April 2017 NewsletterGrace, mercy and peace are yours because of Christ crucified for you! 

Amen!

Dear Family of God at Grace,

Here we are at April and Easter.  Many of our seasonal members have started heading north, we will miss you and we pray God's blessings upon you until you return next year.  There are two families, Paul and Aletha Schumacher and Tom and Althea Schumann who sadly, are leaving us and not returning to Naples.  They will be staying near family up north.  We pray God be with them till we meet again in our heavenly home!

The church is such a transient place.  People come and go and we have them for a time and then they move on or upward and we miss them.  That is the way of the sinful world in which we live.  Life is lived out under and on the cross.  Let me come back to this. First let me encourage you concerning our many worship services this month.  We are wrapping up our Wednesday Lenten services on the 5th.  Palm Sunday will be the 9th and then comes Holy Week 13th, 14th, 15th.  Maundy Thursday service with Communion is at 6:30 PM, Good Friday we have the showing of the Passion of the Christ - Movie in the fellowship hall at noon, then the Tenebrae is at 6:30 PM, Holy Saturday there is the Easter Egg Hunt for the kinds at 10 AM, then the Easter Vigil service is at 6:30 PM - at this service we will be going through the right of First Communion with our Confirmands so that they can take Communion on Easter Sunday for the first time; and we will be baptizing Christian Mateo Gomez at this service.  Sunday the 16th is the high feast day of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus!  What a celebration!  Don't forget that the youth have the Easter Breakfast in-between the services on Easter.    Plenty of worship services to attend and receive from the Lord his rich blessings.

Back to cross life.  Certainly, we will be rejoicing mightily in the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus and the hope that his empty tomb brings, yet as Christians we live in time between cross and empty tomb.  We live in the now and the not

yet.  We live under and on the cross of the Crucified. 

Yes, Jesus has come down from the cross.  He has died and rose again.  In our baptism, we die with Him and rise with Him.  But in the flesh, while we are breathing here in this world of sin and death we live between the cross and the empty tomb.  We suffer under the cross with all sorts of difficulties.  Life is hard and you know this.  Our hope and faith is in Jesus who had an empty tomb and because of Him our hope is to one day finish the cross suffering and to break forth from our tomb with Jesus.  Until that great day of resurrection we live under and on the cross.  We live with Jesus who has won for us victory, "now and not yet."   The victory is yours now which brings faith and hope living with the crosses of this sinful world.  And the "not yet" will come on that last great day that we confess boldly in the Creeds - "I believe in the Resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting." 

Easter is past event for Jesus that holds future consequences for you and me.  Saint Paul says plainly, "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles." 1 Corinthians 1:23.  The cross is always a problem.  We don't like it.  We want it to go away quickly so we can get to Easter and resurrection.  Many churches today have taken the cross away.  If we do have a cross in the church, we certainly don't want a crucifix (Jesus dying on the cross) because that too Roman Catholic or too harsh or makes us uncomfortable.  But the cross of Jesus isn't supposed to make us comfortable.  It's not supposed to be pleasant or make us feel all warm and fuzzy.  No cross makes us "feel" good because crosses are about punishment, suffering, sin, and death.  This is what sinners, which we all are, need to see and hear and know.  Now I know that's not pleasant, but the Law of God is never pleasant.  In the cross we see who we are and what God needed to do for our salvation.  From our perspective crosses are Law, but Jesus cross was for us Gospel.  As our substitute Jesus took our place under God's wrath and punishment and died our death so that we would be forgiven. We live between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  We preach Christ crucified.  We live in Christ, in and on the cross as we journey toward an empty tomb in faith with hope. 

God bless you all!Pastor Lingsch              

UPCOMING EVENTS

Women of Grace MeetingTuesday, April 4th10:30 am - Fellowship Hall

Palm Sunday ServiceSunday, April 9th8:00 am and 10:30 am - Sanctuary

Maundy Thursday ServiceThursday, April 13th6:30 pm - Sanctuary

Movie "The Passion of the Christ"Friday, April 14th12:00 noon - Fellowship Hall

Good Friday ServiceFriday, April 14th6:30 pm - Sanctuary

Easter Egg HuntSaturday, April 15th10:00 am - Fellowship Hall

Easter Vigil ServiceSaturday, April 15th6:30 pm - Sanctuary

Easter SundaySunday, April 16th8:00 am and 10:30 am - Sanctuary

Farewell Potluck to Seasonal FriendsSaturday, April 22nd Time TBD 

WEEKLY EVENTS

Botanical Gardens Tour  On March 10th, sixteen members of Grace enjoyed a beautiful morning as they received a guided tour and lunch at the Botanical Gardens.  

Heroes in the Faith Bible Class - Last  Class for the Season - April 19thWednesday's 10:30 amFellowship Hall 

Women's Bible StudyThursday's 10:00 am - 11:00 amFellowship Hall

Handbell ChoirThursday's at 6:00 pm

Practice English Come Help!

