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The Immanuel Chimes

AUGUST 2019

READ THIS ONLINE AT

www.immanueleaston.com

WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Sunday Mornings at 10:00AM communion served on the 1st & 3rd Sunday

Wednesday Evenings from 6:00-8:00PM Refuge for Junior High & Senior High Youth

Thursday Mornings

MEN’S BIBLE STUDY 6:00AM WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY 10:00AM

IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH 5955 S. Elm Ave.

Fresno (Easton) CA 93706 Church Telephone (559) 237-7909

Email: immanueleaston@sbcglobal.net Email: Interim Pastor: johnsaethre47@gmail.com Email: Youth Directory: jaywood66@yahoo.com

GOD OF THE ORDINARY

We are a people who love a spiritual “high.” There are certainly occa-sions in worship where feelings and emotions are touched in a special way and we come away fulfilled. But the mature Christian experiences the presence of God in every circumstance – even the ordinary. Seventeenth century monk, Brother Lawrence learned to be in God's presence while doing chores at the monastery. While repairing sandals or doing the dishes in the kitchen, Brother Lawrence discovered and then followed a pure and uncomplicated way to walk continually in God's presence. Brother Lawrence showed that it is possible to be in continual communion with God, no matter your circumstance in life. If we continue to go looking for the spiritual “high,” we might come away disappointed. God is full of surprises – when we expect Him to show up in a certain way, He reveals Himself in another. The Prophet Elijah was on the run after humiliating the Baal worshipers at the “Superbowl of the gods,” in 1 Kings 18. He was afraid for his life and God told him to Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by. (1 Kings 19:11) Elijah did as he was told and waited on the LORD. There was a great earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. Then there came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. Sometimes God comes in quiet, gentle ways – if we humbly settle down and listen for that still, small voice. Devotional prayer is one means of setting aside time, not only to speak to the Lord, but to listen to what He has to say to us. This is difficult for busy, jet-set Americans. Time for worship and time for prayer is at a premium in the tight schedules we have set for our-selves. Richard Foster has written a classic that tackles the key elements of the Spiritual Disciplines in his book Celebration of Discipline: We must come to see how central our whole day is in preparing us for spe-cific times of meditation. If we are constantly being swept off our feet with frantic activity, we will be unable to be attentive at the moment of inward silence. A mind that is harassed and fragmented by external af-fairs is hardly prepared for meditation. The church Fathers often spoke of “Otium Sanctum,” 'holy leisure.' It refers to a sense of balance in the life, an ability to be at peace through the activities of the day, an ability to rest and take time to enjoy beauty, an ability to pace ourselves. With our tendency to define people in terms of what they produce, we would do well to cultivate “holy leisure.” And if we expect to succeed in the

Women in Retreat! It is with sadness that I am writing to inform you that the annual “Women in Retreat” at Three Rivers has been cancelled. The committee met and deter-mined that there was not enough interest to hold the event.

If you are one of the few that did register, you should be receiving your voided check from Carol Bentz within a few days. If you do not get it, by mid August please phone her at 559-793-2829.

But keep reading…with joy I am happy to inform you that we will be hav-ing a one-day event on Saturday, September 28, 2019. It will be held at Im-manuel. So you had planned for a weekend, but you will get a full Satur-day. Registration is due by September 18, 2019.

We will start at 8:30am with a continental breakfast.

At 9:00am we will have music and our speaker, Liz Harrison.

We will have two different breakout groups for you to relax and make some-thing special. If you choose to not make something, the Library will be available for sharing with friends.

At noon we will have a catered lunch. It will be delicious!

Our speaker, Liz Harrison will speak again after lunch, there will be more breakout groups.

Around 3:00pm we will have a closing service with a special message. Our special day will be concluded near 4:00pm.

Easton even has an ice cream shop that would love to have you stop by on your way back to Fresno! And if you don’t want to make dinner, you can drive southwest and go to the Caruthers’s Fair. Immanuel has a booth where you can purchase ribs, pulled pork and all the fixings. There are many organ-izations that sell great food. Immanuel donates 100% of the profits to the Fresno Rescue Mission. Looking forward to a wonderful Saturday! Blessings to all! Retreat Committee Member Nancy Newsom ********************************************************************************************** Please register for the Saturday only event by filling out this form. The cost for the one day is $15.00. Please make checks out to “Women in Retreat”. Name ________________________________________________________ Email ________________________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________________ Phone number _________________________________________________ Home church and city____________________________________________ Mail your form and fee to: Nancy Newsom, 5577 So. East Ave., Fresno, CA 93725

