Tammy Hardy

Schedule of Events
Faith
Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.
Faith Sunday School – Will resume with the new
school year.
Faith Midweek Confirmation 1 Class – Wed., 4:15
Faith Confirmation 2 Class – TBA
Faith Midweek Acts Class – Wed., 6:45

September Volunteers at Faith:
Elder – Greg. Usher – Josh. Altar – Anna. Acolyte –
Kaitlyn. Cleaning – Dobies. Mowing and Watering –
Dobies.

Christ, Elkhart
elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com
Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.
Christ Confirmation Class – 4:00 pm Sundays.

Clothing Bank – 9:00 am – noon Saturday

Faith, Hugoton
Voters Meeting September 12. Service times will
remain unchanged, but our November meeting will
require a change in service times.
Mission Giving Possibilities. At our next meeting,
we will be dealing with the issue of our mission funds
for the coming year. Last year the voters decided to
direct the funds to an area in which they would be
applied more specifically. The pastor is
recommending that we direct our mission giving for
the year to the Kurt Marquart Fund for Theological
Education in Haiti. The advantage to this giving is
that gifts become a part of the fund which will remain
untouched, but the interest is applied to assist those
studying for the ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Haiti, especially during this time of
reconstruction following the earthquake. For those
who have Internet access and are interested in
reading more: www.marquartfund.org.
+++
Christ, Elkhart
Clothing Bank Donations can be made any time by
bringing donations to the Christ Lutheran Church.
The pastor is opening the Clothing Bank every
Saturday during the month of September on a trial
basis, in hopes of serving more people as school starts
and cooler weather draws near.
Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ also voted to
support a student directly rather than going through
the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The pastor
has the names of a number of students. If there are
students at either seminary who are known to you
personally and who you would like to see our
congregation support, please submit the name to the
pastor before the next voters' meeting
+++
Upcoming Events
Circuit Meeting – Tues., 9/14 at Holy Cross, Scott City
KS LCMS Pastors Conference – 10/17-10/19 Junction City

The Spotlight + September 2010 +
Christ Lutheran Church - Elkhart, KS

Faith Lutheran Church – Hugoton, KS

Spotlight - August

+ The Spotlight +

Christ Lutheran Church - Elkhart, KS

Faith Lutheran Church – Hugoton, KS

From the Pastor's Desk:
Occasionally the question comes up, “Why do we
worship the way we do? Isn't it overly formal?
Wouldn't it attract more people to our services if we
made things a little more modern?”
Why do we worship the way we do? Quite frankly,
because it's the way Christians have worshiped for
2000 years. Before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the people of Israel had been worshiping the One True
God liturgically for a millennium and a half. Why?
Because it's the way God told them to do it.
God had given his people very specific instructions
through Moses, recorded for us in the first five books
of the Bible, which governed the worship that should
be directed toward him. They were to build an altar.
They were to offer him spotless animals from the
flock. They were to pray certain prayers, and perform
certain actions. They were to understand from the
actions they performed that the forgiveness of sins
required the shedding of blood, the loss of a life.
Of course, the liturgy developed over time. God had
given them a basic outline, but God's people added
appropriate prayers. God guided his people as they
expressed their sorrow for their sins and their joy at
being called to be his people. Some of those prayers
are now recorded in the book of Psalms.
When Christ came, he came into a situation where
everyone was very familiar with the worship services
used in the Temple and Synagogue. This was not an
accident—it was part of his design for the Church.
When his followers were banned later from
worshiping in the Temple and cast out of the
synagogues—part of the persecution they suffered for
believing Jesus is the Messiah—they took the service
with them. The worship God had given his people in
the Old Testament continued into the New Testament.
Only now, it was not about the sacrifice that pointed
forward to the forgiveness of sins won by Christ on
the cross. It was about receiving that forgiveness in
his body and blood in the Lord's Supper. The shadow
of the Old Testament had been traded for the reality
of the New. Where in ages past they saw the
sacrificial lamb and perhaps wondered how God
would ultimately take away their sins, in the Church,
from the very beginning, we have prayed, “O Christ,
Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the
world, have mercy upon us!”
The actions which we perform in worship today were
not dropped out of heaven the way the worship of the
Israelites was. But they developed, in a long,
unbroken process, from the worship of the Tabernacle,
the Temple, the Synagogue and the Early Church. The
motions and prayers, the symbols that we use, are all
designed for one thing—to direct our faith to the
blood that was shed on account of our sins, to the life
that was lost so that we might be saved, to the Lamb
of God who is the only source for eternal life. Why is
our worship formal? Because we worship a great
God and King, who gives great gifts, who promises
things that are impossible for us in a great feast that
he sets for us here every week. Formality is how we
celebrate great occasions in our culture. It used to be
that nobody could conceptualize an informal
wedding, or even not wearing a tie to Sunday dinner.
It says something about our culture that informal is
the way everything is expected to be.
So, is liturgy the only way Christians can worship?
Probably not, but it's definitely the best. The fact of
the matter is that every church has a liturgy—an order
of service--even if it's not carried out by the pastor
and congregation reading certain words and singing
certain things out of a book every week. In some
churches the liturgy is that they sing a few songs,
pray, hear the sermons, take the offering, pray again,
and go home. The advantage of the liturgy that we
have is that it makes sure that regardless of what
songs, prayers, and sermon say, the central truth,
Christ crucified for our sins and raise for our
justification, is the point that gets across. “Even if it's
not an amazing service, we are still saying things that
are true about God,” an Anglican priest once told me.
It's with that goal—that we would say things that are
true about God, understand his love and his mercy
toward us, and turn from our sins and be saved, that
motivated God to give liturgy to his people in the first
place.


