PJ's January 2014 Blog

Dear Friends, January 1, 2014 Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus the Christ!! What an amazing journey it has been to walk through the Unbinding the Heart and Soul with members of Atonement by e-mail and facebook! I am certain that as we dream about the future of Atonement and the ministry God is calling us to be about we must be a prayerful people!! Let me share with you one of the devotions written by Martha Reese in Unbinding The Heart called – An Hour for the Spirit. It is based on John 14: 16-26. “When you think of God, do you think first of the HUGE God who created the universe, the God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the God “Out There?” I think many people think fist of the majesty and mystery, of awe and power, the transcendent God. But we also talk about the “immanent” God who’s right here with us, in the middle of groups of us, inside each one of us. That’s “God with us.” Jesus in the manger, Jesus who walked on earth, Jesus who is risen and walks beside us, and also the Holy Spirit. Read John 14: 16-26. Jesus was preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection. He told them he would be with them in a different way after his death. God would send the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is available to us, because we’re Jesus’ disciples too. Jesus offers us guidance, power, minute-to-minute connection with God. This isn’t some nice little metaphor. Life in the Spirit is more like plugging into an electric current! Powerful Christians, mystics, prophets and missionaries have sensed the power and subtle leading of the Holy Spirit for thousands of years now. Too many of us leave God at arm’s length, “up in the sky,” a vaguely comforting idea, but not to real. Would you be willing to try an experiment? The intent of this isn’t to minimize the majesty of God, but to help us see that we can turn to God every moment of the day. The Spirit is with us! Experiment: Choose an hour of your day today when you’re going to offer every choice to God. Each minute of this hour, ask God what you’re supposed to be seeing, what you’re supposed to do next. It could be an hour at the office-should you talk with someone? Make a phone call? Sort those papers? Bless the lunch room? Ask the Spirit to guide your decisions. If it’s the first hour of the day, which side of the bed should you get out of? Should you wash your face or brush your teeth first? Ask which child you should kiss first. Before you open your mouth to speak, ask the Spirit to give you the words to say. This is about the cosmic importance of what God can do with us if we learn to offer the daily stuff to God. ASK! THEN DO IT! WHAT HAPPENED?” In the New Year I will be sending out an invitation to join me on another Unbinding the Soul or Heart Adventure! Join me and others as we explore and discover what God is doing now in our lives and in the church! God Is With Us!! In the Spirit, Pastor Jim (P.J.

December 2013

Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus the Christ! “It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” I Corinthians 4:2 You are encouraged to attend the LAST “We Say Yes” gathering to be held during Sunday School on Sunday – December 1 in Herbie’s Café! We will talk about what we will say yes to in Mission & Ministry at Atonement for 2014. Each member of Atonement will be given the opportunity to make financial commitments and to share how you will use your Time & Talents in our shared Mission & Ministry! This is a very important time to pause and consider together what our next step will be in staffing for the continued growth of Atonement! As you know Bethany Thier has accepted a full time position at St Norberts and our Director of Youth and Family Ministry - Jolyn Helgeson will be stepping down as of the end of December. Because of these changes in staffing it will be very important to consider together how we will staff for our continued growth in mission & ministry in 2014 and beyond. Your input is very important!! Sunday – December 1 10:00-11:30a.m. During this time of change in staffing which in packs our mission & ministry together I would ask the following of you: 1. Be in prayer about our future and also for me your pastor, staff and church council! 2. Volunteer to help! There are a number of ways you can be of help to me your pastor so that I do not over do it. I am still recovering from major surgery which means working shorter days so I can do self care therapy. A list will be posted very soon of some of the ministries you could volunteer to help with. 3. Stop in to visit with me about any questions and or concerns about our ministry together with limited staff. Your input at this time is very important and I welcome your suggestions and support! 4. Attend a We Say Yes Gathering in November! This is a very important time to come together as we consider where God is taking this church in Mission and Ministry! 5. PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! This is so very important for us to do as a congregation. Unbinding Your Soul has reminded me of the power of prayer to not only give us direction but also renewed energy. Come to our prayer gatherings on Friday evenings at 6:00p.m. See you at one of the “WE SAY YES” GATHERINGS!! In Christ, Pastor Jim Gerth

