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GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH 4201 Stoudt’s Ferry Bridge Road Muhlenberg Township, Reading, PA 19605 Telephone 610-926-4201 Pastor Thomas H. Reinsel. Interimemail: reinselta@comcast.net

Number 2 February 2016

FROM THE PASTORGreetings - 

A February letter to you brings with it many thoughts. How can I write to you and not mention the word snow! How beautiful - how difficult for each of us - schedules interrupted - accidents of all sorts - much work just to get out of our front doors - but also a time for closeness - a time to be together - renewing family moments. We all have been praying that everyone be safe - warm - and thankful.

A February letter also brings with it the season of Lent. Our days of preparation so that we will fully comprehend and celebrate God's greatest gift for each of us on Easter morning. So I wish for each of you to consider your own walk with Jesus these next six weeks.

Good Shepherd will assist your journey - with Ashes and Eucharist on Ash Wednesday. We gather at 7:30PM February 10, 2016.Of course we continue the Sunday morning worship with our children times. Also added for your Lenten devotion will be the Wednesday evening - Soup and Salad - study and worship times. These gatherings begin on February 17 at 6:30PM and conclude around 8:00PM. Adding these opportunities for worship and study will make your Lenten time have deeper meaning.

Please note the full schedule and times in other places in this newsletter. Please join me as we walk the path to a tomb that is miraculously opened for our eternal lives.

Peace and hope,

Pastor Tom

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Pg. 1 – From The PastorPg. 2 – Worship HighlightsPg. 3 – Worship Highlight (Cont.) WECLAPg. 4 – February Jingle Offering Preschool Discipleship GroupPg. 5-7 Time and Talent Youth Ministry NewsPg. 8 - Operation Easter Hugs Easter candy AYCE Breakfast

WORSHIP HIGHLIGHTS

Sunday, February 7th – The Transfiguration of Our Lord: Witnesses to the glory of God in the face of Jesus will be unable to avoid reflecting that glory in the world. It was true for Moses. It was doubtless true for Peter, James, and John. We pray that it will be true of all of us who see the glory of the Lord in the word and in the supper and who are being “transformed into the same image” by the Spirit of God. The readings for Sunday, February 7th are: Exodus 34:29-35, Psalm 99, 2 Corinthians 3:12--4:2, Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a]. Please mark your calendar and plan to come to this special worship. 

Wednesday, February 10th – Ash Wednesday: Lent begins with a solemn call to fasting and repentance as we begin our journey to the baptismal waters of Easter. As we hear in today’s readings, now is the acceptable time to return to the Lord. During Lent the people of God will reflect on the meaning of their baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection. The sign of ashes suggests our human mortality and frailty. What seems like an ending is really an invitation to make each day a new beginning, in which we are washed in God’s mercy and forgiveness. With the cross on our brow, we long for the spiritual renewal that flows from the springtime Easter feast to come. The readings for today are: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17, Psalm 51:1-17, 2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. Our service begins at 7:30PM and will include Holy Communion.

Sunday, February 14th – The First Sunday in Lent: These forty days called Lent are like no other. It is our opportune time to return to the God who rescues; to receive the gifts of God’s grace; to believe with the heart and confess with the mouth the wonder of God’s love in Jesus; and to resist temptation at every turn. This is no small pilgrimage on which we have just embarked. It is a struggle Jesus knew. It is a struggle Jesus shares. The nearness of the Lord, in bread and wine, water and word, will uphold and sustain us. The readings for today are: Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13. Come share your Valentine’s Day with the Lord!

Wednesday, February 17th – Mid-Week Service #1: Our Mid-Week topic tonight will be “To live among God’s faithful people.” Come join us each Wednesday in Lent for Soup, salad & discussion being at 6:30PM followed by our service at 7:30PM. 

