True North VBS

Friends of Immanuel,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! I want to follow-up last week’s observance of National Day of Prayer with some additional encouragement regarding prayer. Prayer is such an important part of lives as followers of Jesus. Jesus Himself has shown to us how important it is simply by how much time He spent in prayer, to say nothing of all that He taught, commanded, and encouraged us regarding prayer.

First, I do encourage you to be intentional about spending time each day in prayer. I say that not out of guilt or obligation, but as an expression of the relationship we have with our Lord. We’ve been given the privilege of direct access to Him and He loves to be in conversation with us, hearing our voice, our needs, our desires, our joys and thanksgiving. Don’t complicate this gift – just talk to Him. Don’t set yourself up for failure – you don’t have to have a 15- or 30-minute sit-down with Him. Take time through the day, as needs arise, as you experience awesome things, as you hear news-bytes, and just pause and talk to God about these things for a few minutes.

Flowing from that, if you want to be part of my email prayer group, I would be more than happy to add you! This, too, has no pressure or strings attached. Let me explain briefly how this email prayer group works.

1. Many people email me, text me, and call me with prayer requests – health issues, celebrations, crises, etc. – asking for prayer. All of you are also welcome to reach out to me at any time with such requests – for yourself, your family, friends, co-workers, and others. Know that when I receive these requests, I pray!
2. I take these prayer requests and try to bundle them together so I’m not sending out an overwhelming number of emails that fill your inbox. I do send out requests pretty much every day, at times even 2-3 times in a day, depending on requests that come to me and, at times, the urgency of the requests.
3. These will primarily come from me (except when I'm out of town – then Pastor Robin typically will send them out) and will have “prayer requests [date]” in the subject line.
4. When you receive and open up the email, read through the request(s).
5. Then pause for a moment and pray over these requests, lifting them up to the Lord.
6. I try to avoid using this email group as a means to communicate “general needs” that people have, political overtones (although there will be some, for example when it comes to life issues), or a place to advertise something. I work hard to keep it simply as needs people have that they request to be prayed over.

If you’d like to be part of this group, which currently has over 200 people, just email me to let me know and I’ll get you added.

In the meantime, there’s a lot going on these days that we need to be praying about. I’ll close by urging you to keep the following requests on your prayer list: me as your pastor and the staff at our church and school; Immanuel and all our ministries, including our congregation’s elected leaders, the two LCEF studies on our school and land-use, and the strategic planning on which we are embarking; the Church-at-large to be a strong witness and proclamation of Jesus as our only hope; for the spiritual battles that are being waged over so many different issues in schools, in government, on social media, etc.; and for our country, including governing officials at every level, the many divisions that seem to be growing, and for a putting down of any evil-intentioned actions or agendas. Please pray specifically for the many battles that are being waged right now in our Colorado legislature over key issues of parental rights, freedom of speech, protection of children, and issues of gender. There are so many more bullet items I could add, but I’ll let the Lord lead you in what other matters to pray for.

Bottom line? Let’s be people of prayer, trusting our almighty, all-powerful, and all-knowing God, the God who is and who was and who is to come, the Lamb who was slain, and our reigning and ruling King and Savior with these many matters, and entrusting ourselves confidently to Him! We are blessed, beyond a doubt! And so we move forward confidently and boldly with His leading, guiding, and directing.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Worship is an amazing, powerful, and beautiful gift our Lord has given us. Our Easter series on Revelation, Worthy is the Lamb: A Vision of Hope and Victory, led us into one of the many outbursts of worship and praise that we find in the book of Revelation, and we had the opportunity to explore worship a little deeper yesterday in the message. In my article today, I want to highlight a few other aspects of worship that we value here at Immanuel.

What is foundational about worship, as is the case with almost everything we do here at Immanuel, is that worship is grounded in God’s Word and is focused on Jesus. That comes through loud and clear throughout Revelation – these regularly recurring times of worship are always the direct result of remembering and acknowledging Jesus as the Lamb who was slain who has victoriously risen from the dead and is now seated on the throne as our reigning and ruling King and Savior.

