Friends of Immanuel,

As I had a long list of announcements at the end of worship yesterday, I thought it might be helpful just to hold up a couple of those, as well as a few more thoughts from yesterday’s sermon. These are all matters that speak to what an amazing place Immanuel is and the opportunities we all have to serve our Savior together in sharing His love and the Good News of the life and hope that Jesus brings to us.

First of all, tonight (Monday, October 19^th) at 7:00pm we’re hosting a Voting workshop, A Biblical Framework for Civic Engagement. This is being led by Brent Pilgrim, a layman who is a member of a sister congregation, Faith Lutheran in Johnstown. Brent is involved in Forging NOCO, a regional group similar to Immanuel’s Christians Engaging the Public Square group. Both groups work to encourage Christian engagement in important issues in our communities. The goal of tonight is not to tell everyone how to vote but better understand how we as Christians can evaluate various issues and candidates through a biblical lens. It’s an opportunity for us to be thoughtfully engaged in the world in which we live. This will take place at Immanuel in the sanctuary.

This Saturday we will have our annual Fall Clean-Up and Workday at Immanuel from 8:00am-12:00pm. There’s plenty that needs to be done and all ages are welcome. If you have a leaf blower, please bring that with you. As we do not have a full-time Director of Facilities, this will be a helpful as well as fun time for all of us to work together on making our facilities look good! As we work together, it can be an opportunity to get to know a few other people who call Immanuel home.

Fall Fest is one of our major outreach events. It has continued to grow and more and more families and children from the community are coming because they know this is a fun and safe place for their children. This year’s Fall Fest will take place on Wednesday, October 28^th from 5:00pm-7:00pm and will include Trunk or Treat, horse-drawn fall rides, a free dinner, and more fall fun. There are multiple ways you can be involved. You can decorate your vehicle for Trunk or Treat and be a friendly face to the several hundred children who will be in costumes and excited for some yummy treats. We currently have 15 vehicles and it would be fun to have a lot more! You can sign up to provide some of the needed food items that will be part of the free Grab-and-Go Dinner. You can also be a parking lot attendant, or you can help serve and clean up the dinner. Here’s the link to sign up – https://signup.com/go/jMhnaSg.

Fall Fest is an opportunity for us to express our Lord’s Radical Hospitality to children and families in our community and from our school (many of whom don’t have a church home and are just now learning more about Jesus thanks to our school ministry!). A smile, a word of welcome, a simple hello, introductions, and conversations can go a long way to sharing Jesus and His love! Grab one of the flyers to share with friends and neighbors and spread the word.

Then I want to share just a couple final thoughts on the sermon as we went basic and talked about Jesus as The Face of Grace. Related to what I’ve shared above, Jesus is the reason that we do all of this. When you read Thursday’s email update, you’ll read about many, many more opportunities we have here at Immanuel to give of ourselves, to serve others, to grow in our faith, and to share Jesus and His love.

What difference does Jesus make in your life? How has knowing and believing in Him shaped and formed you to be the person you are today? What is so amazing is the gift of God’s grace to us – He provides us with everything we need to live securely in the sure and certain hope we have because of Jesus. As we heard in 1 Thessalonians 1, we are loved by God and He chose us! Those powerful words of grace are true – gifts given in baptism and through the work of the Holy Spirit in God’s own Word. Take them to heart! Jesus loves you – spread that Good News! And here’s this week’s What Now? for you to consider this week:

What Now?

Make it a point each day this week to reflect on some of the many names of Jesus. What message of His love and grace do those names speak into your heart? Also look for opportunities to share His grace and love with others in tangible ways.

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Heads Up!! This Sunday we will be having a “Noisy Offering” as part of worship. What does that mean? It means that after each of our worship services there will be a special door offering where you are encouraged to bring your loose change (paper bills are welcome, too!) to drop in metal buckets that will be at each of the three sets of doors out of the sanctuary.

This Noisy Offering will be part of our recognizing and thanking God for our Lutheran Women in Mission LWML group here at Immanuel. This is a group of women in our congregation who are part of a much larger organization within our church body (The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod) that was established in 1942 with the primary focus to support worldwide missions. Their Mission Statement is: As Lutheran Women in Mission, we joyfully proclaim Christ, support missions and equip women to honor God by serving others.

