Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

Happy New Year! Yes, 2009 is here. When I was a kid, 2009 seemed so far away and now we are living it. 50 years ago in 1959, the Augustana Synod was planning a new mission start in Thousand Oaks. It was to coincide with the development of California Lutheran College.

In the spring of 1960 Holy Trinity became an official church of the Augustana Synod, under the leadership of Pastor Bob Lawson. What a strong church this has been and will be.
As we enter into a new year, we are praying for Pastor Janet’s health, we are praying for guidance in our building program, we are looking to celebrate our past, and develop our future, while continuing our ministry in the present. 2009 will prove to be a challenging year for us and for our country, with a recession going on and a feeling of uncertainty looming.

In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 6 verse 33, Jesus says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all other things will be added unto you”. May this be our watchword for the coming year. May all that we do be about seeking the Kingdom of God.

See you in church,
Pastor Frank

Building Fund Update

Our pledge drive has stalled at 1.1 million dollars. We are still receiving pledges and encourage any and all of you to help us get to our goal of 1.5 million dollars.

We have sent all of our information to the architect and he is working on developing a design for the building. When the design is complete, we will come back to the congregation for approval to go to the next steps.

The building committee will be doing some very strenuous work in the next few months.

Pastor Frank

Our Most Important Relationship is with God

Because of deadlines for the Tempo publication I sit to write this in mid-November.  Christmas seems to be far away, yet I know that it is only about a month off.

The pace of life is such that most of us can barely come up for air. Christmas seems to speed that pace up. Things to do, people to see, gifts to buy, cards to write. All of these things are centered in relationships.

Of course the most important relationship is the one with the Incarnate Word of God made flesh in Jesus. Take time to think of Jesus, take time to talk to Jesus, take time to worship Jesus and all the other things
will fall into place.

I invite you to be in worship each week during Advent and following Christmas. Your celebration will be so much more enriched.
See you in church.
Love,

Pastor Frank

Economic Stress For Followers of the Way of Jesus

November is upon us, the season of Thanksgiving. As I sit to write this because of deadlines it is still October and the stock market has gone off kilter in a big way, causing I am sure a fair amount of stress and panic on the part of all of us.

Our material things do play a huge part in our lives. Being able to pay our rent or mortgage, having
food on the table and living in a style our culture demands puts a lot of stress on us. As followers of the Way of Jesus, we are challenged to step back and to reflect on what it is we are becoming on this journey in life.

We are created in the image of God, but we are challenged to grow into the likeness of God. The
likeness of God centers in trust, love and hope. Thanksgiving helps us to think of all that God has
done for us, and to give our thanks because the very breath of life is a gift from God.

So as Jesus said, “We shall let the day’s problems be sufficient for today.” We shall try not to worry about tomorrow.

This month we will be hearing about service, as one of the four keys of growing as the family of God. This is something people at Holy Trinity understand well. I look forward to our sharing about this.

There also will be reports of our stewardship efforts and what that will mean for 2009 and some progress with the architect toward our new building. We are almost done with the roof repairs and the fixing of many things in the sanctuary and the office building.

Don’t forget the special worship on Thanksgiving Eve at 7:30 PM. Come join us!

See you in church,
Pastor Frank

The Vibrant Part of the Body of Christ

Pastor Frank graciously offered me the opportunity to tell you a little about myself. My first thought is that while he loves to run, I prefer to  walk—preferably outdoors, when it is cool, the sun is coming up, the woods are close around me, and I can enjoy the presence of Our Lord and the beauty of creation. This is one of my ways to live in gratitude and remember God’s grace.

Another way I have grown spiritually is by working alongside others in our church community. The staff and lay ministry volunteers of Holy Trinity have welcomed me with great warmth and I have known the energy and creativity of the Holy Spirit among them these last few weeks. We are truly blessed to have such a dedicated group of servants at HTLC!

