We're building a bigger heaven and better lives!
God's Antidote for Dark Valleys
“All sunshine and no rain make a desert” (Arabic proverb). If you never have any dark, gloomy, rainy days in your life you'll dry up. Discover how God uses even our darkest days for good this Sunday, May 16, 10:45 a.m. at 101 Pecan Drive, Schertz. [map and directions]
Nursery (infant to age 4)A nursery is available for children infant – age 4 at any time during the worship service on Sundays in the Mother’s Room, to the left as you exit the worship area. The audio of the service is broadcast into the room. Interested in helping with Nursery? Sign up at the Info Table or contact Chris Stemmermann at 566-1401.
J.A.M. (ages 5-8)
Children ages 5-8 are invited to join us for J.A.M., our age appropriate worship/learning experience for children, just after the Children's message this Sunday! Interested in helping with J.A.M.? Contact David White at 650-3166.
Just for Tweens (ages 9-12)
Kids ages 9—12 are invited to be a part of Tweens, a group specially designed for them. Join them this Sunday during the LifeLesson portion of worship for this fun learning experience. Want to know more? Call Becky Peterson at 945-7952.
Grace Prayer Team
Know the miraculous power of prayer. Word of Life has a team of prayer warriors ready to pray for you. The team meets on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. [map and directions] to pray for the morning worship and other needs. Also, prayer partners will be available to pray with you or for you after worship. Just come to the right side of the worship area.
If you would like the team to pray for you throughout the week, just let Pastor Ken know (566-2237 or Ken@WordofLife4u.com). He will share your request with the team.
Building a Bigger Heaven in Brazil
In our prayers this week, we’re lifting up missionary pastor Dieter Joel Jagnow and Cristo Para Todos congregation as they reach out to people in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil and beyond. We support this work through the gift of 10% of our Sunday morning offerings to the Brazil Mission Society. To find out more, visit www.BrazilMissionSociety.com.
Join a Missional LifeGroupYouth Group - Tuesdays
7:00 p.m. at the Weissmann's
108 Rustic Trail, Cibolo
Questions? 314-3754
Adult LifeGroup - Tuesdays
7:00 p.m. at the Goeke’s
21927 Paseo Corto, Garden Ridge
Questions? 651-3075
Women’s Group - Wednesday Mornings
9:00 a.m. at Sherri Smith’s home
3309 Dusty Crossing, Schertz
Questions? 659-2585
Reading Group - 3rd Wednesdays
Meets Wednesday, May 19 to discuss “Far from the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy
6:45 p.m. at the Schertz Library
798 Schertz Parkway, Schertz
Questions? 566-1650
NEW! Men’s Group - Thursday
Ephesians
1531 Jasmine Dr, Schertz
7:00 p.m. at Mitschke's
Questions? 218-3685
God Sightings Group - Anytime
Go to www.MyGodSightings.com and click on “Sign up now.” Once you have created your profile, use the search box to search for the “Word of Life Fellowship” group.
Confirmation
Next Sunday, three Word of Life youth will confirm the faith into which they were baptized. Please plan to celebrate with Jonathon Hilman, Tyler Osgood and Emily Peterson. The families of the confirmands invite you to join them after worship next Sunday, May 23, for a short reception in the Fellowship Hall. We’re expecting many guests next week, so please consider parking on the grass beside the building or on the street along Pecan.
Mission & Ministry Facility Update
The property we are purchasing at FM 1103 & Coy is located in the city of Cibolo. Have you driven down FM 1103 lately? It’s not the country road it used to be. As of 2009, Cibolo's population is estimated to be 12,385 people. That reflects a 232.29% growth since 2000! What do these people need? What services could a new congregation provide for young families? What opportunities could be provided for youth? How could we partner with the burgeoning school district or the City of Cibolo to serve people? These are questions we need to be asking and praying over. How is God calling us to serve this expanding population? What can we do to build a bigger heaven and better lives in Cibolo?