The ladies here at Immanuel meet every month for fellowship and encouragement. They will typically have a program that will highlight a mission project or another opportunity to learn and grow in their faith. They meet together with other Lutheran Women in Mission groups along the Front Range in the spring and again in the fall for a more in-depth time of growth, worship, fellowship, and encouragement. There are also both District and National gatherings of the women of Lutheran Women in Mission LWML that occurs every two years.

One of the hallmarks of Lutheran Women in Mission has been the mite box, the idea taken from Luke 21:1-4 and the account of the poor widow putting all she had, which was only a few pennies, into the offering at the temple. All the Lutheran Women in Mission have their own small purple mite box where they collect loose change for missions. They then bring their mite boxes to the monthly meeting where they are all collected and sent into the Rocky Mountain District.

Immanuel’s Lutheran Women in Mission LWML is supporting 10 specific missions this year. These include the following from Northern Colorado: Able Light (a Christian group that helps people with disabilities learn to overcome their daily challenges), St. Matthew’s Medical Clinic, Mountain States Children’s Home (a Christian group based in Longmont that nurtures children to the point that they are able to re-unite with their families), and Immanuel Lutheran School. Their prayers and mites also support International Missions including the Lutheran Heritage Foundation (translates Lutheran theological works and children’s books into many languages for distribution around the world), and Missionaries in Korea, Tajikistan, Hong Kong, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. Immanuel’s Lutheran Women in Mission LWML uses the sales from their booth at Immanuel’s annual Christmas Bazaar to give toward these various local mission projects.

The mite box offerings that go to the Rocky Mountain District LWML for 2026-2028 are supporting Ysleta Bringing the Gospel to Mexico Missions; Lutheran Valley Retreat City to Sanctuary Foster Kid Camp Fund; Mercy Meals of Colorado Springs Providing Food and the Gospel to Starving People; Dakota Boys & Girls Ranch Physical and Mental Wellness for At-Risk Children; Lutheran High School Parker Missions Program; Child of God Lutheran Equipping All God’s Children: Expanding Access to Special Education; Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, seeks to enhance its Food Co-op Freezers; Lutherans in Medical Missions: Bringing Wellness and the Gospel; Giving Great Honor to the Least of These: Caring for People with Developmental Disabilities; Phil’s Friends Care Packages & Cards of Hope; and Lutherans for Life “For Faith” Ministry Development. Each of these will receive between $4500 and $10,000.

The Rocky Mountain District LWML in turn sends a percentage of those mite box offerings to the national group, which has about 33 missions they are supporting for 2025-2027 totaling about $2.7 million! At the end of each year, it’s amazing how much is collected – literally millions of dollars for missions from loose change and special gifts!

The Noisy Offerings given this Sunday will supplement the support of these mission projects. Thank you in advance for prayerfully considering bringing some loose change (and more) to support the missions through our Lutheran Women in Mission group.

And thank you to all the ladies who are part of Immanuel’s Lutheran Women in Mission. Below is a recent picture from their annual 4^th of July picnic. Some of the women will be helping serve this Sunday in worship as ushers, greeters, Scripture readers, and more – you’ll be able to identify them as they will be wearing purple!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

I want to give a follow-up to yesterday’s sermon in our fall series, The Face of Grace, as we talked about Radical Hospitality. In the sermon I focused primarily on the Radical Hospitality that God has shown and continues to show to us. We dug deeply into the prophecy in Isaiah 25:6-9 and the vision of eternity using the imagery of a lavish banquet that the Lord has prepared for us and for all who believe in Him. As I mentioned, that is the place we need to start – with God’s Radical Hospitality toward us!

But it can’t end there. We are the recipients of grace upon grace – how blessed we are!! As we recognize those blessings and that grace in our lives that assures us a place at our King’s banquet table, we can’t help but ask, “What now? How can I thank You, Lord?!”

