January NewsletterGrace and peace to you in Jesus!

Dear family of God at Grace here it is, the Year of our Lord 2017.  As we stand at the cross road of the old and the new it is always good to look back and ahead, to see where we have been and where we are going.  2016 was a difficult year.  At least 30 or more of our members departed from our midst.  15 members were called to their heavenly home.  Another 8 took up residence in northern states.  Some left Grace for their own personal reasons.  It is a sad thing to say, "good bye" to brothers and sisters in the faith.  But as we stand at the cross road, we have hope because we stand with Jesus.  We know that we will see those departed brothers and sisters in heaven because we are all in Christ. 

As we head into 2017, only God knows what is in store for His family at Grace.  We travel the road ahead with joy and hope, trusting that we are in the arms of Jesus.  He traveled the road to the cross for us so that we would have forgiveness and life - life here to the full and the sure and certain hope of life eternal in heaven.

We will need to fill the vacancies of those who have departed.  Please think about volunteering your time and talents in service at Grace.  The positions that are vacant are as follows: Vice Chairman of the congregation, Evangelism, Human Care, and Fellowship.  Not only do we need leaders to chair these committees we will need people to serve on these committees. 

I want to encourage you to invite friends to church so that we can reach people with the Good News of Jesus and so that we can grow as the Family of God at Grace.  May God help and bless us in 2017.        

January 1st fell on a Sunday this year.  It was The Circumcision and Naming of our Lord Jesus.  The second Sunday in January is the Baptism of our Lord.  Circumcision and Baptism are connected.  Jesus' was the last one to meaningfully shed his blood in circumcision.  Every baby circumcised on the 8th day was connected to the family of God in the line of Abraham.  To be circumcised meant that you were a child of Abraham and therefore a child of

God.  It was a sign of God's promise and covenant.  It was also a sign that you were under the Law of God, bound to keep it.  Jesus was bound to the Law by His circumcision.  He then fulfilled the Law on our behalf.  After Jesus we are joined to the covenant by baptism.  Joined to Jesus we have what He won for us by keeping the Law that we cannot.  Now in Baptism we are named and sealed to Christ. 

Every New Year we come up with resolutions to better our lives.  I joined the YMCA with my whole family.  Time will tell!  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, every year is lived out in the waters of your baptism.  Living in that water we have forgiveness, a good name - written in the Book of Life, life here and life eternal.  It's all an 8th day miracle, but that's a whole other pastor's letter.

We have one upcoming event and then I have a request:

Don Wharton will be in concert here on Saturday the 28th at 4PM.  If you have not had the pleasure of hearing Don Wharton, I would encourage to come out.  He is funny, entertaining and has a wonderful message to tell.

My request is that you pray for Grace and for me in the New Year and especially during the week of January 30th - February 2nd.  I will be attending a program for continuing education called Doxology.  You can learn about this program by looking it up on the web at Doxology.us.  This will help me to serve you better. 

Finally let me say thank you!  Thank you to our Staff for supporting me and each other in all the challenges we face.  Thank you to all of you.  You are wonderful and faithful people!  Thank you to my family, Lori, Andrew, Jeremiah, Rachel, Aunt Bert, Uncle Cliff and Aunt Rosemary.  And thank you Lord!                       May you live 2017 in your baptismal waters and my God richly bless and keep you!

In His Service,Pastor Lingsch

UPCOMING EVENTS

Un-Decorate the Christmas Tree Friday, January 6th - 6:00 pmBring a dish to share and your favorite beverage

Women Of Grace Meeting and LuncheonTuesday, January 10th11:00 am - Fellowship Hall1:00 pm - "Women of the Bible" Presentation by Ruth Dishop - Open to All

2016 Annual Reports DueMonday, January 23rd - Email to office@graceofnaples.com

Don Wharton - Family ConcertSaturday, January 28th4:00 pm - Sanctuary

WEEKLY EVENTS

Heroes in the FaithWednesday's 10:30 amFellowship Hall 

Women's Bible StudyThursday's 10:00 am - 11:00 amFellowship Hall

Handbell ChoirThursday's at 6:00 pm

Practice English Come Help!