Men's Mission Possible Project
We need a few good men to help one of our Word of Life members, a single mom, with some trailer repairs. Darren Osgood has agreed to serve as the project leader. He has determined what repairs are needed and will be buying materials. We need 3 guys to help replace boards, and 6 guys to help with painting and roof sealing on Saturday, May 29. If you can help, let Pastor Ken know, Ken@WordofLife4u.com.
Immediate Impact
We're working on improving how we connect with guests and care for members. We'd like to develop two TEAMs:
a Connect TEAM whose mission would be to connect with guests and newer attenders and help them connect with people, ministries and missional LifeGroups
a Care TEAM whose mission would be to connect with regular attenders at least once a month, assess care needs and help them connect to ministries and missional LifeGroups at WOL as needed.
Details will need to be worked out, but if you think you may be interested in helping on one or both of these TEAMs, indicate your interest on an RSVP form this Sunday or contact Pastor Ken, Ken@WordofLife4u.com.
Food Drive
The Randolph Area Christian Assistance Program (RACAP) is thanking God for the generous donation of food through the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive last weekend. Jessie Fisher, RACAP Director, says, “We have food EVERYWHERE! We will be sending out a call for some extra help as soon as we can get more bins or clear space out to put the food as we process it. The pantry is completely full. All the shelves are full. All the closets are full. There's food stacked in the middle of the work room. God has blessed us so much in the past few months.” Please give thanks to God for all the food donated, the families who made donations, all the folks who came out to help and most of all the postal workers who made it all possible.
Fourth for Fisher House
On the 4th Sunday of every month, we will collect donations for Fisher House. Fisher House is a home-away-from-home for the families of seriously ill or injured patients receiving treatment at area military medical facilities. Donations of cleaning supplies, paper products, shelf-stable food, etc. are always appreciated. Bring your donation with you to church next Sunday and place it in the Fisher House basket by the door.
Camp Lone Star
What do you have planned for your favorite child/ren this summer? Does it include Christian role-model counselors, making memories for a lifetime and daily activities highlighting the theme “Mighty to Save”? Then you must have a Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of Texas (LOMT) summer camp session in mind! Camp Lone Star is located less than 2 hours away outside of LaGrange, TX. The camp offers summer programs for children, adults and families. Go to www.LOMT.com to register or learn more about Camp Lone Star or call the LOMT Registrar’s office at 800-362-2078 today! Summer camp programs run June 6—August 13.
Help Discover and Encourage Growth
In an effort to discover and encourage discipleship growth and increased missional movement in our Texas District congregations, Pastor Steven Misch, one of our Mission and Ministry Facilitators, is asking for your participation in a short, 15 question survey. The goal is to receive 1,000 responses from professional church workers, lay leaders and members concerning their personal and corporate response to the Gospel. Anonymity is your choice. Your honest response is highly valued. To participate in this survey, go to: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AG4ADMHY3
Worship at Word of Life
You can listen to audio streams of recent worship services at Word of Life through the internet or download a recording of the service to your mp3 player and listen whenever you'd like. Click here! and you'll be directed to our Worship at Word of Life page. Left-click on "Stream" to listen to a service right away or click on "Download" (some require a right-click) to download a service to your computer and/or connected mp3 player to listen to later. You can view, save or print a copy of the LifeLesson notes too.
You can also subscribe to our Podcast/RSS Feed of Worship at Word of Life. To subscribe to the podcasts and LifeLesson notes, click on Subscribe. To take advantage of this feature you may need to update your web browser or get a free RSS reader. For more information about RSS subscriptions and readers go to www.WhatIsRSS.com.
Online Calendar
You've read through the WordofLife4u. You sense what God wants you to do, but how do you keep track of events to invite your friends and neighbors to, groups where you can grow and ministries where you can use your gifts to make a real difference? Check out our online calendar at: www.WordofLife4u.com/calendar.