Sunday, February 21st – The Second Week in Lent: Though we sometimes doubt and often resist God’s desire to protect and save us, our God persists. In holy baptism, God’s people have

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been called and gathered into a God-initiated relationship that will endure. Lent provides the church with a time and a tradition in which to seek the face of the Lord again. Lent provides another occasion to behold the God of our salvation in the face of the Blessed One who “comes in the name of the Lord.” The readings for today are: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18, Psalm 27, Philippians 3:17--4:1, Luke 13:31-35.

Wednesday, February 24th – Mid-Week Service #2: Our Mid-Week topic tonight will be “To hear the Word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper.”

Sunday, February 28th – The Third Week in Lent: The warnings are plentiful and blunt on the third Sunday in Lent. Lent is a season of repentance. Cut it out or get cut down! The warnings are accompanied by God’s invitation to attentiveness: “Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.” The landowner’s ultimatum is forestalled by the gardener’s readiness to till the ground one more year. That is good news for all of us. Thanks be to God! The readings for today are: Isaiah 55:1-9, Psalm 63:1-8, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9.  

VALENTINE’S DAY REMINDER (ESPECIALLY TO ALL MEN)

February 14th is Valentine’s Day. This year it falls on a Sunday. What better way to begin your celebration of that special day than to attend worship with your special someone? The Super Bowl is the week before, so you do not have football as an excuse! You can’t say we did not give you enough notice of this important date!

WOMEN OF THE ELCA

The February meeting of Women of the ELCA will be held in the Conference Room on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd at 7 p.m. Grant Wickert will be presenting the program, “Your New Money Mindset: Create a Healthy Relationship with Money.” This is based on a book of the same title written by two executive officers of Thrivent Financial. It is NOT about fund raising for churches, so don’t get nervous. Our program will be focused

on just what the title says, creating a healthy relationship with money, and all that it entails. As part of this program, there will be a very personal “inventory” for participants to complete which will not be shared with anyone. The program is designed to get you thinking about attitudes and possible changes you want to make in that segment of your life. All women of the congregation, and their guests, are invited to attend.

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FEBRUARY JINGLE OFFERING

The Jingle Offering for February will be received on the 21st. The offering this month will be devoted to the Muhlenberg Churches Food Pantry. This ministry hardly needs a lot of explanation. It has been several years now that Good Shepherd has not only been deeply involved in it, but has hosted it as well. The efforts of every volunteer who helps set up, wait on clients, and/or clean up are deeply appreciated. You may not know this, but monetary donations to the Pantry are immensely helpful because they are used to buy items made available to the Pantry from government surplus supplies. Thus a dollar goes much further in purchasing power than it would in the local supermarket. We encourage your generosity in this special offering in February.

PRESCHOOL

We had an enormous amount of fun, as well as a lot of learning, in 2015! Some highlights included shopping in our pretend grocery store, a visit from the Goodwill Fire Company, a field trip to Angora Fruit Farm, making and playing with "Fairy" dough, reading books in our Native American Teepee, and a visit from a Pharmacist, one of our parents, Mrs. Sinclair!!

2016 will bring more learning and fun! We will also be looking forward to gathering new names for our 2016/2017 school year. If you know anyone who might be interested for next year, please have them contact us now. We are making a list of names to send a mailing in mid-February. Existing families and church members will be able to register for school in mid-February. The public will be able to register the beginning of March. Please contact Diane Rothenberger at dianerothenberger@gmail.com or 610-926-4201 (school) or 610-926-0274 (personal).

DISCIPLESHIP GROUP

The Discipleship Group will be meeting at the home of Barbara Huegler on Monday,

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Feb. 8th at 7:30 p.m. to continue its study of the book of Joshua. One might think that this book from the Old Testament would not have much to offer in terms of living out one’s faith in this modern day and age. WRONG! When we met in January, we could hardly stop comparing the chapter we were focusing upon with situations in life today, and letting the Bible speak to us about living as Jesus’ disciples today! So join us, please.

If you have any questions, please call Barbara at 610-916-9075. WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR TREASURE?

