Lunch will be available at the Annual Congregational Meeting following the 11 AM worship. A prepared sandwich with a drink will be available for all in attendance for $7.00 per person. PBJ sandwich will be supplied to children for free. Money will be collected the day of the meeting. Sign up below, so we can prepare enough for everyone.
 For 5th - 12th grades D-Camp is a retreat full of challenge and fun, which will alter the way youth look at God and themselves. It’s an incredible weekend of mind-blowing worship, late night campfires, small-group discussions that will get youth out of your comfort zone, lots of laughter, one of the best camps in the WORLD, and making new friends. Why should kids attend this event? This is perhaps the most important event we do as a youth program. This trip allows our high school youth to minister to the confirmation youth. In the last 15 years I have witnessed many times how powerful this trip can be in the life of someone in middle school. Many youth who attended this trip as a Jr. higher still attend well into their college years and beyond. I’m excited to see what God has in store for this wonderful group of youth! Cost: $200, Scholarships always available When: MKL Weekend: We will meet in the church parking lot at 5:00pm and roll out at 5:10pm Sharp(we will have pizza on the bus). We will return Monday around 5pm ish. Where: Camp Soto in Arkansas (The best camp Scot has ever been to) Who: Confirmation Youth (required) through Whenever There will be 4 adult chaperones-Scot, Kristi, Victoria and Katarina   Texas Winds' thirty-third season has been a successful and exciting one. Our musicians performed the most concerts in our history, with 1,814 concerts reaching 125,585 individuals. Our founding executive director Catherine Barr is retiring and passing the baton to Thomas Fritsch, Ph.D., who will continue the Texas Winds' mission. You can read about this exciting news and more in our annual report below. Read the Annual Report BelowAt Rest among StrangersThe world can be a dangerous place, and we all long for someone, some leader, who will watch over us and protect us from all harm. The prophet Jeremiah issues strong cautions to those who abuse the trust placed in them to care for God’s people, and the psalmist sings the praises of the Lord who guards and guides us through life’s trials.
But the letter to the Ephesians suggests that lasting safety comes through the healing and reconciling work of Christ, which allows us to share a meal with those we are inclined to regard as enemies, because Christ has “broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.” So, in Christ, aliens become citizens and strangers become members of the household of God. Living into this reality requires all of us to be diligent in our practices with and policies toward all kinds of “strangers and aliens” in our world and in our lives. It means making peace with those whose politics make them strange to us, and creating genuine welcome for the newcomer in our classrooms, workplaces and congregations. It means considering the needs of immigrants and refugees through the lens of Christian faith as well as national identity, and not assuming the two are the same. The reassuring news this day is that God, unlike so many who hold power in this world, is already reconciling the world to God’s own self and us to one another. We enact this new reality each time we pass the peace or come to the Lord’s supper, not because we have finally achieved the peace we seek, but because in Christ God’s future reign of peace has already broken into our present.  It was good to get away and have some vacation time with family – and now it’s good to be back here with you!
On CBS News this week, a professor described research into what makes us happy. What makes you happy? In Mark 6:14-29, King Herod makes yet another terrible decision with an unhappy outcome. He was so consumed by the cares of this world that he couldn’t see straight, and he and his whole country suffered the consequences. God provides a life-giving alternative described in Ephesians 1:3-14 . Instead of being motivated by short-term cares OF this world, God chose us to care FOR the world and to live full of praise and thanks to God, providing a deep joy and happiness. Stay informed and get involved! I hope to see you at the congregational potluck and forum on Sunday and at one of the small group discussions afterwards. Sign up at the following link, (Click Here). See you in church! Pastor Lanny Westphal  Exciting things are happening at Christ Lutheran Church! I hope you are planning to attend the congregational potluck and forum at 11:15 AM on Sunday, July 15, and that you have signed up (Click Here) for a small group discussion on one of the nine times available after that date.
I also hope that you thanked God for the blessings of this country as you celebrated the Fourth of July this week. The special music “America the Beautiful” during last week’s offering was so inspiring that I have posted the words along with accompanying images on my Facebook page. This week I am out of town spending time with loved ones, including Mary’s family at their lake cabin and also my sister who comes home every summer from her position teaching in Ukraine. I look forward to being back with you on July 11. For pastoral emergencies, please call 214-363-4355 ext. 8, or contact Sergio during office hours at ext. 2. This Sunday’s sermon will be given by Scot Redman about the recent mystery mission trip. I think you will find it very interesting. Stay informed and get involved! Pastor Westphal  It’s good to be here with you! Here are some highlights of my first week: New apartment in the Village. First staff meeting. Fried chicken at Bubba’s. German bratwurst. Chinese dumplings. First worship service. Welcome potluck. First council meeting. Visiting the preschool classes. Dallas Arboretum (see my Facebook for photos and devotional thoughts). Funeral for Wren Worley. Individual meetings with council members, current staff, previous pastor and the assistant to the bishop. Getting settled.
I will be out of town July 3-10 for my monthly visit home, some vacation and the Fourth holiday. For pastoral emergencies, please call 214-363-4355 ext. 8, or contact Sergio during office hours at ext. 2. This Sunday’s sermon, based on Mark 5:21-43, will tell how God reaches down to our lowly places and raises us up. See you in church! Pastor Lanny Westphal |
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