"Better Life" Links
Jesus Is Your Good Shepherd - "In the early centuries of the Church, the picture of Jesus carrying the lost sheep back to the flock was the most common depiction of the Savior-even more common than the image of Christ on the cross..." [more]
Walking in Faith - "Walking as spiritual practice..." [more]
I'm Constantly Depressed - "I pray, I listen, I seek, but I just can't be happy at all. Is there any help for me?..." [more]
Prayer Requests and Thanksgivings
We Thank God…
for the power, presence and protection of the Shepherd
for amazing answers to our prayers: for providing Joe Curry with a fantastic job and an inexpensive house, and for amazing Cathey Edgington’s doctors with a miraculous disappearance of her cancer
for all the gifts and opportunities that have come our way
for the acceptance of our rezoning request
for our nation and our leaders
for standing guard over our troops and their families
for those who have sacrificed life and limb defending us
for all the resources God has entrusted to our care
for His promise to multiply our tithes and offerings to help build a bigger heaven and better lives.
We Ask God…
to inspire and empower us to face the facts about dark valleys and to fully trust the Shepherd so we don’t choose discouragement but trust in His power, so we don’t go it alone but trust in His presence, so we don’t give up but trust in His protection
to bless missionary pastor Dieter Joel Jagnow and Cristo Para Todos as they reach out to people in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil and beyond
to direct the closing on the FM1103/Coy property to help us reach our community with the Gospel
to comfort the victims of persecution, terrorism and disaster, especially flood victims
to bless our leaders with godly wisdom and guidance that they would lead according to His will
to bless Karen Lindsey and family and to bless Justin
to bless students as they work on papers and finals, tryout for sports teams and seek scholarships, aid and summer jobs
to bless David & Ana Koester, Paulita (Koester), Daniel & Cate (C. Stemmermann), Dave Goeke, Jim Smith, Harold Toomey and Chuck Tolsma with employment, to bless Steven Krueger with a full-time Director of Christian Education position, to bless Jeff Conley with a working car and employment and to bless Stacy Kohan’s business and health
to bless Juan Pizarro (Molina) as he deploys to Afghanistan and Erik Moore as he returns from Iraq
to bless and protect our troops abroad, especially Tom Hermel in Iraq and Jason Leible (Leible), Elizabeth Grossart, Chuck Quist (Myers) & Jason Lieber in Afghanistan
to bless Steve with faith, hope and healing as death seems imminent.
to comfort the family and friends of Ed Tomkow as they mourn his death
to heal Peggy Myers, John Bowden, Archie Wortham, Lisa Flowers, Katherine Puller and her unborn child (Flowers), Tim Berg (Christiansen), Joseph & Patricia Moore (John), Rudy Sanchez, Bob Townsley, and to heal those battling cancer: Betty Tolsma, Dr. Sauri, Pastor Linderman, John Dury, Rachel Midgett, Kayla Nunnery, Sadie Norris, Matthew Provencio, Manuel Coloura, Zach Vangundy, Amanda Conniff, Pam Smith, Kurt Bickel, Susan Doering and to comfort and strengthen their families
to empower us to build a bigger heaven and better lives.
Join us in prayer wherever you are! You may leave prayer requests at 566-2237 or Ken@WordofLife4u.com.
Dark Place Fun
5-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"
Just a Thought
The valley of the shadow of death holds no darkness for the child of God. There must be light, else there could be no shadow. Jesus is the light. He has overcome death. - Dwight L Moody
Joy & Peace,
Pastor Ken Mitschke
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Word of Life Fellowship-LCMS
1531 Jasmine Dr
Schertz TX 78154-3738
www.WordofLife4u.com
210-566-2237
Ken@WordofLife4u.com
We're building a bigger heaven and better lives!
Word of Life Fellowship LCMS
1531 Jasmine Dr
Schertz TX 78154-3738
Pastor Ken Mitschke
210-566-2237
Ken@WordofLife4u.com