The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not be in want.
~Psalm 23:1
Doris has been a lifelong Toledo resident and Lutheran. Formerly, a member of St. Lucas Church where she married Glenn Stone. They moved to Sylvania and that is when they joined Grace over 60 years ago. She was a member of Ruth Circle and the Bell Choir. She also helped at many events/banquets serving in the kitchen area. Lifelong friends, growing in her faith and raising her children as dedicated Christians were all part of her Grace experience. Her three children, Rick, Don and Nancy were married at Grace and her Toledo area grandchildren were baptized and confirmed at Grace Lutheran. She continues to enjoy being around people, her family, playing bingo, bridge, bunco, music and a glass of wine daily.
Sunday Fellowship Time
Sunday March 19 – Praise Band
We are taking orders for Lily plants, Daffodils and Tulips now through April 2. The sale is sponsored by the Christian Education Committee. Each plant costs $12. There are order forms at the back of the Sanctuary and on the table in the hallway at the back of the chapel. Orders must be in by April 2.
Sunday March 19th – Healing Service
This will be at both the 9:30 am service and 11:30 am service.
Don’t forget to pick up your “Christ in Our Home” devotional booklet for April, May and June. It is a great way to start each day with a devotion, prayer and Bible reading.
For a number of years, I have made it my habit to reset clocks on Saturday morning for the time change. This year, on Saturday, I watched a movie (not television) and worked to prepare a Sunday School lesson. To reset clocks was on my to-do list ( that I didn’t look at) for Saturday . This Sunday morning, following a good night’s sleep, at 9:45 day light savings time, I realized that I was late and not present for church and Sunday School at Grace. My apologies, no excuses, the true story. Miss Connie
The church office will be closed Friday March 17
Grace Outreach Ministry “Sending Out”
By Ron Hiatt
Matthew 28:19-20. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you..”
2 Corinthians 5:20. “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us…”
Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Grace Outreach Ministry has two main focuses. A local mission and a global mission. Since the onset of Covid, Outreach has focused its efforts on the “local” part of its mission. It has started a “Food for Toledo” drop off site where food collected has been shared with the food pantry at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, shared with the Feed Your Neighbor Ministry of Lutheran Social Services, and most recently partnered with Aldersgate to help support their food pantry. Outreach is also a collection and distribution site for the Personal Needs Ministry on a weekly basis. Outreach has also supported and participated in several Habitat for Humanity projects over the past 7 to 10 years. Outreach has also worked with Worship and Music on various projects and has been a long time partner with Christian Education with Vacation Bible School.
God doesn’t command us to stay put and share the “Good News”. He tells us to “GO”. And to that end, in 2018 the congregation and the Outreach Ministry did send a member of Grace to our partner parish at Iringa Road Lutheran Church in Dodoma Tanzania to help with the Tumaini III Medical Mission at their Sub-parish Mzogole. Here Ron Hiatt was able to work with Pastor Ken Politz to help fit and provide vision impaired residents of the area with prescription eye glasses, sun glasses, and reading glasses, to make their lives a little better….. and many times, a lot better.
It has been 5 years since Grace has had personal contact with members of Iringa Road. In May, Pastor Brenda and Ron will be traveling to Dodoma to re-connect with Iringa Road on the occasion of the installation of Rev Christian Ndossa as Bishop of the Dodoma Diocese. Many people from all over the country will come to Dodoma for this significant event. Dodoma is the capital of Tanzania, so there will be several representatives from the country speaking at the event. Virtually every Bishop from each of the other 25 Lutheran Diocese’s will also be present.
