Month: June 2018

     When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.

     A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting bettershe grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

     At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

     “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, ” and yet you can ask, ” ‘Who touched me?'”

     But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whold truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

     While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said “Why bother the teacher any more?” Ignorning what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

     He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.

     After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which meeans, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Mark 5:21-43

     But just as you excel in everything — in faith in speech in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Chris, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.”

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

     I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

     O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.

     O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.

     Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name.

     For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

     When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”

     O Lord, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

     To you, O Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:

    “What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? 

     Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help.

     You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 

    that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Psalm 30

     Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.  Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust — there may yet be hope. Let him offer to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.  For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

Lamentations 3:22-33

     The steadfast love of the love never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.

Lamentations 3:22

For the very first time, St. Timothy Lutheran Church is offering

TRUNK OR TREAT! This will be a SAFE trick or treat experience for neighborhood children. We will need you to park your car in the lot, open the trunk, and hand out candy to neighborhood trick or treaters.
Please save early evening on Wednesday, October 31st!

Questions or suggestions?

Call the church for info

The National Forest Foundation established the Eagle Creek Fire Restoration Fund to aid the recovery of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. St. Tim’s council is looking for this kind of agency to support with our 5th Sunday offering in July. Do you know of a similar group? Is there a group to help the firefighters and their families? Please give your suggestions to the church office.

Plans are moving ahead on this event and the planning group of the 5 churches is getting excited. We will be commissioning from Centennial High School on Saturday September 8th to a number of opportunities for service projects. There will be sign up sheets coming soon. St. Timothy will be hosting the Alzheimer’s Texture Blocks project with Elaine and Candace in charge. We will be hosting those interested from the other churches. We will worship together Sunday, September 9th at Centennial High School and will provide ushers and young person volunteers to assist. We again will have a potluck lunch to share and Jean Whitford is our representative for food planning.
Blessings, Sherry

St Timothy’s team is planning to be an Olympic Basketball team and are busy developing fundraisers at our site including iced mochas and a basketball hoop game for the event on August 11th. Total raised by the team at this time (including our sponsor Weston Buick) is about $1400. We have 5 team members currently and know that many church members have yet to register. Register on line at relayforlife.org/ portlandor. We have paper registration forms available for those without email. We have several members and their family and friends who are survivors and hope we can honor them as survivors or caregivers at the beginning of the event.

Sherry Willmschen, Team Captain

    On the day you were baptized or confirmed, you committed to do your best each day to “to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth” (“Affirmation of Baptism” service, ELW pg. 235). None of us are perfect at this. If we were, we would not need Jesus. To be honest, many who believe in Jesus struggle to live out their faith in their daily life. To follow Christ means that we take time in our daily and weekly schedules to worship, read scripture, pray, practice generosity, serve, and be in fellowship with others. These are marks of faith that nurture our relationship with God and deepen our faith. There are no shortcuts or quick solutions. If you are going to commit your life to Christ you need to be in worship, where you not only hear the word of God but also are encouraged, supported, and loved by a community of faithful people. You cannot know God fully if you only hear scripture on Sundays that you attend church; you must dig into God’s Holy Word daily. To follow Christ means that we are generous with our time, our treasures, and our skills for the sake of others and that we serve others just as Christ did. If we are going to take our baptismal confirmation promises seriously, we need to ask ourselves some hard questions:

1. How am I using my time?

2. How faithful am I in worship?

3. Am I making time to talk with
God?

4. Am I being generous with what
God has blessed me?

5. How am I doing at putting my love
for my neighbor into action?

We are the body of Christ in this world and we are called to follow Christ, being generous with our time, treasures and skills for the sake of others. We are the body of Christ in this world and we are called to commit our lives to Christ, to gather together in worship, to study scripture, to pray, to serve,to fellowship together. We are the body of Christ in this world and we are called to take our baptismal promises seriously as we let our light shine in the world for all to see. We are the body of Christ in this world, so how are you using your time and being generous with what God has blessed you with?

By Pastor Jennifer Beil