Pastor Heller`s Corner - Trinity Lutheran Church

Faith in action
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOL
WWW.TRINITY-ATHENS.ORG
F E B R U A R Y
DATES TO
REMEMBER

February
Welcome to Trinity Lutheran Church & School
9th—13th
Monthly Newsletter Publication
Book Fair

February
2 0 1 5
10th—
YarnWorks Ministry

Pastor Heller’s Corner
February 16th—Church
Office Closed

February
18th—Ash
Wednesday Services

February
25th—Mid-
Week Lenten Services
Begin
Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to
worship Him.” Matthew 2:2
As we enter 2015 and consider the year ahead, the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit still rings true (Matthew 28:1620).
The mission of the Christian Church has not changed. The Gospel is to be shared with all peoples.
Someone might ask: “If that is the case, why are we still sending missionaries to other parts of the world
when there is so much to do in our own neighborhoods?”
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
A Word from
Pastor Reinking
2
Lent Schedule
3
Birthdays &
Anniversaries
5
Community Outreach
6
Contribution
Statements
7
Youth Group and
TLA Book Fair
8
Thrivent
9
February Volunteers
10
February Calendar
11
The answer is: People who need to hear the Gospel are found everywhere – and the fact is that the Gospel is not just shared by missionaries.
Given today’s unprecedented mission opportunities, here and abroad, the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and Him Crucified, by the power of the Holy Spirit, happens through the sending of our missionaries, evangelists, teachers, medical personnel, and others throughout the world in our stead while we
give faithful witness to Jesus Christ through our faith, words, and actions.
The shepherds walked a short distance to see the Christ Child and to find others with whom they could
share the good news. But the Wise Men traveled hundreds of miles, over many weeks.
We know that when they found the Christ Child they worshiped Him and offered gifts. They knew this
was not just an ordinary baby, nor was He just an earthly king.
While we don’t know what they said or did when they returned home, we can surmise they reported on
their visit and talked about the newborn king. In that way, they became the first foreign missionaries of
the New Testament era.
Likewise, the mission of Trinity Lutheran Church and Christ the King Lutheran Church is still the same:
We are called to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all those entrusted to our care: church members,
students, school parents, friends, neighbors, and strangers – anyone the Lord sends to our midst.
With that in mind, let us pray for our missionaries and our own mission success, both here and abroad,
that others might come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Have a blessed New Year in Christ!
Blessings
Pastor Heller
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A WORD FROM PASTOR REINKING
I pray that the Lord is blessing you thus far in 2015. God has graciously given us another year to proclaim
His Word and live in His blessings. 2014 was a very eventful year with the planting of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Commerce, GA. I have been amazed by all that God is doing. He has provided us so
much already. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for the donations. God's people have been exceedingly generous and we have been able to purchase many items for the mission. People have given large
and small and all of these gifts are being used to the furtherance of God's Kingdom.
As the new year begins I look forward to continuing to serve the Lord. We will continue with our Wednesday Night Light fellowship and Bible Study. We look forward to beginning period Services at Christ the
King where God's word can be preached and the Sacraments administered.
On March 1st there will be a combined Service of worship and thanksgiving at 2 PM. The Pastors of Trinity, Christus Victor, and Living Faith will all participate. Tom Ayer will provide the music. Members of
these congregations are invited to attend. A sign up sheet is available in the gathering room if you wish
to attend so we can be sure to have enough chairs set up and refreshments available after the Service. I
invite you to come and see what the Lord is doing at Christ the King!
Items for bags of nonperishable food items,
hygiene kits, and baby kits were purchased
and assembled on January 25th
Continue to pray. Continue to give. Continue to expect big things from God. He is faithful to His promises!
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Lenten Schedule
Wednesdays February 25th
25th—
—March 25th
††††††
11:30 AM Service
followed by potluck lunch
††††††
7:00 PM Service
preceded by dinner hosted by church boards at 6:00 PM
February 18th
11:30 AM
and
7:00 PM
Palm Sunday
Sunday—
—March 29th @ 10:00 AM
Maundy Thursday
Thursday—
—April 2nd @ 7:00 PM
Good Friday
Friday—
—April 3rd @ 7:00 PM
Easter
Easter—
—April 5th @ 10:00 AM
Easter Breakfast @ 9:00 AM
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On January 25th Trinity collected a 2nd offering in support of Faith Comes by Hearing. All
donations go toward sending biblesticks to
our military men and women. You donated
$368 to this wonderful mission. They currently have matching funds available which
brings our total collection to $736. Thank
you for your support.
Join us as we celebrate Lutheran
Schools Sunday on February 8th.
With the Return of the Youth Group
comes the return of the annual yard
sale. Please save your things during
you Spring cleaning to donate to
Trinity’s youth as they fundraise for
their mission trip.
SOUP-ER BOWL COFFEE FELLOWSHIP: Join
Trinity’s Youth this week (February 1st)
as we take the reins of fellowship hour
and serve up some scrumptious treats to
“warm up” your Superbowl snacking
