Atonement Lutheran Church Newsletter - The Messenger

The Messenger is published weekly, except for holiday weeks and an abbreviated schedule over the summer. If you prefer a copy of the Messenger that you can print, click on the link below:

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June 23, 2009 - Volume 30, #26

• Save a Tree, Save a Stamp, Save some Money!

  Have you signed up to get the Messenger Online?

  To sign up for electronic "delivery" complete the online form at: http://www.alcsyracuse.org/mailinglist.php

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• Honoring and Celebrating 2009 Graduates

  During both worship services on June 28, we will be honoring and celebrating with our 2009 graduates and their families. We will give thanks for their achievement and ask God's blessing on their future endeavors. Graduates may wear their cap and gown. Families and friends are especially invited to join us for this celebration.

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• Summer Messenger Schedule

  As it was last year, the Messenger will be printed every other week during the months of July and August. Each issue will have the weekly events and assisting schedules for two weeks. If something critical arises and we need to get the word out, we will publish a "special" issue.

  The planned publication dates are: July 13, July 27, August 10, and August 24. The regular weekly schedule resumes with the September 7 issue.

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• Congratulations Graduates!
  
  June 10, 2009 - Atonement Child Care Center celebrated Pre-K graduation with a well-attended ceremony that included songs performed by the new graduates followed by an art show and ice-cream social for the children and their families.
   

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• Renovations Continue

  By the time you receive this Messenger most, if not all, the windows will be installed in the office wing. The exterior finish infill where the white panels were will be completed along with insulation when the rear entry work is done. speaking of which - it's scheduled to begin on July 5th and will take several weeks. During a portion of that time the back parking lot entrance (red doors) will not be able to be used. You will be directed to enter the church building through the Kiesewetter Center or the front entrance on Glen Ave.

  We think the inconvenience will be well worth it as the new entrance should be very attractive and much more energy efficient.

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• Note to Fabius Community

  The Samaritan Inn Fellowship (church) has begun meeting at the St. Paul's building. Because they meet Saturday evenings, we'll be moving our services back to Sundays at 9am, starting Sunday, June 28th.

  Because an additional congregation will be using the building, our "rent" has been reduced which helps a lot with our lagging finances. But, it is still important that we improve our attendance numbers.

  Please make every effort to attend. Tell your friends or, better yet, bring them with you!

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  Literacy and Head Start

  Do you know someone who could use a little one-on-one help with their reading skills? Do they need to develop reading skills?

  Receive one-on-one help with reading and go at your own pace.

  Contact the Family Worker of Head Start, Andrea Bernard, right here at Atonement. 701-1867

  Details:

  • Once a week, each Wednesday, July 1-August 6
  • 5:00-7:00pm with dinner at 5:00.
   

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• Word [WURD] of the Week
  

  Sermon --[suhr-muhn] "a long, tedious speech."

  Dictionary.com had the above definition of sermon as its third entry and I just couldn't resist reprinting it here. After all, talk to any kid or honest adult and you'll hear elements of this definition factor into people's experiences of sermons.

  But talk to these same people and they probably (hopefully) can tell you about a memorable, meaningful sermon as well. Right!? Sigh...

  What is a sermon? I've had ample opportunity to figure that out for myself this year as I've had the challenge of preaching almost weekly. Gone was the luxury of time offered at seminary to spend hours upon hours crafting a sermon. Gone also was the pressure of preaching to one's peers and professors. A new pressure to me was to preach to roughly the same people week after week with a whole lot less prep time. So I had to figure out pretty quickly what was at the heart of a sermon for me.

  The Gospel is at the heart of a sermon. The good news of salvation, of hope through Christ, must be proclaimed. And because this good news comes to us through scripture, then a sermon must be immersed in scripture. Of course, this good news is spoken into the mess of our lives. I believe it is crucial to a sermon to also muck about in that a bit, too, it being our reality.

  The Holy Spirit is at work through both the hearing of the spoken word and the speaking of the word. This changes everything, really. It turns a stinker of a sermon into earth shaking good news. It works on each person in ways that no preacher can predict or orchestrate, no matter the preparation.

   

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