Every Wednesday and FridayThe Pelican Community Center5800 Golden Gate Pkwy6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Elders' Report The Elders hope that all Grace members, family, and friends had a very Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year. We all look forward to an exciting, rewarding, giving and growing 2017 at Grace. At the end of 2016, the Elders continued to address and reconcile the membership list issues to be certain that all Grace members and attendees are receiving the attention, care, and concern that they deserve. The Elders also updated and clarified the Guidelines established several years ago for the Memorial Garden and converted these into Grace Policy. State and local regulatory agencies were contacted to be certain that our 'scatter garden' was in compliance with all State and local regulations. The Elders also held a training/review session on the Guidelines for both Ushers and Elders. Four members of Grace volunteered to be Ushers, and the Elders want to encourage more members of Grace-youth, men and women-to volunteer for this very important service. We intend to continue to 'recruit' additional Usher support in 2017 and will be having another training session early in the year. In addition, there are at least two vacancies on the Board of Elders, and we would certainly appreciate receiving expressions of interest or nominations to fill these positions. Please contact your Elder or Pastor if you have such suggestions. The Elders continued to work with Pastor and Jonathan on the structure and approach to worship services to meet the needs of the membership. And, as with all Grace Boards, we worked diligently to develop our input to the annual Grace budget process. These efforts included: several working sessions with the Stewardship Chair, the Financial Secretary, and the Financial Administrator, to be certain that all budget and financial issues were coordinated and consistent; and implementation of the Grace Goal Planing Form with both Pastor and Jonathan.            

 

January 2017 Christmas at The Golden Gate Pelican Lutheran Church (w/ pictures)                 Christmas is amazing!!  Streets lined with every imaginable type of Christmas light, parades, cars & trucks decorated with reindeer antlers, ugly Christmas sweaters, real pine wreaths, Christmas carols, Christmas programs, Christmas parties, time together with family & friends, and more!  After five years without a good old-fashioned Christmas, this year we enjoyed it and soaked it up like never before!                  What a neat time to start worship services too!  We enjoyed two regular Sundays before the special celebrations of Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.  Our first Sunday the Lord brought 29 people to worship.  The next week (Dec. 18th) must have been declared a "shopping day" as we had 9 folks. Our 6:00 p.m. services on Christmas Eve blessed 15 worshipers and New Year's Eve blessed 17 people - 12 of whom had not been with us at Christmas.  As I later found out, 8:00 p.m. is a better time for worship as it does not conflict with cultural prep times/cook times for special foods for the big Christmas Eve Party.  Now we know for next year!  Christian missions can be an exercise in...humility.                   As a faith family, The Pelican decorated, held special Christmas prep (Advent) English classes, did a ton of outreach with invitations, fliers, and posters, had a special "candlelight service" and a great Venezuelan styled Christmas party.  Our outreach theme was "Vino" or "He came" regarding the fact that God Himself came to redeem His broken world and restore His light in our darkened hearts and world. The "candlelight service" displays that truth very beautifully when sung with "Silent Night".  As much as many of us are familiar with that, that part of the service was completely new to all of our Latino friends!  How wonderful to share that  -  and to see their joy at something so great and new.  Over our Christmas Eve & New Year's Eve worship services, we gathered 4 new families who had not been to our church before.                  The Collier County Sheriff's Office gave us gifts for 8 children in our congregation from a donation that they received just days before Christmas.  This gave us the idea to provide a gift for each child who would come to The Pelican for worship or the Church Party after.  [Remember, the symbol of the pelican is a symbol of God Himself (Jesus) giving to those with needs.]  The Lord

blessed this idea and positively impacted many families who are new to our area, and did not previously have a connection with The Pelican Church - or any Christian church.                 Above all of the fun, gifts, lights, special foods, and singing, everyone knew that the reason for it all was God's love, which He gave us by coming to deliver His grace, mercy, faith, and forgiveness through that mysterious little baby in the feeding trough -  Jesus.  Jesus is the fulfillment of God's love, and is the Almighty God Himself.  There is no love and there is no God apart from the fullness of Jesus Christ. Of course, WITH Jesus, you have all that the others promise and MORE!                 With the New Year, we are moving forward to maximize the facilities & location we have in order to glorify Christ and to bless those in our community. A big part of this will be to expand the reach of the Community Center with a new schedule for English Classes, Spanish Class, a regular Family Movie Night and more.  Our worship services continue in Spanish with live English translation for the announcements, sermon, & prayers.  We will offer live translation in Haitian Creole by February.  By Easter we may begin an English service with live translations in both Spanish & Haitian Creole.  We already have two baptisms coming up, and more to come!  Thank you for your prayers and support as we continue to build relationships with people and joyfully share the word & peace of Christ with everyone.   Your Brother in Christ and Partner in Christ's Mission,Pastor Mark Eisold

Abuela (Grandma),  Anna, Maria, and Jorge Luis: Our Pelican Team for preparing and distributing invitations along the parade route for the Naples Christmas Parade. Many others joined us at the parade in spite of the rain. 

Our first Nacimiento (Nativity Scene) for The Golden Gate Pelican Lutheran

Church. 

The front door of the church still serves as a bulletin board for important information. How very "Lutheran"!

Children receiving gifts at The Pelican on Christmas Eve.

One child's joy at a wonderful evening celebrating her Savior.

 Christmas Eve Dinner is a HUGE thing in Latin American culture.  Everyone brings something different to contribute, but this is no pot-luck.  The Latino Christmas Dinner revolves around three main items.  Every family prepares tamales to share, and in Venezuelan culture they compete to see who made the best "pan de jamón".  This is a large, stuffed bread - full of ham, cheese, raisins, and other tasty treats.  A leg of a young pig (lechón) is slow-cooked until is literally falling off the bone.  Dessert consists of a special pineapple cake and ... panetón.  Though originally from Italy, panetón is popular in every part of mainland South America during Christmas.  Panetón is like a bigger, fluffier, version of German stolen - with lots of sweet, dried fruit cooked-in the with sweet bread.  Please pass the butter and the chocolate caliente!Not all of these folks knew each other back in Venezuela.  Not all are from the same country.  But as newcomers to a new land, EVERYONE IS FAMILY! 

Planning Council Highlights - Grace Lutheran Church *The December meeting of the Planning Council was canceled to allow members to more fully deal with the responsibilities on their home fronts and to the needs of their families. *Being taken up in the meeting on January 17, will be the filling of the open position of our Board of Human Care.  An obvious solution would be giving a voice to the several groups at Grace that involve and utilize the gifts being given by the women of Grace.  A representative would have a permanent seat on the Planning Council.  Should you wish to be considered for this position, throw your hat into the ring by calling Sue Hecht or Nancy Beights. *Also in January, our Financial Secretary will present a proposal to more formally establish categories of funds which at present do not fall within the parameters of yearly budgeted items. *Two safety issues are being brought to the attention of our members.  First, be aware that until the parking lot project is complete, there are places where root protrusion can cause hazards for those walking.  Watch your step. Secondly, for those leaving in an automobile and turning right onto US 41, you know that looking left for oncoming traffic is important.  Be sure also to look right to check for the possibility that pedestrians and/or bike riders may be ready to cross Banyan in front of you.  We love seeing you return safely the following Sunday and our community appreciates you watching out for them. *Discussion continues on the best place to position our welcome desk.  Many have voiced their opinion to me and for that I am grateful.  To all of you, rest assured that no final decision has been made and that your perspectives are valuable and appreciated.   Efforts are moving steadily ahead on several of the other projects that were presented by Dane Leubke at the previous Voters Meeting in early December. *Finally, a note of sincere thanks to all who contributed to our seasonal expression of gratefulness to members of our staff.  With the delivery of each envelope, I received smiles that glowed and verbal expressions of joy.  It was fun to play Santa Claus but it was the generosity of you all which made those rounds possible.  Thank you all so very much. Steve Beights

Attention Women of All Ages at Grace Lutheran ChurchYou Are Invited

 The first of the "Two-per-Year" Meetings of the Women of Grace will be held in the Fellowship Hall on Tuesday, January 10, at 11:00 am.  At this meeting, we will be deciding on what work we plan to do this season to accomplish our goals and objectives.  Please read our Mission Statement OBJECTIVES andconsider attending and possible the giving of some of your time.  We feel the work we do is important and is a form of worship as we serve our congregation, our community and the Church at large.  W.O.G Objectives A.  To serve the Lord with gladness. B.  To develop and maintain mission consciousness among the women of the congregation through:  Mission Education, Mission Inspiration and Mission Service.  C.  To gather funds for mission projects sponsored by Grace Lutheran Church, the District, and the National LWML D.  To foster Christian fellowship among all women at Grace Lutheran Church.  To encourage all women of Grace to take an active role in this special ministry of our church.       E.  To work in cooperation with Grace Lutheran Church in its' ministry to build the Kingdom of Christ We would love having you join us Tuesday for your companionship and contribution. 

12:00 pm lunch will be provided by our hostesses Bonnie Heidel, Sandy Kudart and Betty Yock.  A program, which is open to the congregation, will follow at 1:00 pm.  Ruth Dishop will present "Women of the Bible". 

 

 

  The Women of Grace have a proposed date of Sat. Feb. 25th for our annual Rummage Sale.  The sale raises an average of $5,000 each year which fund our mission projects. Members of the congregation have faithfully supported this worthwhile activity since the early 1990's by volunteering time, talent and lots of rummage. Time has marched forward and we now find ourselves in serious need of younger workers if this event is to continue.  If you have never participated and are willing to serve during this three day activity please contact Sue Hecht at 775-6665 or email at sueannhecht@gmail.com by Jan. 8th.  We will be voting on this issue at the membership meeting Jan. 10th. Thank you for your consideration. 

 

Flowers What beauty the Flower Bouquets add to our chancel every Sunday!  And what beauty these flowers add to our church services as they are a reminder of God's nature in color.  

Floral Design by Heidi makes up these large, beautiful arrangements; and she uses fresh flowers that last at least two weeks.  

The 2017 Altar Flower Chart is UP!  Could you pick out a Sunday and sign your name on the chart?  Maybe just to say 'Thank You' to God for His many blessings in your life?  Maybe in celebration of someone's birthday or wedding anniversary?  Maybe to commemorate one of our nation's holidays?  Maybe just for your church to adorn the chancel with beauty?  

The flower chart is located on the east bulletin board in the narthex.  One bouquet is $45; two bouquets are $90.  drop a check in the offering plate, but be sure the check indicates the Sunday date you have chosen for.  You can take home a bouquet following the second service or we can deliver them to an ill person in the church.  

Thanks from the Flower Chairman  

 

MISSIONARIES OF THE MONTHJOE AND SUZY SCHLIE

FRANCE     Joe Schlie was born to an LCMS pastor and wife in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and has served the Lord in foreign countries most of his life.       From the time he met Suzy, they have been a team-first in marriage and also in zeal for the Lord.  Their circuitous route has taken them to Paris where they couldn't find anyone on the streets who had even heard the name of Jesus. They relied on Isaiah 11: 1 which promises," A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit."  They worked with groups of people who loved art, with others who loved sports, and with others who loved music by forming art shows, sports teams, and musical concerts.  Several have become committed Christians and have become members of the Lutheran Church of the Billettes in Paris, the church home of Joe and Suzy and their young daughters, Collette, Isabelle and Sophia. The Isaiah passage give them much hope as, literally, out of something dead (a stump,) something new and fruitful has arisen.  Joe and Suzy write, " It speaks about the coming of our Savior, who will rally the nation as in Isaiah 11:10.  At the same time, it is a picture of that for which we continue to pray for the French speakers and that God would build French-led, French-feeling, multinational communities of faith that are a blessing to the nations."     Joe and Suzy thank us at Grace Lutheran for our partnership, friendship and investments and ask us to continue praying for them as they minister to French speakers in Paris and perhaps around the world--if the Lord has that in His plan for them. 

   

 

Women of Grace Christmas Luncheon on December 3rd at The Arlington

   

   Sunday School and Preschool Christmas program "Silent Night, Holy Night" with Youth Group pancake breakfast December 10th.

 

Christmas Caroling