From the Pastor's Desk
To all the Saints as Vestal,
As you well know, I have accepted a Divine Call to serve as Pastor at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in South Lyon, Michigan. My last Sunday serving as Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church will be Sunday, March 3rd, 2024. I will, however, continue to serve for most of that week, including the midweek service on Wednesday, March 6th. And, as my final act as Pastor at Grace, we will be moving the Sons of Solomon Men’s Breakfast up one week, to meet that Thursday morning, March 7th, at 6:30 am at Take-A-Break Diner on the Old Vestal Road. Again, normally that breakfast is on the second Thursday of every month, but in March it will meet on the first Sunday, so that I can be present for one final meeting. After that, I will no longer be Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church: the following Sunday, March 10th, I will be installed as Pastor at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church. Thank you all for the years we have spent together. I have learned much about the ministry and Faith and I go with both a great excitement and a certain sadness for those people we will no longer see and know. I trust our God fully and know that He is both willing and able to provide for and rule in this congregation. Keep your eyes on your true leader and source of peace, Christ Crucified.
March is a very busy and significant month at Grace, even apart from my own departure. Hope Kratochvil will be confirmed on March 3rd, so if you weren’t able to on the day off, make sure to congratulate her and welcome her into the Church as an adult.
At this time, Lenten and Holy Week Services stand unaltered. That would mean that Grace will hold Midweek services on Wednesdays March 13th and 20th at 12 noon, or if a midday service is hard for you to make, join our brothers and sisters at Zion Lutheran Church in Owego on those same days at 7 pm. Grace will also hold Maundy Thursday service March 28th at 7 pm, Good Friday Service on March 29th at 7 pm, and Easter Sunday service on March 31st at the regular service time. Again, at this time, I have no news of alterations in this schedule or of any change in the regular Sunday service times. Please pay close attention to all notifications coming out of Grace’s office for news of any potential alterations to this schedule.
In the season of Lent, we reflect on our own sin and mortality, because “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a) Yet, it is this very reflection, leading us to repentance, which prepares our hearts to hear and by faith take hold of the rest of that verse, that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b). So, in this moment, especially as Grace is uncertain about the details of its immediate future - though very certain of the beauty and goodness of its eternal future - I would like to leave you all with one of my most treasured and quoted passages in the Bible.
“And He said to His disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor bard, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If, then, you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, Little Flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’” (Luke 12:22-32)
God’s richest blessings on you all, unto the Life Eternal,
Pastor Jake Bellinghausen
As you well know, I have accepted a Divine Call to serve as Pastor at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in South Lyon, Michigan. My last Sunday serving as Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church will be Sunday, March 3rd, 2024. I will, however, continue to serve for most of that week, including the midweek service on Wednesday, March 6th. And, as my final act as Pastor at Grace, we will be moving the Sons of Solomon Men’s Breakfast up one week, to meet that Thursday morning, March 7th, at 6:30 am at Take-A-Break Diner on the Old Vestal Road. Again, normally that breakfast is on the second Thursday of every month, but in March it will meet on the first Sunday, so that I can be present for one final meeting. After that, I will no longer be Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church: the following Sunday, March 10th, I will be installed as Pastor at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church. Thank you all for the years we have spent together. I have learned much about the ministry and Faith and I go with both a great excitement and a certain sadness for those people we will no longer see and know. I trust our God fully and know that He is both willing and able to provide for and rule in this congregation. Keep your eyes on your true leader and source of peace, Christ Crucified.
March is a very busy and significant month at Grace, even apart from my own departure. Hope Kratochvil will be confirmed on March 3rd, so if you weren’t able to on the day off, make sure to congratulate her and welcome her into the Church as an adult.
At this time, Lenten and Holy Week Services stand unaltered. That would mean that Grace will hold Midweek services on Wednesdays March 13th and 20th at 12 noon, or if a midday service is hard for you to make, join our brothers and sisters at Zion Lutheran Church in Owego on those same days at 7 pm. Grace will also hold Maundy Thursday service March 28th at 7 pm, Good Friday Service on March 29th at 7 pm, and Easter Sunday service on March 31st at the regular service time. Again, at this time, I have no news of alterations in this schedule or of any change in the regular Sunday service times. Please pay close attention to all notifications coming out of Grace’s office for news of any potential alterations to this schedule.
In the season of Lent, we reflect on our own sin and mortality, because “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a) Yet, it is this very reflection, leading us to repentance, which prepares our hearts to hear and by faith take hold of the rest of that verse, that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b). So, in this moment, especially as Grace is uncertain about the details of its immediate future - though very certain of the beauty and goodness of its eternal future - I would like to leave you all with one of my most treasured and quoted passages in the Bible.
“And He said to His disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor bard, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If, then, you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, Little Flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’” (Luke 12:22-32)
God’s richest blessings on you all, unto the Life Eternal,
Pastor Jake Bellinghausen