Pre-K/Kindergarten Class's 9 Theses

Today the Pre-kindergarden and Kindergarten class had a lesson on the Reformation, this being Reformation Sunday.  The teachers worked with the students to come up with the class theses which are now taped to the classroom door.

Children’s Choir is back!

The LCR Children's Choir has astray practicing for the 2011/2012 school year. The choir will be starting with the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Practice will be during the first half hour of Sunday School starting October 2nd and ending October 30th. This choir will perform at the 9:15am service on November 6th. The other children will be participating at a later date.

The Children's Choir team is lead by our Praise Band Director, LeeAnn with support from Signa (not pictured) and Michelle.

Teaching God's Love

Here is the post the September Ramblings that speaks to the start of Sunday School and our theme for the 2011/2012.

Once again Sunday School is about to start and those of us preparing for the students are excited to begin. The children and youth start Sunday School on September 18^th.  Adult Sunday School starts September 25^th. 

This year I am teaching 3^rd and 4^th grade.  I have never taught for an extended period before, so I am a bit nervous and a bit excited.  I don’t know how it is going to work, but I know if I love them and do my best it will be OK. When I talk to people about volunteering to teach Sunday School, I tell them it is not as important to be a good teacher or know everything about our faith or the Bible.  What matters most is that the teacher loves the children and that love is brought to the classroom.  It is not as important that the students memorize the books of the Bible.  While a good skill, it takes a lower priority to the students learning to love and experiencing the love we have as a congregation for them. 

The theme for Sunday School this year is “God’s Love”.  1 John 4:16 “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 

Our curriculum is much the same as last year.  The students will be taught about our faith from the stories of the bible, the seasons of the church year and catechism basics.  We are also continuing to teach Faith Skills and having the students participate in the Children’s Choir.  The goal of faith skills teaching is to teach the skills that go with the knowledge of our Faith, and to teach the students the skills necessary to engage the world through their faith.  The Children’s Choir will continue to engage the students in our faith and heritage through song and music.

As Sunday School finishes its preparations, Adult Sunday School and the Bible study classes are finalizing their plans.  In the next couple of weeks, the Christian Education book, as well as a newsletter outlining the upcoming education opportunities will be made available.

We have open positions to volunteer with Parish Education.  We need people to lead an Adult Sunday School class, to provide nursery care during Sunday School and to help administer the Sunday School.  If you would like to be part of the new school year, please see Matt Wehrman or Diane Schwiger-Alexander.

God Bless,

Matt Wehrman

There are Romans in the building!

This morning the 6th and 7th grade Sunday School class participated in a Roman Feast and Worship Service.  Weeks of planning by the students and teachers for food, clothing, activities and the worship service took place in April, all before Easter, so the students could today have a wonderful and meaningful experience.

What actually happened today is as follows:

First, the Roman Hostesses arrived to set up the table and initial preparations for the feast and worship:

The students walked into the building in their toga clothing.  They were greeted as "Romans", "Good Morning, Roman!"  Each had their share for the feast and one Roman actually brought a friend.  

Before the feast the students..ah, I mean... Romans sat down to create head wreaths and "knuckle bones" out of clay ("knuckle bones" is a game played by most middle caste Roman families, don't you know.)

Instead of the students attending worship with their families the students held a worship service together.  Their room was as it was in the time of the Romans, no electricity, only candles and natural light, no chairs just cushions and pillow.  First they simply enjoyed each others presence and played with their new "knuckle bones".  Then on to the worship where they sang the traditional songs the rest of the congregation was singing in their worship (without a piano, or music, by themselves, for themselves, it was very moving to hear.)  They broke bread and shared.  The drank "wine" and shared.  They remembered who and why they were sharing this meal.

After the worship completed, it was on to the Feast.  The food was all types of food that would have been available to Romans (minus the Ranch Dip in the veggie tray!)

When ever I peeked in, the kids were all smiles and fun.  It was a great Sunday morning for a Roman Feast.

Please see the full slideshow of photos from the Roman Feast to see in full how much fun the students had today.  

How does Pastor prepare a sermon

The 6th/7th grade class and I had a special lesson with Pastor. Together we discussed how Pastor writes a sermon.