At Immanuel, God’s Word undergirds, forms, shapes, and guides every worship service and directs us straight to Jesus. The Invocation takes us back to baptism and also reminds us that we worship the Triune God of the Scriptures. Calls to Worship are either direct Scripture passages or based on God’s Word. The same can be said of our time of Confession and Forgiveness. We typically read three different sections of the Bible in worship – an Old Testament reading or a reading from the book of Acts, a reading from one of the New Testament Epistles, and a reading from one of the Gospels. It’s one or more of those readings that form the basis for the children’s message as well as my preaching. The hymns, songs, and music are all based on Scripture. The Creeds flow directly from God’s Word. The offering and prayers are responses to what God has told us about each of those important parts of our following Jesus. For the Lord’s Supper, we hear Jesus’ Words of Institution, again, straight from the Bible. Even the four questions I ask come from 1 Corinthians 11. The Benediction and Sending are from Numbers 6:24. All of worship tells the story of God’s redeeming work as revealed in Scripture.

Because worship is immersed in God’s Word, it informs us – of Jesus, of life, of Truth. I had mentioned two specific things in my message yesterday. One, worship is not just about the sermon. And two, the goal of the sermon, or of worship in general, is not just to “get something out of it.” This is clear from the times of worship in Revelation. While key parts of worship are music and the sermon, there is so much more to it! Worship is a full-bodied experience that is directed to our Triune God, who is indeed worthy of praise! We, as God’s creation, are here to echo back to our Creator and Redeemer all that He has spoken to us and poured into us. That is what we know and that is what we can do!

While my preaching informs, instructs, and helps us see how we are part of God’s Story and how God’s Story applies to each of our lives, it is not the end-all in worship. Oftentimes I ask questions and invite all of you into the sermon. That provides the opportunity for community as well as involvement of all ages, to engage with each other around God’s Word. But there may be times that you don’t seem to get anything out of the sermon. Or similarly, there may be times that you don’t particularly enjoy the music on a particular Sunday. Or for parents with young kiddos who may spend more time going back and forth to the bathroom or into the atrium or trying to keep their little ones corralled than hearing and taking in the sermon, I tell them, “That’s OK!” The end-all is not “getting something” out of the sermon or even out of worship. These parents and their children (actually all of us!), just by being present in worship, surrounded by people of all ages, are being reminded – or learning from a young age – that we are part of something far bigger than ourselves, something that is pretty awesome – the Body of Christ, a community of believers and followers of Jesus. As little or as old as we may be, we are invaluable members of the Lord’s Church! We go through seasons of life and for those parents, a time will come, as those children grow and learn and are developmentally able to sit and listen, that you will discover that being together in worship week-in and week-out, has had a profound impact on shaping and forming you into who you are as a beloved, forgiven, baptized child of God!

And so we come, week after week, in gratitude and thanks to our God, the Lamb who was slain, to remember what He has done for us – that He’s given us the victory over sin, death, and the devil, and that it’s because of Him that we have hope in our lives, no matter what we may be going through. My prayer is that this has been helpful and I encourage you to put this week’s What Now? on your bathroom mirror or in your bedroom or on your vehicle’s dashboard, and let the outbursts of worship and praise be part of your day-to-day living as a beloved child of the King!

What Now?

Ask the Lord to fill you with a renewed sense of wonder and awe, praise and thanksgiving in our times of worship together throughout this Easter series and beyond. Begin each day with these words of worship and praise to our Savior: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever! Amen!”

We also have just two more weeks with the “Love Challenge” that began on February 2^nd! Week #14 – “Love always perseveres.”

What Now?

Print out 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (provided below). Each week for the next 16 weeks, take one of the characteristics of love and look for ways to express it – to your spouse, your kids, your friend-group. Be creative, have fun with it, talk about it, and grow in the love our Savior has shown to us as we show it to each other.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.”

Love Always Perseveres

This kind of love endures even through the most difficult trials.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Serving together in Christ alone!

Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Today, Thursday, May 1^st, is the National Day of Prayer (NDP). For many, many years we have observed and been involved in the National Day of Prayer at Immanuel, knowing how foundational prayer is for our lives as Christians. The theme for this year’s NDP is, “Pour Out to the God of HOPE and be Filled,” based on Romans 15:13. Take time today to lift our nation and all its elected officials up to our risen Savior! I’ve included a couple pictures from today’s NDP service here at Immanuel over the lunch hour.