To answer that question, we turn back to our King and His Word. He lays out very simply and very clearly His answer to our faith-filled question. His desire for us is that we seek Him day-after-day, to follow Him, and to serve Him. Here at Immanuel we have the seven Marks of Discipleship which include being in God’s Word every day; praying every day; gathering for worship each week; giving – including tithing and using our gifts and abilities; being intentional about our faith and spiritual growth; being in healthy relationships; and looking for ways we can walk with other people through the ups and downs of life.

We also have so many different opportunities to serve our King as we serve the people in our lives, including people we know as well as those we do not know. Some immediate examples that are coming up include: the Habitat for Humanity Immanuel Build Day on Saturday, the Fall Fest, the Loveland Community Kitchen, Operation Christmas Child, our annual Christmas Bazaar; Meals Ministry; helping with food and serving when funerals come up; serving in one of the many ways in worship (greeting, ushering, bringing the offering forward, sound booth, screens, live stream operator, altar guild, playing an instrument, singing in Spirit Sounds, reading Scripture, and more); helping with our Clean-Up and Work Day; teaching or helping with Sunday School; and so many other ways. If you have questions about any of these immediate opportunities, reach out to ChurchOffice@ImmanuelLoveland.org and one of us on staff will be happy to answer any questions you have or help you get connected!

In a more personal way, you can look for opportunities to reach out to your neighbors or co-workers or friends. As you heard in the prayers yesterday, there are so many people who are going through a pretty difficult and challenging season in their lives right now. Send a note or a text or an email, give them a call, invite them to coffee and just listen. There are many ways that we can express this Radical Hospitality in our own lives just by showing our Savior’s love, compassion, and care to others.

It’s a privilege we’ve been given by our King to know that He has laid claim to us and our lives. He loves you and I pray that you never forget that! He has prepared His banquet table and He has a place just for you.

What Now?

In response to our Lord’s Radical Hospitality, give thought and prayer to whom you might show Radical Hospitality and invite to join you at a service event, small group/Bible study, or a Sunday morning.

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Radical Hospitality is one of the hallmark pieces of our vision here at Immanuel. This Sunday with our Face of Grace fall series, I’ll be going deeper into what Radical Hospitality truly is, far beyond just what we do. In preparation for Sunday, I thought it would be great to do a quick review of our overall Mission and Vision here at Immanuel and why Radical Hospitality, along with several other key biblical directives, are so important for each of us.

Immanuel’s Mission
Transform lives by Loving, Learning, and Living in Jesus

Immanuel’s Vision
We reveal the love and grace of Jesus to our community by our Radical Hospitality, Transformational Learning, and Fearless Living

Our Mission and Vision come straight from our Lord in His Word. At its most basic level, why we do what we do comes from Jesus’ own words that He spoke 40 days after His resurrection and immediately before His ascension. From Matthew 28:18-20 – ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

We see our Mission as transforming lives. This happens not by our power, ingenuity, and creativity – the power to transform lives is God’s work. As the Holy Spirit guides us, our prayer is that through our “loving, learning, and living,” the Holy Spirit would work in the hearts, minds, and lives of people who are touched and impacted by Immanuel’s ministries and by each of us who are as followers of Jesus.

You and I have the opportunity to be God’s means of grace – the ways in which His grace, love, and the saving message of Jesus get shared with other people. That’s where the “Loving” and “Radical Hospitality” parts of our Mission and Vision come into play. It begins with God pouring His love and grace into us, which we experience together every single week in worship. In worship we are reminded of and we receive our Savior’s grace and love through our time of confession and forgiveness, the hearing of His Word, the sermon, and the receiving of the Lord’s Supper.

As that grace and love fill us, we are sent into the world to share it with others. We have the opportunity to invite others to join us in this journey of following Jesus. We can invite our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members to worship or a Bible study or some of our many other gatherings of youth, young adults, and older adults. We have some awesome big events that happen, which are also great opportunities to invite people to experience a bit of what we’re about here at Immanuel and sharing Christ’s love – like the upcoming Fall Fest and Christmas Bazaar, the summer Car Show and Vacation Bible School. And many people are interested in learning about opportunities to serve our community, like Habitat for Humanity and serving at the Community Kitchen.

