Friday, March 19, 2010

CHIMES: THE NEWSLETTER OF DUNBAR EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, MARCH 2010

                             
March 2010

From the Pastor
The Lenten Journey

We are fast approaching the middle of the Lenten season, the time of preparation and fasting. Lent is a time to contemplate the great gift God has given us in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Some think Lent has to be a time for doom and gloom. But this isn’t true. On the contrary, Lent is a time of looking forward--looking forward to Easter, when we celebrate God’s great victory through Jesus Christ, and the gift of eternal life, which is promised in baptism.  So take time to contemplate what this means, and to listen to God’s voice as it directs you according to the way of Jesus. Take time to Study the Word of God, Holy Scripture. Take time to pray, and take time to act in love.
Before we celebrate Easter, we will journey through Holy Week. First we journey through Palm Sunday, which celebrates Jesus arrival to Jerusalem. Multitudes greeted Jesus, but would soon abandon Him. On Maundy Thursday, we celebrate Holy Communion, and remember the Last Supper, the night Jesus was betrayed. Following Holy Communion, the altar is stripped and covered with black cloth. On Good Friday, we join in worship, and hear the Passion of Christ read aloud. This was the day Jesus was crucified for the sake of the world. Within forty-eight hours, the darkest moment in salvation history is transformed into the brightest, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord! We come together and celebrate the day of resurrection, and our own new life in the risen Lord.
Please note our Holy Week Schedule, and please invite a friend!

Palm Sunday: March 28, 10:30 am with Holy Communion.
Maundy Thursday:  April 1, 7:30pm with Holy Communion.
Good Friday: April 2, 10:30 am.
Easter Sunday: April 4, 10:30 am with Holy Communion, 8:30am hot breakfast

Your Servant in Christ,
Pastor Thomas Keeley


From the President
“Winning Gold”

The flame is out, the party is over – 14 gold (26 medals) and to put icing on cake – “Hockey Gold”.  “Now we believe”, Canada believes and the world believes.

Globe & Mail said post game blues are part of every host Olympic city, now it’s Vancouver’s turn.  I do not agree with this comment.  What a super experience to have the winter games in our city and Whistler and Richmond.  Ute and I attended 14 Olympic events, Vancouver, Cypress and Whistler, opening and closing ceremonies and Russia and Canada hockey.  We even missed one event in Whistler.  We needed a break and watched some TV Olympics, and just rest our feet.

                  Dunbar Church and the whole Christian world is now in Lent, and soon Christ’s death and Easter, Christ’s resurrection.  We also won a gold medal.  We also should be cheering, shouting and jumping up and down.  We are all assured a gold medal and be so proud to wear this medal with pride.  Tell each other, tell your friends, tell the world that a gold medal is just for saying “I believe”, that Christ died and rose just for me, and gave us all victory.

                  In closing I would like to say to all the athletes and thousands of volunteers “From every Canadian in every home, in every community you have made us all very proud to be Canadian.”  And many thanks and God bless us all.

In Him,
Hans Gust
Council President



Text Box: SUNDAY SERVICE SCHEDULE:MARCH

Communion Helpers
14:  Phill Little
28:  Carmen Funk

Readers
7:   Tineke Hers
14: Nancy Little
21: Ian Ferguson
28: Ute Gust
         ENCOUNTER:
An Introduction to Christianity continues….
        Wed March 10, 17 and 24.


* REMEMBER TO “SPRING”            FORWARD AND TURN YOUR CLOCKS ONE HOUR AHEAD NEXT WEEK, SUNDAY, MARCH 14!


AND NOW A WORD FROM MARTIN………………

“This life is a journey on which we constantly progress from faith to faith, from love to love, from patience to patience, and from cross to cross. It is not righteousness but justification; not cleanness but cleansing. We have not reached the goal but are all journeying toward it. Some have progressed much further on their way than others. God is satisfied to find that we work with determination”.
                                                                                                --Rev Dr. Luther.



On the lighter side……..

The Limo  The Pope had just finished a tour of the East Coast and was taking a limousine to the airport. Having never driven a limo, he asked the chauffeur if he could drive for awhile.
Well, the chauffeur didn't have much of a choice, so the chauffeur climbs in the back of the limo and the Pope takes the wheel. The Pope proceeds to hop on Route 95 and starts accelerating to see what the limo could do. He gets to about 90 miles per hour and, WHAM, there are the blue lights of our friendly State Police in his mirror.
He pulls over and the trooper comes to his window. Seeing who it was the trooper says "just a moment please I need to call in."
The constable radio's in and asks for the chief. He tells the chief "I've got a REALLY important person pulled over and I need to know what to do. "
The chief replies "Who is it, not Ted again ?"
The trooper says," No, even more important. "
The chief replies, "It's the Premier, is it?"
The trooper replies "No, even more important."
" It's isn't the Prime Ministeris it?"
"No, more important", replies the trooper.
"Well WHO the HECK is it!", screams the chief.
" I don't know" says the trooper. "But he's got the Pope as a chauffeur!"

Heavenly Rates A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates.
St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in." 
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a point."
"One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"TWO POINTS!!" the man cries, "At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!"
"Come on in!"
The Cowboy in Church One Sunday a cowboy went to church. When he entered, he saw that he and the preacher were the only ones present. The preacher asked the cowboy if he wanted him to go ahead and preach. The cowboy said, "I'm not too smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I'd feed him."So the minister began his sermon.One hour passed, then two hours, then two-and-a-half hours. 
The preacher finally finished and came down to ask the cowboy how he liked the sermon. 
The cowboy answered slowly,"Well, I'm not very smart, but if I went to feed my cattle and only one showed up, I sure wouldn't feed him all the hay."






This is a beginning…….Notice that blank spot up above? We want to hear from you! Please feel free to suggest changes  or additions to the newsletter. It’s yours, after all! We are looking for your submissions—stories, info or pictures you would like to share.