PJ's November 2013 Blog

Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus the Christ! “It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” I Corinthians 4:2 You are encouraged to attend one of the “We Say Yes” gatherings to be held during the month of November at Atonement. We will talk about what we will say yes to in Mission & Ministry at Atonement for 2014. Each member of Atonement will be given the opportunity to make financial commitments and to share how you will use your Time & Talents in our shared Mission & Ministry! This is a very important time to pause and consider together what our next step will be in staffing for the continued growth of Atonement! As you know Bethany Thier has accepted a full time position at St Norberts and our Director of Youth and Family Ministry - Jolyn Helgeson will be stepping down as of the end of December. Because of these changes in staffing it will be very important to consider together how we will staff for our continued growth in mission & ministry in 2014 and beyond. Your input is very important!! Sunday – November 3 10:00-11:30a.m. Sunday – November 3 4:00-5:30p.m. Tuesday – November 12 11:30-1:00p.m. Wednesday – November 13 6:00-7:30p.m. Thursday – November 21 11:30-1:00p.m. During this time of change in staffing which in packs our mission & ministry together I would ask the following of you: 1. Be in prayer about our future and also for me your pastor, staff and church council! 2. Volunteer to help! There are a number of ways you can be of help to me your pastor so that I do not over do it. I am still recovering from major surgery which means working shorter days so I can do self care therapy. A list will be posted very soon of some of the ministries you could volunteer to help with. 3. Stop in to visit with me about any questions and or concerns about our ministry together with limited staff. Your input at this time is very important and I welcome your suggestions and support! 4. Attend a We Say Yes Gathering in November! This is a very important time to come together as we consider where God is taking this church in Mission and Ministry! 5. PRAY! PRAY! PRAY! This is so very important for us to do as a congregation. Unbinding Your Soul has reminded me of the power of prayer to not only give us direction but also renewed energy. Come to our prayer gatherings on Friday evenings at 6:00p.m. See you at one of the “WE SAY YES” GATHERINGS!! In Christ, Pastor Jim Gerth

PJ's October 2013 Blog

Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus the Christ! What an amazing adventure I was blessed to go on these last 6 weeks! I must say I was not at all sure what to expect! I had visited many people in the hospital over the years but I have no memory of ever being the patient. (My mom has told me many stories of being the hospital as a young child – but I do not remember them). So going to St Vincent on the Tuesday morning – August 6th at 5:30 am was all new to me. What would I feel? What would I see? How will the beds feel? Will I have much pain? Will I be able to sleep? And how does one take care of that most basic of all functions – you know what I mean! It has to do with the bathroom! As you can tell I like anyone else had my questions and doubts and some fear about what this journey would all be like. Little did I know what God had in store for me! Little did I know how my relationships with my wife, sons and friends would become an amazing gift that would teach me what it means to be loved and cared for! You see since October of 1981 I had been the one standing by the bed side of family, friends and parishioners as the pastor. I spoke the words of hope and I placed my hand on their heads and prayed the prayer of blessing for healing and strength and comfort and peace. But now for the first time in my life I was the one in the bed! I was the one that needed help getting in and out of the car & the bed! I was the one that hungered to hear the words of hope and comforted I had spoken so many times! I was the one that looked with great anticipation for a familiar face to walk into that hospital room or into our home! And you know what? I was not disappointed! Over and over again you were for me Gods hands to take my leg and lift it up when I had no strength to do such a simple thing! Over and over again you were for me Gods voice that spoke those words of encouragement and love and understanding that I needed to hear when the days would get long and the ongoing challenge of therapy unending! Over and over again you were for me God’s incarnate Word when you would show up at the hospital or our home and the smile and the greeting of your touch gave me strength! And when I could not sleep because of the pain and discomfort you where their over the internet as I would have conversations at 2 or 3 in the morning by texting – yes you heard me texting! You have no idea how up lifting it was to read your words and to know in the darkness of the night I was not alone – you were being God’s Holy Spirit letting me know that I was not alone! And then there were the countless cards that keep showing up in the mail! I could not believe it! I read every single one of them over and over when the days got challenging and the nights got long! How can I begin to thank you for all the ways you where to me God’s hands, voice of promise and encouragement? Words can’t begin express my gratitude for each and every expression of support and love! You were being the church in the way God calls us to be! You were willing to walk with me in my time of need and I thank you!! I was also deeply touched and challenged by the 40 day journey we took together called “Unbinding Your Heart”! Wow! I can’t begin to count the number of times I would sit down at the dining room table at 3 or 1 in the morning and I would open God’s Holy Word to read things like: “Nothing can separate you from the love of God” or “ and she reached out to touch Jesus’ robe” or “Beloved let us love one another” or “I will send you the gift of the Holy Spirit” or “And he left the 99 and went looking for the one lost sheep” or… It seemed like each day when I opened to read there was ready for me just that word I needed to remember! As a result of this amazing 40 day adventure I am looking for 12 people to join me on another adventure! No – we are not going to the hospital or to therapy. But I can promise whoever is willing to join me on this next adventure you will have your life transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit at Work! I have no doubt! So far I have one person who has taken on this invitation to go on this spiritual life changing adventure! Call me or E-mail me or Text me that you are ready to go!! I’ll be waiting to hear!! The adventure will not begin until I have a total of 12!! Let me end with the first Words of Scripture I read the morning of my surgery: “The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in prayer let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus!” THANK YOU!! In Christ, Pastor Jim Gerth

