Love Intentionally
Love Inclusively
Love Universally
Love Completely
Love Everyone
Love Better!
July 16, 2020 (Week 18)
Good afternoon friends!
Just a couple of updates this week. As you may have guessed, the Governor’s reinstatement of some of the safety precautions necessary to stem the tide of the COVID19 pandemic are going to assuredly impact our plans to re-open. Our council president, Dr. Brent Brown, is going to address this issue in a temple talk prior to worship this coming Sunday morning at 10:00. Please do join us in worship, and hear that important message from Dr. Brown.
In view of this further delay, we are re-dedicating ourselves to continually improving upon the techniques and methods we’ve begun in order to most effectively minister to you, the people of Incarnation Lutheran Church.
By way of good news, Scott Steller our AV/IT tech, has been working hard, and has been developing for us applications that we might use on mobile devices! This is to me, one of the most exciting pieces of news we’ve had in a long time. The utility of these apps is going to be groundbreaking for us. There will undoubtedly be upgrades and improvements and tweaking that will be necessary, but this is the single biggest step into the future that we’ve made here since the creation of our website, and the installation of the screens and projectors in the sanctuary. With our app, we will all be able to go to one app on our phones for connections to worship, the church calendar, meetings, devotions, etc., etc. Everything Incarnation will be on our app! It is already available on the Google Play Store for Android devices, and is in process on the App Store for Apple devices. Please watch for more information as we move forward. Thank you Scott!
These days continue to be times where we all need to be attentive to two things: caring for others who’s needs have not been met normally; and caring for ourselves. Our church...your church continues to be very active in the provision of assistance for folks suffering in times of crisis. Pastoral care has been a huge focus for me personally, and I’ve had the privilege of working with a number of individuals, couples and families, experiencing critical issues whose severity has been exacerbated by the pandemic with all its deleterious effects. Additionally, through your gifts to the pastor’s discretionary fund and the COVID relief fund, we’ve been able to sustain people and have prevented them from prematurely and needlessly becoming homeless. Thank you Incarnation!
The second piece is equally as important. All of us need to attend to our own needs as well as others. Chief among my primary concerns, is the spiritual well-being of our people. This is a time for us to re-ground ourselves in God’s word to us, as well as being intentional in our prayer life. Please do take a few moments everyday for God, and your relationship with God. If you need a print copy of the Bible, please let me know. If you need a Bible reading plan or schedule, please let me know. If you need a printed devotional, please let us know. We provide a wonderful mix of things online for you, and I’m hoping that these will be supplements to your own personal spiritual practices. (If all this sounds overwhelming...start simply...just read a few verses of the Bible everyday...It will give you life!)
Once again, a reminder: All of our online activities are found on our website, (www.godamong.us) and can be accessed on a link there that says “ILC Online Activities.” I hope you’ll go there to find links to worship, Bible Study, devotions, etc., etc. Please do join us. Get involved in your church!
Pr. Luther
- After worship, around 11 am, Darrell and Nancy Datte host our after worship coffee/donut fellowship time (BYOC/D) on Zoom, and look forward to welcoming everyone in our community. Please think about joining in and saying hi to your brothers and sisters. That gathering can be found here:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3173666136?pwd=b21OU3p1L0laNjZYcmx2clJMbDRmZz09