Logo Items

A while back, I wrote about our efforts to come up with a new logo that would capture what we are "about" here at Immanuel Lutheran Church.  I wanted something a little edgy, along with the timelessness and certainty of the Cross of Christ.  Here's what we came up with: 

So, what do you think? The wood of the cross has the water of baptism seeping from it, and the agedness (yet timelessness) of the "Immanuel"  ("God with us" - Jesus) is easily recognizable.  So, I hope that it is received well.  We kicked it off at our church-wide picnic last month.  We gave away T-shirts and window stickers with the new logo on them.

So here's my question for anyone who is reading this:  Is this something that you would want to wear on some other item of clothing?  I'm thinking quality polo-style tops, sweatshirts, and wind-shirts, to name just a few things.  What do you think?  Let me know!  "May the peace of God be with you. (Philippians 4:9b)"

New Matthew West Single Out!

There's a brand new single out from my favorite singer - Matthew West!  It's called "My Little World."  It's from a new album that is due out on October 5th, that's rather unique.  He put a call out to all of his fans to submit their own stories of their lives.  The highs, the lows, the joys, the pains.  Stories of God's hand working in your life, and maybe not.  Nothing was "out of bounds."  The name of the album then, is "The Story of Your Life." 

He's touring to support the new album, and will be nearest to Saint Clair on October 15th in Adrian, MI.  I'm going with my beautiful wife who couldn't go the last time we saw Matthew in Flint last year, so this will be a treat for me to go with her and share a beautiful time with her.  (He's written some pretty amazing love songs, too, guys  :)  ) 

It's going to be wonderful, and my Immanuel family will be sick of hearing about more Matthew West by the time this is all through.  But he has such a wonderful God-given and Spirit-inspired talent and gift of lyrics that capture Christian life and at the same time give glory to our amazing God.  See you there!

Precious in the Sight of the Lord

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. (Psalm 116:15)"  What an amazingly Christian take on death!  Don't get me wrong, death is the enemy (1 Cor. 15:26); it has been ever since the fall of Adam & Eve and sin has infected all of creation.  What the message tells us is that our earthly death is the portal into our eternal life with our heavenly Father forever in the joy and splendor and perfection of heaven. 

And our dear friend Nancy Fleury is resting forever in the arms of her Savior Jesus there, joining with all of the company of saints who have gone before her in faith.  So we mourn, of course.  A dear friend has been ripped from our lives.  Yet we also rejoice because she has realized the goal of her faith.  A faith that began at her baptism and was sustained all of her life through the Word of God and His Sacrament of Holy Communion, received with her Fleury family each week and her Immanuel family gathered around her.  We will gather again tomorrow to honor her and remember a life that was given and lived out in faith and to hear words of promise and victory!  All praise and honor and glory be to our Lord and God!

Back Home

Whew!  It's good to go away on vacation, but boy, is it good to come home!  I don't think I'll attempt two border crossings (Niagara Falls and the Blue Water Bridge) in the same day.  More than three hours of waiting in line!  But the boys were awesome even with all of the time in the car.  I'm so proud of them. 


I told the congregation yesterday in service that the people of Boston were so kind and helpful.  Even though they've seen millions and millions of tourists walking their streets looking for Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church, they still patiently tell us where they're to be found.  Why do they do this?  They're kind folks, as I said, but also, they know that they're ambassadors for the city of Boston.  If they make a bad impression upon the guests that come to their wonderful city, chances are that people will be turned off by their attitude and won't want to return.  And worse yet, they may tell their friends and families of their not-so-good experiences. 


In the same way, we're to be ambassadors of the local church we belong to, and more importantly, of the message of Jesus Christ - the Savior of the world.  In this consumer kind of world we live in, it doesn't take much to turn people off.  That includes our attitudes, words, and actions that are in contradiction of our faith in Jesus.

"Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth."  (2 Timothy 2:14 - 15)

And now, it's back to lots of work as we prepare for a "new year" that begins in the fall with the start of the school year.  It's going to be here before we know it, to the chagrin of all the kids enjoying the fleeting days of summer!  God's incredible peace to you all!  Pastor D

Down Time

I'm leaving with Mitzi and the boys after church today and going to Bah-ston via Niagara Falls.  So, no posts in the coming week as I go "incommunicado."  It'll be wonderful to slow down and shut down a bit and just relax with the fam.  I was thinking this morning, Christian is twelve now, and in a few more years, he may not think it's "cool" to do this sort of thing.  So we'd better take advantage of the time God has given us now!  His incredible peace and strength to you in the coming week.  Keep us in your prayers!

The Time is Now!

This morning, as we do every morning of VBS, I began the day with our crew leaders in the sanctuary for a beginning-of-the-day devo.  Today, I shared some thoughts of one of my favorite people from the Bible, the Old Testament figure and prophet Nehemiah.  If you remember his story, he, along with most of Israel, had been exiled throughout the middle eastern area, specifically to Persia (what is now modern-day Iran).  Having been away from Jerusalem for so many years had begun to soften the thoughts he must have had that his precious city might be falling into disrepair and despair.  But it was true, as various reports had come in confirming his fears. 

As soon as he heard the news, he did some amazingly faithful things.  First, he simply prayed.  Even in his devestating grief, he knew that he had nowhere to turn but to God for confession and repentance, on his behalf and the behalf of all of Israel, and also that He would reveal to Nehemiah what part (if any) of a plan God had in mind to restore the city of Jerusalem. 

And God confirmed this, after a short time of waiting and being still (Psalm 46:10).  In his position of cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes, he had found favor in the king's eyes.  God opened the king's heart to first ask what was bothering his servant (unheard of!), and then to grant Nehemiah God's plan of sending him back to Jerusalem to lead the rebuilding of the city walls.  The amazing "God thing" that we take from this portion of the story is that the window of opportunity to respond to the king's offer was quickly closing.  No matter how close you were to him, it was always his prerogative to retract whatever offer he had previously given upon his whim.  So Nehemiah knew that he may not get another opportunity to be a part of God's plan there.  The time was now!  And off he went, with the king's blessing and cooperation from those whom Nehemiah needed help from, in procuring materials and safe travel to and from Jerusalem.

What's our 21st C takeaway in all of this?  Simply this:  THE TIME IS NOW.  Each and every day people are dying without a saving knowledge and faith in Jesus their redeeming Savior.  Turning a blind eye to it or claiming that "my God would never be that cruel to do that to someone who never heard the Word of Christ" doesn't make the situation go away.  The second option just listed actually makes you God and takes from Him His right to do as He pleases, which is always good and right and perfect and holy (Deut. 32:4).  I don't relish the thought of taking the place of God!

Let's join hearts and hands in allowing the Holy Spirit to renew each of us, and His Church to wake up to the call that THE TIME IS NOW! to be Christ's ambassadors to the world around us.  Peace...

VBS Week @ ILC

Woo-hoo!
It's Vacation Bible School (VBS) week here at Immanuel.  What an incredible God-filled, Jesus-enriching, Spirit-driven week where 300 or so little precious ones of God come through our building to hear once again (or for the first time) the love Jesus has for them.  It is truly amazing what God does here each year in VBS.

We have been blessed with a congregation that is wholly behind this holy adventure each summer, including a group of incredibly talented people who come together and, with the general theme in mind (this year it is a "High Seas Expedition"), they make it all come alive with amazing decoratoins, transforming the building into ships and harbors and the like. Thank you, especially, to Lisa Whittlesey and her decoration crew that worked tirelessly once again to make it come alive.

Thanks also to all of the other volunteers who are giving a week of mornings this week to be crew leaders and key leaders and snack makers and registration takers.  So much time has gone into the preparations for this, with an uncountable amount of volunteer hours, and that continues this week as they lead the little ones from place to place each morning.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  To God be all glory and honor, and for the benefit of these little ones.