Pastor Brenda and I will be hosted by Grace Companion, Iringa Road Lutheran Church, and hopefully we will be able to visit the sub-parish of Mzogole to see how the water well that was drilled and the pump that has been installed, (with the help of funds from Grace, and other churches in NW Ohio) is changing lives providing clean water for drinking, irrigation, and watering cattle. During our visit to Mzogole, Pastor Brenda will offer a homily during a worship service. Iringa Road just received a new pastor on March 1, so we are looking forward to meeting Rev Eli Mbwambo. Pastor Eli has held several positions within the Diocese office and served at several churches within the Dodoma Diocese. I have come to know him as we have connected during my visits to Iringa Road. Pastor Brenda and I look forward to creating an even stronger bond between Iringa Road and Grace Church through the leadership of Pastor Eli.
Pastor Brenda and Ron will be representing Grace with Iringa Road. This companionship will be 30 years old this year! Even as money is tight, and Grace budgets for outreach ministries aren’t enough to cover expenses associated with travel to Dodoma, Pastor Brenda and Ron will be asking for help from Council and from members of Grace Church to help support their outreach to Iringa Road. We don’t yet know what that might look like. More on that, and what Pastor Brenda and I want to learn and the ideas we want to bring back to Grace in next week’s article. Stay tuned.
Forgiveness?
Old Jack and old John had been board members at Prince of Peace Lutheran for as long as anyone could remember. They were constantly at odds with each other and at each other’s throats, especially in church board meetings. When one would vote “yes”, the other would have to vote “no”.
One day old Jack died and arrived at Heaven’s gates. He noticed how everyone was asked a question before they entered in. When it was his turn, St. Peter said, “Hi, Jack, to see if you qualify to come in, I have to ask you to spell
“Jesus.” “That’s easy,” said Jack, and so he spelled “J-E-S-U-S.” Peter welcomed Jack and then asked if he would do him a small favor, “Just take over here for a few minutes.” Several people were waiting at the gate, and Jack asked each one the same question, “Will you please spell Jesus?” Then Jack could hardly believe his eyes; old John was in line. “What are you doing here?” John asked. “I’m just filling in for St. Peter. I’m asking everyone to spell a word before they can go through the gates.” “Oh yeah?” John exclaimed, “What’s the word?” After thinking a moment, Jack said, “Spell Albuquerque.”
Controversy
A serious ten year old year old Sunday School student surprised her Sunday School teacher with this question; “Which virgin was the mother of Jesus, the virgin Mary or the King James Virgin?”
Home Sweet Home
The Sunday School teacher gathered her students around her and asked all those who wanted to go to heaven to raise their hands. Everyone raised their hand, except one boy. ” Don’t you want to go to heaven, David?” asked the teacher. “I can’t”, answered David, ” My mom wants me to come straight home.”
Mid-week Worship Opportunities for Wednesday, March 22
During Lent, mid-week services are offered on Wednesdays at noon and 7 p.m. On March 22, Pastor Brenda will preside at the noon service and at the 7 p.m. service Grace will welcome Pastor Rebecca West-Estell of Memorial Lutheran Church as the presiding minister.
Both services have opportunities for fellowship prior to the service. Please join others at 11:15 a.m. for a soup luncheon and/or a potluck at 6 p.m. Members are invited to attend both if they wish.
If you would like to bring soup to the 11:15 lunch, please sign-up on the sheet on the bulletin board by the sanctuary or contact Cindy Wood.
Pastor’s Thoughts:
Bless the World: Be God’s Grace!
I hope that the above statement is familiar to many of you. It is the mission statement of our congregation, which attempts to state simply who we are and what we are about as God’s people who together are Grace Lutheran Church.
Our mission is to be God’s people together. We do that through the continual proclamation of Jesus Christ: with each other, with those who worship with us, and in the world. We do that through growing in our faith, which often involves introspection and even change.
The mission begins with embracing the truths revealed to us in Word and Sacrament. Each time we gather for worship, learning, or fellowship, we hear anew that we are the fallen yet redeemed and beloved children of God, who are called to tell others about what God in Christ has done. When we listen intentionally to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we hear a call to be about the mission of the Church … to proclaim Christ and him crucified for all; to feed the hungry; to teach and to learn; to comfort those who hurt; to offer forgiveness; to build one another up instead of tearing one another down; to move toward the future with expectation and purpose.