August Birthdays
8/03 Warren Bowker
8/13 Belva Hickey
8/16 Vanessa Reza
8/18 Michael Addington
8/18 Erin Fincher
8/26 Bettie Bach
8/28 Verda Ellsaesser
8/29 Kayleigh Pomeroy
August Anniversaries
8/04 Carol & Carl Wilson
8/17 Darrell & Belva
Hickey

August Baptisms
8/02 Shaylee Addington
8/18 Michael Addington

Schedule of Events
Faith
Divine Service – Sunday 9 am.
Faith Sunday School – Resumes September.
Faith Confirmation 2 Class – 9:30 Wednesdays.
Faith Confirmation 1 Class – 11:30 Wednesdays.

Christ
elkhartlutheranchurch.blogspot.com
Divine Service – Sunday 11 am.
Christ Confirmation Class – Resumes September.
Clothing Bank – open as announced.
Sunday School – Will resume in September.

Faith, Hugoton
August Volunteers at Faith:
• Elder: Ray.
• Usher: Pete.
• Altar: Christine.
• Cleaning: O'Loughlins.
• Mowing and Watering: Tammy.

Christ, Elkhart
Clothing Bank Donations can be made any time by
bringing donations to the Christ Lutheran Church.
Mission Giving: The Voters at Christ chose to direct
their mission giving for this year to the Kurt Marquart
Fund for Theological Education in Haiti. The
advantage to this giving is that gifts become a part of
the fund which will remain untouched, but the
interest is applied to assist those studying for the
ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti,
especially during this time of reconstruction following
the earthquake. For those who have Internet access
and are interested in reading more:
marquartfund.org.
Student Adoption: The Voters at Christ also voted to
support a student directly rather than going through
the Financial Aid Office of the Seminary. The pastor
has a couple of names to offer so far. If there are
students at either seminary who are known to you
personally and who you would like to see our
congregation support, please submit the name to the
pastor before September, the beginning of the
academic year.

+++
A New Synodical President!
Rev. Matthew Harrison was elected Synodical
President at the LCMS Synodical Convention this past
month. He will be installed at the Concordia
Seminary Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on
September 11, 2010. Pray for him and the other
officers to be installed that day, that God's will be
done among us as his people.

Upcoming Events
Circuit - Tuesday, Aug 10, Holy Cross, Dodge City
Circuit - Tuesday, Sept 14, Holy Cross, Scott City
Kansas District Pastors Conference, Oct 17 - 19
Circuit - Tuesday, Nov 9, Grace Ulysses
Circuit - Tuesday, Dec 14, Holy Cross, Dodge City