There are so many simple ways we can share Jesus and extend invitations for people to come and experience what God’s grace is all about – from the many things happening at Immanuel to how we go about our day-to-day lives, rubbing shoulders with lots of different people.

I encourage you to be praying for people in your life. Pray for the courage to open the door to faith conversations and to extend invitations for others to join you in some of the ministries that are happening. Pray for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you, helping each of us to be The Face of Grace to others! I hope to see you in worship Sunday as we again experience our Savior’s Love and Radical Hospitality!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Yesterday in worship we had a little fun with “taking out the trash,” based on chapter 3 of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul’s interesting take on “trash” is that he considers everything trash – except Jesus! And the two ways he urges us to look at this is, first, to recognize and acknowledge (and confess, where necessary) the trash in our lives that needs to be taken out. Praise God for His grace, knowing all that Jesus did to clear the trash from our lives and to offer us the ongoing gift to remove our trash.

He then urges us to recognize, celebrate, and give thanks for what it means to “know Jesus.” This is where everything else seems like trash – in comparison to knowing Jesus and the wonder, the power, and the joy of knowing Him and living under His grace each day.

I didn’t say much about the last section of this reading, Philippians 3:12-14. “¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

I’ve preached and written before about the “now/not yet” aspect of our faith. In the most basic way, what that means is that our faith is so real that we are living “eternal life” right now in this world because we know and believe in Jesus. And yet, there is still more to come – which is the “not yet” aspect of this.

What Paul is emphasizing in these verses is the “not yet,” the physical reality of what we actually see with our eyes. We’re still running this race, a race that will continue to be filled with moments of fatigue and exhaustion, times of exhilaration and joy, ups and downs as we go through this life. That means we haven’t yet obtained everything the Lord has in store for us who believe. We haven’t—nor has this world—yet been made perfect.

We need to keep going, pressing on to daily take hold of that for which Christ Jesus told hold of us. Understand this verse as stating the objective Gospel truth of our justification by grace through faith. That is, “Christ Jesus took hold of us” – He saved us by His work on the cross to pay for sin and by His resurrection from the dead, bringing us forgiveness, victory, life, and grace. And in response to that, we “press on”! We seek, with the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance, to live Christ-like lives, continuing to run this race every day.

This is part of the powerful comfort I pray you hear in this passage: we’re not out there on our own, needing to figure out how to survive this life. We are in the strong, powerful, loving hands of our Savior! He’s put His claim on our lives and we are His!

Because of that, we forget what is behind (leaving the memory of our sins and sinful past behind us in the reality of the cross and the assurance of Christ’s forgiveness) and we strain toward what is ahead – the joy of our lives in Jesus; a joy that we can experience in the day-to-day of life in this world the Lord created for us to enjoy, and in the assurance of a life we can’t even imagine that is still in store for us in eternity.

What a gift we’ve been given! In light of that, here’s this week’s What Now?:

What Now?

This week take a personal inventory of your walk with Jesus and consider what housecleaning needs to be done, throwing out any unnecessary trash (literally or figuratively!).

And let’s do this, looking straight into The Face of Grace, praying for the Lord’s help and guidance in this, that amidst all the trash in our lives, He would continue to provide us with a good and healthy perspective, mindful of what our real Treasure is, of Who our real Treasure is, that is Jesus!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

We are so blessed to start the third year of Immanuel Lutheran High School this fall. We have five students, three of whom have been with us since our first year. This fall we welcomed two freshmen, one who is continuing on with us from Immanuel’s 8^th grade class. Another highlight is that we will have our first graduates at the end of this school year – Addie and Izzy!

To many people, the fact that we have five students may sound like a pretty small number. But the average number of students for a hybrid high school (like Immanuel’s high school) across The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the first three years of starting is five students. We’ve reached that milestone and Immanuel Lutheran High School is well-positioned for the next chapter in our history.

Dr. Rick Overton has been the Executive Director of Immanuel Lutheran High School starting in July 2023, about one year before we officially opened the high school. Rick had just retired from the Poudre School District as an assistant principal for many, many years. Rick was instrumental in helping create a solid foundation for how our high school looks and functions. He has been the point person for working with and walking alongside our students over the past two years. His leadership in our high school has been invaluable.

