19. April 2008 by Pastor Pamela.

… you can click on the pictures to enlarge them (most of them).

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19. April 2008 by Pastor Pamela.

    South Campus News

I wish I finally could tell you: We have a place in South Lyon. But I can’t. That is the bad news.

The good news is that we are getting very close! The location finding team is currently looking at a very nice site which meets pretty much all of the requirements for what we want to do at our south campus. We only need to clarify a few things with the city of South Lyon, and get the permission to hold assemblies at this site.

Another good news is that this place is almost affordable and things are not looking too bad concerning financing. And who knows: By the time you get hand on this article these news may be old news already, and we may have the site.

I am really looking forward to worship with you in this place, to hold bible studies and most important: to meet with you there, and make plans for reaching out to the community. Oh, and I almost forgot: I am very much looking forward to have our first party there – something like a baby shower for our newborn campus maybe!  

We are also currently working hard on a business plan which is supposed to provide some material for a presentation. With the presentation we want to go out and find investors who are willing to support us financially, and help change the world by helping us to reach out to the community!

At this point I want to thank all of you who are supporting this ministry by investing their time, energy, and talents! Without you All Saints Lutheran Church wouldn’t be able to do this! One of our congregation members once mentioned that I scare him when it comes to real estate affairs. And this person was right. This is certainly not something I am very talented in. There is a reason why I am a pastor and not a realtor! You see: we need all the many talents that are out there. God has given us a great variety of gifts, and if we share them we can get a lot done as laborers in God’s vineyard.

Again: Thank you so much for sharing your gifts and talents to make this ministry happen! 

Pr. Pamela

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19. April 2008 by Pastor Pamela.

As you can see on the picture above I recently spent some time in Arizona. I know what this looks like, but no: I was not there for vacation! (At least not entirely.) Pr. Pamela went to Tempe / Arizona, for a “Churches Starting Churches” conference. And as a very mission driven teddy bear I felt the need to accompany her . (Although, most of the time I let Pr. Pamela do the work) 

The conference was held at Desert Cross Lutheran Church in Tempe. Desert Cross is a congregation with two sites, and the example of this congregation really impressed me. In one of the conference sessions the senior pastor of Desert Cross told the story of how the congregation ended up starting an additional campus:

Desert Cross had spent a lot of money for some nice buildings. If I recall it correctly they were a few million dollars in debt. But the pastor told us that this didn’t seem to worry the members of the congregation. It was not that they didn’t care but they just didn’t worry. At some point the congregation had outgrown the sanctuary. The debt was down to about one million dollars, and the decision was made to build a new and bigger sanctuary. Desert Cross took on some more debt – again –, and an architect was hired and plans were made. But when they were ready to actually build the new building the pastor sensed that something wasn’t right. He started talking to the congregational council and to the members of the church, and found out that a new sanctuary wasn’t really what the congregation wanted. What they felt called to do was to share God’s love by helping people in need in the community of Gilbert. This was when the idea of an additional campus was born. The money that was supposed to be spent for a new sanctuary should be used for reaching out into the community. But that money wasn’t enough. Desert Cross – again – took on some more debt, and started the additional campus. If my information is correct they are with two million dollars in debt right now but the congregation still doesn’t seem to be worried.

And they did not only invest a lot of money in the community outreach. They also sent their best leaders over to the new campus in Gilbert to start a successful ministry. And you know what: The result was not that the ministries at the Tempe Campus suffered because of the lack of qualified leaders. What happened was, that the leaders who left, made room for new very gifted and very qualified people. Others stepped up an brought some fresh ideas with them.

When I heard this story I remembered one of Jesus’ parables. (Yes, teddy bears do read the bible! At least I do – once in a while…) 

It’s the parable about the talents in Matthew 25: ¹⁴“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. ¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²²And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 

I think Desert Cross Lutheran Church is a great example of trusting in God and of trusting in doing the right thing. It is a great example of using the gifts God has given us – time, talent, and treasure - to invest them in the kingdom of God! Desert Cross is a great example of a congregation which knows that church is mainly about the people out there who are in need. It is about the people out there who are in need of help and who are in need of hearing the Gospel about God’s unconditional love! 

I wanted to share this example with you because I see that we – like Desert Cross Lutheran Church - are doing good in what God is calling us to do. But although we ARE doing good, I think we can do BETTER. We can do better in investing our time, talents, and treasures. We only have to use our gifts wisely. And we have to use them not for our own sake but for the sake of the people out there. It’s for the people who otherwise may not hear the story about this awesome God!  

Yours Pelle

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19. April 2008 by Pastor Pamela.

  Laughter makes you live longer - or so they say.

Two women are shipwrecked on an island. Soon after reaching the island one of the women starts to panic and screams: “We’re going to die! We’re going to die! There is no food, no water, no shelter! We’re going to die!” The other one - propped up against a palm tree - is pretty relaxed. She doesn’t seem to be concerned at all.The first woman is still panicking and screaming: “We’re going to die! We’re going to die!” Then she realizes how calm the other one is and asks: “Why are you so relaxed? You don’t seem to be worried at all. Why is that”

The second woman answers: “ I earn $100.000 a week.”The first woman is confused, and says: “ This is a lot of money, but I don’t see how this can help you right now. Even if you had the money with you, there is no place on this whole island where you could buy fresh water, food or material for shelter. We’re going to DIE!” The second woman answers: “I earn  $100.000 a week, I am a member of a church, and I tithe 10% on the $100.000 to the church. My pastor will find me!”

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