House of Prayer on Parker and MainPeace TalkNEWSLETTER

May 2014

What does this mean for us?

Speaking recently with a fellow believer who struggled with her mainline denominational church, she explained how sad she was to receive her church's April newsletter this last month - with not a word

about Easter! There were a lot of important and exciting things that were spoken about, but the central heart beat of the church was completely missing: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the defeat of sin & death!No fear of that happening at Peace Lutheran Church! Once again the songs rang out with great jubilation this Easter! It is always a blessed time for anyone who, for whatever reason, finds themselves in the midst of the people of God who are thrilled to be singing praises to the One, True and most Holy God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!

ALLELUIA! AMEN!

Easter's six weeks continue now and Peace is just laden with activity and the blessing of the Lord. We have SO much to look forward to! But we do need EVERYONE'S prayer and participation... from the offerings, to the worship that takes place every Sunday, to the personal care that we give to each other... YOUR contribution, large or small, is crucially important and never missed.

The song of heaven comes alive in our lives together! Rejoice!

With high delight Let us unite In songs of great jubilation. Ye pure in heart, All bear your part, Sing Jesus Christ, our salvation. To set us free Forever, He Is ris'n and sends To all earth's ends Good news to save every nation. - hymn text by Georg Vetter

Returning our focus to Prayer

Sad? Pray.

Blessed? Pray.

Joyfull? Pray.

Giving up? Pray.

Thankful? Pray.

Hurting? Pray.

Guilty? Pray.

Strong or Weak? Pray.

Struggling or Worried? Pray.

He prays to God and finds favor with him,

he sees God’s face and shouts for joy;

he is restored by God... Job 33:26

Calling for your help to carry out our Neighborhood "Prayer Walking"!What is "Prayer Walking"? Prayer walking is the simple but powerful privilege of walking our neighborhoods and asking that powerful question: "How can we pray for you?" We don't ask people if they know Christ or invite them to church... but we allow them to share their hearts and we get to encourage them to look to the Lord in their need. Those specific prayers are offered on the Lord's altar on Sunday morning and each congregational member will get at least one prayer request to pray for!

WHEN? 6:00 - 7:15 Every Tuesday!WHERE? We will meet at the church.

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Working in partnership with God's people to raise up a new generation of faithful Christian men and women!

The Immanuel Preschool and the Lutheran Academy!

7th Academic Year coming to a close? Yes! Already!!!THANKS SO MUCH for all your support to get us through this year! It has been extremely exciting place to be and we pray that God would continue to bless us in every way!

PLEASE NOTE:

1. There is an OPEN HOUSE FOR BOTH THE ACADEMY AND PRESCHOOL on Tuesday, May 6 from 6-7:30pm! We are taking applications for NEXT YEAR, so please encourage your friends to check us out!

2. Our YEAR END PROGRAM is scheduled for Thursday, June 12th at 7pm here at Peace Lutheran Church! Please come and share God's blessings with us! You will enjoy our little program of how God's Word came to the different nations around the world, and you will be astounded at the musical performances! We will have a reception following the recognition of our students, helpers and teachers.

3. Our last school day is Friday, June 13th. Bless all the children!

Above, Tess Nichols get to hold a special book of poetry that SHE is published in! Five of our students' submitted poems were chosen to be published. Poems by Matthew Nichols, Jason Catalano, Sarah Bjornstad and Nora Betts were also chosen! Congratulations to each of them for this special recognition!

CONFIRMATION AND NEW MEMBER SUNDAY IS MAY 18th!

We look forward to the blessing of our Jr. Confirmands: Cassy SteinruchA.J. Hackenberg

We also look forward to blessing our new members: The Cherney familyGinny Gary Paddock, Jr.Mark Schoemann(and perhaps still others!)

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR TRADITIONAL BREAKFAST AND TESTIMONY TIME HELD THE SUNDAY BEFORE CONFIRMATION IS (THIS YEAR) PUT OFF TO THE DAY OF CONFIRMATION! (Pastor didn't do his proper work with the Confirmands and they aren't ready for the 11th!)

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!"

LAST DAY OF SUNDAY SCHOOL WILL BE MAY 11th!Please say thank you to our Sunday School staff - even if you don't have children! We ALL need to be sharing in the burden of raising up our young Christian men and women.

OUR TEACHERS THIS YEAR WERE:Marja Bjornstad, Kiana Sauter, Hannah Bjornstad, along with and directed by Beverly Gedrimas! Others helped along the way (Pastor taught the Sr. Youth), including Ky Betts and Chuck Mercer. It IS a beautiful thing to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our children. NOTE: Hannah Bjornstad is off to college and we will need a replacement!

church website: www.yourpeace.org.... email: yourpeace@verizon.net

Remember to ask: "How can I pray for you?"

