NOW NOTES

SAT March 28, 202 Dear Hope Lutheran Family,

I pray you are all well and safe as you continue to shelter at home and take care of yourselves in this strange and challenging time in the history of our world. No matter whether we are together or apart physically, we are still church together, called to be led by the Spirit to serve God and share Christ's love with all!

If you are able to join us, we are respecting physical distancing by making use of our parking lot for worship at 5:30pm Saturday and Sunday at 10am. We have a public address system and will have a brief liturgy focused on Word and Sacrament. There will be NO physical contact other than gloved hands distributing bulletins and bags of wafers-all done at a safe distance.

If you are unable to join us, and we certainly understand if you can't, then feel free to worship with us via the attachments. Please understand that while we all need and want Holy Communion, we also know that Jesus would never want us to endanger ourselves, therefore fasting from the Sacrament is a faithful choice.

Please continue your prayer challenge-10 minutes or more each day in Lent and beyond for our congregation, our community, our world, and for ourselves. Please continue to send in your offerings as you can-expenses continue in spite of the current crisis. Please continue to seek out ways to reach out to others in a healthy and safe way-in a time of unprecedented technology, we can certainly put it to good use by sharing our love with others. If you find you have extra non-perishables or canned goods, if you leave them at the church doors, they will be delivered to those in need.

I pray for each of you with deep love and concern. If you need anything, you need only call the church office at 941-697-2345 or my cell at 813-391-2027. God bless you all, my dear family in Christ! In His love, Pr. Jen+ .

Sat March 14, 2020 My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I will be putting out a robocall later this morning and this is to go along with that. Our Bishop Suarez has recommended that all gatherings including worship and meetings be cancelled for the remainder of the month of March. This is suggested to prevent spread of the Coronavirus and it is done out of an abundance of caution to protect all concerned.

At Hope, our commitment is to Jesus, to you, and to the community. So here is how this will play itself out at Hope:

I ask that all of you consider your age and your health vulnerability. I, as your pastor, will be at Hope to lead an abbreviated worship on Saturday at 5:30pm and Sunday at 10am for any who wish to attend. There will be Holy Communion in the bread form only-all benefits of Jesus are shared in the host as the Body of Christ. Communion will be shared by hands that are sanitized and gloved. There will be no physical contact, no hand holding or hugging of any kind. Any classes and mid-week worship is suspended for now and will be reevaluated in the coming days.

If you feel that coming to worship and sitting separated from others is still a risk, I support you, commend you for your discretion, and honor your decision. I am attaching the prayer of the day, the readings, and a form of the sermon this week. Here's an opportunity for Lenten discipline in a new way. If you cannot join us for a worship opportunity, we can worship together remotely if you wish to read the prayers and the sermon at our regularly scheduled worship times.

Our concern is that all be safe. While you may not be affected, your neighbor might. So we want to be as cautious and wise as we can be in deference to those around us.

My brothers and sisters, we can still be church even if worship is cancelled. Here are some ways we can be church together:

Pray for me and each other. Continue to call and facetime and reach out to others through social media to check in on each other. Don't EVER hesitate to call me at 813-391-2027 and I will get back to you as soon as possible if I don't answer right away. Pray for each other. Pray for each other and check on each other in a safe and compassionate way.
Please send in your offerings to Hope Lutheran Church. Our address is 14200 Hopewell Ave, Port Charlotte, FL 33981. While the building may be empty, the bills and salaries are still to be paid and we need your support financially now as much as ever. Please consider your offerings and make an effort to support your congregation so we can continue to do God' work with our washed hands in the days to come.
Practice Sabbath-pray, read Scripture, sing hymns, prepare meals together with those with whom you live. Discuss your blessings. Play a game. Get artsy and paint or listen to music, work in your garden, or whatever helps your celebrate God's gifts.
We are church together-let's continue to be led by the Spirit to serve God and share Christ's love with all people as best we can in these strange days ahead. Again, please don't hesitate to call me at 813-391-2027.

In Scripture, God and God's messengers tell us again and again "Be not afraid." Together, let's not be afraid-because we know God is in charge and God is holding us in the palm of God's hand.

In Christ's love, Pastor Jen

Feb 25, 2020 Pope Francis’ Suggestions for Fasting this Lenten Season:

Do you want to fast this Lent?

Fast from hurting words and say kind words

Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude

Fast from anger and be filled with patience

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope

Fast from worries and trust in God

Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity

Fast from pressures and be prayerful

Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy

Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others

Fast from grudges and be reconciled

Fast from words and be silent so you can listen

FEB 25, 2020 Hope’s Lenten 10 Minute Prayer Challenge: Please join us this season of Lent and commit to 10 minutes a day of intentional prayer for peace-for our community, for our country, for our world, and for yourself. Set a time to help you maintain that 10 minutes-and sit quietly, study Scripture or focus on some images or thoughts, and remember: prayer is as much about listening as it is about speaking. God wants to hear your heart-so share freely with God and know that in praying in an intentional way during Lent, not only will our joined prayers make a difference in the world, but, as in all things with God, you will find your own faith strengthened and renewed. Pray with us! Here are some suggestions: reading Scripture or a devotional, listening to quiet music as you pray, making a list of news items that you feel need God’s intervention…and here is a list of items that may help as well…

Proverbs 16:7, Isaiah 26:3, John 14:27, John 16:33, Philippians 4:6-7, Leviticus 26:6,

Numbers 6:26, Psalm 4:8, Psalm 37:11, Psalm 55:18, Psalm 85:10, Psalm 119:165,

Proverbs 3:2, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 3, :17, Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah 54:13, Isaiah 55:12,

Jeremiah 29:11, Jeremiah 33:6, Mark 4:39, Luke 1:79, Romans 5:, Romans 8:6,

Romans 14:17, Romans 16:20, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 2 Corinthians 13:11, Galatians 5:22,

Ephesians 2:14, Ephesians 4:3, Ephesians 6:15, Colossians 3:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2

Thessalonians 3:16, James 3:18 These are not exhaustive but may be helpful.

St. Theresa of Calcutta wrote at various times:

What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. All works of love are works of peace. Let us use love and compassion. Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don’t really want to smile at at all. Do it for peace. I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I’m praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.

Please share with me your prayer journey as we together pray for peace during this season of Lent.

Pastor Jen

Friends and Family of Hope, I respectfully ask that your prayerfully consider your offerings to and through Hope Lutheran Church. We are an important part of this community and the ministry provided here makes a difference in Jesus' name. We want to be able to continue to do this important work as we are led by the Spirit to serve God and share Christ's love with all-but we all need to work together to make it happen. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me or any of our council members. My love and prayers are with you! Pastor Jen+

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