Dear Siblings in Christ,
Hello on this beautiful, sunny weekend — it was so nice to not have to worry about snow or ice for a change! Although the sun was beautiful, it was a bit deceiving as Morgan and I discovered when we walked to Denim coffee to enjoy the outdoors and cut our outdoor walk a bit short since the wind was so strong. I hope you had a chance to enjoy the pretty day!
As we begin our 40-day journey through Lent, we hear from our gospel reading this Sunday about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. We’ve all had our own “wilderness experiences” over the past year as we have experienced the pandemic in different ways. How can we, through our own journey, reach out to help those in need……those who may be hungry or scared or alone…as we examine our faith in Christ and how we are called to live as God’s beloved children?
We continue to worship online to help ensure the safety of our St. Matthias family and we invite you to worship at home with us. Worship will be available Sunday morning, February 21, beginning at 9am by clicking on one of the following links:
(71) St Matthias Lutheran Church Carlisle PA – YouTube
(Please click on the video for February 21)
(20+) St Matthias Evangelical Lutheran Church | Facebook
(You do not need to have a Facebook account to view the worship service)
Until we resume in-person worship, we invite you to worship together with us each Sunday morning at 9am, or you may watch the worship service later at your convenience.
We invite you to follow along with our online worship using the bulletin and Celebrate inserts that are part of your “Lent-at-home” worship packet. You may also follow along with the words that are printed on the screen. If you have any questions or concerns, please Email me at vicarmartyjo@gmail.com.
We continue to monitor the Department of Health website regarding returning to in-person worship. Bishop Dunlop recommends that churches maintain online worship until the positive testing rate in our county is 5 percent or lower or less than 20 cases per 100.000 people, especially in older or smaller buildings, or those spaces with slower air recirculation.
Announcements:
- We had a great time chatting and visiting during our first “Zoom tryout session” in January, so we are going to host a Zoom session once a month, on the last Sunday of each month. Our next “Zoom Get Together” will be held next Sunday, February 28 at 11am. As a reminder, our meetings will get cut off after 45 minutes; when they do, please re-log back in using the same link and we can keep the meeting going! Please use the following link to attend the get-together; directions for using Zoom are listed below. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9780522760?pwd=allhak4rNnMzTyswc0lkbGo5Q0Uxdz09
- Do you like to walk? Have you ever thought about walking…to Jerusalem?!?! Well, you’ll have a chance to do just that during our season of Lent! We have been invited to partner with our friends at St. Matthew to join them as we record our collective miles and see if we can walk 6300 miles to Jerusalem. Any family and friends are welcome to join in and record their miles — just record your collective miles and submit them to me once a week by emailing vicarmartyjo@gmail.com, or call and leave me a voice message with your mileage, and I will submit them to St. Matthew. Sure, it’s a lot of miles…but we know that anything is possible through God! For an article from Pastor Tim that offers some more details about the walk as well as some scripture to read as we trek to the Holy Land, please click on the link below:
- As the pandemic continues, so does the need for blood donors. First Lutheran, Carlisle, will be hosting a Red Cross Blood Drive on Saturday, March 6, 2021, from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Guidelines for social distancing will be followed, and pre-registration is strongly encouraged. To sign up for an appointment, click on this link https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=firstlutherancarlisle or call 717-215-6055.
- We will be hosting a brief mid-week Lenten worship service through Zoom beginning this coming Wednesday, February 24 at 7 p.m. throughout the season of Lent.
Go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9780522760?pwd=allhak4rNnMzTyswc0lkbGo5Q0Uxdz09
(If you already have Zoom installed, you can also enter the Meeting ID into your app: 978 052 2760)
Accessing Zoom on your Telephone:
By phone (not toll free) – dial any number below and enter Meeting ID 978 052 2760 whenever you are prompted
+1 646 558 8656 +1 301 715 8592 +1 312 626 6799
Please note – since you are on a phone, you will not be able to view participants and they will not be able to see you, but you will be able to hear the meeting and participate.
- Although we aren’t gathering in person, bills to maintain our ministry and our building still continue. We have set up a secure online giving tool (endorsed by the ELCA and used by more than 4,000 churches) through Tithely. You may give online by clicking on the link below — and you may also use the site to set up recurring giving, where your gift will be automatically deducted on a day of your choosing. There’s also a green DONATE button at the bottom of this bulletin (and at the bottom of our website) that you nay click on to make a gift. If you have any questions on how to use this service, please let me know. THANK YOU for your continued support of St. Matthias and its ministry.
- You may also download the tithe.ly giving app through the following link: Tithe.ly Giving App for iPhone or Android | Tithe.ly
Here is the link to make a gift online to St. Matthias using the Tithely online giving site:
https://tithe.ly/give?c=2732717
Prayer List:
All those affected by Covid-19, all affected by the weather disaster in Texas, Christian M. (Marines) and all military service personnel, Don and Joanne, Jacques, Pam, Betty Lou, Mark, Pat, Seth, DJ, Margaret, Sally, George, Arleen, Greg, Charles, Carol, Darryl, Andrea, Penny Salemo, Wayne and family, family and friends of the Rev. Sterlen Sheaffer (Ruth Hoy’s brother), and all who ask for the Lord’s healing and mercy.
Peace,
Vicar MJ