We talked about the basic routine. Starting on Monday by reading the scripture selections, thinking/praying how the scripture speaks to the congregation, developing the outline and writing the full version and finally review and practice on Saturday. All of us were interested to hear that sometimes the sermon topic comes quickly and sometimes very late. That by the time Thursday comes around, sometimes a topic is still being developed and prayed upon, fervently.

What wowed everyone was to learn that the sermon that day was the 600th sermon Pastor wrote. Thinking about that number and the previous sermon preparation discussion made everyone's eyes open a little bit, thinking that Pastor has spent approximately 600 weeks going through the same routine of research, writing and prayer.

"Who do you read?" "I Read Dead People"

When looking through the LCR library, we are sometimes faced with the question "what should I read?" or "will this be any good?".  We want to read from the LCR Library but sometimes we don't know enough to find a book that suites our desire.  Many of us are not well versed in Christian Literature and would like some ideas. This is then followed by searching out one of our Pastors, or our AIM, or Bible Study Leaders for suggestions of books and authors asking "Who do you read?".

This question was originally raised by Skye Jethani at the blog Out of Ur.  He makes the argument that "...reading contemporary Christians books may be a waste of your time."

People ask me all the time, “Who do you read?” In most cases they’re looking for book recommendations. (Some people, particularly Calvinistas, are trying to determine if I’m safe--are my ideas and my theology grounded in what they see as credible sources.) But my answer usually surprises them: “I read dead people.”

by Skye Jethani

So, lets open the conversation up to the Congregation.  Who do you read?  What are some of your favorite authors (Modern, Contemporary or Dead!)?

Catechism Class explores the New Testament and our journey of Salvation History

The purpose of tonights (Wednesday February 2nd) class is to continue our tour through the New Testament and our journey of Salvation History that began in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. A look at the Letter of Paul & the Hebrew Letters is part of the story of God’s saving power and the GRACE of Jesus Christ.  Below are some comments from the class for specific selections the Letters that hold significant meaning for the class. 

The Book of Romans

This is a favorite book of Martin Luther that explains Paul’s beliefs the best.  Romans 5:5, “and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” This means to us that God has filled our hearts with love through the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and death spread to all because all have sinned –“, and Romans 5:15, “but the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.” This means that Adam brought sin into this world and God gave us Jesus to forgive it and us.

Romans chapter 6 – it talks about the significance of baptism. One of our favorite verses is Romans 6:7, “For whoever has died is free from sin.” For us this means we are free from sin in death because Jesus died before us and he ser us free. We also become free in our baptism as we are born into a new life.

The Book of Philippians

This letter was written by Paul to probably his favorite church. Philippians chapeter 2 – this may have been the first Christian hymn. One of our favorite verses in Philippians 2:6, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,”. We think that this means that even tough Jesus was God, he didn’t feel the need to gloat.

The Book of I Corinthians

The church in Corinth was one of the most troubled and Paul spent a lot of time with them and writing to them. This gives us hope too. I Corinthians 12:13, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” This means that we were all baptized by the same Spirit, we have all been given the same Spirit.

Children's Choir is back !!!

Children's Choir has re-started at LCR in 2011. Music is a wonderful form of expression and worship and we are very excited to see the children singing again. The intent is to have fun with the students while teaching the children traditional Lutheran hymns and contemporary Christian music. The plan for the remainder of the school year is to hold two sessions, one per age group.  There will be 4 weeks of instruction before a presentation at service.  Each session will be for half an hour from 10:45am to 11:15am.  At 11:15am the students will return to class for their normal Bible lesson.

Hopefully, offering Children’s Choir as a part of Sunday School will both enhance our Sunday School program and offer more children the opportunity to participate. Sessions will run as follows:

•  First session- Pre-School and Kindergarten ages, starting Sunday, January 6, 2011 and running weekly until a performance on Sunday, February 6, 9:15am service
• Second session- 1^st-2nd grade, starting April 10 and running weekly (but not on Easter Sunday) with a performance on Sunday, May 15, 9:15am service
• A session for 3^rd-5^th grade will be offered in the fall. Dates TBA         

The Preschool, Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarteners have already started:

Adult Sunday School in February

A study of the practice of meditation/contemplation or wordless prayer through the presentation of Richard Rohr’s book titled “The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See”.    Rohr’s definition of a mystic is ‘one who has moved from just having a belief system to the actual inner experience of God’.   Come and be challenged in the month of February to take your faith to another level.

