GOODNEWSletter MAY 2009 ******************************************************************************* He Calms Our Fears When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"… Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:8, 10, 11 Simon Peter and his friends were fishermen when they first knew Jesus. After a long night of catching nothing, they were ready to call it quits. But Jesus told them to put out their nets in the deep water. It was now the hottest and brightest part of the day. A catch of fish seemed even less likely at this point. The miraculous catch Jesus gave them ripped their nets and caused their boats to sink! Immediately, Peter realized that this wasn't just another teacher, but the Son of God. When Peter saw God's power that day, he was filled with fear. More than ever, he felt the big difference between God and himself. He was a sinner and God was not. He was entirely at God's mercy. Maybe it was a huge thunderstorm or the power of crashing waves that first made you realize how big God is and how small you are. When we see the awesome wonders of God in this world, sometimes we feel the same way Peter did. Sometimes we conclude that we need to distance ourselves from God because of our sin. He is perfect and we are not. The Bible tells us that God has every right to punish us for all of eternity because of our sin. All of this strikes fear in our hearts. Jesus' powerful miracles had this same effect on people. But at the same time, his miracles draw our attention to an important fact about our powerful God: he is here to save us. Jesus calms our fears. Jesus told Peter, "Do not be afraid…" As God's Son, he wasn't there to harm Peter. He was there to save him, and that is just what he did when he died on the cross and rose again. Jesus' words calm our fears as sinners before a holy God. Now, we don't need to cry, "Away from me, Lord, for I am a sinner!" Instead, in the peace of his forgiveness, we can take the time to set down the nets of our daily work and follow him to something greater in his Word. Follow Jesus to his Word with worship and daily devotion and find the true peace and calm from life's storms that only Jesus can give. ******************************************************************************* May Schedule Northwood, England - Northwood Methodist Church May 3, June 7 - Worship at 13:00, Bible Class at 14:00 with fellowship following Savior of the Nations Lutheran Church Wicker, Germany (Frankfurt Area) - At the Evangelische Gemeindehaus PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN WORSHIP TIMES AND LOCATIONS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY: Sunday, May 10 - No regular service at Wicker location 10:30 - Joint Mother's Day worship and picnic at Pulaski Park Sunday, May 24 - Worship at 11:00, Fellowship, Bible Class and Sunday school following the service Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany - At the Southside Chapel PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN WORSHIP TIMES AND LOCATIONS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY: Sunday, May 10 - No regular service at Ramstein 10:30 - Joint Mother's Day worship and picnic at Pulaski Park Sunday, May 24 - No regular service at Ramstein 17:00 - Free choral concert given by the Wisconsin Lutheran Choir and Chamber choir at the Fruchthalle in Kaiserslaughtern (Fruchthallstrassse 10) - Fellowship dinner to follow at a local restaurant. Vilseck, Germany - Main Chapel on Vilseck Army Base Saturday, May 16 - Worship at 10:00, Bible study at 11:00, potluck meal to follow Switzerland - The Home of Christian and Jill Geissendoerfer Sunday, May 17 - Worship at 11:00, Bible study, Sunday school and fellowship to follow ******************************************************************************* Wisconsin Lutheran College Choir On Sunday, May 24th at 17:00, Wisconsin Lutheran College Choir will be performing a concert in Kaiserslaughtern. The concert will be sung at the Fruchthalle in Kaiserslaughtern (Fruchthallstrasse 10). This is a free concert to honor members of the US military and their families, but all are invited to come. We are looking forward to this great worship opportunity! After the concert, we will meet at a local restaurant for a fellowship dinner. There are plenty of seats available, so be sure to grab a friend or two to join you! ******************************************************************************* Mother's Day Picnic We are excited about our annual Mother's Day worship service and picnic at Pulaski Park on May 10th at 10:30 am. This park is on a United States military base, so if you are not in the military, you