On this National Day of Prayer, we remember our Lord’s words through James (5:16), “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,” an assurance that is true not only on this National Day of Prayer but every day of our lives! What a gift our God and Father has given us that we can come to Him with matters big and small and He stands ready to wrap His arms around us and listen to our hearts. I encourage you, if you haven’t already, to spend time in prayer today. If you need some help or direction, here are some ideas that I hold out to you that I’m borrowing from Dr. Jerry Kieschnick (former president of our church body, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod) and his weekly blog from a few years back:

• For school children and teachers.
• For husbands and wives who face every day marital stress and disharmony.
• For common sense and selfless service from political leaders at all levels.
• For healing of friends and acquaintances experiencing illness of any kind.
• For protection and safety for people on both sides of our southern border.
• For military personnel, especially those in highly dangerous assignments.
• For law enforcement officers called upon to make split-second decisions.
• For medical personnel who risk their personal health in caring for others.
• For upholding the sanctity of life—for the unborn and people of all ages.
• For children in our country and world who go to bed hungry every night.
• For Christians around the world who face daily and deadly persecution.
• For primary care givers of loved ones with chronic, debilitating illness.
• For our nation to withstand ungodly influence from within and without.
• For soaking rainfall in areas of severe or even moderate drought.
• For Christian churches, pastors, teachers, and missionaries.
• For Christian teachers and administrators in public schools.
• For people in the path of violent storms of any kind.
• For women (and men) living with abusive spouses.
• For people who struggle with gender identity.
• For comfort for those who’ve lost loved ones.
• For peace in our sorely divided nation.
• For good health—a genuine blessing.
• For single parents and their children.
• For children living in abusive homes.

Of course, feel free to add other prayers that are on your hearts and minds including prayers for family, friends, co-workers, classmates, colleagues, neighbors, as well as other situations of need and of joy. I would also ask that you pray today for our ministry together at Immanuel – for our school ministry, for enrollment for next year, for wisdom and direction, for upcoming major events of the Car Show and Vacation Bible School, for our staff, for our leaders, and for all who call Immanuel home.

What a privilege that God has given us this gift of prayer! Exercise that gift today (and every day!) as we come humbly yet confidently to our Lord with all our needs, joys, challenges, struggles, and celebrations.

I realized on Monday night that I had forgotten to include the “Love Challenge” in my Monday article – sorry about that! So here’s what I hope you’ve been practicing and working on in this week #13 – “Love always hopes.”

What Now?
Print out 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (provided below). Each week for the next 16 weeks, take one of the characteristics of love and look for ways to express it – to your spouse, your kids, your friend-group. Be creative, have fun with it, talk about it, and grow in the love our Savior has shown to us as we show it to each other.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.”

Love Always Hopes
This kind of love hopes for the best where others are concerned, knowing God is faithful to complete the work he started in us. This hope-filled love encourages others to press forward in the faith.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  As we’ve begun our Easter worship series on Revelation, my prayer is that our time together in this intriguing book of the Bible will bring some true encouragement, help, and hope to everyone!

As I’ve been following-up on various emails, texts, and other conversations today, it’s hard for me to not be overwhelmed with compassion that I’m feeling for so many of you dealing with such heavy issues, challenges, and struggles in your lives. For me, this has brought home just how critical it is for us to stay grounded in our Savior, in His Easter victory, and in the hope He gives us!

My encouragement to all of you today is to not give up, no matter what it is you find yourself facing. The world all around us may feel either like it’s completely falling apart or else it’s completely in the hands of the evil one. Yes, this world is a broken world, just as you and I are broken people. That’s what sin has done to us. And yes, as John in Revelation will point out, Satan is not going to let Jesus and the Gospel message go unchallenged – he’s going to continue to increase his persecution of believers and we must stand fast on the Truth of Jesus, His Word, and His promises. And while the battle rages on, we hold the victory because of Jesus – don’t ever forget that! You are not alone, and the battle has already been won!

I pray that our journey through the Book of Revelation will help us stay grounded and hope filled. If you missed yesterday’s message, you can check it out at the link at the end of this email. Yesterday was heavily introductory, laying out a lot of groundwork that is going to be helpful in understanding all that we’ll be reading and hearing in the weeks to come, but all of it is so applicable when it comes to the lives we’ve been called to lead as followers of Jesus.

God’s Word is timeless and His Vision of Hope and Victory in Revelation is a message He sent directly to you and me in our world today! I’ve included the What Now? from yesterday for you to put to work in your life this week:

What Now?

Keep calm and carry on – because Christ is risen and victorious! Put any fears, anxiousness, or concerns you face this week into the hands of our risen Savior and ask Him to replace those with the confidence and hope we know in Him.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! We will continue to shout out that victory proclamation throughout the Easter season over the next six weeks! And this Sunday, we’re beginning a new series on the book of Revelation entitled, Worthy Is the Lamb: A Vision of Hope and Victory.

Throughout the Easter season we’ll be looking at some key passages in the book of Revelation. Contrary to a lot of contemporary thinking, Revelation is not a puzzle that God gave to us to figure out. It can be a puzzling book at times, however, with all the symbols and numbers and unusual imagery. The purpose of this revelation that the Lord gave to the disciple John was to share with all of God’s people a vision of hope and victory. At the time of this vision there was a great deal of persecution that God’s people and His Church were experiencing and some were feeling discouraged, were losing hope, and felt ready to give up. In this series, we won’t be focusing heavily on the symbology and numerology of this fascinating book of the Bible; rather, we’ll be taking in its powerful message of hope that comes in the victory of the Lamb, a message that continues to speak to us as God’s people and His Church today.

I hope you’ll be able to join me each of the next six weeks for this important series that will speak directly to the lives we lead as our Savior’s Easter people!

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Today I want to express a few thank yous for those who helped make our Holy Week and Easter celebrations even more amazing. Before I get there, I want to give a quick reminder about the congregational meeting tonight (Tuesday) at 6:30pm in the sanctuary. This is a follow-up to the LCEF Listening Meeting from April 1^st and an opportunity for me to share a bit more about what is happening in the bigger picture of Immanuel ministries and also field questions that you may have. All are invited to attend.

With regard to some thank yous from Holy Week and Easter. First, thank you to all who extended invitations to others to come to worship and express our Savior’s Radical Hospitality in a very real way. I want to thank Kathy Schlecht, our Director of Worship and Music Ministries, for putting together all those times of worship as well as for her musical leadership. Thank you to all of our musicians – vocalists and instrumentalists – for using your gifts and musical abilities to enhance our worship times in a beautiful and powerful way. Thank you to all who served in our many, many worship support roles, including ushering, greeting, acolyting, basket holding, reading scripture, serving communion, serving as head elder, hammering, counting and recording financial gifts, decorating, live streaming, sound and lights, screens, altar guild and preparing the Lord’s Supper and changing the paraments – you are all invaluable!

Next, thank you to Emma Giger, our Director of Christian Education Intern, for prepping and leading the awesome opportunities for the children and families, and for her amazing group of leaders (adults and youth) who helped with the Easter breakfast, including set-up, prepping, cooking, serving, and clean up. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously in supplies, food, and financial donations to help make the Easter breakfast a great fundraiser for our youth and their upcoming summer trip to the National Youth Gathering.

Thank you to all who helped with hanging banners and butterflies (including David Bongers, the co-creator of all those butterflies!) in the sanctuary and atrium, for Greg and Sandy Northrup and Greg Vibber and Cindy Eversole who beautifully decorated and kept up “the dent” in the center of the atrium. Thank you to Cindy Eversole who ordered, arranged, and cared for all the Easter lilies and flowers up front in the chancel area, and put together the planters by the front door. Thank you to all who donated toward the beautiful Easter lilies and fresh flowers, as well as all who brought fresh flowers to create this beautiful flower-cross masterpiece! Thank you to everyone who got their picture taken to help further our online picture directory, and to Pastor Robin, our picture-taker. Thank you to all of you for making Immanuel such an amazing community of faith! And finally, thanks and praise, honor and glory to our risen and victorious Savior Jesus Christ, for the gift of life, grace, and hope!

Finally, thank you to everyone who responded to my Easter message questions – “Why does Easter matter to you?” If you haven’t responded yet but are planning on it or would like to, I’d love to hear from you! Send me an email with why Easter matters to you! And then carry on with that thought, as I expressed in this week’s What Now? Plus, enjoy a few pictures from the day that Pastor Robin, our resident Easter photographer!   

What Now?

Christ is risen! How can you live this week (and beyond) like that matters? …with your words, your attitude, in your conversations, through your relationships, at your vocation, and more!

Lastly, the “Love Challenge” that we began on February 2^nd is still going and we are now on week #12 – “Love always trusts.” Keep going with this and practice this amazing gift of love that our Lord has given us.

What Now?

Print out 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (provided below). Each week for the next 16 weeks, take one of the characteristics of love and look for ways to express it – to your spouse, your kids, your friend-group. Be creative, have fun with it, talk about it, and grow in the love our Savior has shown to us as we show it to each other.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.”

Love Always Trusts

This love gives others the benefit of the doubt, sees the best in others, and trusts in their good intentions.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Serving together in Christ alone!

Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

A blessed Good Friday to you all! As we continue our Holy Week observances, celebrations, and worship services this week, don’t forget about the opportunity right in front of us. That opportunity is to extend an invitation for others to join you for one or all of Immanuel’s worship services. With Easter, many people may be more open to have faith-related discussions and even invitations to come to worship. Don’t let this pass you by. And remember, this isn’t about arm-twisting or loading a guilt-trip on someone. Let the conversations and the invitations flow out of the relationships you have – with family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow gym-mates, and others in your life. Don’t be afraid about not being able to answer every question that may be thrown at you – I’m not sure anybody knows all the answers to questions people have. Rather, approach conversations and extend invitations out of the love and the care you have for those people in your life.

If you do invite someone to join you for one of our worship services, go out of your way to show some Radical Hospitality. Offer to pick them up or tell them you’ll meet them in the parking lot and walk in with them. Walking in the front doors can be the hardest step someone can take – make it as easy and as stress-free as possible. On Easter morning, “buy” them breakfast in the gym. Introduce them to me and to others here at Immanuel that you know. Let the genuine love that I see here week-in and week-out flow freely through this Easter season.

If people in your life aren’t ready to walk in the doors, remember that live stream is yet another option for them to “safely” check things out. Tonight’s 7:00pm service will be livestreamed as will all of our Easter services (6:00am, 8:00am and 10:30am), all of which can be found on Immanuel’s website (www.ImmanuelLoveland.org).

All are welcome and I hope to see many new and familiar faces as we gather together to worship our Savior, our King, our Victor in the coming days in the joy and the hope we know!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word mandatum where we get our English word “mandate.” Among many other things, what Jesus gave to His disciples (and to us!) in the Upper Room on that Thursday evening was a new command or mandate. Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

It was also on that night that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Jesus and His disciples were in the Upper Room celebrating the Passover meal – a meal that foreshadowed all that Jesus had come to do in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Jesus transformed the Passover meal into what He intended it to ultimately be, our weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

There was much more that went on, some of which we’ll be talking about in our Maundy Thursday worship services tomorrow. Those services are at 1:00pm and 7:00pm. We’ll celebrate the Lord’s Supper at both services and there will be the Stripping of the Altar at the end of the 7:00pm service. That is part of the preparation or transition into Good Friday, as Jesus and His disciples headed out from the Upper Room to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus would be betrayed and arrested.

The following day we will observe Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, with worship services at 1:00pm and 7:00pm. Both worship services are identical with the exception of the music – the 1:00pm service will include accompaniment by harp and flute; the 7:00pm service includes an instrumental ensemble accompanying the singing, as well as participation by the Chancel Choir. Both services focus on the events of the death of our Savior using various Psalms, the account of the events of that day from the Gospel of Matthew, pictures from The Passion of the Christ that accompany the Scripture readings, and dimming of the lights throughout the service until total darkness.

All are welcome at these worship services as we continue to follow our Lord through these powerful days as Jesus looked to complete the mission for which He came – to bring life, hope, and restoration to our world! I hope you can join me and many others over these next two days as we join Christians around the world in our observance of these events. If you’re not able to be here in person, the 7:00pm services on both Thursday and Friday will be live streamed which can be found on Immanuel’s website (www.ImmanuelLoveland.org).

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

First, I want to express my thanks to the many of you who came out Saturday morning for our Spring Work Day! Lots of things that needed attention were able to get done, cleaned up, and checked off the list. Thank you, everyone, for giving the time you were able to give to spruce things up for our Easter celebration!

Holy Week is obviously the main focus around here right now. Yesterday’s celebration of Palm Sunday was a wonderful start to this powerful, meaningful, and important week for all of us who are followers of Jesus. I absolutely love seeing the sanctuary full of waving palm branches as we sing out the powerful Palm Sunday hymns and songs. Having the children (and others!) walk around the sanctuary during that time touches my heart, seeing the littlest among us joining their voices in praising our King!