Rohr will be seen on a DVD presenting his book.  A study guide and discussion time will follow.   Jim Wallis, president o f Sojourners Magazine and bestselling author says, “Rohr invites us to slow down and find God, or to be found by God, in all the places we never thought to look”.

On Meditation

“It might seem strange at first to give ourselves over to this simple practice of unthinking wakefulness. But from a contemplative point of view, what is really strange is that the ungraspable immediacy of the present moment has become the land we know not.”                      --James Finley, Christian Meditation.

Meditation is an ancient practice known to all religions and peoples from earliest times.  Many scholars believe that Jesus engaged in long periods of meditation when he retreated in prayer alone.  As Christianity evolved church practices favored teachings such as evangelism and community to build and expand the church in a pagan world.  Meditation as a practice did survive, however, although its practice became relegated mainly to monasteries and convents becoming a side or esoteric practice beside the dominant teachings of the church.  It was in this context that Martin Luther advocated wordless prayer and according to the Lutheran scholar, Johann Steinmetz, “in his lifetime he wanted to make contemplation something that was not reserved for the elite”. 

However, despite pockets of recognition, meditation has not been a dominate prayer experience for many modern church members.  Recently, however, there has been a revival of interest in Christian meditation after the practice was discredited in the sixties and seventies as being a ‘hippie’ or Eastern practice.  Perhaps the acceptance of meditation by the health community as a beneficial therapy or the frantic pace of our culture has allowed for a new look at meditation as a legitimate addition to Christian prayer.  For those that have studied and tried it they report a peace and refreshment of the spirit not experienced before.  As a beginning wayfarer myself on the journey to learn and practice meditation I have been intrigued, lead and opened up to new ways of experiencing God that I could not have anticipated.

The very practice requires that you open your mind and empty yourself of words to take up a stance of nothingness and waiting.  When meditating I pray for nothing and ask for nothing. Surprising thoughts often occur to me later.  As an example, sometimes I find myself moved to take an action or lend a kindness and I think ‘where did that come from?  I never cared about that subject or never worried about that person’.   Then I realize that it came into my consciousness in that time of openness when I was not explaining to God what I needed what I wanted or was concerned about.  The more I meditate the more changes I sense in my life some of which I would not have chosen.  How we love our comfortable old ways!

The month of February, when nature itself in blanketed in an environment of silence, it seems a good time to reflect on silent prayer and bring in some other voices to help illuminate the subject of meditation.  During the adult Sunday school hour in February we will be showing a DVD by writer Richard Rohr titled “The Naked Now” based on his book of the same name.  Come join us for a study of this challenging practice of praying without words, waiting without expectation and experiencing grace in the ordinary.

Adult Sunday School in January

Adult Sunday School continues in its series titled ‘Paths of Wisdom’, which includes the following topics:  Indigenous Peoples Wisdom, Traditional Wisdom, Community Wisdom and Knowledge-based Wisdom.

For the month of January the Earth Ministry team will be presenting inspiring speakers from the 2010 Bioneers conference.  We will be asking the question:   “in what ways are these paths commiserate with what God wants in a redeemed, just world and how might we translate them to our lives.” with the third presentation on ‘Community Wisdom’. Featured will be Andy Lipkis, a south L.A. CA activist that led a poor community with rampant drug problems, domestic abuse and high student drop out rate in an ecological make-over with surprising results. 

Stop by for a Taste!

After the 9:15 service the Earth Ministry will be sampling out some vegetarian recipes (the recipes will be posted here later). They are tasty, nutritious and easy on the budget and the earth. It is estimated that if each American family had one meatless dish a week it would be the equivalent of taking 8 million cars off the road each week!  So stop by and taste the recipe of the week and tell us what you think.

Library Blog

Hello All!

Little did I realize that the library falls under the auspices of Christian Education!  Matt has given me the opportunity to blog here about additions and happenings in the library, and I look forward to doing so.  Please look for upcoming notices from us here, and as always, please stop in an check out a book from the wonderful LCR library!

Thanks!

Liza