The Pelican Community Center5800 Golden Gate PkwyWednesday's 6:30 pm - 8:00 pmThursday's 10:00 am - 11:30 am

    

Flower Deliveries We need two people/couples to deliver the Altar bouquets on Sunday afternoons or Monday mornings to a hospital patient, shut in or to someone who is laid up, once a month.  The recipients love to receive them and it brightens their day.   We would like you to pick ONE Sunday (like the third Sunday) a month and deliver them.  You don't have to stay and visit.....just deliver them and walk away.  We will tell you who to deliver them to and their address.   Please help if you can...just once a month!  It would be a shame to have these beautiful flowers not bring joy to others.  Call the church office (239-261-7421) or Ruth Dishop (239-262-7137) and let us know you will help bring joy to others!

Elders' Report The Elders continued their active pursuit of new Elders and additional Ushers and have submitted names of prospective Elders to the Nominating Committee for this year's slate. Training was provided for those volunteering to be Ushers,

and several are already providing such important assistance.  Several members have offered contributions toward the acquisition of kneelers and an eternal candle and the Elders are reviewing each of these opportunities with the Planning Council, as well. Based on comments received from members, upgrades to the system for the hearing impaired have also been implemented with very satisfactory results. And using donations received from the bake sale, new robesfor Elders have been secured.  The Elders sponsored a St Patrick's Day Fish Fry that was very well attended. Special thanks to Patrick Perri, Chris Mogelvang, and Pastor for leading and coordinating these efforts.  The Elders continued to review Grace Policies and have scheduled a meeting in May with a representative from the Florida-Georgia District for assistance in ensuring that each is current and in conformance with all Synod and regulatory requirements. These efforts also include insurance relatedneeds and issues.

Kitchen Items NeededThe following items are needed for the kitchen.  If you wish to donate these items, you can leave them in the kitchen or office.  

Items needed:  Beach towels, dish towels and dish rags.  

 Notes from March Planning Council Meeting

    The March 21st meeting of the Planning Council produced several highlights, not the least of which was completing the second meeting in a row in under an hour and a half!  The new meeting format seems to be allowing more time for the significant issues.

We are excited about the prospect of having Pastor Lingsch add yet another degree to his vitae as he will soon be accepted as a student pursuing his Doctorate of Ministry degree.  The Elders and Planning Council have thrown their support behind this effort.

Speaking of Elders, they are in discussion of adding not only an Eternal Candle (Flame) to the Sanctuary but also the availability of kneeler cushions to be used during Communion.  Already completed and available for use are new robes.

A new bulletin board to highlight Pre-School matters will soon appear in

the Fellowship Hall.  Our Quilters have asked for donations of baby yarn in 3 and 4 weight pastels.  Our Human Care ministry needs a volunteer or volunteers to coordinate their activities through the months starting April '17 until December '17.

We will have attorney Rusty Hussman who represents our Synod visit in May to review with us our Constitution and our By-Laws, advising us on potential edits.  We may be partnering with another congregation to help defray his travel expenses.  In further news from Pastor, he has written a policy to govern his use of the Member Benevolence Fund.  Careful consideration was given to several questions concerning this activity.

Deb Laveen clarified the fiduciary relationship with questions to Pastor Eisold and asked also for additional counters and substitute counters for the summer months.

Elections for new church officers is just around the corner.  Gwyn Powers has forms should you wish to nominate a church member for an open Board position, an officer or an Elder.  Elections will occur during a Voters' meeting April 23rd.

A special tip of the hat goes to Helen Leibfried, Deb Laveen and Judy Sadowski for their unraveling of our financial records to a perfect fit with the church's CDM accounting program.  The way is now clear for Grace to proceed with adoption of its Giving Policy as well as out 2016 Year End Report.

The church sign to face US-41 is nearing final decisions for construction.  Andy Beights' discussions with contractors is bearing fruit.  Events at the church are being well attended thanks to an active presence on Facebook and other social media.  The church website is being fine-tuned as well.

  INJ,  Steve Beights 

 

Altar Flower Chart 

  Wanted:  A person (or couple) to take care of the ALTAR FLOWER CHART which is on the bulletin board in the narthex of the church.  The responsibility is to receive the flower orders from members of our congregation and place a monthly order with our florist.   On Sunday morning you pick out a shut-in or a hospital patient who will receive each bouquet.   For more information please call Ruth Dishop (239-262-7137).    

Preschool News

Catch Up With Preschool on the New Fellowship Hall

Bulletin Board

    

Wanted:  Counters for Monday mornings, especially for the summer months.  Please call

Deb Laveen or the Office for more information.  

