February 2017 Newsletter
Grace, Mercy, and Peace Are Yours In Christ Jesus Our Lord and Savior!
Dear Family of God,
The Collect for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, this past Sunday, reads: "O Lord, keep Your family the Church continually in the true faith that, relying on the hope of your heavenly grace, we may ever be defended by Your mighty power; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen."
As I prayed that at the services on Sunday, the phrase, "Your family the Church" stuck in my mind and heart. I have always thought of the Church as the family of God, but this past weekend made it clear to me that we truly are God's family.
Saturday, the 4th, the family of God gathered to lay to rest the earthly remains of my Mom. I was shocked (in a very good way) at how many of the members at Grace came out to the service. We cannot thank you all enough for your loving support!
Saint Paul, in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, makes it clear that we are a family that suffers together so that we are comforted together and this is a beautiful gift! "3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort."
I see God at work through the family members of Grace, as you love, serve, and care for your neighbor; even and especially when that neighbor is your Pastor and his family. Thank you!
I also want to thank you for supporting my attendance at Doxology - The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel. The four days were very refreshing and renewing. I learned many things I had not known before and had some previous knowledge reinforced.
Because of Doxology, I hope to approach my task of being the sheepdog for the Great Shepherd at Grace Lutheran with a vigor rooted in the Word through prayer and meditation.
February is filled with some wonderful opportunities at Grace. There are youth events just about every Saturday. Bible classes on Monday evening 6:30 at Under the Shady Palm and Wednesdays at 10:30 AM. Don't forget the Rummage Sale at the end of the month. May God bless you with His gifts as we gather as His family!
In His Service,
The sheepdog at Grace, Pastor Lingsch

UPCOMING EVENTS
The Blessing For God's Pets
Saturday, February 11th
10:00 am -Parking Lot
Special Voters' Meeting
Sunday, February 12th
9:30 am - Fellowship Hall
Rummage Sale
Saturday, February 25th
8:30 am - 1:30 am - Fellowship Hall
Fat Tuesday Pancake Dinner
Tuesday, February 28th
5:15 pm and 6:00 pm - Fellowship Hall
Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, March 1st
WEEKLY EVENTS
Grace Grief Group
Monday's at 10:00 am
Fellowship Hall
Theology on Tap
Monday's at 6:30 pm
The Shady Palm
Quilters
Tuesday's at 9:30 am
Fellowship Hall
Knitters
Tuesday's at 1:30 pm
Fellowship Hall
Wednesday Night Programs
3:45 pm Cherubs Choir
4:00 pm Kids Club
4:15 pm Choristers
5:15 pm Dinner
6:00 pm Confirmation Class
6:30 pm Evening Worship
7:00 pm Grace Chorale
Basic Conversational
Spanish
Tuesday's and Wednesday's
10:00 am - 11:30 am
The Pelican Community Center
5800 Golden Gate Pkwy
Heroes in the Faith Bible Class
Wednesday's 10:30 am
Fellowship Hall
Women's Bible Study
Thursday's 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Fellowship Hall
Handbell Choir
Thursday's at 6:00 pm
Practice English
Come Help!
The Pelican Community Center
5800 Golden Gate Pkwy
Wednesday's 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Thursday's 10:00 am - 11:30 am

Flower Deliveries
We need two people/couples to deliver the Altar bouquets on Sunday afternoons or Monday mornings to a hospital patient, shut in or to someone who is laid up, once a month. The recipients love to receivethem and it brightens their day.
We would like you to pick ONE Sunday (like the third Sunday) a month and deliver them. You don't have to stay and visit.....just deliver them and walk away. We will tell you who to deliver them to and their address.
Please help if you can...just once a month! It would be a shame to have these beautiful flowers not bring joy to others. Call the church office (239-261-7421) or Ruth Dishop (239-262-7137) and let us know you will help bring joy to others!

