“The mission of Swedlanda Lutheran Church, as people called and sent by God's Spirit, is to serve the Word of Jesus Christ to all people.”

Sunday, October 21, 2007

The Week of October 21, 2007

Greetings in Christ!

Although I led worship at Swedlanda today, I am now writing from the site of the Theological Conference in Mankato.

Today it seemed that our families were celebrating quite a few special events. Olga was still celebrating her 85th and brought along her granddaughter Alexis, who has a birthday on Monday. Ralph S celebrated his birthday today, so we sang for him in church. Zack N. and my daughter Teresa share a birthdate (the 19th). We congratulated Zack in church and I went to a party for my daughter later. There are also two anniversaries being celebrated this week: David & Mary L, who will have been married 37 years on Wednesday and Dough & Darlene S., who are celebrating a 50th on Friday. Quite an accomplishment! I heard that some of our families were in other churches celebrating baptisms today, too.

We added my daughter Jessica’s mother-in-law to our prayer list today-Lynn M. She has one of the defibrillators that will need to have leads replaced. You will note that in the Swedlanda Prayer List, I have chosen not to include names of individuals because this blog is public. If you wish to be placed on the e-mail prayer chain, please let me know.

It was cloudy today and the temperature seemed to be dropping as the wind picked up. It appears that much of the harvest has been completed, but there are still some corn and beets to be finished. Hopefully it will stay dry for a few days.

I have added today’s sermon to SkyDrive. If interested, try the link. You will need a hotmail or msn account to view it (available for free).

The Prayer for today:

O Lord God, tireless guardian of your people, you are always ready to hear our cries. Teach us to rely day and night on your care. Inspire us to seek your enduring justice for all this suffering world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Here are some of the announcements for the day. Some of these are repeated from last Sunday.

Announcements:

Pastor Stewart will be attending the SW MN Synod Fall Theological Conference in Mankato today through Wednesday noon. The theme this year is “Stewardship of the Good News.” Primary speakers are Dr. Mark Allan Powell, professor of New Testament at Trinity Seminary and Dr. Patrick Keifert, professor of Systematic Theology at Luther Seminary.

The Swedlanda Women of the ELCA will have a Unit Meeting on Thursday, November 1 at 1:30 p.m. Jill Bruns has the program and hostesses are Jean Anderson and Keri Anderson.

Central Lutheran Church, rural Franklin, will have a Fall Supper on Wednesday, November 7, 5:00-8:00 p.m. Menu: Meatballs, Lefse, Potatoes, Dessert and more. $8 for adults.

Palmer and Haakon Vaadeland, the father-son vocalists from Park Rapids, will be with us on Reformation Sunday, October 28. They will need housing overnight on Saturday. If you would be willing, please let Pastor Stewart know. Thank you.

Congratulations to Nancy Stewart, who graduated from Argosy University yesterday with a degree of Associate of Science in Medical Assisting, Summa Cum Laude.

The Fall edition of Mosaic is now available on VHS tape in the church library: Understanding Fundamentalism

Habitat For Humanity Raffle tickets are now available!! This year, the Grand Prize is a candy apple red 2008 Ford Mustang convertible. Other prizes include a 15” Lap Top Computer, $500 cash, Apple I Pod 80 GB Video, and 27” Digital Color TV. Tickets are $50 and may be purchased from HFH Board members, Joyce Nyhus or Pastor Stewart. The drawing will be held on February 3, 2008.

At a meeting held Oct. 7, the congregation voted to approve a recommendation from the council that covered several maintenance/repair projects: Replacement of the parsonage deck ($6-7,000); Church siding to be completed by 2009 ($23-25,000); Belfry floor maintenance; and a plan to replace shingles within 10 years. Your contributions toward these property items are much appreciated. Thank you.

The 2007 Advent Event Silent Auction will be held on Sunday, November 25, so now is the time to begin thinking of what you could contribute. Crafts, gifts, baked goods and services are welcome. Donations can be brought to the church beginning Nov. 18.


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