will have to be signed on by someone who is in the military. All members attending who don't have a military ID should meet at the McDonald's near Vogelweh Army Base at 9:45 (see directions below). People will be there to sign you on. Here are the directions to the McDonald's: If you are heading A6 direction Saarbruecken you will take the Kaiserslautern West/Lauterecken/Opel exit. You will head towards Pirmasens/Waldfischbach (B270). After about 2 Kilometers you will take an exit right to the B40 direction Landstuhl/Einsiedlerhof. You will see the base on your left hand side. The first stop light leads to the base, but you cannot enter the base there. You will need to take the next road to your left and McDonalds should be immediately on your right. The festivities begin with a joint worship service at 10:30 and then a cook-out picnic to follow. Please bring a dish to pass. Meat will be provided. Please don't hesitate to contact Pastor Martin with any questions. ******************************************************************************* Prayer Chain Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7) God in His Word encourages Christians to pray continually. It is an important gift that our loving God has given us in which we can communicate with him and he blesses us. As a Christian congregation that is spread out across an entire continent, we may often find it difficult to know what is going on in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. In an effort to keep us united in prayer to our loving God, we are beginning a prayer chain. Melinda Gribble has volunteered to help put this together on a weekly basis. At the beginning of each week, you will be sent an email asking if you have any special prayer requests for yourself or a loved one. At the end of the week, the prayer will be sent out to all members with email addresses. Please feel free to submit all prayer requests to Pastor Martin or directly to Melinda Gribble at rmgribble@aol.com. If you do not have an email address but would like to add a prayer request, please don't hesitate to call Pastor Martin directly. ******************************************************************************* Drop Us a Line! If you have need of pastoral assistance or just want to talk, please contact us. Your e-mails, phone calls, & letters are welcomed. Pastor Joshua and Katie Martin Im Holzweg 4a 55288 Spiesheim Telephone: (+49) 6732-965-9813 Email: WELSChaplain@gmail.com www.welseurope.net ******************************************************************************* Our Gift of Thanks The amount of offerings gathered in Europe in the month of April was the equivalent of EUR 5,266. Since the beginning of 2009, we have collected the equivalent of EUR 12,460. Thanks for supporting the Lord's work in Europe! ******************************************************************************* Easter Retreat 2009 A huge thank-you to all the families who helped make the 2009 Easter retreat a success. We had a great time getting into the Word with Bible studies and celebrating our risen Savior with worship services. We also were able to enjoy a cave tour in Wiehl, a city tour and fellowship dinner in Cologne, and had time for fellowship to meet new Christian friends and strengthen the bonds with existing ones. Thank you to the Bachmann family who assisted with the music and provided two special composed pieces for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, to Leah Bauer for directing the choir, to Pastor Jeff Enderle for preaching and doing the teen Bible study lessons, and to Mike and Diane Tracy who assisted with collecting money and transporting items. Mark your calendar for our fall retreat from October 23-25 in Lindau, Germany. ******************************************************************************* England Retreat The England retreat has been set! It will be held from Friday, September 4, - Monday, September 7, 2009. The location is a beautiful countryside house called Dee Side House in the Yorkshire Dales which is approximately 4.5 hours northwest of London. You can see the house at www.welcomecottages.com. It is property W41485. The price for the weekend will be set based on the number of participants, but should range between £100-150 per person for the entire weekend. Please let Pastor Martin know if you would like to attend. This is a wonderful opportunity for worship and fellowship with Christian friends. ******************************************************************************* Save the Date!!! On Saturday, June 27th, we plan to have summer Vacation Bible School for adults and children at the parsonage. Included