This is the mission of Grace Lutheran Church. Focusing on the mission is what leads us into the future with hope and determination to be who God has called us to be. May we together always “Bless the world and be God’s grace!” … and may we remember who it is we serve.
In Christ,
Pastor Brenda
Lenten Prayer Project ~ March 5th through March 31st.
The Prayer Ministry Team of Grace is asking our Grace Family to capture pictures of how YOU see God’s GRACE, LOVE and BEAUTY through YOUR eyes. What in God’s world brings you JOY!
There are no wrong pictures! Just as we are all unique and beautifully made by God, we all see God’s GRACE, LOVE and BEAUTY differently. You may submit multiple pictures!
The easiest way to take pictures is with your phone.
We ask that you email all pictures to the Prayer Ministry email address:
www.graceprayer3@gmail.com
Pictures will be printed off from the email and hung in the hallway between the Sanctuary and Room 3 for Easter Sunday!
Meditation on John 9:1-41
By Vicar Dave
When I was a child, I would often ask my parents questions. Sometimes, when I didn’t get the answer I wanted, nor the answer that I expected, I would ask again. Sometimes I would ask the question in a slightly different fashion and see if that got me what I wanted to hear. Or if I had asked Mom and didn’t like her answer, I’d go ask Dad. I wonder if that’s what’s going on with the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading. I count at least four times that the Pharisees ask this man or his family about how he came to be able to see. But that’s not the question that they really want answered. They want to know about Jesus and how He’s able to do things like this.
I’ve never quite understood the Pharisees. They are supposedly men of God, learned in all the teachings of the Torah, and when Jesus comes around, they don’t want to even think about the possibility that He’s the long-awaited Messiah. Instead, they want to find ways to discredit Him and His followers. It’s as if they don’t even want God’s promise of a deliverer to come to pass. May that’s exactly it. After all, they have a lot of power in the status quo. They’re in charge of the Temple. They’re living a life of comparative luxury. They’ve got a lot of power in the current set up. Living under Roman rule may not be ideal for them, but it ain’t half bad for them. Like most of the Jewish population, they were expecting a military leader for the Messiah, one who would throw off their Roman rulers. Maybe they didn’t want that. That might put their power in jeopardy. Then again, perhaps they genuinely didn’t think that it could be possible that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He was leading people away from their faith. Jesus was preaching a Gospel that was definitely not one that they expected. Turn the other cheek? Love your enemy? These were foreign concepts for the Pharisees. The idea of repenting of one’s sins can be pretty difficult if you think of yourself as the paragon of virtue. Expecting them to give up what they had and give it to the poor in their community was also quite outlandish to them.
But what if Jesus was here today, preaching a Gospel of repentance and love? What might we think of Him? Here in the US, we’ve got it pretty good, for the most part. We’re one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, yet we’ve still got the poor among us. Our nation is probably the most powerful one around and we feel fairly safe living here, at least when compared to other parts of the world. If Jesus were here, telling us that we must give up that power and security and share it with the rest of the world, would we go along with Him willingly or would we question Him and try to discredit what He was saying? Or how about if we could end poverty and world hunger by simply sharing what we have with the world instead of always selling it to them?
Admittedly, most of us don’t have the ability to dictate what we do as a nation, whether we give up on power or wealth, but I’d like to think if Jesus were here, we’d recognize Him for who He is and follow Him as best we could. We can start today by loving our neighbors as ourselves. By that I mean that we can give to the poor and organizations that make it their mission to help them. We can elect leaders that won’t just look inward towards what’s good for America, but who have the good of everyone in their hearts. We can also look for the good in people and remember that we will never look into the eyes of someone that God doesn’t love.
Behind the scenes at Grace ….by Gretchen
- What happened to Spring? We have used the shovels and spread mor salt in the last 2 weeks than all winter! Yet we can still see the green tops of the daffodils !
