Our Mission Statement:
We are a Gospel-centered community of people blessed by God to be a blessing to others.
All church activities, including in-person worship, are canceled for the next few weeks due to the coronavirus.
However, the Sunday morning service at 10:30 will be live-streamed through the church's Facebook page.
Joe Nolte is in charge of setting this up. You can contact him with any questions, at jtnolte22@gmail.com.
Get involved!
Highlights of our upcoming events:
The Coming Back Together Committee
-A new committee has been formed to make decisions about worship as we deal with COVID-19.
Want to spotlight your event? Email the webmaster at popdsm@gmail.com and we'll put it here!
This month's letter from Pastor Roger Osbeck
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Many of you are aware that our denomination, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or ELCA, as it is affectionately known,
is a liturgical church. That is, along with many other denominations, we follow a seasonal calendar which, more or less, reviews
Biblical accounts about the life of Jesus in Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter. This all leads to the lengthy season
of Pentecost where we share stories about the influence of the Holy Spirit in a life of faith. All these readings are put
together in a Revised Common Lectionary for us to consider each Sunday or other commemorative days during worship. (Since I
don't want to take up space to further comment, if you're interested in the history of this, I will invite you to use Google or
whatever search engine you choose for internet service to look up on your own).
Moving on, there are certain stories in the Scripture readings of the Lectionary which we may count on to use on specific days of
the calendar. On Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, for example, you know you're going to hear about Jesus' birth, resurrection, and
coming of the Holy Spirit, respectively. There are other days of the lectionary which also have distinctive emphases we are invited
to consider. Further examples, First Sunday of Advent is about the Second Coming of Christ. Second Sunday of Advent reminds us of
John the Baptizer. First Sunday in Lent is always a story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. And, Fourth Sunday of Easter is
always celebrated as Good Shepherd Sunday.
Good Shepherd Sunday has a Gospel text from a portion of John 10 where Jesus speaks of himself as a Good Shepherd. The assigned
Psalm, as you can probably guess, is Psalm 23. As I was researching stories on the internet to tell on this past Good Shepherd
Sunday, April 25th, I ran across this version of the Psalm, from an unknown author, uplifting and celebrating our Good Mothers as
God's good shepherds in our lives:
My mother was my shepherd. I never went without, although she sometimes did. She made me lie down and take naps. On more than
one occasion, she calmed the troubled waters of my life and assured me that things would be okay. She's the one who made my soul
come alive to God's love. She taught me the difference be tween right and wrong, and introduced me to God's ways. Even though I've
walked through some pretty dark valleys, she's always come and found me. With the crook of her arm, she's pulled me out of some
pretty rough places. She's pointed me in better directions with the rod of her wise guidance. Whenever bad things happened in my
life and enemies gathered around, she cooked and told me to sit down and eat. Like oil poured from a cup, she patted me on the head
to remind me of her love. No matter where I've ever gone, my mom has somehow managed to follow me. Her goodness has shown up in
packages of cookies, or birthday cards with a five-dollar bill inside, or simply beautiful memories that came to mind unexpectedly.
Her mercy was constant. There's not one sin I've ever committed that she hasn't forgiven me for. Someday, the time will come for me
to go and dwell in the house of the Lord. When the door opens, I expect I'll see her standing there, in her apron, with a smile on
her face. No doubt she'll turn to Jesus and simply say, "He's/She's home."
Mother's Day for 2021 is May 9th. We are grateful for their love. Let us give our Moms thanks this day and always.
Peace to you. See you in church, sometime soon.
Pastor Roger
Outreach links:
Meals from the Heartland
Habitat for Humanity
Lutheran Services in Iowa
Lutheran World Relief
Make Malaria History
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