OLIVE BRANCH

August 2018

Mount Olive Lutheran Church

2350 – 148th Street, Surrey, B.C. 604-536-8527 mountolive@telus.net

www.mountolivelutheran.ca

Pastor Peter Hanson

Sunday Worship & 10:15 am

Sunday School September- May

Everyone is Welcome

Summer

It is summertime and seeds are growing. Little sprouts and long vines appear, flowers are

turning into fruits, and the yards and fields are alive with green. It is amazing how those seeds,

which look like nothing, contain in them the mystery of the mature plant. Some seeds fail, but

from dandelions to sweet corn, many seeds are flourishing, and we are glad to watch them.

The increasing warmth of the days is helping the seeds. June, July, and August go from

pleasant to hot to stifling, from enlivening breezes to stultifying humidity. Whether this year

brings a drought or a flood, the heat impresses itself on us until we wonder how the race

survived before air conditioning. Some folk relish the heat and seek out the sunshine to soak

it up. Others are enervated by it and walk on the shady side of the street. But all must somehow

deal with the heat.

While seeds hurry along their task of growth and the sun pours out its rays, most people

slow down. The academic year pauses, and we discover how much of the Northern

Hemisphere flows along with the school year. Millions of children, no longer in classrooms,

are running around houses and through the parks. College kids are home, for better and for

worse. Because it is too hot, everyone slows down. We dress more casually. Indeed, our

looser clothing marks an inner loosening, a relaxation from the rigor and tensions of the normal

year’s work load. The only people rushing about are those hurrying off to vacations. We hurry

up to slow down, leaving our fields to cultivate other seeds.

The hope for this season of the church year is steady growth. This green season is the

time that the church is to move into its Easter mission, to realize the effects of the indwelling

Spirit, to be nurtured by the new life of the resurrection. The Sunday readings call us each

week to deeper consideration of Jesus’ ministry. Christ preaches and hears, he performs

miracles and occasions misunderstandings. He does with his original followers all that he does

among us today. Fitting well with the theme of growth, the readings tell of Christ as the bread

of life. Like wheat growing from the sower’s seeds, like grapes maturing on centuries-old vines,

the word of God grows within the community. We eat, and so we live.

During this green season the church practices patience in growth. Usually the indwelling of

the Spirit does not evidence itself in people by outbursts of ecstasy or by a whole city being

converted in one day. No, usually the growth is small, one leaf today, one bud opening

tomorrow. The tomatoes take weeks, but when they ripen and we bite into them, they are

like the tomatoes that the angels serve in heaven, not like the red cardboard we buy in grocery

stores in winter. But growth takes time. It is slow, so slow.

Part of awaiting growth is trust. We need to trust, not only that the seeds will actually

sprout but that the seeds will grow into their intended plant. Sometimes the seeds surprise

us all: the tiny seed becomes a substantial tree. We all need practice at such patience, such

trust. Practicing such growth and learning such trust are easier in community than by one’s

self. We give one another support, assuring each other that the seed will indeed sprout, and

then mature, one of these days.

In some religions, an unchanging deity sits on top of everything, untouched by anything,

unmoved. But the God of the scriptures is more like a growing seed than a marble monument.

The stories tell us that God has second thoughts, that God remembers mercy, that God

cultivates us in new and creative ways. The Spirit of the triune God is in the community, moving

and growing in ways never before imagined. The original disciples were surprised that Jesus

brought life also to the outcasts and to Gentiles. Surely as the body of Christ, we must

incarnate the lavish growth that God promises; summertime is a good time for growing.

From: Welcome Home - Augsberg Fortress

Reflections on Stewardship

To Mighty Fortress:

The VBS with Purpose!

At Mighty Fortress VBS, children learn that in Jesus, the victory is won! Kids

confidently celebrate that Jesus, their champion, has won the victory over sin, death,

and Satan; that He acts through His Word and keeps His promises. Because the

victory is won, every day is a day to celebrate! God’s victory is shown in the Bible

accounts of the fall of Jericho, God’s rescue of King Hezekiah’s kingdom, King Josiah’s

reading of God’s Word, the Savior King’s triumphal entry, and Jesus’ victory through

His death and resurrection.

At Mighty Fortress, kids will look into the Bible, God’s Holy Word, to discover that

God is our Mighty Fortress, our Shield, and our Deliverer. Each VBS session starts at

Mighty Fortress Opening, where kids sing, hear God’s Word, pray, see the Opening

Theme Video, find out more about our Mission Project, and learn the day’s Take-Home

Point.

After the Opening, the kids head off to five rotation sites for Storytelling, Bible

Challenge, Snacks, Games, and Crafts. Finally, everyone comes back together at

Mighty Fortress Closing for music, prayer, and a wrap-up with the Closing Theme

Video. Before they go, kids get a Crown of Victory Collectible to help them share the

day’s theme and Bible verse with their friends and family.

VBS with Purpose

Every VBS lesson clearly distinguishes between God’s Law and His Gospel. Children

learn God’s will for their lives and how the Law has been fulfilled for them in the

person and work of Jesus Christ. At the center of every lesson is the Gospel: God’s

gracious gift of Jesus as the Savior from sin, death, and the devil. Mighty Fortress

VBS is where it all comes together to faithfully teach the saving message of God’s

grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. After the craft glue dries, the decorations come

down, and the snacks are all eaten, the only thing that matters is that the children in

our VBS leave knowing their need for a Savior and that Jesus Christ alone is that

Savior.