in the day of festivities will be a welcome potluck dinner for Pastor and Mrs. Enderle who will be back in Germany to cover Pastor Martin's furlough to the US. We hope you can join us! ******************************************************************************* MAY 2009 BIBLE READINGS Attached to this newsletter, you will find a calendar that contains Bible readings for each day of May as well as questions for each text. Please give Pastor Martin any feedback that you have on such a Bible study program or offer any suggestions on how the church can offer you more spiritual growth resources throughout the year. 1. Jn 21:20-24 Questions: What was Peter's concern? What does the answer of Jesus mean for us? 2. 1 Jn 3:1,2 Questions: How are we like Jesus in this world? How shall we be like him in the next? 3. Jn 10:1-6 Questions: How can we hear the voice of Jesus? How do we recognize that his voice is different from the voice of the stranger? 4. Jn 10:7-10 Questions: How does Jesus remind us there is only one way to salvation? What blessings do we as his sheep receive? 5. Jn 10:11-13 Questions: What does the Good Shepherd do for his sheep? What has your Good Shepherd done for you? 6. Jn 10:14-21 Questions: We are the other sheep. How has Jesus found us? Jesus hints that he will rise from the dead. What words imply the resurrection? 7. Jn 15:1-5 Questions: What kind of fruit does Jesus expect his disciples to produce (Cf. Gal 5:22-23)? How can we product such fruit? 8. Jn 15: 6-8 Questions: What will happen to us if we are separated from Jesus? What great promise does Jesus make about prayer? 9. Jn 15:9-17 Questions: What command does Jesus give to those who are his disciples? Write down a specific way that you can do as he asks. 10. Mt 13:1-9 Questions: What are the four kinds of soil on which the seed is sown? What is the simple meaning of the parable for us? 11. Mt 13:10-17 Questions: Why did Jesus teach in parables? 1 Co 1:11-12 tells us who must come to help us understand God's truth. 12. Mt 13:18-19 Questions: Describe the seed that falls on the path. Can you think of an example of how this happened in your experience? 13. Mt 13:20-21 Questions: Describe the seed that falls on the rocky places. Can you think of an example of how this happened in your experience? 14. Mt 13:22 Questions: Describe the seed that falls among the thorns. Can you think of an example of how this happened in your experience? 15. Mt 13:23 Questions: Describe the seed that falls on the good soil. What lesson does Jesus teach us here? 16. Ps 98 Questions: This is a psalm of joy and praise. As you read it consider how the love of the Lord has touched you and made you his child. 17. Mt 13:24-30 Questions: How are you like a good seed in a field of weeds? What does God expect from you? What do you have to look forward to? 18. Mt 13:36-43 Questions: Jesus explains the parable for us. What warning does the parable issue? What comfort? 19. Acts 1:1-3 Questions: What did Jesus do for 40 days after Easter? Why was that important to the disciples? To us? 20. Acts 1:4-8 Questions: What kind of kingdom did the disciples still expect? Do we still look for it? What should we be looking for instead? 21. Acts 1:9-11 Questions: Ascension Day. Is Jesus gone? Why or why not? What do we expect from Jesus in the future? Is that a comfort? Why? 22. Mt 28:16-20 Questions: Matthew gives a little different perspective on the ascension. What's the same? What's different? 23. Mt 13:44-46 Questions: Two little parables. What's the lesson in each one? Why is Jesus such a treasure for you? 24. Ti 2:11-14 Questions: What shall we do while we wait for the Lord to return? What gives us the spiritual power to do as Paul urged Titus? 25. Psalm 27 Questions: Read the psalm completely and note the hope the psalmist has as he waits. Then read it again. 26. He 10:19-25 Questions: What does the writer suggest for believers as they await the Day? How can you use your time while you wait for Jesus? 27. Acts 1:12-14 Questions: What did the disciples do while they waited for the day of Pentecost? How can you be like them? 28. Acts 1:15-26 Questions: The disciples chose one to replace Judas. What qualifications did his replacement have to have? Why? It that important? Why? 29. He 4:14-16 Questions: What encouragement do we have to pray? Why is prayer so important to Christians while we wait? 30. Psalm 130 Questions: What are some of your "depths"? Why are mercy and forgiveness so important to us? How does hope in the Lord sustain you? *** May 31 Readings included in June calendar. *******************************************************************************