Rick has recently shared that because of some health issues and the desire he has to be able to spend more time with his grandchildren who are scattered across the United States, that he is going to officially retire at the end of this semester on December 18^th. His co-worker in the high school, Tiffany Schreiber, who has served as the Academic Coach and Mentor for the high school, will also be stepping down at that same time, also due to health issues and an opportune transition time for her.

In response to this news, the High School Team has been meeting regularly over the past month to be praying about, thinking about, and working on some transition plans. To address the immediate need we’ll have with Rick and Tiffany leaving, we have put together job descriptions for two somewhat different positions. These positions are intended to provide support and love to our current students to help them finish the school year strong, as well as to position the high school for success the following academic year.

The two positions are Academic Coach and Mentor and Community Connector and Recruitment Lead. The job descriptions for each of these can be found here – https://immanuelloveland.org/about/current-job-openings/. Both are part-time positions that will be in place from December until next May. If you have an interest in either of these positions, if you know of someone you believe would serve well in either position, or if you have any questions about the high school or these opportunities, please contact the High School team (highschool@ImmanuelLoveland.org).

As we search for these individuals, the High School Team is continuing to meet to discuss the long-term plans for the high school, how to strategically plan for what God has in store with regard to our next phase of leadership and how best to move forward.

I would ask that you pray regularly for our high school. Begin by giving thanks to God for the awesome things He’s been doing in the lives of these students over the past two years. Then please pray for our students, for these immediate needs, and for the Lord’s guidance on the long-term planning. I’ll keep you posted with updates as the Lord continues to bring all of this together.

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Coming off last night’s thrilling Denver Broncos’ come-from-behind-victory and in light of my Packers’ dismal start to the season, I thought it would be fun to lighten things up a bit today! The world of college and professional football is, by and large, a make-believe world for most of us. The players and coaches are paid exorbitant amounts of money to play a kid’s game, money that we can’t imagine even over the course of our entire lifetime! And still, we watch and pay, cheer and boo, as we try to escape some of the realities of our “real world” problems and challenges over the course of a weekend of watching football.

I posed a question in yesterday’s sermon – “Does it really matter how we live our lives?” For those football players, it should matter, at least for those 3 hours of their game. They are getting paid to perform, to do a job, to block, tackle, run, pass, catch, and kick, in other words, to “live football lives”! So how are those Bronco and Packers players doing? Both teams got boo-ed into their locker rooms at halftime in their last games – in other words, not so good! The Broncos responded to their fans’ disappointment by coming out in the second half and playing football like it mattered – turning a 16-point deficit into a thrilling victory. The Packers not so much. They came out lackluster and dispassionate, certainly not living or playing as though anything mattered.

As fans and armchair quarterbacks, we’ll talk about our teams this week, some of us second-guessing the calls, the effort, the attitudes. But when all is said and done, we’ll be back in front of the TV next weekend to cheer on our teams (some of us hoping that our team decides that it actually does matter how they live and play – Go Pack Go!).

But for us, I would contend that the stakes are much higher when it comes to answering the question, “Does it really matter how we live our lives?” We’re not entertainers or athletes. We’re ordinary, everyday people with particular vocations – whether it’s with our jobs or in retirement or as students. We all have our circles of people we know and interact and hang out with – co-workers, neighbors, friends, family – and, in the big picture of life, it may seem that what we do doesn’t really matter much.

But here’s where I want to encourage you today – your life does matter! Our spheres of influence may be relatively small, and that’s OK. Remember that you are a child of God who is loved, forgiven, and valued by your Creator and Redeemer. Remember that you have people in your life who love and care about you. And remember that there are people in your life who need you, who depend on you, who love that you’re part of their life. Every day we can wake up and look into The Face of Grace, which is Jesus, and take these realities to heart.

As the Lord sends us out into His world each day, we in turn get to reflect that Face of Grace to others – friends, colleagues, and strangers. You and I don’t know what people are going through as we pass by each other, nor do we know what they need. What we do know is that we can show them the grace that has been shown to us – with a smile, an act of kindness, a simple “Hello!” or taking time to listen and show that we care.