Prayers of the

Church Members and their families serving in the military: Joey Brewer, V ictoria Salwasser’s nephew, Air Force); Henry Clark, friend of Im-manuel, Marines); Alonzo Farias, (friend of Immanuel, Army Boot Camp); Michael Han-sen, (Jim & Fran Hansen’s son, Navy Aviation, stationed in Florida) Caleb Hathaway, (Joanie

Hathaway’s son,) Scott Linger (Don Pettitt’s son-in-law, JAG, Ar-my) Leah Linger, (Don Pettitt’s daughter, Jag, Army, reserves) Matt Ward, (Jenn Madsen’s brother-in-law, Navy) & Matthew Tig-chelaar (Navy). Those unable to travel about: Tom Britter, Olga Hansen, Elsie Hoff, Marilyn Iversen Art & Mari-an Olesen, Phyllis Petersen, Helen Mackersie, and Howard Nielsen. Those in need of healing: Bobby Bell, (recovering from eye sur-gery) Christian Bradley, (Liana Severin’s step-brother, battling Leiomyosacoma Cancer) Tom & Sandy Britter, (over all health problems), Alvina Cabrera, (friend of Laurel Jacobsen battling ter-minal cancer); Anna Campbell, (Jon Marthedal’s niece, undergo-ing chemo treatments for cancer) Lori Clifford (Victoria Salwas-ser’s cousin recovering from a car accident); Fred Cogan Sr. (battling cancer); Sherry Grismore (Jennifer Perez’s grandmother undergoing treatment for Leukemia); Susan Hooper, (Judy Hoop-er’s daughter-in-law recovering from a car accident) Sandra Jen-sen (Gina Cogan’s mother recovering from a fall); Jim Johnson, (Gaye Cissel’s cousin battling breathing issues and lung problems); Andrew Lopez, (friend of Sonya Orozco who is on life support due to complications from pneumonia) Janet & Bill Messenlehner (Janet with severe pain in knees and Bill recovering from back sur-gery), Isaac Orozco (recovering from complications from shoulder surgery); Chuck Phillips, Sr. (owner of Big Potato Market in Easton, he is battling cancer); Virginia Pilegard, (living with can-cer) Ryan Tofteland, (Sandy Marthedal’s nephew living with ALS) & Joe Wozniczka (Bonnie Terkelsen’s son-in-law battling many health problems.).

contemplative way, we must pursue “holy leisure” with a determination that is ruthless to our datebooks. “Ruthless” - sounds opposite to what it takes to hear the still, small voice, and yet this is the battle that needs to take place if we are to mature in our relationship with God – fighting for that time that consciousness that puts us before the throne of God's grace. This summer and throughout the year, do what you can to fight for that pre-cious time to BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD! Psalm 46:10 Pastor John

ON THE HORIZON RALLY DAY SPECIAL GUEST SINGER – Kristi Schmidt will be our featured guest soloist on Rally Day, September 8. Pastor John heard her sing with the King's Praise quartet at the Swedish Festival and was im-pressed enough to invite her to sing for Immanuel. Also in the planning stages is the Sunday School Kick-off. Jacob is organ-izing a group of “Action Heroes” to come in costume and share their char-acters and how they tie in with Bible stories. Children of all ages will be enthralled by these well-known action heroes! PRAYER CONFERENCE – Immanuel will be blessed to host a Prayer Conference October 10 – 13. Pastor Bjorn Pedersen of Prayer Watch Inter-national will lead inspirational events beginning with the Men's Breakfast 6:00 – 7:30 a.m. October 10. Pastor John has known Bjorn for many years hosting a Prayer Conference in two previous congregations. Each time there is renewal in faith and a greater desire to incorporate a deeper prayer life through what was learned during the conference. One bishop of the church said, “Bjorn has a Black Belt in prayer.” What an appropriate description of one who has made prayer a life-long quest. Bjorn not only conducts Prayer Conferences, but Prayer Schools, offering diplomas in each particular study. Pastor John accompanied Bjorn on a prayer mission to Eastern Africa in 2006, conducting prayer retreats for African pastors and wives. Prayer Watch International is truly “international” in scope spanning the globe This year's Prayer Conference is a can't miss occasion in every Christian's life. Our desire is to spread a wide net of publicity throughout our churches and communities. Easton Presbyterian is already on board in supporting that weekend. We ask for prayer from all our members in preparation for this tremendous renewal event!

