PILGRIM LUTHERAN CHURCH

44 CHAPEL ROAD – KENMORE, NY 14217

(716) 875-5485

A Congregation in Mission, Community and Service

PILGRIM’S PROGRESS FEBRUARY 2013

PASTOR: Rev. Ben Eder SUNDAY SCHOOL: 9:00 AM

EDITOR: Mary Werth TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY: 9:30 AM

ASSOC. EDITOR: WORSHIP: 10:00 AM

“The Answer”

“Lent already?” That was my reaction when I first looked at the February calendar. It seems

we had just celebrated our Savior's birth; now, during the short season of Epiphany, we behold

his growing up, baptism, and ministry. Beginning Ash Wednesday, February 13th, we

contemplate our Lord's suffering and death for our sins.

Jesus' life on earth was brief, especially by today's standard's...33 years. His ministry lasted

only three years. Yet, what he accomplished in those three short years changed the course of

human history forever.

We celebrated Jesus' birth...and now observe his suffering and death...not as uninvolved

spectators, but as participants in the Divine Drama. The mystery, and miracle, of Jesus' life and

ministry was that in him, God became a human being and shared the totality of our experience.

This Jesus was like us in every way...sharing our griefs, celebrating our joys, struggling with our

temptations...yet he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). While his nature was perfect, he nevertheless

took on our sins in order to save us from everlasting condemnation. He was condemned for our

sins on the cross so that we would escape the same condemnation, receive the Heavenly Father's

forgiveness, and be counted as righteous both here on earth and in eternity.

Jesus matters, now and always, because he brings God to us in human terms. Apart from

Christ, God is unknowable, transcendent, beyond our grasp and understanding. Without Christ,

all we would have left are questions: does God love me? How do I know I have his forgiveness?

Am I saved?

Jesus supplies us with the answers because he is The Answer. In Christ, we see the face of

God. God sent his Son Jesus to assure us of his love for us and the entire human race. God

demonstrated his love for us through the suffering, death, and Resurrection of his Son from the

dead.

Without Christ, all we would have is our deserved judgment for sin; but in Christ, God's love

is made known through his words and works on our behalf. Therefore, we do not fear judgment,

because perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

Years ago, the singer Joan Osborne reflected on what it would be like if God were “One of

us:” “What if God was one of us?

Just a slob like one of us

Just a stranger on the bus

Tryin' to make his way home?”

In Jesus, we have The Answer. Let us walk with him during Lent, that we may marvel at his

love for us, a love that took him to the cross itself, taking on the punishment and death that we

(by our sins) deserved...a love that triumphs over the grave itself and brings forgiveness of sins

and eternal salvation to all who believe.

+ Pastor Ben Eder

SUNDAY SERVER SCHEDULE

FEBRUARY 2013

DATE Feb. 3

Feb. 10 Feb. 17 Feb. 24

Reader Wes Weirs

Mary Werth Carolyn

Alessi

Gary Smith

Ushers Naomi

George

*

Harvey

Caldow

Pat Watkins

*

Roger

Watkins

George

Alessi

*

Eric Fellner

Peggy Clark

*

Gary Smith

Communion

Assistant

Gary Smith

Jack

Hambridge

Jim O’Brien Eric Fellner

Rob Gross

Feb. 2

Helen Hambridge

Feb. 3

Steve Rodgers

Feb. 3

June Knab

Feb. 4

Carol Gross

Feb. 4

Grace Termini

Feb. 8

Marcelle Voit

Feb. 17

Jack Hambridge

Feb. 18

May God’s blessings continue in your lives as you celebrate

your special day with family and friends!

Keeping love fresh

Harry and Doris Ward, a married couple in England, have been exchanging the same

valentine card since 1941. The recycled card makes its way to their mantle every February.

When the couple first met in a café in 1940, a wartime bombing forced them to flee to an

air-raid shelter together. Since then, nothing has kept them apart.

The secret to a happy marriage, Doris says, is never going to bed without a kiss

goodnight. “We are still as in love as the day he first gave me this card,” she says.

The Esther Circle has sent $215 to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin,

Missouri. This amount was collected at fellowship hours on the 4th Sunday of the

month during 2012. The contribution will be used in their tornado recovery

efforts. The church secretary indicated that recently most construction work is

being done with the help of Habitat for Humanity volunteers. Donations are

always needed to provide funds for the ongoing effort. Thank you again for all of

your contributions.

Our fellowship hour collections in 2013 will go to the Lutheran Church

Charities’ K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry. This is a national ministry utilizing the

unique skills of dogs, specifically Golden Retrievers, to open opportunities to

touch people with the Mercy and Compassion of Christ. The dogs are trained

service animals prepared to interact with people in ways that provide a bridge

for compassionate ministry to take place. (They helped in Newtown, CT after the

12/14/12 tragedy.)

Our next meeting is on March 11th at 6:30 p.m. June Pfohl will have a Bible

Study for us. Please join us!

The Women’s Book Club will meet again in April. Some of us are reading

The Hunger Games, but we will also discuss any other books that are suggested.

We will also try to select some books to read this coming year. More

participants are always welcome, so think about joining us for an hour a month

for book discussion.

The next Community Dinner is scheduled to take place on March 1st. It will

be held from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Help is always needed to prepare for this event.

Please contact Gary Smith or Wes Wiers if you would like to help.

Gary – 716-874-8757 (h) Wes – 716-874-6956 (h) 716-348-4096 (c) 716-574-2926 (c)

The next P.A.L.s meeting will be held on Saturday, February 16th. It will be

at the Family Tree Restaurant on North Bailey at 9:30 a.m. All men of Pilgrim are

welcome!

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS

Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread,

which is bread made without any ingredients.

The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert.

Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Amendments.

The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

The Fifth Commandment is to humor thy father and mother.

Moses died before he ever reached Canada.

Manger Scene

We would like to thank Wes Wiers for the wonderful job he did designing and building the

beautiful Manger Scene for the outside of our church. He put many months of hard work

into putting it together, making changes, and tweaking it here and there until it fit the

vision he had of what it should look like. Although he knows where any tiny flaws might be,

to us it is a work of art and something we can enjoy for years to come -Thank you Wes

from ALL of us!

Manger heart God came to Earth

In the Christmas birth Of a tiny baby boy,

Whose life and death Are redeeming us yet

With blessings, grace and joy.

Our minds may know this history, But stand in awe at mystery.

So faith becomes the way To make our hearts like 'manger hearts' Where Christ can dwell and God imparts

His wondrous love each day. -Peggy Ferrell

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln – Abe once said, “A house divided against itself

A man of renown with a heart of gold. Cannot stand.”

Born in the backwoods of Kentucky He strove to win that victory.

To an illiterate farmer,

Abe felt the pangs of poverty and woe. “With malice toward none,

With charity for all”

He longed for knowledge, Still resounds through the Halls of Time.

And so his love for reading saw him through

The dark days of childhood.

Abe was a man of distinction,

Each page he turned A man of applause.

Was just another lesson learned. He was a man of character

He loved the Book of Psalms Who sought a worthy cause.

In God’s Holy Word,

For they were words to live by. Abe was the bedrock of a nation,

For Abe they were a benediction. He lent the spark that lit the Lamp of Liberty.

A man of humble birth

Abe was a man of compassion. Who the foundation of freedom laid.

He’d heard the cries of the captive A man with trusting heart and love for all.

And saw the chains that bind.

His great desire in this world The Bible was his guiding light.

Was to set the captive free. Abe lit one little candle

To shine in the darkness of this world - -

As he watched the slaves being sold The light of which still shines

His heart went out to each and every one, And grants freedom and peace

And longed to offer liberty and freedom for all. To the poor and downtrodden in this life.

Abe knew there are no slaves in God’s eyes - -

We’ve won the freedom through Jesus Christ. He’s gone now, but his memory lingers

Within the hearts of his countrymen,

Down through the ages For Abe was the man of the hour

He has been revered as the Great Emancipator. Endowed with power.

Abe lived through hardship

And became a shining beacon for us all. “With malice toward none,

With charity for all.”

In the cold, wood cabin in Kentucky From the heart of Jesus to the lips of Abe –

There beat a warm and loving heart The guiding light for a dark and sinful world.

For all mankind.

1/19&20/2001 by Doris V. Neumann

LUTHERAN FOOD PYRAMID

“Where 2 or 3 Lutherans are gathered,

there is food in the midst of them.”

(courtesy of oldlutheran.com)

BARS

JELLO SALAD & HOT DISH

COFFEE

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR THE MARCH

NEWSLETTER IS FEBRUARY 24TH.