However, our celebration of Palm Sunday, along with our Maundy Thursday and Good Friday observances, are not supposed to be just sentimental remembrances. These times of worship, along with our Easter celebrations, help us to realize how important Jesus is when it comes to our lives today. Jesus brings power to the lives we lead. And He offers us hope, especially when we find ourselves up against very real challenges and struggles in our lives. Our faith and trust in Jesus can make a real, tangible difference in the lives we lead, the attitude we carry, and the outlook we have.

Invite people in your life to join you for these upcoming times of worship as we gather together to be inspired and encouraged by our Savior and the victory that we know is ours. I look forward to seeing many of you in the days to come!

What Now?

Let God’s Story continue to be told in your life. Come back on Thursday and Friday and Sunday as we keep walking with Jesus as He fulfills His mission of love and life for us.

The “Love Challenge” that we began on February 2^nd is still going and we are now on week #11 – “Love always protects.” Keep going with this and practice this amazing gift of love that our Lord has given us.

What Now?

Print out 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (provided below). Each week for the next 16 weeks, take one of the characteristics of love and look for ways to express it – to your spouse, your kids, your friend-group. Be creative, have fun with it, talk about it, and grow in the love our Savior has shown to us as we show it to each other.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.”

Love Always Protects

This kind of love will always expose the sin of others in a safe way that won't bring harm, shame, or damage, but will restore and protect.

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

There has been a lot on my mind and on my heart since our visit last week from Jonathan and Kristie with Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) and, in particular, the Tuesday night Listening Session that many of you attended. I’d like to address some of the anxiousness that I’m sensing around Immanuel right now, likely stemming from the combination of the financial challenges we’ve been dealing with and the studies we’re pursuing with LCEF.

To do that, I’m writing this and sharing with you from my heart as I’ve been processing and praying over these matters for some time now. I would also like to provide an opportunity for us as a congregation to come together again, for those who would have that desire, to talk through all of what I’m sharing here, to provide an opportunity to ask questions, and to work through this together. That date and time will be Tuesday, April 22^nd at 6:30pm in the sanctuary.

The first thing I want to do is express my gratitude. I’m thankful for the honor I have to be your pastor as I’ve served with you for the past 35 years through lots of ups and downs, always furthering the Kingdom! I look forward to many more years still ahead of us as we keep serving together, worshiping together, and carrying out our Lord’s mission together here in Loveland.

I’m also thankful for the response so many of you have had to my sharing of our current financial situation and the projected outlook for the remainder of this fiscal year. I’m humbled that so many of you have raised your level of giving, some of you again, and that some of you have given some significant over-and-above gifts. And thank you to all who give faithfully, regularly, sacrificially, and generously to the Lord through His ministry here at Immanuel! It takes all of us together to do what He’s calling us to do and to be His people in this community!

I also want to share with you what was shared with me on Monday night of this week. Dawn Bowers informed me that we received an anonymous gift of stock that was valued at approximately $100,000 to be used wherever it is most needed. I was speechless at this news. Praise God! Praise God for His provision, for His moving the hearts of His people here, and for His abundant blessings that He continues to pour out on us! We will be good stewards of this gift, working carefully to determine when the appropriate time to liquidate this gift will be.

I believe the two studies that we have contracted with LCEF to complete with and for us are going to be very helpful tools in moving forward with ministry. Let me speak first to the school study. This study is taking an internal look at our current processes for tuition and childcare, our staffing, the classes we offer, marketing and PR, and other data. It’s also looking at other schools in our community, including public, charter, private, and Christian. LCEF will be pulling demographic data for our region to help us better understand the population and potential for students that we have. Once the study is complete, they will offer some recommendations for us to consider, based on the data they’ve collected, their on-site visit with us, and the many conversations they had. The Board of Christian Day School (Immanuel’s school board) will look closely at these recommendations and consider which seem to make sense for us to implement. The BCDS will express their recommendations to the Executive Council and the congregation to hear and consider.