Does it matter how we live our lives? I think it does! The Lord through St. Paul reminds us, “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:1-5)

What Now?

Be intentional and thoughtful about how you live this week. Be mindful of how precious God’s grace is and humbly seek that grace each day through repentance and prayer.

May our Savior bless the lives that we lead and the grace that we share, for the furthering of the Kingdom and the encouragement we can offer to others in Jesus’ name – because YOU matter and so does the life you live!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Did you know that there are well over 100 ways that you can serve, learn, grow, and participate in various ministries with others at Immanuel? If you’ve had a chance to look at the tri-fold brochure we had available at the Ministry Showcase on September 13^th and then inserted into the worship folders last Sunday, you can get an overview of what some of those many opportunities are. If you missed those, here’s a link you can use to check out that brochure (ILC Ministry Brochure), or you can stop and grab a paper copy from our Information Station in the atrium.

The opportunities are all over the place and cover the spectrum of big and small, huge commitments to small commitments, at Immanuel and in our Loveland community. But each and every one of them are of tremendous significance. Why? Because they involve sharing the Good News of Jesus in words or in action, showing our Savior’s Radical Hospitality, providing ways for us to serve others in Jesus’ name, or even giving us opportunity to strengthen our own faith – as we give and serve or as we study and learn. It’s how the Lord designed His Church to function – beautiful, isn’t it? And we get to be part of it!

Today I want to hold out for you just one of the many ways we can serve each other here in this community of faith, and that is through our Meals Ministry. This Ministry of hospitality and love is when meals are brought to individuals and families who have gone through surgery, brought home a new baby, or experienced the death of a loved one. Many times these are home-cooked meals, but other times they are pre-made meals delivered that can be easily heated up, or even gift cards for meals to be delivered.

I know that many of you here at Immanuel have been blessed by this amazing ministry. I asked a few people who have recently been on the receiving end of this ministry to share their experiences and what it meant to them. Check these out!

“The Meals Ministry was an incredible blessing to our family during one of the most difficult seasons of our lives. While my wife was undergoing major life-saving surgery and our family was focused on her healing and recovery, receiving meal assistance from our church family lifted a tremendous burden from our shoulders. More than the food itself, it was a tangible reminder that we were loved, prayed for, and not walking this journey alone. We are deeply grateful for the kindness, generosity, and compassion shown to us through this ministry. With gratitude!”

“Immanuel's Meals Ministry was such a blessing to us after the birth of each of our babies. That newborn time is so special – and foggy at times under the veil of sleep deprivation – but the generosity from the Meals Ministry is to remember! Now we know more faces with names, new faces to recognize in the congregation, and new friends that know our children as we see each other in the Immanuel community. Thank you for supporting our family and for the lasting impact of your generosity!”

“I cannot express how important the meals ministry is to those of us who have been the recipients. When I needed help, I was amazed that these busy ladies took time to prepare home cooked, delicious meals and delivered them right to my kitchen. I will always remember their generosity. They are angels on earth indeed.”

There is an email group that includes people who have agreed to help and provide meals when the needs arise. However, we really could use some more people to be part of this important ministry. How it works is that when a need for meals is made known, an email is sent out to the group with dates for when meals are needed. You do not need to respond every time you receive a meal request. As meal requests are received, you decide if there is a date that works for you and, if so, sign up to bring a meal on that date, Or you simply wait until the next meal request is received.

If you’re interested in being part of this simple yet powerful ministry of hospitality and love, you can email churchoffice@immanuelloveland.org and we’ll add you to the email group, or you can add yourself to the group by using this link – ILC Ministry Interest Form. Thank you for considering this opportunity and for using the gifts of your time, resources, and abilities for the caring of God’s people!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Yesterday I preached about how (thankfully!) unfair grace is. Grace is a gift that we all need, no matter how “good” we’ve been or how “good” we are. We all need His grace – grace that encompasses the forgiveness He offers us and the love He shows us. To better understand this, we explored the Old Testament account of Jonah and then the story Jesus told in Matthew 20 of the workers in the vineyard.