PJ's July 2013 Blog

Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus Christ! It is coming soon! Soon I will be going into the hospital for a knee replacement. This will take place on Tuesday – August 6th at St Vincent. I am so thankful that we have Bethany on staff full time. She has been a wonderful partner in ministry and will be a great blessing during my recovery time. I am told by my doctor that I will be out of work for 6 weeks. That’s hard for me to imagine but I continue to hear from others who have gone through this that I will need to focus my energy and time on rehab. I have begun to plan ahead through September – as much as possible. But I am asking for your help! I do not want Bethany to have to carry the whole load by herself! What follows are some ways you can use your gifts & time in the ministry we do together! 1. Bethany & Jairo & Pastor Stan will team up to take care of preaching and preside at Holy Communion. It may happen that we will not have communion every Sunday & Wednesday. You can help with worship in the following ways: Liturgist, Children’s Message, Help Serve Holy Communion, Turn on & off P.A System & Lights, Unlock & Lock Church Building, and be sure Ushers & Greeters & Reader & Acolyte are present. 2. Teaching of Confirmation will be taking place in September with the 7th – 9th graders and during August with a student who is planning to be confirmed in August. I will arrange for a pastor to be present for the August confirmation. You can help Bethany with the teaching of classes in September. We will have 7th graders doing Old Testament, 8th graders the Small Catechism and 9th graders doing “Who Is Jesus Christ!” 3. We are making plans for Sunday School in the fall now! There will be a meeting about Sunday School for all interested parents and other adults the later part of June or the first part of July! Please share your hopes for this part of our ministry with Pastor Jim or Bethany and be sure to attend the planning meetings. We will also need teachers and helpers!! 4. The Mid-Week Service and Barbeques will continue in August. Bethany will take care of the worship service and the speakers will be arranged for each Wednesday. You can help with the following: Setting up for Worship & the Meal, Help with the Holy Spirit Doves, Prepare, Serve and Clean Up after the meal. 5. Visitation will continue as needed. It would be helpful if someone would stop in to visit with those in our parish that can not join us for worship. There will be a display set up in the entry way for you to sign up to share your time and talents in the above areas of ministry! I am thankful for the staff God has blessed us with as well as members who are willing to serve. Like our United2Serve verse says: “Each one should use whatever gifts he or she has received to serve.” I Peter 4:10. Or I also like these words of Paul from Philippians 1: 3- “I thank my God every time I remember you, In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel!” In Christ, Pastor Jim Gerth

Pastor's June 2013 Blog

GETTING TO KNOW YOU!!! Just to remind you to stop at the GETTING TO KNOW YOU display on Sunday mornings to sign up to have either Bethany or myself stop over for a visit this summer. The purpose of these visits is to get to know you better, to share the vision the church council has for Atonement over the next few years and to hear what your hopes are for the Mission & Ministry we do together. Do stop by and sign up today! Thank you for your wonderful financial support of Atonement over these first 4 months of 2013. Your gifts have made it possible to move forward with the proclamation of the Gospel so that others may come to know Jesus Christ! May we continue to give out of Joy for what Christ has done for us! If you have any questions about our financial position you can direct them to a member of the Church Council. We give because Jesus gave His life for you and me. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 SEE YOU AT WORSHIP! Pastor Jim Gerth (P.J.)

PJ's May 2013 Blog

GETTING TO KNOW YOU!!! Just to remind you to stop at the information table on Sunday mornings starting in May to sign up to have either Bethany or myself stop over for a visit this summer. The purpose of these visits is to get to know you better, to share the vision the church council has for Atonement over the next few years and to hear what your hopes are for the Mission & Ministry we do together. Do stop by and sign up today! Thank you for your wonderful financial support of Atonement over these first 4 months of 2013. Your gifts have made it possible to move forward with the proclamation of the Gospel so that others may come to know Jesus Christ! May we continue to give out of Joy for what Christ has done for us! If you have any questions about our financial position you can direct them to a member of the Church Council. We give because Jesus gave His life for you and me. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 SEE YOU AT WORSHIP! Pastor Jim Gerth (P.J.)

PJ's April Blog

Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus Christ! “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” Luke 24:17 Do you enjoy taking a walk? I can not wait for the snow to melt so that I can go for some walks in the neighborhood and on some of the many area trails. There is so much to see and enjoy when one goes for a Walk. We are reminded of a few people who went on a walk with Jesus. At first they did not know who he was as they walked along talking about the things of life. It can be that way sometimes when one goes on a walk with a friend. One ends up talking about all sorts of things. So it was on the road to Emmaus that day with Jesus. These two men were opening up their lives to Jesus! It was further down the pathway that they came to realize who was walking with them that day – it was Jesus! I want to invite you to a WALK WITH JESUS that will take place at Atonement on Sunday – April 21. Together we will discover again just who Jesus is and what he is up to in our lives. We will encounter Jesus in the manger, walking on the water, feeding 5,000 people, healing a man, sharing a parable, dying on the cross and the empty tomb. The WALK WITH JESUS will begin at 2:00p.m. that Sunday afternoon and it is open to everyone. All of our confirmation youth are expected to participate in some way. LET’S GO FOR A WALK!! ********************************************************************** The visits begin! Starting in April Bethany & I will start our VISIT EVERY HOME CAMPAIGN! It is our intent to visit each household in the Atonement family over the next year. The goal for these visits are as follows: *To get to know each other better! *To hear what your hopes are for Atonement! *To share the vision the Church Council has for the next three years! I am looking for two people who would be willing to help us arrange these visits. We plan to do 4 or 5 visits each week. This is another way that we can grow in our understanding the Mission & Ministry Jesus is calling us to embrace! See you soon! In Christ, Pastor Jim Gerth

PJ's March 2013 Blog

Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus Christ! “Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life!” John 6:35 Bread! I do love the smell of bread baking! I so enjoy taking a bite out of a piece of bread when it is still warm and has some butter and strawberry jam on it. Bread is just one of those food items that we all enjoy and is going to be the focus for our consideration on Wednesday evenings. Now I am not talking about Wonder Bread or some other brand. What I am talking about is the one who claims to be the Bread Of Life – Jesus Christ. Consider with me for a moment each letter of the word BREAD and what it may remind us about our relationship with the BREAD OF LIFE: B February 20 / Broken, Baptism, Believe, Bitter, Battle, Beautiful, Begotten, R February 27 / Ready, Remember, Redeemer, Renew, Rest, Rise, Rain E March 6 / Enough, Everlasting, Eternal, Enlighten, Expectation, Eating, A March 13 / Abundant, Alive, Abide Ask, Atonement, Alone, Anointed, D March 20 / Death, Deliver, Dust, Dying, Dark, Delight, Descendent, Each Wednesday evening we will enjoy some homemade Bread & Soup that will be served by our youth. The freewill offering taken for the meal will help support getting our youth to camp and mission trips. Following the meal we will gather for worship and celebrate and explore what it means to be in relationship with the one who is THE BREAD OF LIFE. The offering given during worship will be to help our Seminarian – Paul K as he prepares for ministry. If you wish your gift to go to another purpose please note it on the envelop. Our youth will be teaming up with Bethany to help lead us in worship! We are excited to welcome the members of Christ Community who will be worshiping with us on Maundy Thursday – March 28th. A special meal will be served that evening starting at 6:00P.M. with worship taking place at 7:00P.M. The focus of worship that evening will be meeting the one who is The Bread of Life in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Pastor Chris who is the intern at Calvary Lutheran and helps out at Christ Community will be participating in the service! LET’S FILL THE CHURCH as together we REMEMBER! Be sure to come and enjoy Soup & Bread from 6:00-6:45P.M. followed by worship at 7:00P.M. with Holy Communion. In Christ, Pastor Jim Gerth

PJ's February 2013 Blog

Dear Friends, Greetings to you in the powerful name of Jesus Christ! “Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life!” John 6:35 Bread! I do love the smell of bread baking! I so enjoy taking a bite out of a piece of bread when it is still warm and has some butter and strawberry jam on it. Bread is just one of those food items that we all enjoy and is going to be the focus for our consideration on Wednesday evenings. Now I am not talking about Wonder Bread or some other brand. What I am talking about is the one who claims to be the Bread Of Life – Jesus Christ. Consider with me for a moment each letter of the word BREAD and what it may remind us about our relationship with the BREAD OF LIFE: B Broken, Baptism, Believe, Bitter, Battle, Beautiful, Begotten, Belong, R Ready, Remember, Redeemer, Renew, Rest, Rise, Rainbow, Ransom, E Enough, Everlasting, Eternal, Enlighten, Expectation, Eating, A Abundant, Alive, Abide Ask, Atonement, Alone, Anointed, Alpha, D Death, Deliver, Dust, Dying, Dark, Delight, Descendent, Disciple, Each Wednesday evening we will enjoy some homemade Bread & Soup that will be served by our youth. The freewill offering taken for the meal will help support getting our youth to camp and mission trips. Following the meal we will gather for worship and celebrate and explore what it means to be in relationship with the one who is THE BREAD OF LIFE. Just before the offering we will be visited by someone from one of the many countries in the world. They will share with us insights into life where they live and the bread they hunger for! Our youth will be teaming up with Bethany to help lead us in worship! More will be coming to you about this Lenten BREAD! Be sure to come and enjoy Soup & Bread from 6:00-6:45P.M. followed by worship at 7:00P.M. In Christ, Pastor Jim Gerth