Elders' Report
In January, the Elders continued to work to ensure that the Grace membership roster was current and up to date, in coordination with the Financial Secretary. We also continued with our support to the Properties Board on the tracking of parking lot utilization during services and Bible study to assist the Properties Board in evaluating the need for parking lot improvements. The Elders also approved the proposed Memorial Garden Policy that better defines the procedures and policy for the Garden and has ensured that these activities are in compliance with all State and local laws and regulations. The Elders also reviewed the Grace Communion instructions published in the weekly Bulletin to be sure they are clear and unambiguous, given recent questions posed by some visitors.
The Elders continued to recruit new candidates to serve on the Board and to serve as Ushers. Several Grace members did respond to this request. The Annual Elders' report was prepared for the Grace Annual report, and preparations were initiated on planning for the St Patrick's Day Fish Fry to be sponsored by the Elders. Finally, the Elders received a gracious contribution from the ladies Bake Sale, which will be directed to the purchase of new robes for the Elders.

Youth Group News
  • Next weekend, February 11th, Peace Lutheran would love your help running their "Fun Run/Walk" by leading games for the morning. Arrive at 9:30am and end at 12 with pizza. RSVP to me, you will also earn volunteer hours for this event with Mrs. Lori Lingsch's signature.
  • February 18th-20th the High School youth will travel to Daytona, FL, for the High School District youth gathering
  • Registration is due February 15th for the High School Mission trip to Atlanta, GA. The trip is July 16th-21st, cost is $150 per person and we will be serving the homeless community in Atlanta.
  • Lastly, don't forget our big paintball event with the other local churches at Extreme Rage Ft. Myers on March 4th. We will leave town at 9:30 am and I need some parents (this is a great one for dads) to help me drive and chaperone the event! Registration is due February 24th and cost is $40 per person-let me know if the cost is an issue and we will work it out.


Pew Torches
Grace Lutheran Church ownsPew Torches. They are especially noticed at Christmastime when they decorate the center aisle of the church.
Sometimes the pew torches are used at a wedding.
The church is looking for a volunteer to take the responsibility, before and after Christmas to put up these pew torches and then take them down again and put them in storage. The same responsibility applies to the pew torches for weddings.
It is easy work! If you have any questions, please call Ruth Dishop (239-262-7137)

The Pelican Lutheran Church & Community Center
Pastor Mark Eisold
Part 1:
In a world full of rapid innovation & immediate implementation it is difficult to find a safe equilibrium. I remember when e-mail was new, and that form of communication was a dramatic change for me. Though personal contact was my favorite, for work I used the phone, cell phone, and pager - a LOT. Soon I used e-mail every day. It was January 1998. By the time I became accustomed it, however, there was a new form of communication on a site called "Myspace". Begrudgingly, I accepted the need to change, and had a young man from our church show me how it worked. He was an "early adapter", and very gladly helped me to establish a site and make some contacts in the community. About two weeks later (not really, but pretty close), Facebook hit the scene. I was still sending & receiving e-mails every day, but now came something that was supposed to bury both e-mail and Myspace.
Well, to make a long story short, texting became a staple in our society, Facebook DID bury Myspace, and now we have about three other methods of quick communication and photo-sending, which a new generation prefers over Facebook. Personally, I think it's NUTS! I never got the hang of Facebook, and just don't have the time. I am still available about 12 hours a day by phone or e-mail - and in person most of Sunday or by appointment.
In general I do not like change. Specifically, I do not like change when something good is working for me and for others across generations, cultures, and soci-economic & language differences. Sometimes the old way aka "the original" is better. Sometimes it is not. But in the face of change, everyone has to decide at which point they are going to say, "Here is where you can find me - no matter what else comes our way."
500 years ago, an unfortunate Roman Catholic monk, named Martin Luther, was called and equipped by God to do exactly that. His words were a little different, but similar: "Here I stand." Luther, was not responding to demands for faster communication, but to new, false doctrines, which were designed to make the church leaders rich & powerful. Luther's stand was on the naked word of God. He had discovered something new to Him, which was always there - salvation by faith through grace in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ.
In God's great love & mercy, HE DOES NOT CHANGE. This covers His Plan, His word, and His means of salvation. God will not change His mind and turn against those who He has adopted through Holy Baptism. He will not reject those whom He has purchased with His blood. He will not withdraw or reverse His forgiveness; and He will not condemn those for whom He has paid fully for their forgiveness. Scripture reminds that "He cannot reject Himself" (2nd Timothy 2:13) and encourages us with the reminder that "for if we were united with Christ in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His." (Romans 6:5).
What a blessing that we, too, like Luther, can still stand on the naked word of God for our confidence, forgiveness, and salvation. God's word all by itself is all that we need for daily sustenance, power in life, and victory over death. Catchy illustrations, stories, good examples, and Christ-centered testimonies may help with applying God's word, but God's word is SO POWERFUL all by itself that we don't need ANY OF THAT as the saved & redeemed, or as the missionaries seeking the lost. That is what is meant by "standing on the naked word of God". Yes, it really IS "all about Jesus".
Part 2:
There is nothing like getting a fresh start. Each new day is a fresh start for me, and if I need to do something different with my day, I would rather know in advance rather than have to make changes later on.
Starting a church is very similar, but not nearly as frequent. At The Pelican Community Center & Lutheran Church we are doing something new from the beginning so that we may serve with greater focus now, and will be able to avoid difficult changes later on.
One of those new things is the hiring of a director for our Community Center. Having a community center instead of a fellowship hall is nothing new. For several decades in the 1900's, many Lutheran churches offered space for the Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, community events, immigrant services, civic training, and offered classes to the community on parenting, marriage, budgeting and more! Many churches had entire game rooms for the adults - and some even had a bowling alley! (Even with a basement, that is a bit much.)
The Pelican is now offering English one night and one day every week, Spanish two mornings a week.
Much more will be coming soon. We are preparing to offer more to the glory of God in Christ Jesus to meet the real & current needs of people in our community. Our goal is to constantly call attention from the community to this church & community center for the glory of our Lord. In order to best manage the blessings and opportunities before us, we have contracted with a woman to serve as our organizer & director of the community center for the next six months. Elizabeth Bloch has been busy in updating many important aspects of our social media, organization, curriculum, and style of teaching in order that I, the Pastor, may focus on the work of our Lord Jesus in the church.
The Lord is doing wonderful things as we find new ways to promote Christ's work at both the community center and the church. We are also revisiting successful methods of the past as we prepare to announce and begin new ministries and family-supporting activities over the next sixty days.
On Thursday, January 19, Maximo, Elizabeth & I hosted twelve of our most faithful worshippers from our first six weeks of worship for dinner. We prayed, talked, read Romans 12 and enjoyed a great time together over dinner. We also aligned people with responsibilities in the church and the community center in preparation for the next sixty days and beyond. The Lord Jesus greatly blessed our time together, created stronger bonds, a greater awareness of who we are, who is with us, their gifts and desires to contribute and where we are going.
In His grace and mercy, He has also provided many new families to our Sunday worship services. Our first seven worship services (including Christmas Eve & New Year's Eve) averaged 15 people in attendance (December 11 through January 22). The week after our meeting, the Lord blessed us with 23 worshippers on Jan. 29, and 28 worshippers on February 5th! What a great blessing to see such amazing fruit so soon - and to have and employ God's wisdom to delegate responsibility to others in order to effectively focus and spend time where it is best invested and most needed - in God's people who have responded to His call to believe and worship.
We rejoice also in the birth of a new baby to one of our young couples! Jorge Luis & Maria were blessed with the healthy birth of their first baby, Lucia Isabella, on January 5, 2017. While many members of the family visited from Venezuela to love on their newest family member, the planned baptism was rescheduled until August when others could be in attendance. Keep baby Lucia and her parents in your prayers that the Lord would protect her and lead her to the waters of salvation, which He has given to His beloved people in Holy Baptism.
Next Sunday is the 50th Anniversary of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tavernier, Florida. My father, Ted Eisold, was the first Pastor of that church in 1967. By invitation, my family and I will be attending there next weekend, leaving my Ministerial Assistant, Maximo, in charge to lead the service and read a sermon written by me. Pray that the Lord continues to grow this new mission and every worshipper every week through the bold and clear proclamation of His word. Pray that my absence is not a hindrance, and that next Sunday is a blessing to all of us wherever we may be.
Join me - and all at The Pelican Lutheran Church - in praising our Risen Savior Jesus Christ for what He has started through our combined efforts in Golden Gate! Continue to pray with me that the Lord will continue to do His word through us to "feed His sheep" and to gather the lost. Pray that our work would be not merely "acceptable", but something great and worthy of support, encouragement, and backing by MANY in order to see this bold, new mission through to maturity and success.
That is what we are doing at The Pelican Lutheran Church. Thank you for your support, your encouragement, and your backing through your prayers and your financial support!
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