Early on Sunday morning, I typically listen to The Lutheran Hour sermon and this week Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, The Lutheran Hour speaker, preached on this same parable of Jesus from Matthew 20. He took a little different direction with it, one that I thought was very interesting, insightful, and helpful. If you have time and opportunity, I’d encourage you to listen his September 20^th sermon entitled, “High Bar to Clay Jar” at www.LHM.org.

Here’s the link from the website, and below that is a link for Apple Podcasts.

https://media.lhm.org/lutheranhour/mp3s/big/9403.mp3?_gl=1*1qy3m0r*_gcl_au*NTgxMDQ4NzQxLjE3ODM2MTY2Mzg.*_ga*NDE0ODg2MzM4LjE3ODM2MTY2Mzg.*_ga_C0WSM9LLDH*czE3OTAwMjMyNTkkbzUkZzEkdDE3OTAwMjMzMDAkajE5JGwwJGgw

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lutheran-hour/id112493205?i=1000790755251

Also, here is this week’s What Now? for you to consider:

What Now?

How can you generously share this “unfair” grace with someone in your life this week?

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

The start of a new season brings with it the opportunity for change, not for the sake of change itself but for helping us see something in a new way. Last Sunday, we introduced a new way we’ll be approaching our time of offering. This change comes after questions raised, suggestions given, and fruitful discussions by our Board of Elders and our Worship Planning Team.

The questions raised about how we receive the offerings during worship included a desire to make sure that we are not only giving all of us the opportunity to respond to the Lord’s grace as we tithe (an Old Testament command to give 10% of our income back to the Lord out of gratitude for all that He provides) and give our offerings to Him, but to make sure that we are modeling for and teaching our children the importance of giving back to the Lord.

Through the various discussions, the point was raised that the way people give to the Lord through their offerings has changed over the years. Many of us now give online and through texting, concepts that weren’t even an option a generation ago. The norm was that most people put cash or checks into the offering baskets as they were passed along each row every Sunday. I have fond memories, and perhaps you do too, of my parents giving me and my sisters a quarter to put into the offering plate as it was passed. With the dramatic change of how we give today, we discussed how passing the offering plate today might be more discouraging than encouraging, because of how few people would put anything in the offering baskets – and for children (and adults) to see a basically empty plate passed along row after row could have a negative effect on everyone. So we wrestled with the question of how receiving the offering should look in our times of worship today in light of these changes.

There are many different options and creative opportunities and this is what we’ve settled on trying for starters. Currently, what I say during the time of offering has become a pretty regular statement, saying pretty much the same thing week after week. I’m guessing that many of you have come to the point of tuning me out because “you’ve heard it all before.”

One of the main changes you’ll see happening is each week we will have a different family bring forward to the altar a basket with the offerings that have been given so far that morning. Families of our congregation will include couples, individuals, and families with children. This will accomplish multiple goals. It will be a reminder that the offerings we give, whether left in the baskets at each of the doors to the sanctuary, or given on our website, or by texting, are offerings that we are returning to the Lord, as His presence is represented by the altar. As different families bring the offering forward, we are reminded that we are all part of the ministry we call Immanuel. It will also serve as another opportunity for children to be involved in worship and will provide parents an open door for talking to their children about what they are doing and why. (If you would like to be included in this opportunity, contact Kathy and let her know – kschlecht@ImmanuelLoveland.org.) It will be a visible affirmation of the importance of family, that is so important here at Immanuel and throughout God’s Word.

While the offering is being brought forward, what I share during that time will vary from week to week: using one of our many Stewardship Litanies, highlighting a particular ministry being supported by our offerings, sharing where we stand with our budget and offerings for the year, and highlighting one of our Community Assistance partners, are some of what you will hear from week to week.

There are many different options and creative opportunities, and this is what we’ve settled on trying for starters in our attempt to continue to hold up the time of offering as an important time of our worship of our Triune God. I pray that this will enable all of us to give appropriate attention to this important part of our worship of our Lord. I value feedback, thoughts, and other ideas as we move forward with this. Thank you for your many generous expressions of love for your Lord as you faithfully return to the Lord a tenth or a portion of what the Lord has entrusted to you financially for the purpose of furthering His Kingdom as we serve Him together!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen