November 2012 - Atonement Lutheran Church

DISCOVER GOD’S LOVE
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The newsletter of
ATONEMENT
CHURCH
Wesley Chapel
Florida
DISCOVER
GOD’S LOVE
November 2012
November 2012
DISCOVER GOD’S LOVE
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November 2012
Discover God’s Love
is the monthly newsletter of
Atonement Lutheran Church
29617 State Rd. 54 Wesley Chapel, FL 33543
Office: (813) 973-2211 Fax: (813) 973-0950 Email: [email protected]
SUNDAY WORSHIP:10am
Pastor Scott Lindner
Choir Director Ruby Agnir
Office Coordinator Kay Edwards
Keyboard Player Kenneth Hanks
Newsletter Editor Carol Reams
on the web:
MAIN SITE
www.be-at-1.org
MULTIMEDIA
atonementlutheran.net
YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/user/AtonementWC
PICTURES
https://picasaweb.google.com/116772807984860510984
FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=194919999965
Contents
a chat with the pastor…………….. 3
Worship pictures……....……...….. 5
Trunk or Treat / Cake auction……. 6
WELCA………………..……………...7
Youth………….…….………………8-9
Music Corner…….………………….10
Food Pantry………………………11-12
Reformation Pictures……………….13
Ministry Contacts………………..14-15
Information…………………………...17
Misc. pictures………………………...18
Calendar……………………………...20
Above: Stand Clear! Detlev Aeppel is on the job!; Right: Volunteers spent a week putting up
new sound panels along the back wall of the sanctuary to improve the sound quality.
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November 2012
a chat with the pastor
We continually remember before our God and Father
your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love,
and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
— 1 Thessalonians 1:3
These words from the earliest of Paul’s
letters in the Bible, possibly the earliest Christian
writing still in existence, feel so fresh to me 2000
years later because they might as well have been
written about our own congregation. There is no
better way to sum up what Atonement has been
about over the past 25 years than to look at these
three important outcomes of a mission-driven
church: 1. works of faith; 2. labors of love; 3.
inspired endurance.
It was a work of faith that first brought
hope-filled Christians to buy a piece of property
on State Rd. 54 when there was little else here
but swamps and cow pastures. Bruce B. Downs
was the road from Tampa to nowhere, and
people all went into Zephyrhills to shop or eat
out. Everyone knew this area was ripe for
growth and no one knew the day or hour it would
happen, but my friend Matt Cox heard God’s call
and moved his ministry from Montana to a
storefront in an out-of-the way crossroad called
Wesley Chapel.
By faith a building was built and
consecrated, and a baptismal shell fished from
the depths of the sea formed the centerpiece of a
multi-use worship space. A newsletter was
developed called ―The Shell-seeker.‖ The shell
as a symbol of baptism inspired the building’s
design as well as the logo for the congregation,
reminding us always that who were and what we
do all spring from our identity as children of
God, cleansed and claimed by the water of life.
Through the years, countless labors of
love became the expressions of that faith.
Through partnerships with the mission in Dade
City and Christian Social Services in Land
O’Lakes, Atonement’s members reached out and
into the community through Share programs, an
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annual Giving Tree and Christmas Bazaar. Local
support groups and scout troops were given
meeting space in the building. Then came the
incredible Helping Hands Food ministry, which has
made a name for us in the community more than
anything else. But who can count all the many
individuals over the years who came here seeking
help and also found a compassionate welcome
from the people of Atonement?
Still, the tale of Atonement’s first 25 years
seems to be most about inspired endurance. In
my own records, I have a list of over 1000 different
families (besides members) who have worshiped at
Atonement since I have been the pastor here. But
even before I arrived, this church counted over
50,000 worshippers who came through the doors.
When Atonement faced a financial crisis and was
contemplating closing, church consultant Gus
Smith wrote the following in a letter:
Over the years I have called and asked for assistance for
other congregations who were carrying heavy financial
burdens. This time I am going all out with the total of my
being for this particular congregation…because I strongly
believe in them, and feel that I want to help them in every way
possible to fulfill their mission. Every once in awhile a
November 2012
congregation comes along that has a special spark about it,
that you just know that it will take off eventually and
become exceptionally strong in its Mission and Ministry.