arms! You can make a donation to support the local Action Ministries and support your favorite football team! We will
be collecting for the special “soup-er bowl”
event and will have signs to see which
“team” receives more donations.
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Sunday School for
ALL AGES begins
with opening each
Sunday at 8:45 A.M.
Kids Cross Craft
Club meets the
second Sunday of
each month following the service. Lunch and
craft time is enjoyed by all who
attend. The Club
is open to grades
Trinity is always in
need of volunteers.
There are many ways
you can serve, such as;
ushering, altar guild,
reading,
acolyting,
serving coffee fellowship after a service, sponsoring the altar
flowers for the week, helping with weekly
grounds maintenance,
etc. Please sign-up in the
Gathering Room. Thank
you for your servants
heart.
February Birthdays
December Anniversaries
MILITARY ADDRESSES
Ian & Sarah Ensley
17215 Meadowlark Lane
Wamego, KS 66547
Brent Kickbush
BAH MCA
09307
Tom Lalicki
31 Farmington Ave
New London, CT 06320
22/25 David & Mary Connor
02/25 Tom & Sandra Sheridan
02/01 Don Schneider
02/01 Robert Erb
02/02 Ruthann Rodekohr
02/05 John Jackson
02/07 Anthony Thornton
02/09 Alexia Kubiak
02/11 Bethany Ensely
02/11 Aron Cooper
02/11 Michael Hammons
02/13 Caresse Vojnovich
02/14 Carsten Stansell
02/17 Pam Kickbush
02/18 Tom Walker
02/19 David Bacastow
02/20 Libby Garrett
02/20 Sue Baughman
02/21 Eleanor Kunis
02/22 Tyler Streetman
02/23 Leah Guven
02/26 Grace Manske
02/26 Tony Smith
02/26 Virginia Reece
02/28 Rebecca Kickbush
Tuesday Afternoon Bible Study
(TABS) will start studying Exodus
beginning January 6th at 12 noon.
There is a sign-up sheet in the gathering room if you are interested in
joining. If you have any questions,
please contact Laurie Bunker, Sandra Sheridan, or Jerilyn Smith. We
hope to see you in January.
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On Nov 14, 17 volunteers met at Trinity Lutheran, and packed boxes with turkeys and other food. We then delivered them to 25 families in need
of them. Wam Bam, thank you mam. Some of these families would not have had a good Thanksgiving dinner. God is good for all He provides.
Trinity's YarnWorks Ministry will meet on Tuesday, February 10, 2 pm
at church. We'll be making plans for activities and donations for the
coming year. We welcome everyone's thoughts about possible places
for gift donations, especially in our own communities. We'd particularly like to know of places to donate items for veterans.
Even if you can't attend our meetings, we are grateful for items you
make at home and for your yarn donations. For more information
about the types of things we use for donations, see the YarnWorks
flyer in the Gathering Room, or talk to Ruthann Rodekohr or Judy Russell 706-543-2225 or jrussell2@charter.net
Thank You Note from a Recipient at Denny Towers
Dear Members of the Sew & Sows and YarnWorks Ministries,
When I wrote you in December 2014 it was to Thank You for my beautiful scarf I chose. To say how much I appreciate what you do for all my
neighbors and myself, not only for the material gifts, but what
thoughts and love, caring and compassion go into each piece. In my
thank you note, I hoped to share with you my feelings about what the
gifts mean to me then there was a knock on my door a few days after
mailing out my thank you. When I answered the door a gentleman,
holding a beautiful arrangement of flowers introduced himself and who
he was with. I did not pay attention to what else he had in his refight
arm and when he extended this awesome quilt and said it was for me, I
became speechless and shaky. I was and still am overwhelmed with the
gift and love and compassion that went into making the quilt and I can
never say thank you enough! Please accept my thank you note, without
sending me another gift because I don’t think I could handle anymore
excitement in one year (HA! HA!). I will take very good care of my
quilt! It’s on my bed and I don’t feel alone anymore when I go to sleep.
You made my heart smile!
Please accept Thank Yous from my neighbors who for whatever reasons
cannot do so themselves.
Pastor David Heller, Judy Russell, Dory Israel, and companion dog Ole delivered gifts from Trinity's YarnWorks Ministry to Denney Towers on December 9th, 2014. This is the
third year that the YarnWorks Ministry has joined with
Trinity Sew and Sows to create and deliver gifts for the
residents.
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2015 Contribution Statements are located in the
Gathering Room for
members to pick up
Trinity Workday
March 21st
Christ the King Workday
March 28th
A draft of the membership
directory is on the sign-up
table in the Gathering Room.
Please take a moment to
check it for any updates that
need to be made. Deadline
for making updates is Sunday,
February 8th.
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YOUTH FUN STRAIGHT AHEAD!
Trinity transforming teens have got some great events coming up and we need your youth! We are also signed
up to prepare and deliver a meal for the Athens Area Homeless Shelter on Sunday, Feb. 1 st. We will fix and
drop this off following worship hour. Theme…Taco Fiesta!!! J Next week (February 8 th), we will again meet after church to prepare a meal, this time for our special sponsorship of IHN. Coming soon…Lenten devotions
and activities! To participate or contribute to any youth activity, please contact Kristin Schmidt at
keschmidt87@gmail.com
Place: Trinity Lutheran Academy
When: February 9th—13th
Time: 8:00—10:00 AM
and
3:00—6:00PM Daily
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9
Good news about your retirement!
Did you know that the average American spends 20 years in retirement? 1 Just think of all you could do during that time!
Now think about how much money you’ll need. More good news: An experienced financial professional can help you:

Find money to save.

Determine when you can retire—and how much you’ll need.

Develop a retirement savings strategy based on your age, specific goals, risk tolerance and other important factors.

Select appropriate savings and investment options.
Optimize your Social Security benefits.
A 2011 survey done by the Employee Benefits and Research Institute (EBRI) found that 44% of people who tried to
figure out their financial futures ended up changing their retirement savings plans. It just goes to show that it pays to
review your retirement strategy periodically. You may even want to get a second opinion. Also, keep in mind:
The sooner you start saving, the more time your money has to grow.
If you think you’re starting too late, you can’t change the past—but you can affect your future. Saving and investing
come in all different strategies. Whether you’ve got 20 years until retirement or five years—starting today is better than
starting tomorrow.
Get sound financial guidance from Don Goldsmith, Financial Consultant, ChFC, RICP, FIC or Kelly Goldsmith, Associate, CFP®, CLTC, FIC, at 770-982-0420 or e-mail eastmetroteam@thrivent.com today. Also, visit Thrivent.com to learn
how our not-for-profit financial services organization has been helping families connect faith and finances for more than
100 years.
1
Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Retirement, U.S. Department of Labor, 2013.
Thrivent Financial and its respective associates and employees have general knowledge of the Social Security tenets; however, they do not have the
professional expertise for a complete discussion of the details of your specific situation. For additional information, contact your local Social Security
Administration office.
Insurance products issued or offered by Thrivent Financial, the marketing name for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Appleton, WI. Not all products
are available in all states. Securities and investment advisory services are offered through Thrivent Investment Management Inc., 625 Fourth Ave.
S., Minneapolis, MN 55415, a FINRA and SIPC member and a wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent. Thrivent Financial representatives are registered
representatives of Thrivent Investment Management Inc. They are also licensed insurance agents/producers of Thrivent. For additional important
information, visit Thrivent.com/disclosures.
The Board of Christian Education would like to offer another adult Sunday school class on Sunday mornings. Therefore, we are
in need of a teacher or teachers to lead this very important service to our Lord. If you feel as if you are being called to teach,
please see someone on the BCE. We are ready and willing to help you. Thank you for considering this very important service to
God. We look forward to hearing from you. God's Blessings to you: Jeanie Raney, Melissa Fowler, Kristin Schmidt, Delores
Stallings, Frank Gile, Patty Slavic, Camilla Lambert, Sally Willard and Amy Williams - Co Sunday School Superintendents
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Statement of Purpose
Trinity Lutheran Church exists to bring people to a
saving faith in Jesus and into the fellowship of His
Trinity Lutheran Church
family in order that they may mature in their Chris-
2535 Jefferson Road
tian walk as they are equipped for ministry within
the church and a life of service to the world which
Athens, GA 30607
glorifies God.
706-546-1280
www.trinity-athens.org
Our mission is to proclaim the gospel
of Jesus boldly, to praise God fully,
and to serve others joyfully.
This Month Please Pray For
Jeff Williams, cancer
Raven Cooper, Rheumatoid Arthritis
Charles McMachem, pancreatic cancer
Eric & Laurie Bunker , healing
Michael and Saundra Hammons, healing
Sandi Schmidt, recovering from surgery
Dorothy Lewis, recovering from surgery
Luanne Worley, brain tumor
Mark Martini, liver cancer
Grace Manske, healing
Dee Burke, healing
Faith in Action is the monthly
newsletter of Trinity Lutheran
Church. All members are encouraged to submit articles,
Board Chairpersons, please let
us know what your boards or
committees are doing. Turn all
contributions for the newsletter in to the Church Administrator no later than the 15th
of each month. Contributions
may be submitted by hard
copy, email, fax or phone.