Journey I was talking to a friend of mine a couple of weeks back. Well don’t be so surprised, I do have friends. In fact, I have quite a few friends. I saw one just yesterday that I’ve had no contact with for, I’m guessing, 10 years. He saw me before I saw him. He came across the room to say hi. It was wonderful to catch up with him. I hope it’s not 10 years before I see him again. I have family/cousins friends who I only see once a year at Thanks-giving. I enjoy seeing them, once a year. I have friends that I see at men’s breakfast. We share a lot, sometimes, of our personal, inner selves there and we rejoice and cry with each other. I have very dear friends, the kind of friends that would do anything, anywhere, anytime kind of friends. The best kind of friend is the one we can share ourselves with. The friend I was talking to a couple of weeks ago is one of those friends I would say is every week friend. They are at least 35 years younger than me. I guess you could say it’s a Umatta friend, different generation, or two but still a friend. They were telling me some part of their family that THEY thought was out of the “norm”. Several minutes into the conversation it occurred to me that they were trying to explain the non-normal aspect of their family. One of my stronger convictions is that there is no normal family. We are all members of a dysfunctional family. I don’t know of any Ozzy and Harriet family or Cleaver families. To my younger readers: these were two TV families of the ‘60’s where everything always worked out perfect-ly in a 1/2-hour show. I don’t care who you sit next to in church there is something about their family they are probably not going to want you to know. Everyone has some dysfunction, everyone! We don’t come to church because everything is sunshine, lollipops and roses. If only perfect family people came to church Pastor John would be a lonely man. We come, in fact, because we are all part of this broken-ness. With the exception of Enoch and one or two others every Biblical character has a piece of this brokenness. We come, in fact, because we are broken and we have this brokenness in our lives. And the one and only place where we can lay the broken pieces is at the feet of Jesus. The only place. He’s the only one who can put them right. He doesn’t promise to put them together in our understanding or in our time, but he will in His. Revelations 21:4-5. Our only power in this broken world is to give it to Jesus. Prayer is not the last place we should go but the very first. I think we get that intellectually. We need to get it in reality.

Birthdays 1-Richard Cisneros 2– Laurel Jacobsen 5-Sandy Marthedal 7- Barbara Petersen 9-Susie Gardner Ed Slaton 11-Elaine Mehrten -Llewellyn Ostergard 13-Clarissa Johnson 14-Doris Sparks 18-Jonathan Jensen 19-Marcia Hollenbeck 20-Chase Clarkson 21-Fred Cogan 23-Dale Ewing 28-Timothy Anderson 29- Catrina Johnson 31-Sandi Johnson -Sonya Orozco

Wedding Anniversaries 2-Al & Judy Hooper (67) 4-Dick & Gail Hansen (69) 4-Megan & Josh LeRoy (12) 19-Pastor John & Debbie Saethre (41) 25-Joe & Linda Wozniczka (40) 27-Kathy & Ron Coelho (31) 28-Tom & Sandy Britter (54) 30-Dick & Virginia Pilegard (55)

Baptismal Birthdays 8-Susie Gardner Linda Wozniczka 11-Nancy Newsom 14-Jacqueline Caglia 19-Lee Terkelsen 22- Carly Johnson 26-Jennifer Cisneros 27-Alison Hardy 28-Marilyn Iversen 30-Sandy Marthedal

Don’t see your birthday or

wedding anniversary in The

Chimes? Call the church of-

fice and ask for a member-

ship information form.

Immanuel women’s

ministry

Presents

Clay Maker

Featuring

Joanie Hathaway

Sharing on

The Creator and His Creation (us)!

We will make

Nature Chimes out of clay

Tuesday, August 27th

Dinner starts at 6:00PM

In the Social Hall

Sign up on the blue bulletin board

Or call 237-7909

for your reservation!

I’m seeing our church awakening to the power there is in prayer. We pray for the call process the 2nd Sunday of every month. However, we pray for more than just the call process. Join us, please. Coming in October is a Prayer Conference led by Pastor Bjoin Pedersen. I know him, he changed my brother-in-law’s life by unleashing prayer in his life. So I told my friend. Don’t feel alone about your non-normal family, we are all there. Jesus said if you’re normal there isn’t much I can do for you. If you’re not, welcome to His family. That’s you and me. Prayer changes things, most importantly US. Love, John.

Sunday School

IS GRACE IN ACTION! Hello Immanuel! Sunday School is now going to be called “Grace in Action”, a revamped Christian Education time for our young ones. Our theme for this year is “Heroes in Action” which will focus on Biblical heroes! Some classic sto-ries and new stories will be included! What I need from Immanuel are volunteers that can commit to 3 Sunday blocks at a time. These commitments will be starting on September 15, and you will coordinate the activity (“the action” with the kids for those three weeks, which will be no more than a 15-20 minute block of time. All of your activities will be based around the same story for those three weeks that you have committed to. Feel free to use the curriculum that we will provide, or bring a new action to the program. I will have sign ups to vol-unteer for each story, on the last Sunday of July. Please contact me with questions about these commitments!!

Our rally day will feature a special time with some “action hero” visitors that will teach our students about what it means to be a hero. Blessings to all of you and I look forward to the many good things ahead for the new school year! Jacob Wood, Youth Minister at Immanuel

Council President Faithfulness. We plan, God laughs. We pray. He considers our re-quests. He grants them if they are of the right heart. Seems like I read that somewhere before…You know, “The Lord looks at the heart.” When we stay faithful, our heart is pure. God likes that. Our motives should be His desires. I struggle to remember anything I have ever heard, read, or been lectured to about anything that God wants for us that's not good for us in His eyes. So, we, the faithful of Immanuel, are in need of staying the course of faithfulness.

God has a new pastor selected for us. I'm not sure where he or she lives right now, but I know what their new address will be when God gives them the nod. Another measure of our faithfulness is our social hall. We are in need of a remodel on our building that will help preserve it for the next couple of decades. The church council will go to the congregation in the fall to fundraise for the project. After some conversations about the possible cost, the number $350,000 seems to be the prevailing number. That said, what do we want our social hall to be?

As it stands, several key programs call Immanuel home because of our social hall. I’ll remind those thinking of them: Narcotics Anon-ymous, Breaking Grounds Cafe, Men's Ministry, Women's Minis-try, Ummata, and the list goes on. What may not find its way to current the list are faith conferences, wedding receptions, anniver-sary parties, community celebrations or gatherings. As we prepare to modernize our social hall, remember that a renewed building cre-ates another way to attract the unchurched of Easton, and beyond.

Perhaps you have heard me say at one time or another that I would love for Immanuel to be the city hall of Easton. The central hub that offers home and hope to those in need. So Immanuel faithful, keep the faith that our new leader is coming to help us become the church our community needs. Keep the faith that our modernization project will be a lightning rod to help grow our church family. Keep the faith that our work is to keep Immanuel a place that has open doors to all that are weary, thirsty, and hungry for the love of Christ.

Faithfully yours, Fred

The Patriotic Service!

Immanuel’s patriotic service was spectacular this year! July 7th we enjoyed the performance of our new Men’s Choir! If you are interested in singing with this choir please see Pastor John. They were spectacular and we look

forward to their next performance!

Pastor John sang a solo titled “ God Bless the USA” for-merly sung by Lee Greenwood. He wore his air force uniform to church that day. He was dynamic, it wasn’t the first time he had sung that song but it was the first time without any mu-sic in front of him and he never missed a note. Thank you to Lee Terkelsen for captur-ing our pastor and our beautiful cross on film that morning.

News Notes

PASTOR JOHN has a new cell phone # 559-859-5132. Please note the change in your directory and your mobile device.

Happy Birthday to DORIS SPARKS on her 87th birthday August 14th . Congratu-lations to AL & JUDY HOOPER on their 67th anniversary August 2nd; to RICH-ARD & GAIL HANSEN on their 69th anniversary August 4th; to JOHN & DEB-BY SAETHRE on their 41st August 19th; and to TOM & SANDY BRITTER on their 54th anniversary August 28th.

GLENN & MARILYN NIELSEN continues to collect cans and bottles for recy-cling as a fund raiser for women’s retreat scholarships. Please bring your California Redemption recyclables to church with you on Sunday and give them to Glenn if you would like to contribute your recyclables for his project.

SEPTEMBER 7TH IS THE NEXT RUSS DUNBAR MEMORIAL BLOOD DRIVE FROM 8:00AM—NOON!

SAVE THE DATE: NEXT FAMILY CAMP JUNE 24TH -30TH, 2020.

MARK & VICTORIA SALWASSER took a racing vacation in July and flew to Ohio. They had dinner one night on the River Boat Restaurant on the Ohio River, they could see Kentucky and Ohio while they were sitting in Indiana. They watched a lot of races and some incredible rain. They had great ice cream and en-joyed the action at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Rossburg is about the size of Raisin City but during the week of the Kings Royal Race featuring the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars the town draws over 1500 campers in trailers and tents and over 25,000 spectators for an amazing show from the green flag to the checkered. Mark & Victoria also attended Grace Lutheran Church in West Carroll-ton, Ohio. They met wonderful people there.