A third way I have experienced the nearness and power of God is through years of involvement with many varieties of Small Groups. Small Groups are relational, and I believe we grow as we share our joys, fears, sorrows, and shortcomings in trusted relationships with other people who gather to pray, study scripture, and try to live out our faith in our challenging daily lives. Jesus ministers to us in life-giving ways when we are gathered in His name. Please notice the pages in this newsletter highlighting many of the groups at HTLC, sign up to take part, and help us welcome others into new groups in the coming months.

I have so much enjoyed visiting and praying with many of you. Especially, I am honored to pray for Pastor Janet and for her timely return to ministering to all of you. Thank you for greeting my wonderful husband Keith and for listening to me tell of my sons, our crazy black lab, my chickens who lay green eggs, and our vacation camping and hiking in the state of Washington.

May you all find ways to connect into this vibrant part of the Body of Christ in the months ahead. May you be welcomed. May you know the healing presence of our living Lord. Thank you for this opportunity to minister among you.

Grace and peace in Christ,

Pastor Christine

We’re the Same Family

Well, we are moving our way through the summer. I hope you have had a time away, and if not it is coming soon. Linda and I were able to attend her family’s reunion in North Dakota. It was a real treat to see some of her family that she hadn’t seen for a long time and some cousins she had never met.

I got to thinking about the church. Our theology tells us that in Jesus we all share the same inheritance, therefore in our baptism we are all part of the same family.

I remember sitting at the horseshoe tournament at the reunion listening to some opinions about our world and even our God, and thinking, I am not sure I agree with that.

I respect it, but I don’t agree with it. Did that make me or that person any less part of the family? NO, it did not.

We live in trying times politically and economically. Life is changing faster than any of us would like to affirm, and we are asked to take our faith and make sense of this ever changing and challenging world. I believe that God gives us the community of faith, as a place where we can come and talk about this ever changing place, and know that we all still live in Jesus.

It is His Lordship over us that unifies us. I pray that as we journey toward this fall’s election and all that it means to our world and our nation, that as people of faith we could disagree about issues but remain united in Jesus.

After all, we are part of the same family, but what family always thinks alike?

We Have Freedom to Proclaim Chist Crucified and Risen Again

As we enter into the summer, full blast, I am excited by a couple of things. We will be moving ahead on the building program and having meetings to help us focus on the design of the new fellowship hall and what a remodeled fellowship hall might look like.

We are continuing to try to reach our goal on the money we need to move ahead. This is an act of faith, I believe, in a shaky economy. We are also putting together a 50th Anniversary celebration committee to move us ahead for 2009 and 2010.

We are moving ahead with plans for new small groups and other ministries in the fall along with some real strides in Family Ministry. As Holy Trinity “gets older” it is also working at getting younger or renewing itself. This is a good process. I believe that we are incredibly blessed, because we have the freedom to do all of this work without worry of persecution or being arrested.

The freedom we have in the USA is something we all take for granted, but is something that is a gift and has been for only a relatively short time. Freedom demands our vigilance and our concern. Freedom also challenges us to respond to our responsibility to our neighbors and our communities.

Within this freedom we proclaim Christ crucified and risen again. We proclaim new life for all who would
follow Him. What a gift we have. Celebrate that gift this month of July.

Vacation Bible School Just Around the Corner

Well, here we are at the end of another school year. Though this milestone is not on the liturgical calendar, it does have an impact on us as human beings and the church.

It signals the beginning of summer and summer vacations, time for rest and relaxation for those who are still working or who have children still in school. It means Vacation Bible School and Bible Camp offerings will soon be happening.

It means the NBA season will finally be over and we will soon reach the All Star Break of the baseball season. These are all things that are part of life’s rhythm. Without rest and relaxation, we soon get stale.

So I encourage you to be about relaxing, but I also encourage you to take some time to read something that will help you reflect, focus or change something about your faith journey. It is a great time for this.

At the time of this writing we are just over half way through Pastor Janet’s medical leave. I do not know yet whether she will be able to come back in June or if we will need to extend that leave. We will update you as soon as we know.

See you in church,
Pastor Frank