A Message From Pastor Kalbas

Dear Church Family,

Last night I had to make the hardest announcement in my pastoral career: At our evening Lenten service, I announced that St. Paul will be suspending in-person worship starting this coming Sunday (March 22).  As I mentioned in my last sermon from the pulpit (for a while), this action almost brings tears to my eyes.  Even as a Pastor it can be easy to take worship for granted. For any faithful Christian, worship is about as normal as cleaning your house; you may not do it every day, but you do it at least once a week.  Some of us have been worshiping for our whole lives, week in and week out.  And then, all of a sudden you can’t anymore.  You don’t always realize how much you love something until you are deprived of it.   I already miss us all being together in our beautiful sanctuary.  O GOD, QUICKLY BRING ABOUT THE DAY THAT WE CAN RESUME GATHERING IN YOUR HOUSE. AMEN. 

We hope to resume worship the first Sunday in May.  But it may be longer.  All updates will be emailed out, listed on our church webpage and posted on our church Facebook page (St. Paul Lutheran Church-Thorndale, TX).   Be sure to LIKE our new facebook page.  

For the love of our neighbors and community, we do not want to risk spreading a virus that continues to threaten many of our elderly, and those with pre-existing health concerns.  However, this does not mean that we will be without our Lord’s Word, nor does it mean that we are without options for worship.  After consulting with the Board of Elders, I want you to be aware of the following:

Please read through this entire email and take note of each item!

This coming Sunday, I will post a pre-recorded sermon on our webpage (stpaulthorndale.com).  Please honor the 3rd commandment with your family and gather together in worship.  Husbands and fathers (or moms), lead the way!  A simple format for worship would include:

·         Invocation:  Make the sign of the cross and say: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

·         Confession/Absolution:  You can do something formal or something casual.  A formal confession would look like what we all say together each Sunday in Church.  You can find many examples in a hymnal (I have attached a pdf for your convenience).  Or, for a  more casual twist, you can simply take turns going around the room, each person confessing some sin or behavior or attitude for which there is sorrow and contrition (this can be a good opportunity to reconcile with someone you have been in conflict with (ehem… husbands and wives, siblings…cough…coughJ).  Dads (or moms), you can then announce: “Because of all that Jesus has done for us, our sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.”

·         Sing a hymn

·         Read Scripture (on the sermon video available on our webpage, I’ll highlight which scriptures correspond with my sermon).

·         Play sermon video.  You can find it by clicking “church” on the menu on the upper right-hand corner of the homepage (just look for the Co-op grain siloes).

·         Discuss sermon with family

·         Say the Apostles’ Creed

·         Online giving is available for offering

·         Create prayer list.  The family can take turns praying.  Close with the Lord’s prayer.

·         Sing another hymn.

·         Give the blessing:  “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.  The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and grant you His peace.  Amen.

For additional at-home devotional material, children's lessons and more, visit our synodical publishing, Concordia Publishing at www.cph.org. 

STARTING SUNDAY, MARCH 29th we are going to try to host an online, interactive worship service via Zoom or another videoconferencing platform.  This would enable us to all log-on by computer (for video and audio) or phone (audio only)—up to 300 families—and we will hopefully be able to sing together, speak our responsive liturgy and worship together in a virtual fashion.  I will be testing this next week and more information and instructions will be emailed out.  However, I will continue to post a pre-recorded sermon on our webpage each week (there are already some posted).  You can also access the last 2 ½ years’ worth of sermons by going to YOUTUBE and searching “st paul lutheran sound”.  The video isn’t good on many of the older sermons, but the audio is great! 

***Please be considerate of our elderly members of the church by possibly inviting them to join you for worship at home or by helping them gain access to these resources.  Also, if possible, invite any single members of the church to join you so that they don’t have to worship alone. 

****EASTER SUNDAY

We also have a creative plan for Easter Sunday.  We will be hosting a drive-in worship service.  We will have the choir sing and trumpets accompany our hymns. And all of it will be broadcast on an FM frequency.  All that families have to do is jump in the car (maybe even in your PJ’s) and park on the church’s grounds and we will be able to worship together.  Believe it or not,  I have actually led a worship service just like this when I was a vicar in Stuttgart, Arkansas.  My favorite part is when it comes to saying “Christ is risen… He is risen indeed! Halleluiah!”  We will all punctuate our halleluiah’s with honking our horns and flashing our car lights.  We’ll wake up the whole town of Thorndale with our Easter joy!!!! Details will be coming soon.

*****The only other thing that I would urge every member to consider in the coming weeks is the church’s on-going need for your tithes and offerings.  The church can quickly fall into a financial hole if no offerings are given during this worship hiatus.  Online giving is such a simple and easy way to give regularly.  It took me only a minute to set up my family’s online giving.  If you are capable of ordering from Amazon, you can setup online giving via our church webpage.  Or you can mail in an offering or put it in the dropbox outside the church & school office doors.  Even a little bit will go a long way.  Thank you for your support. 

And may the peace of God which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ during this strange and scary time.  HE WILL BE FAITHFUL!

UPCOMING CONCERT EVENT - THE JUBILATE CHOIR - This event has been canceled.

The Jubilate Choir from Lutheran High School in Parker, CO is a 39 voice, select ensemble that travels throughout the state of Colorado and the United States sharing God’s gift of music with audiences of all ages. They perform a variety of music fro…

The Jubilate Choir from Lutheran High School in Parker, CO is a 39 voice, select ensemble that travels throughout the state of Colorado and the United States sharing God’s gift of music with audiences of all ages. They perform a variety of music from different eras, composers and genres including W.A. Mozart, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ola Gjielo, Shawn Kirchner and many others.

LENTEN SERMON SERIES - Eyes on Jesus

O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Gradual for Lent, based on Hebrews 1…

O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Gradual for Lent, based on Hebrews 12:2)

When the characters in the Passion narrative look at Jesus, what do they see? In most cases, people misunderstood who He is and what He was doing. In some cases, by faith, people recognized Him aright. Our Lenten series this year, based on the Gospel according to St. Mark, will examine how the various people around Jesus viewed Him—and how we should view Him. We will “fix our eyes” on what Jesus has done to save us from our sins by His holy, precious blood and innocent sufferings and death, and celebrate what God sees on account of His work: our justification for His sake.

LENTEN WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Lenten Worship, March 18th

7:00 pm - Lenten Worship

Sermon Title – Denying Eyes - In the third week of Lent, we stare into the “Denying Eyes” of Peter and the other apostles. They could not see how they could ever fall away from Jesus, but after Jesus is betrayed by Judas, ten of them flee, and Peter—when he is spotted by a servant girl and sees that his own neck is on the line—sees fit to deny Jesus, which leads to his own eyes weeping in remorse. We sinners likewise deny our Lord in many ways, but Jesus denied Himself to take up the cross for our salvation.

Lenten Worship, March 25th

7:00 pm - Lenten Worship

Sermon Title - Murderous Eyes - “Murderous Eyes” is the theme of week 4 in Lent. The chief priests and scribes saw Jesus as an obstacle to be rid of by murdering Him through the Roman judicial system. Yet during the Passover festival, they would unwittingly bring about the Father’s sacrifice of the ultimate Passover Lamb.

Lenten Worship, April 1st

7:00 pm - Lenten Worship

Sermon Title - Worldly Eyes - In the fifth week of Lent, we look through the “Worldly Eyes” of Pilate, the Jewish leaders, and the Roman soldiers. Pilate can only view matters in a worldly, pragmatic way, wishing to placate the worldly Jewish leaders and crowd, so he consents to handing Jesus over for crucifixion. The soldiers see the opposite of a worldly king, but their ironic hailing of Him as “King of the Jews” proclaims who He really is. The world looks for power and glory; God’s way is suffering and the cross.

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New Year’s Eve Worship - 7:00 pm

Each New Year brings us new opportunities to know God more, to walk in faith and to grow in His grace.

May your year be blessed in the Lord!

But, as it is written,

“ What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 1 Corinthians 2:9

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!