SUMMER 2018 E.L.W. BIBLE STUDY SERIES

This Summer, Anna Madsen is featured in a three-part study on “Prayer”.

Anna Madsen is a freelance theologian who works with the Centre for Theological

Conversation (excerpt from Women of the ELCA website).

August 21, 2018 at 1:00 p.m.

Session 3: The Products of Prayer (Romans 8:26-28)

You are invited to meet for lunch before the Bible Study.

White Spot Restaurant 1681 - 152nd White Rock at 11:30 a.m.

Please note there are no E.L.W. business meetings in July and August.

COMING THIS FALL

A three part Bible Study that explores how we as Lutheran Christians

understand the role of repentance in our faith.

Bible study information is taken from the

Women of the ELCA website womenoftheelca.org

The Library Corner

Book Review

CHANGE OF HEART

Jodi Picoult’s book Change of Heart is a “bold story of loss, justice, redemption, and

faith”. It is filled with “provocative and relevant moral dilemmas, rich in nuance, mystery

and wit”. June’s first husband Jack is killed in a car accident. Police Officer, Kurt Neulon,

pulls her out of the car and takes her, and her daughter, Elizabeth, to the hospital. Five

years later they are married and June is 7 months pregnant when she decides to hire a

carpenter, Shay Bourne, to finish the room for the new baby. Seven months later Shay

is charged with killing Kurt Neulon and Elizabeth. While caring for her new-born baby,

Clare, June grieves and is very angry at Shay. Shay is convicted and for the first time in

58 years, New Hampshire sentences Shay to the death penalty. Life in the Concord State

Prison is harsh but it is in there that we follow Shay’s interactions with Father Michael

[a Catholic priest] and his lawyer Maggie Oliver [Jewish]. When Shay learns that June’s

daughter, Clare, now 11, needs a heart transplant, he insists that she must receive his

heart when he dies which will be shortly. Shay believes that “Good can blossom from

bad – redemption”. However, June refuses the heart after a restorative justice meeting

with Shay. Father Michael, Maggie, and his sister, Grace, speak for Shay and attempt to

convince June to accept his heart. The method of killing also becomes an important part

of this story. While Picoult “delves deep into the most troubling contemporary social

issues”, she “reminds us tragically truth can be concealed and denied”.

Review by: Eleanor Phillips.

Library Team: Eleanor Phillips, Sandi Schaffer, Joan Piller

George Duddy has been writing articles

for the Nauticapedia.ca website since 2013.

His latest one combines some family history with a tragic but interesting tale of ship loss in the northern Pacific in 1897.

“Messages in Bottles Reveal Fate of SS Pelican (a former Seater, White and Co. Steamer)”

by George Duddy 2018

Click here to access this interesting article.

http://www.nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Pelican_R11.pdf

There is a printed copy of the article available at the church office.

Request

If there is anyone at the church who knows how to Silkscreen,

please contact Penny Enarson.

Coming Up in September

A.E.D. Defibrillator Orientation Session

Thursday September 13 from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Mount Olive has an ‘On-Site Automated External Defibrillator’ for emergency use.

St. John’s Ambulance will be present an AED Demo & Orientation Session

at Mount Olive on Thursday September 13, 2018 at 2:00 p.m.

If you are interested in attending,

please note there will be a sign- up sheet posted in the narthex mid-August.

Word on the Street

The Latest News from SUMS - Surrey Urban Mission Society

10776 King George Blvd. Surrey

604-581-5172

sumsplace.com

Summer greetings to all.

Here's hoping you are enjoying this heat by relaxing under a shady tree or the like.

Many people in Surrey are still without a constant and safe place to call home and don’t

have the daily basic necessities of life. We at Mount Olive help SUMS provide some of

these necessities for their guests.

This month I wish to highlight three ways you might reach out to these people, these guests

of SUMS.

1. Please note the 'Christmas in July' display in the Multi-Purpose Room.

Carol Green has kindly begun a collaborative effort whereby the ladies of Mount Olive are

asked to donate some 'little everyday necessary items' for women in need, including those

at SUMS. Can you imagine an extended time without shampoo or toothpaste? Me, neither!

2. SUNDAES on TUESDAYS Sing-Along on August 14th at SUMS!

Please sign up on the Narthex SUMS display board to help prep and serve ice cream sundaes

(arrive 11:45) and/or join the sing-along or play an acoustic instrument or light percussion

(I have egg shakers!) to accompany the Peninsula Ukers ukulele group until 1:15pm. Not a

performance, but a fun sing-along with the guests of SUMS.

3. Immediate needs at SUMS:

Include WOMEN’S undergarments, MEN’s pants/shorts sizes 30-34, MEN’s running and

very casual shoes sizes 9-12+, small ‘dollar store’ or travel size shampoo, clean plastic

grocery bags, travel mugs for water/coffee and new or clean used baseball caps.

Thank you for remembering the guests of SUMS and their daily needs.

~ Let’s Get Together for SUMS ~

Patricia Jessen ~ MOLC liaison for SUMS 604-786-4711

Treasurer’s Notes to June 30, 2018

General Offerings are $10,468.19 below budget. Core income which excludes

ELW & FELLOWSHIP income is $10,101.54 below budget.

Church Directory

We are preparing an updated church directory for distribution in the Fall.

Please advise changes or additions to the office.

Jackets & Sweaters

Please check the narthex cloakroom for items that may belong to you!