- The stacks are growing in the back storage room and the Theater room. Yes, there are a lot of books but all sorts of other treasures! We sprang forward this last weekend and with the yuck weather what better time to do Spring cleaning and bring items for the Youth Rummage Sale!
- Please don’t forget that our lovely green dumpster cannot handle cardboard boxes! It is a trash bag only. Please take and recycle the boxes either at Kroger next door or at home.
- What is your chip IQ and we are not talking gambling chips. Check out the Edu – Board in Fellowship next week and see what you know (or maybe don’t know about your favorite snack?)
- Watch for further updates but there is word out that there may be a Deviled Egg eating challenge!!! The task of the loser has to be determined although it will probably have something to do with picking up thousands of eggshells.
- Remember : Grace is not the building but the people of Grace carrying out God’s mission.
Healthy People! Healthy Parish!
The Beans!
Last week we learned some things about the beans .
Almost all systems in the body work together to keep us healthy and that includes the beans.
So, what happens to the beans when you have:
Blood Pressure – uncontrolled blood pressure can lead to kidney damage. High blood pressure can cause the blood vessels of the kidneys to become thick and rigid. This reduces the blood supply to the kidneys so they do not function. The kidneys cannot remove waste products from the body. The body holds onto salt which affects the heart. The decrease in blood supply results in damage to the tissues of the kidney which results in the kidneys being less able to function. Eventually it can lead to total failure of the kidneys.
Diabetes – the small blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged. So ,again the kidneys are unable to filter out waste leading to fluid overload which can lead to high blood pressure.
What happens when you take:
Alcohol – -damages the kidneys and can lead to not only kidney failure but also liver failure.
Medications -certain medications can cause kidney if not taken as directed by your doctor. Some over the counter medications like aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Ibuprofen can cause kidney damage taken on a regular or daily basis. Talk with your doctor about taking.
6 Warning Signs of Kidney Disease! if you experience any of these call your Medical Doctor to get checked out!
Burning or difficulty urinating – this is often a sign of a bladder infection.
Bloody or tea colored urine
Increased frequency or change in pattern of urination – particularly at night .
Flank or back pain below the ribs that does not change when you move – it stays the same.
Puffiness around the eyes, swelling of hands and feet.
High blood pressure.
Red and You!
Red is an important color for many reasons – it signals not only you need to stop in general but you need to stop at Grace on April 19th from 1-6 to donate blood!!
Have you thought about using the “reverse cards” for your birthday or Easter? I you are unable to donate, and you would like a family member, friend or neighbor to donate in your honor give them a card. The cards are located across from the office on the table and has all the information on for making an appointment. Any questions please see or call Gretchen Hiatt 419-944-5166.
Safety and Health at Grace
A Temple Talk was given at both services this last Sunday on the plan for installation of Security Cameras at Grace.
A map of the church and general location of the cameras has been placed across for the office.
Please look it over.
Please if you have any questions see or call the Task Team. Members of the team are Gretchen Hiatt. Rick Sharp and David Charvat.
With the help of Special Gifts we would like to proceed with installation of the camera system the end of April or beginning of May.
Keeping the people of Grace (members, office staff and visitors) safe is important. Please consider a Special Gift for this project. Gifts should indicate that they are for the Security Cameras.
Friday April 7th – Easter Sunday – Prayer Vigil.
We ask you to join Pastor Brenda and the Grace Prayer Team for an Easter Prayer Vigil from Friday April 7th at 8:00pm through Saturday April 8th at 12:00 pm ending at 12:30 am EASTER MORNING April 9th.
A sign-up sheet will be available.
A person can sign up for one 30-minute time or one hour time.
A person may sign up to pray more than one or two times.
A person may sign up to pray at Grace or at home.
For security purposes, special arrangements are being made for those wishing to pray at Grace.
We hope to offer live prayer via FB at certain times throughout the Vigil.
Special resources will be available for prayer whether a person is praying at Grace or at home.
Thursday May 4th – National Day of Prayer
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
~Psalm 118:24
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