OUT TO DINNER CHURCH went to the High Sierra Grill and had a great outing. Everyone had a wonderful time. The next outing is an afternoon lunch at Heirloom on Sunday, August 11th after church prayer time. Hierloom is located at 8398 N. Fresno Street. It’s a walk up to order they deliver to your table place. Originally we planned on noon but it may be closer to 12:30 depending on how long we pray. Those that gather may want to take the day to enjoy a movie after lunch. Sign up on the blue bulletin board if you would like to take a trip into town for lunch that afternoon.

NALC CONVOCATION is August 5-9. Marcia Hollenbeck will be our delegate for Immanuel. She and her husband Scott will be traveling together to Indianapolis. Jacob Wood will be attending the convocation as well. Please keep them all in your prayers for safe travels and clear, decisive thoughts. This year our delegate will vote for a new Bishop. NALC newsletters are available online and printed copies are located on the literature table under the gold bulletin board in the church

Refuge Hello Immanuel! As we kick things off Refuge for the new school year, I’ve got a few an-nouncements. First, we will not meet on August 7th, because I will be in Indianapolis. However, the week after, we will FINALLY see Lion King on Tuesday the 13th around 6:15PM, which will ACTUALLY cost only $5. The mov-ie won’t be as popular and we can get seats earlier so please let me know if you would like to join. On the 14th of August, Refuge will have our goodbye/congrats party to our graduated seniors. John and Sharon Reynolds are providing pizza and ice cream for this event. Please be praying for Refuge in this coming school year for many new faces! Jacob Wood, Youth Minister at Immanuel

House for rent needed! Jennifer Perez has a friend in need of a home to rent, in the Easton area. If you know of a home for rent please call/text Jennifer at 559-977-3280 or email her at jennperez2006@gmail.com.

Caruthers fair The Caruthers Fair is right around the corner! It’s Immanuel’s week to let our lights shine to our community! We run a restaurant September 25th –28th this year . It’s action packed, sometimes hot, never cold and too much fun to be called work. It’s a mission project on a couple differ-ent levels. First we are out there for the purpose of raising money for the Fresno Rescue Mission, A Christian based organization that helps those in need. Another level of mission work, and my personal favorite is the service to our community. It’s our chance to take our faith out there to show to all the people who walk through the gates. Christianity is the easiest religion to share, and what better way to share it then at the fair! Who wants to help? Sign up sheets will be up soon. Check the church entryway. We have lots to do, call me at 237-7909 if you have any ques-tions or a specific area that you would like to help with now. Thanks, Victoria Salwasser, Fair Chair

Sun Mon Tues Wed

31 Refuge 6:00-8:00PM Youth

4 10:00AM Worship with Commun-ion 11:00AM Fellowship time

5 12:30PM Easton Food Distribution at Easton Presbyterian Church 1:30PM Tai Chi in Grace Hall 7:00PM NA in Social Hall

6 7 No Refuge this Week!

11 10:00AM Worship 11:00AM Fellowship time 11:45AM Call Process Prayer Gathering in Sanctuary 12:00PM Out to Lunch

12 1:30PM Tai Chi in Grace Hall 7:00PM NA in Social Hall

13

14 Refuge 6:00-8:00PM Youth

18 10:00AM Worship with Commun-ion 11:00AM Fellowship time

19 1:30PM Tai Chi in Grace Hall 7:00PM NA in Social Hall

20 7:00PM Church Council Meeting

21 8:00-10:00AMBreaking Grounds Cafe Refuge 6:00-8:00PM Youth

25 10:00AM Worship 11:00AM Fellowship time

26 1:30PM Tai Chi in Grace Hall 7:00PM NA in Social Hall

27 6:00PM Women’s Event in Social Hall

28 September Chimes

8:00-10:00AMBreaking Grounds Cafe Refuge 6:00-8:00PM Youth

AUGUST 2019

———————————————————-NALC CONVOCATION

Thur Fri Sat

Refuge 8:00PM Youth

1 6:00AM Men’s Bible Study in Social Hall 10:00 AM Women’s Bible Study in Grace Hall

2 3

No Refuge this Week!

8 6:00AM Men’s Bible Study in Social Hall 10:00AM Women’s Bible Study In Grace Hall

9 10

Refuge 8:00PM Youth

15 6:00AM Men’s Bible Study 10:00AM Women’s Bible Study

16 17

10:00AM Breaking Grounds

Refuge 8:00PM Youth

22 6:00AM Men’s Bible Study 10:00AM Women’s Bible Study In Grace Hall

23 24

28 September Chimes Deadline

10:00AM Breaking Grounds

Refuge 8:00PM Youth

29 6:00AM Men’s Bible Study in Social Hall 10:00AM Women’s Bible study in Grace Hall

30 31

AUGUST 2019

NALC CONVOCATION————————————————–—————