Our Savior is Revealed to us!
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Our Savior is Revealed to us!
Exciting Things Are Happening At ORLC!
An outpouring of New Members!
Within the past months we have welcomed over a dozen new members beyond those in Pastor's last adult and confirmation class, either transfers, confirmed, or Baptized into our Family here at Our Redeemer, with more to come!
We welcome you as one of us!
Running on Grace, our college ministry is up and running (Really on Grace)! Check out the news below.
Our Redeemer's college ministry is off and "running"!! There are four areas of ministry with our college age members. We are motivated by the words of Paul, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly..." (I Corinthians 9:24-26) We are working towards developing an organized ministry of nurture, outreach and Bible study. Please keep this growing ministry in your prayers. We are still in search of prayer partners, individuals willing to pray for the leaders, the students and the ministry itself.
Susan Dicke and Denise Hartzog are assembling care packages for our own students away at school. Watch for opportunity to help them throughout the year. Maybe write a personal note to include in the next package. We have 16 members that are college students this year.
Kelly McBride is leading a new Bible study on Sunday Mornings, "Ignite! Refining and Purifying your Faith". She has also set up an e-mail system of devotions for our students. And now she's started a new women's Bible Class on Monday nights. That is one busy lady. If you happen to see a red haired streak zooming by one day, have no fear. It's just Kelly!
Adrenaline is our Tuesday night small group that meets on the MC campus. We meet as servants, Running on Grace, to share God's love and the message of salvation through our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have shared popcorn with the message Poppin' for Jesus and Lifesavers, with the message that Jesus is our lifesaver. This group cooked for Matt's House, Sunday, October 15th and was at Kid's Towne one afternoon with free drinks for everyone playing in the sun.
Last Fall we added another Location to Running on Grace! It is at Hinds Community College just down the Road in Raymond (the other way) and it's already going strong! We're almost in the middle between these two fine institutions. Guess if we add any more they'll have to be further away and the gas costs'll just ruin our Budget.
Praise God from whom all Blessings flow!
A new Sponsoring Program for new members is up and running to help them them more easily feel part of our family here at our Redeemer! You are loved and we want you to feel welcome as part of the family!
Our Mentoring Program for the Youth is continuing with excitement and success. We pray for many Blessings on this exciting program and rejoice in the Holy Spirit for its promise!
We're seeing old friends we haven't seen in
years!
New friends are coming out in
droves!
Worship is still growing in Both Services!
Our God Is An Awesome God!
Sunday School is booming! Six Adult classes now. Attendance is reaching levels not seen at Our Redeemer for a long time and the children's classes are bursting!
Our Youth ministries are sizzling preparing for the upcoming National Youth Gathering in New Orleans, our long running and highly successful Kids Adventure Night and our exciting new worship program for the whole family, X-treme Grace!; dazzling with new things to do and new friends showing up all the time! Those kids just can't sit still! Look for photos soon and watch this space for more youth activities!
Remember our Awesome VBS last year in
"The Hillside of
Isreal" and before that
"Gallilee By The
Sea" and
"Jerusalem
Marketplace"? (If not, check out
the Photo Gallery link on this Welcome Page just below the Photo
Album section.) Anyway, they were like nothing ever seen before at
ORLC and a howling success every
time!
Last summer, our Children's Ministry brought off yet another one, just as Awesome, "Let's Go To Rome"! Check out our new comprehensive Photo Galleries of these events in their exciting new format on site NOW!
Florence Huse created a whole cast of puppets for a Puppet Ministry! Our Puppet Shows during Sunday School are Awesome!
And God is working mightily among our members:
Our good friend and brother in our family, Dick Knapp, is Pastor at St. James, Gonzales, Louisiana. He has been so busy since Katrina with the Hurricaine Relief effort that he couldn't even go on the District Pastor's Cruise. Remember, Dick, what they say about all work and no play...
Ward Yunker was ordained into Holy Ministry May 31st at his father's church in Pascagoula, MS! He has begun his ministry as Associate Pastor in Canada. We still miss your drums Ward, but obviously God really did have a better idea.
Steven Namanny finished his
internship year and now is the Director of Christian Outreach in Chicago! You Go Steven, but that wailin' sax sure is
missed, too. Guess God needed you more, too.
Praise God for the
wonderful work He is doing at Our Redeemer!
Choir Practice:
The Choir is Back,
better than ever with new members and a return of long time former members! Give it a
try this month!
Wednesdays at 7:30
pm
Come lift your
voice in song with us in praise of Our Gracious Lord and get one of
the beautiful blue robes. You are needed very much! Help us
grow.
Sonbeam Choir:
You have to hear our
children's choir. They are precious and Jubilant!
Confirmation was held in a Combined Service May
3rd, last year, before a huge crowd, and was enjoyed by all. Especially the
Confirmands who were way glad to be finally through with all that stuff. Classes have
resumed for the next crop already. They are all asking when they get to go on a Confirmation Trip. All in good time, kids, all in good time. (Actually, little birdies are chirping about this summer?)
Praise Team Practice:
Sundays, after the second service.
We need you, Come on,
give it a try!
New Sunday School classes for Adults and
Children are up and running
Don't miss 'out! Check
'em out. Let's keep Sunday School
growing!
We have six
exciting adult classes underway now!
Paul Huse has an exciting new class on the Letters of John. Come learn more about the fascinating early days of our church.Dick Henderson is leading an in-depth exploration of Romans.
Pastor Steve has a wonderful class on church history that's very informative and fun, too, (especially when we get him off the subject).
Steve Huse has an important adult class on The Lutheran Difference.
Curtis Namanny is leading a delightful class Daniel.
Kelly McBride is leading a College/ Young Adult class on Ignite! Refining and Purifying Your Faith
Pray for these classes and
their leaders that God may be glorified and that his will continues
to work in our congregation.
Lent:
Transfiguration Sunday, is a time of rejoicing and pageantry in celebration of the Glorifying of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the mount of Transfiguration. Culminating that celebration, however, is the symbolic removal of Alleluias from our services in the form of banners and mobiles by the youth from the church in the recessional, looking toward the forty days of Lent to begin the following Wednesday: Ash Wednestday. Alleluias are not present during Lent, which remembers Our Lord's forty days of temptation in the wilderness starting His ministry, but mainly looks forward to the period leading up to His crucifixion and His suffering. It is a solemn time of self-examination, repentance, and thanksgiving for His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross for us.It is a time of meditation, prayer, and committment, yes, and of yearning, as well, for that glorious celebration of His Ressurection, Easter Morning, soon to come, when Joy and Alleluias will at last return to our midst! It too, is a time to always keep before us the very last command and promise that Our Lord Jesus Christ gave to us before ascending to Heaven to prepare us a place:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Praise Be To The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit!