This
Is More Than Just Potato Salad And Ants!
"The
Fellowship Of The Cupcake":
Church
Picnic Set For September 28
The church picnic is all set for Sunday the 28th of September. Here's what I like about the church picnic:
Outside worship. It's fun! We have a great setting, and if the weather is anywhere near comfortable (which is why we chose late September) it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I love the sun shining through our crowd. I love the trees as our church architecture. I love singing "How Great Thou Art" and actually hearing the birds singing sweetly.
I always wonder if any of the neighbors notice that we're outside singing and worshiping. Outdoor worship can be a neat witness! "Here we are! We love Jesus!"
The outdoor service can be a fun time to bring a friend along, too. We're always open for guests. We exist not for the "sheep in the pen," but as Jesus reminded us, "to seek and save the lost." The outdoor service can be an wonderful, casual, informal time to bring a friend.
And I know someone who did his best preaching outside! It's kind of fun to see what it might have been like for the crowds and the disciples as the gathered with Jesus on a hillside or a seashore or an open, grassy plain.
Besides the outdoor service, I also like the potato salad. Now I read Nancy's notes about health and wellness and I understand that potato salad is not always on the approved list, but you can make healthy choices and use the fat free mayo and go a little heavy on the mustard, a much healthier choice. I think we have great cooks and I love the things you bring to the picnic! (By the way, remember to sign up on the chart in the lobby. And if it's not easy for you to bring something, bring yourself and a friend! There's always plenty!) Special thanks to the Men's Club for the barbecue and to Coca-Cola for the beverages!
But you know what I like best of all about the picnic? I like hanging out with you.
I could easily spend all my time just in visitation with our families, but it's just not possible, so I love the times when everything slows down a little bit and we can have the afternoon together. I'd much rather share a cupcake with you than a handshake at the door of the church.
And if there's one thing I like nearly as much as the time we spend together at the picnic, it's watching the time you spend together. I may not get to eat a couple hundred cupcakes on the 28th (even if it looks like I'm trying!), but I find great joy in knowing that a couple hundred cupcakes will be eaten! Our only plan for the 28th is to be the people of God together. We'll be the Fellowship of the Cupcake. Breaking bread. Learning names. Sharing stories. Playing games. Binding together as one, the members of the body of Christ in this place.
Picnics aren't about food. Picnics are about people. Picnic food is an excuse to be together.
We're studying the book of Esther in our new Wednesday (7-8 PM) and Saturday (7:30-8:30 AM) Bible study. Do you know the story? God's people were scattered in exile, and an evil man, assistant to the king of Persia, plotted their destruction. It seemed every force of the universe was against them, but God intervened through the courageous efforts of Queen Esther and her advisor, cousin Mordecai. The people of God were saved by his miraculous turn around and the Feast of Purim, a week long celebration of singing, dancing, eating and sharing gifts, is commemorated as an annual memorial of thanks.
We are the people of God. We also are exiles in a strange land. No longer are the faithful in Christ holding the upper hand in American society. Many who examine our culture would say that the forces of the universe, political, economic, philosophic and especially spiritual forces, are marshaled against us. Some think the future of the Church is threatened.
I believe the future of the church will be different than the past in America, but not threatened. If God can ensure the survival of his people in a hostile Persian environment, he can preserve us.
But it's time for us to come together in significant relationships, in bonds of love and fellowship, and to realize that we are in this together and we need each other. Now is the time, as never before, for Christians to lean more and more on each other. A weekly picnic is not the solution. But an annual one is a good start and plays an important part in our church life.
Here's my dream for this month's picnic.
I hope many will step forward to volunteer to make our picnic a great success and that nobody would have to do so much of the work that they don't have a great time.
I hope that you will clear your schedule, if at all possible, and plan to spend the day with the Mount Calvary family.
I hope that while we're together, you'll have a chance to get together with a special friend from church that you don't see near often enough and get caught up a little.
I hope that you will seek out someone new, especially one of our newer families and get a little better acquainted than is possible on Sunday mornings.
I hope you'll bring a friend so they also might get a glimpse of what God is doing at Mount Calvary, because the Lord has a place for your friend here, too.
And, of course, I hope to enjoy a couple scoops of potato salad. And maybe a cupcake or two!
CCLS
Our congregation has a long history of support of Christian elementary education. Since 1972, we've been a part of the Christ Community Lutheran School association and our church, our families and the church at large have been greatly blessed by your support of this ministry. Did you know that almost all of our church career students at our Lutheran universities come from Lutheran high schools and almost all of our Lutheran high students come from Lutheran elementary schools?
CCLS is sponsoring a major opportunity for you to offer your extra support of this vital school ministry in the Kid's Classic Golf Outing and Walk. I'm sending out a special form to many supporters of CCLS asking for your sponsorship of $100 to $500 for this important cause. Congregational offerings and parent tuitions do not cover the entire cost for our students. Please consider a donation, of any size, to help our children and strengthen the Lord's kingdom!
If you are contacted by another golfer or walker, lend your support. It is all directed the same way. You can contact the church office or the school office (822-7774) for more information. Thanks for considering this worthy cause, an important part of our work together.