Monarch Caterpillars

Having Fun Under the New Shades

April Missionaries-of-the-Month Rev. Dr. Michael Paul and family

Taiwan  

  Although Rev. Dr. Michael Paul was born to LCMS missionary parents in the Philippines, his wife, Jen-Yi "Irene", is from Taiwan.  Rev Paul and their children, Rachel, Jonathan, and Elizabeth had to adjust to a new culture when they moved to Hsinchu, Taiwan, a couple of years ago.  Not only does Pastor Paul serve as a theological educator in the China Lutheran Seminary (CLS) and the China Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) but he is actively involved in the Qianjia Youth Group which was just launched.   All of their contacts, including the catechism instruction classes are in the Mandarin Chinese language.  Even though they have started a Bible Study group in the 27 floor apartment building wherethey live, most "neighbors"  have been slow in coming.   Since a great majority of the citizens of Taiwan (including Irene's parents and brother) worship false gods, please pray for Rev. Dr. Paul and his family's varied ways of spreading the Good News of Salvation to bear fruit for the Heavenly Kingdom.    More information can be found onmichael.paul@lcmsintl.org or enjoy the smiling faces of the Paul family and their Taiwanese friends and neighbors by going to Facebook group (Michael Paul family- Taiwanese mission).

 

February-March & April Mission UpdatePastor Mark Eisold

  I hope and pray that February & March were great months for you!  Over the past 58 days, the Lord certainly moved powerfully for all of us involved The Pelican Lutheran Church!  Our focus continues to be bringing Jesus to people in order to gather them around His word & sacraments in His church.  We are CHURCH PLANTERS!  The salvation of people through faith in Jesus Christ is always primary; and is even proclaimed boldly in the various ways that we help & encourage people through their struggles in life.  Our worship services are running very smoothly and convey the love of Christ

and God's plan with deep & practical application.  We enjoyed the blessing of several visitors and of seeing some new families connect strongly to the Lord and to our congregation.  We now have several Sundays with 25-29 people in attendance.  The Lord Jesus blesses us with new contacts and visitors all the time! We continue to use interchanging banners and special events to draw attention and people to the Lord in order to know Him as their Risen Savior.  Our most recent special event was an Eye Clinic with the Naples Lion's Club during the Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) Spring Break.  We praise God for their partnership in reaching and serving our community! Last Tuesday we began a special home-based event for worshippers at our church.  Our family hosted folks at our home for this weekly devotion and English class.  The Eisolds will host at least one to two times every month, while others take the opportunity to host us also.  This is a great way for the Lord to draw us closer to Him, to one another, to connect new folks, and to meet the needs of people in His Church - as His Church.    NEXT WEEK we begin to offer Zumba classes every Monday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.  This is open to the entire community.  (Zumba is a dance-fitness activity prepared by a Colombian choreographer in the 1990's.)  Share this news with your friends and come out and have some fun!  We hope to expand this schedule with other fun, community events in the coming months. As we continue to look for full-sized soccer goals for our front yard, we have some smaller ones, which we break out for Sundays after worship.  A family in Bonita Springs donated a Ping Pong Table, which is also very popular after worship and before English Classes.  Don Thomas built us the components of the game "Cornhole," which we will break out for our Resurrection Sunday/Easter Celebration after worship.  While our Ash Wednesday Service had 18 people in attendance, our mid-week "Easter Prep" has not been as popular.  We will continue to offer special services through Holy Week in order to remind people that in Christ our suffering has meaning & purpose; AND that suffering always comes before victory and celebration.  This year for Lent we focused on the ways that Jesus blessed others on His way to the cross, and how, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He manifested these acts in the Apostles and other believers up to us now.  We also can "take up" extra efforts to bless others in much the same way - and all throughout the year:  Prayer, Comfort, Encouragement, Blessing, Sharing the Peace, Serving & Forgiving. We give great thanks to our Savior Jesus for inspiring and moving to action so many volunteers from our local Lutheran Churches and the community!  We could not do this work without you!  Right now we are praying for more volunteers for Thursday mornings between 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.  Call us if you or a friend would like to be an assistant in any of these classes.    We also expect a

multitude of students to return to our Wednesday evening English Class within two weeks after Easter.  It turns out that we are truly reaching the full-time residents of Naples, and they are BUSY during the "season." We praise our Lord for delivering documentation to many of our members in terms of resident work permits, social security numbers, interviews for citizenship, new job interviews, and more! We praise God for Don Thomas for his work to prepare and support our signage & the game of cornhole!Many thanks to Peace Lutheran Church for their gifts of furniture and to Holly Peterson as well!Feel free to ask me - or any of our pastors at Grace - if you ever have any questions or doubts about what we are doing.  Better yet, come and SEE for yourself by visiting with us one Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday - as many others from Grace, Peace, and Faith Lutheran are doing! In Christ's Power & Blessing,Pastor Mark Eisold 

Larry & nephew, Daniel, playing ping pong after worship last Sunday.

After-worship fellowship in the community center.

Donated furniture offers a more welcoming atmosphere For people to relax and spend

time together in the community center.

Final Week to Update Directory Changes that have been sent to the office, or added to the clipboards, have been made to the church directory.   If you would like your picture included or any changes made to the directory, now is the time.   See Gwyn to have a photo taken or email the Office with a photo or any updates.  The Office email is: office@graceofnaples.com.  The directory will be printed soon!

 

 

March Happenings Around Grace

The Yale Spizzwinks Concert

LWML Spring Rally

Silent Auction Winner

       

Grace Lutheran Church, 860 Banyan Blvd, Naples, FL 34102

Irish Fun at the Fish Fry

Elders Fish Fry on St. Patrick's Day