Regarding the land, when God opened the door in 2005 for us to purchase these 25.5 acres of prime real estate on which to build Immanuel, there was a bigger vision and a master plan that carried us through the relocation journey. That master plan and vision included some of the following: a stand-alone sanctuary directly to the west of the current building; another building that could be dedicated to youth ministry or more childcare or another gym with additional classrooms or gathering space, which would be directly to the north of the building, across the street and next to the baseball fields; a maintenance building on the southeast part of the property; baseball/softball fields on the northeast quadrant; a track and soccer field on the northwest quadrant. In addition, I had often spoken of more possibilities for us to keep thinking about, the most significant of those included some type of senior housing, which could provide opportunities for some types of intergenerational ministry with our school as well as our church’s children’s and youth ministries. I’m attaching a color-copy of the Landscape Irrigation plans which shows the build-out of the Master Plan.

We have now been here in this building for 17 years (wow!!). I share all of this in order to remind ourselves that the intention of this relocation was not that we maintain many acres of open fields of land. The intention has always been that we will use this amazing location for furthering the Kingdom, for ministry! Plenty has changed over the course of 17+ years when these initial plans were laid out. The need for a track and soccer field have diminished with changes in our middle school. The same could be said for the baseball/softball fields. It doesn’t seem prudent to consider building a stand-alone sanctuary at this time when our current sanctuary is providing us with adequate space right now. We have other options that are serving us well with regard to storage of our maintenance equipment and supplies.

That begs the question, what is the Lord calling us to do right now and for the foreseeable future with this land with which He has blessed us? Let’s circle back to the LCEF studies. The school study will help us estimate what we can anticipate for future enrollment, including all phases of our school ministry – toddlers, childcare, preschool, kindergarten through 5^th grade, middle school, and high school. That will enable us to make some decisions on the land needs we might have for the future of our school and its associated programs and extra-curriculars.

What opportunities are available for us with the rest of our land for ministry? I can assure you that the plan is NOT to simply sell off parcels of our land to random businesses or developers. The plan is to ask how we can be creative when it comes to meeting needs in our community that might provide open doors to sharing the Good News of Jesus. The LCEF Land-Use study is asking that question from the standpoint of providing not only ministry opportunities but also an ongoing revenue stream. Right now, to my knowledge, they will be focusing attention on exploring multi-family dwellings and various options with senior housing. They will look at what’s going on in our community, what needs are being expressed in our community, plans submitted through the City of Loveland for future developments, demographics, etc.

I believe this moment in time, in conjunction with the work LCEF is doing on our behalf, is providing us with the opportunity to be creative and prayerful about all sorts of options and opportunities that we could consider. The questions in my mind go in these directions:

1. With regard to our financial challenges:
   • How can we raise and grow our enrollment across the grades?
   • Are there opportunities to expand childcare and preschool programs?
   • What are some third-source funding options to tap into the resources outside of our congregation and school families for those who would have an interest in supporting a Christian school in our community?
   • Are there creative ways we can pay down our mortgage and reduce how much we pay annually for that?
2. With regard to the use of our land for ministry:
   • Is there some creative, out-of-the-box thinking that we can do to generate new ideas?

This is an exciting time for us, a time to take the next step in Immanuel’s history. This is not a matter of “giving up” our land, but rather stepping into the future the Lord is preparing for us with how we use it. How will the blessings we have received be used for sharing the Gospel and furthering the Kingdom? As with everything we do for the Kingdom, there are risks, it takes faith, it requires prayer, and we need to remember clearly the mission and vision the Lord has given us. Be assured that nothing is set in stone right now – no decisions have been made. Let’s work together to not let this matter be something we let the devil use to drive wedges between us, but rather, let it be a time of growing stronger and moving together in our discussions and brainstorming, and toward whatever decisions are eventually made!

As with the school study, LCEF will bring back recommendations to us with regard to possible uses of our land. Those recommendations will be looked at, considered, prayed over, and talked about in leadership and with the congregation before any final decisions get made.

If you have questions or comments or ideas, you can direct them to various people – to me, to Shawn York our Executive Council and congregation president (ECchair@ImmanuelLoveland.org), to our school principal Cheryl Gilbert (cgilbert@ImmanuelLoveland.org), to Becky York our BCDS chair (BCDSchair@ImmanuelLoveland.org), or to your Elder.

We are here because we love the Lord and because we love what He is doing here at Immanuel. Thank you for praying over all these very important matters before us. Thank you for engaging in these processes and for being involved in the various ministries at Immanuel. Thank you for being here.

Serving together in Christ alone!

Pastor Glen