Pray without ceasing - 1 Thes. 5:17

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Knoble's Quick Trip!!!! May 10!Pastor was given 40 Park Admissions (with rides!) for WVIA Family Day! Sign up to join us... Shall we leave at 9:00am? Bring our own sack lunch - unless someone wants to treat everyone or fix lunch? Be back by 6pm? Any other good/better ideas? The van will be gassed up! Be there!

ASCENSION DAY SERVICE MAY 29th at 7:15pm at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Dickson City! This is a joint worship service with Immanuel with The Lutheran Academy students featured (chime choir included!) Ice Cream Fellowship to follow!

THANKS FOR EATING CHOCOLATE! THANKS FOR SUPPORTING THE VAN FUND! THANKS KIM KOENIG!THE AMAZING Kim Koenig did it again! Her chocholates were AMAZING and everyone who ordered was thrilled! Kim worked very hard and over $200 was raised for the Van Fund! This is such a blessing because the van is used OFTEN these days with ESL and Friday night Youth. It likes to drink LOTS gas!!!

HAPPY NEWS AND NOTES:

+ OUR SPRING CONGREGATIONAL MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE MAY 25th AFTER OUR 9:30 WORSHIP! That is the day we begin our summer worship schedule, and yes, it is Memorial Day weekend!

+ THANKS! Pastor Nischal and family are grateful for all the various help and blessing many different congregational members have given! Your encouragement counts!

+ SHROUD OF TURIN (replica): The best Confirmation class EVER (pictured at right) was able to view the Shroud of Turin replica on display at the St. Vlademire Catholic church in Scranton. It was truly a blessing to all of them!

+ We need a VBS director this summer - late July or August! Please speak with Pastor to nail down a date that you could help in this way!

+ PLEASE PRAY: for Sandra Goble and her family after she was taken in to see if a residential program for at least three months will help her. For Pastor Naveen as he starts a new job to help support the family… For Mark Herie in Hospice

care... for Paul Holzman who is diagnosed with MS... for Jerry Cornog who will undergo hernia surgery at the end of May.

+ Baptized into the name of the Lord this past April was little Dylan Ward, daughter of Kyle and Ami Ward! Kyle and Amy have been coming to Peace for a few months now and they are thrilled with their new faith family... hoping to become members soon as a family!

+ CHARITY FUND IDEA PROPOSED BY ONE OF THE CONGREGATION: Starting some kind of charity fund for congregational members and the community… funding it with a couple BIG rummage sales!!!! Any thoughts or better ideas??? How can we increase our Christian caregiving in our

YES!!! ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSES CONTINUE EVERY WEEK!! WE DEFINITELY NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS ON THURSDAYS AT 6:30! Please come and help! Contact Pastor Naveen at 848-203-4084. We are also getting calls for help for more advanced students... If you would like to tutor them on a one-on-one or two situation with reading and comprehension, please make your wishes known! We PRAY through these ESL classes we can gain relationships with the community and gain them the chance to see Jesus in us. Please pray for this ministry!

FRIDAY, MAY 30th at 6pm: TARGET DATE FOR A LIGHT PICNIC AT NAY AUG PARK to host our ESL students and their families... We want to take the opportunity to get a translator, gather them all, and witness to Jesus Christ in a very relaxed and friendly context. PLEASE join us if you are able!

MISSION NEWS!!!! PRAY FOR GOD'S MISSION!

Immanuel Preschool DICOVERY CAMP!JUNE 16 - JULY 11SEE WHAT OUR DISCOVERY CAMP OFFERS YOUR FAMILY THIS SUMMER!COST: $400 for a whole slew of action-packed days!9am - 3pm each day.For children ages 4 - 12Call 570-961-9080 for more information!

Prayer for New MothersGod our Creator, we pray:

for new mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility ;for expectant mothers, wondering and waiting;for those who are tired, stressed or depressed;

for those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family;for those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty;

for those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities;for those who have children they do not want;

for those who raise children on their own;for those who have lost a child;

for those who care for the children of others;for those whose children have left home;

and for those whose desire to be a mother has not been fulfilled.Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender,

and that they may lead their children to know and do what is good,living not for themselves alone, but for God and for others. Amen

We keep LAURA (AND CHRIS) JONES in our prayers as they are expecting!!!!