Atonement is one of those exceptional ones. On this one, I
think we need to think much less of the return on the financial
investment in the congregation and more on the very essence
of its being and highly promising future. It is not a country
club or social organization or in business to make a profit.
This is a church of God that has and continues to make a
difference in this community.
Thanks to the inspired endurance of
Atonement’s members, former pastors and
interims, along with the bishops and church leaders
who saw the ―special spark‖ of the Holy Spirit
igniting lives for Christ — and most of all, thanks
to God — we are celebrating 25 years of
exceptional ministry. How amazing to look back
and see that we finally did ―take off,‖ made it in the
air, and are well on our way to an amazing future!
Peace,
Pastor Scott
“a chat with the pastor” is online at:
http://pastorchat.blogspot.com/
Left: At the
Making Strides for
Breast Cancer
event at the
Wiregrass Mall
October 20, Ken
Patten and
daughter Jennifer
were caught
showing their
moves with the
Jazzercise ladies.
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November 2012
Before and after worship scenes include the baptism of Thomas Garvin
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November 2012
Top rows: The second annual Trunk or Treat at Atonement was a fun, safe way to celebrate Halloween;
Bottom row: The youth cake auction displayed the creative baking talents of the church’s youth.
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Youth News for November 2012
Youth had a great turn out for the Cake Auction. We had 8 cakes that were all delicious and
beautifully decorated. Top 3 favorite cakes were Brian Lindner’s Rubik’s Cube, Cassandra
Lenz’s Castle cake, and Natalie Santoro’s Chocolate, Chocolate cake. We raised $167 from the
cake auction. Thanks for your support and thank you to all who made those fantastic cakes!
On October 14th we handed out just over 70 barn banks to collect change for God’s Global
Barnyard- ELCA World Hunger Appeal. This campaign supports people who are hungry
through projects related to animals and agriculture. We have more barns available if you did not
get one and would like to take one home. We are asking that you return your barns between
Thanksgiving and December 9th. The youth will then count the change and choose our animals
we will gift to God’s Global Barnyard.
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November 2012
We also want to thank all the Youth and families who participated in the Trunk or Treat. A special thanks to the Patten family for setting up the Haunted room. Besides the haunted room
Youth had a bean bag toss and a pumpkin roll. Both kids and adults had some fun while enjoying the costumes, games and candy!
Up coming :
Next youth meeting will be November 4th after service.
November 10th youth will be assisting with the games at the Helping Hands S.O.S. event. For a
donation will take a turn in the dunk tank!
We will be having youth Fellowship both November 11 th (Lindner family) and November 25th
(Chiaramonte family).
The Golf Tournament will be on November 24th at The Tampa Bay Country Club. Starting
time will be 9 am. We should be there by 8:30 to order your lunch etc. Cost $50.00, adults and
$35.00 under 20. If you want to come for lunch only it will be $12.00, includes Golf, Cart
rental and Lunch. There will be some intriguing twist and turns at this year’s tournament so be
sure to sign up as soon as possible! For more information on the Golf Tournament contact Cotta
Ungerer.
We will be putting Christmas Flowers order information in the bulletin by the end of this
month.
September Noisy Offering $ 88.56 Fellowship $35
Other donations $ 82.50
Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.
Brenda Lenz
Youth Leader
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November 2012
THE MUSIC CORNER
November has arrived, bringing reminders of a few things. (1) Veterans Day on the 11 th; (2)
Thanksgiving Day on the 22 nd; and (3) the season of Advent starts at the end of the month.
Our gratitude to the men and women who have sacrificed their lives to fight for freedom in various parts of the world knows no bounds. We continue to pray that those who have survived
and come home find their sacrifice upheld in the highest esteem by everyone, especially the
government. If this esteem has not been given to them in concrete ways, may the coming Commander-in-Chief do something about this glaring Sin of Omission.
Thanksgiving Day comes on the heels of Veterans Day. Although this day is designated as one
special day of thanksgiving, we Christians believe that every day is Thanksgiving Day; that
every day there is always something to thank God for; and that God’s mercies are new every
morning and His bounty is inexhaustible. One of my favorite songs has the following lines:
―He makes the rose an object of His care; He guides the eagle through the pathless air; and
surely He remembers me/us.‖ Another one says ―His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He
cares for me.‖ What beautiful and comforting thoughts these are and there is just one thing for
us to do: BELIEVE.
Of course God’s greatest gift came in the form of a tiny Baby born in a manger, grew up as a
carpenter who was regarded as just an ordinary man in His hometown, and then fulfilled His
mission of redeeming us from the wages of sin which is death, by taking our death upon Himself. We can’t ever undermine the depth of such love from Him who lay down His life for us,
unworthy though we may be.
The choir has begun to work on the Christmas cantata for this season. This is one way that we
show our gratitude to our Redeemer, that we tell the good news in song and recount His birth
with our voices. Why not come and join us in doing all this? If you can sing (no, I don’t expect
a trained or operatic voice) and can keep pitch, rhythm and harmony together, follow my leading, and have the inclination to serve the Lord in this manner, DO COME. Join us on Monday
evenings at 7:30 when we continue to learn this particular musical narration of Christmas.
Monday rehearsals have started and will continue the two weeks before Dec. 16 which is the
scheduled date for the singing of the cantata. There will be only one Monday when I will not
be available – November 12 .
The regular choir rehearsals on Wednesdays will continue at 7:30 p.m., except November 14 th
and December the 5th. Do come and help us make a joyful noise unto the Lord with praise and
thanksgiving.
Ruby L. Agnir
Choir Director
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FAMILIES SERVED
CONSISTING OF
POUNDS OF FOOD DISTRIBUTED
VOLUNTEER HOURS
751
2579
19093.39
805
November 2012
INDIVIDUALS
DEUTERONOMY 15:11 SAYS, “SINCE THERE WILL NEVER CEASE TO BE SOME IN
NEED ON THE EARTH, I THEREFORE COMMAND YOU, “OPEN YOUR HAND TO THE
POOR AND NEEDY NEIGHBOR IN YOUR LAND.”
USDA is still low, but the community is still there for us. Quail Hollow Animal Hospital collected
267 pounds of can goods and will continue offering free nail clippings for food donations.
Grace Church donations dropped which means lower donations to us. Bagelicious donations
are steady with 897 pounds of bagels and Sweetbay donated 2,942.85 Availability from Feeding America is also down as all stores are trying to cut losses. Altogether we had 971.55
pounds of food donated from the community, including a new one which will be donating unopened dairy and juices from Seven Oaks Elementary on a weekly basis.
Our own congregation continues to stop up to the plate and we are so grateful. Our church is
small, but our hearts are big! “Please remember to bring your empty plastic bags.”
The storage unit we rented to place the Postal Food Drive is now empty The last of the food is
now in the small sheds we have on property.
THIS MONTH’S FEATURED GUEST VOLUNTEER IS
Duane Edwards
My name is Duane Edwards and I was born in Saginaw, MI on March 1, 1946. My parents,
who are both in heaven, are Guy and Ivadewll Edwards. I was number 12 out of 13 brothers
and sisters. I have 10 brothers and 2 sisters. I did not have a normal childhood like most kids
did. I dropped out of school in the 7th grade, which I do not advise any child to do today.
In 1964 I married the love of my life, Kay B. Robinson on March 17. We were to be married by
the justice of peace in Saganaw, but when we arrived, he was not there. We later discovered
he was arrested for performing illegal weddings. With Kay’s parents with us, we drove to Birch
Run, MI and found a church that sis marry us. We are married for forty nine years with 5 beautiful daughters who gave us 8 grandchildren, 4 grandsons and 4 granddaughters. We are expecting our first great grandson on or about November 12. His mom’s name is Kendra Kay
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Coleman and his name will be Jace Duane.
I worked for 5 years at Chevrolet Grey Iron foundry in Saginaw and I had to leave that job because of health reasons. My father in law introduce me to road constructions shortly after we
married. I then got hired into underground constructions, which most of the time was not close
to home. I started out as a laborer, then went to pipe layer, then made it to foreman. In 1984,
the economy was very bad and I could not finds work. A company called me and asked I was
interested in going to Sri Lanka putting in pip lines. I worked over there for 4 months and came
home. I returned to Sri Lanka for another 2.5 months. My father had a massive stroke and I
came home. I was in this type of work most of my working life until April 10, 1998. On Good
Friday on the way home from work, about 1 mile from my house, a fellow crossed over the yellow line and hit me head on. My face smashed into the steering wheel, causing a lot of facial
cuts and smashed nose, which required several surgeries. My wife told me I died at least once
in the ambulance. I was diagnosed with a closed head injury and was told I could never work
again. I was still fairly a young man.
After all this, Kay & I decided to experience camping. We bought a fifth wheel in 2003 and
started camping all summer. I really enjoyed this because we met a lot of interesting people. In
2005 I finally talked Kay into moving to Zephyrhills, Fl. for the winter months. We then decided
we wanted to find a church and thanks to my brother, David and his wife took Kay & I to Atonement Lutheran Church and we fell in love with the church. On Christmas Eve, 2008, I found the
love of Jesus and He came into my heart. In 2009, we became members of Atonement. Kay
was the first one to start volunteering and she does not drive, so I had to bring her.
You can find me any given day of the week at the church doing whatever has to be fixed, clean
etc. But my passion is working as a Volunteer at the Helping Hands Food Pantry. I love seeing
those happy faces when our recipients leave. I try to do everything I can humanly to help Carla
with whatever she needs for the pantry. I thank God every day for giving me the opportunity to
help serve Him by helping others. Amen!!
I also have to thank Pastor Scott that Christmas Eve sermon that helped me find Jesus and
Atonement Lutheran Church and all ministries.
Carla and I thank you Duane for all that you do! May God continue to Bless you!
Remember, November 10th is the Pantry’s SOS Breakfast and Fun Day, with lots of games.
Help spread the word! Time 8 am until 2:00 pm here at Atonement Lutheran Church.
As Always,
Yvette Williams & Carla Haberland
“AND TO GODLINESS BROTHERLY KINDNESS, AND TO BROTHERLY KINDNESS CHARITY”
Sherri Alexakos has been transferred to Plant City and her new address is:
Health Center of Plant City
701 Wilder Road
Her direct number 813-752-3247
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REFORMATION PICTURES
November 2012
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November 2012
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MINISTRY CONTACTS (cont’d)
November 2012
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November 2012
The benefits of gratitude
Christians realize that gratitude has spiritual benefits, but now scientists are confirming
its physical, as well.
Professor Robert Emmons found that people who counted their blessings instead of
their burdens were healthier and more optimistic, exercised more and made more progress toward achieving goals. Evidence shows that gratitude can even ease chronic
health conditions.
Emmons, author of “Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier” (Mariner Books), acknowledges that gratitude seems harder to practice during
tough times. But, he notes, “In the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to
energize. In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope.”
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November 2012
USHER SCHEDULE
November 2
November 3
November 7
November 7
November 9
November 13
November 16
November 18
November 22
November 23
November 27
November 8
Maureen Gothke
Stacey Zabel
Ann Davis
Macie Anderson
Matthew Aeppel
Jerry Stripe
Bryon Prescott
A,J. Geisking
Nils Lenz
Brenda Lenz
Phillip Robbins
November 4
Duane Edwards
George Allen
Joe Yankofski
Trudy Headrick
November 11
WELCA
November 18
Mark/Patti/Dominck
Santoro
Nils Lenz
Terry Martin
Willie Escribano
November 25
YOUTH
December 2
Joe Yancofski
Terry Martin
Trudy Headrick
Willie Escribano
Brenda & Nils Lenz
SPECIAL DATES
If you have a birthday or an anniversary
and it has not been listed, please notify
the office or Carol Reams as we want to
include everyone.
Offerings
October 7
October 14
October 21
October 28
$3851.05
$3553.00
$3218.20
$3009.11
ATTENDANCE
October 7
October 14
October 21
October 28
138
141
135
134
Nov. 1
Nov. 4
Nov. 11
Nov. 18-25
Nov. 22
Nov. 25
All Saints Day
Daylight savings ends
Veterans Day
National Bible Week
THANKSGIVING DAY
Christ the King Day
A family prayer
Lord, behold our family here assembled.
We thank you for this place in which we dwell
for the love that unites us,
for the peace accorded us this day,
for the hope with which we expect the morrow,
for the work, the health, the food, and bright
skies, that make our lives delightful
For our friends in all parts of the earth. Amen
Robert Louis Stevenson
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