Don’t think of your time, talents, and abilities as gifts. Think of them as treasures, entrusted to you by God, to be used toward his glory. If we realize that we have treasures, we can consider whether we should hoard them or share them. Many have learned that if they share their treasures, they receive other treasures in return. Love begets love. Hate begets hate. So with our treasures. Hoarding is not the answer, but using them wisely is the act of a good steward.

Youth Ministry The youth ministry would love to send a big THANK YOU out to you as a congregation for the overwhelming response to our collection for the troops. We had a great response from you and that showed great support for our troops and our youth! I would also love to thank all the youth who participated in our annual Youth Sunday worship service. It was great and I would love to make next year even better! Thank you to the youth that said YES!!! I can’t believe it’s that time already! Believe it or not Ash Wednesday is right around the corner. With that being said it’s time for our annual Easter Hugs dual campaign with Christian Education committee. We’re looking forward to seeing the little critters in the pews and filling them with lots of hugs and love. As well as our annual chocolate covered Easter Egg sale. We will be making our candy beginning Thursday February 4 at 7:00 p.m. If you’re ever board we can always use help! I am always looking to receive additional college ministry names and their mailing addresses. We are up to 22 college students who receive a card once a month from me. I just like to let them know our church is thinking of them. I am looking forward to sending out a little something special for Valentine’s Day too. Please email me your child’s information at my email address kknarr.gfs@gmail.com or hand it to me before or after church. If you ever have a question with a youth event please don’t hesitate to contact me on my cell phone at 610-207-0699. If I am not able to take the call at that moment please leave me a message and I will get back to you. If you are on Facebook be sure like us and follow us at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Youth Group! Please be patient with us as we are still in the middle of updating our web page. If you have any ideas for either the web page or our Facebook please see Alex Lehr. We are always looking for new faces to join us with any of our activities! Don’t hesitate to join us! Come on out and have a great time with us! Remember Youth Ministry is open to youth from 5th grade and up!

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Kathlynn Aka Mama Knarr

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!Even if you were connected before you need to reconnect!

Please get connected with up to date youth events! Get connected now before all the fun events begin! Need to know when the

next LYO event is? Need to know when the next Worship Team practice will be held? Now there’s more ways than ever. Try our Text Alert System. It’s

easy and free to sign-up! We’ll send out texts to remind you of events. To sign-up, you can text @gselclyo to 81010. Sign-up today and get connected. Don’t have unlimited texts? No problem - call the church at 610-926-4201 and follow the automated prompts to hear the latest church announcements! This is so important to be connected with! Especially after blizzard of 2016 it was a great communication tool!

LYO Activities for February Tuesday 2/2/16: Youth Ministry Committee Meeting. We meet at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room. All youth grades 5 through college are invited and welcome to help plan some great events for this year as well as give opinions on past events. We are also always looking for adult chaperones for your ideas!

Thursdays 2/4, 2/11, 2/18, 2/25/16: It’s that time again! Candy making from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall! We are always looking for help! No need to sign up; please just show up! See our flyer with all the information on our sale!

Friday 2/5/16 & Saturday 2/6/16: Pursuing J C Retreat! We will meet here at the church at 6:00 p.m. and travel to Reformation Lutheran Church for the annual WBMD retreat! We are not staying overnight so we will meet back here at the church again Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. to take part in the Saturday workshops and the concert at 7:00 p.m. The concert is open to everyone so please plan to join us! The cost for this event is $30.00 per person and chaperones are free.

Sunday 2/7/16: “Souper Bowl” of Caring event! This event is to vote on who you want the winner of the Super Bowl to be. To vote for your favorite team bring a can of soup and or a $1.00 donation to be placed in the soup pot of either The Broncos or The Panthers. All proceeds will benefit the Muhlenberg Food Pantry! Who will win the Broncos or the Panthers?

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“The Awakening” Praise BandUnfortunately we are having to eliminate our worship team for now due to lack of commitment and interest. We take this seriously and in order to put forth the best contemporary worship service we can, REHEARSALS are a must! The praise band is looking for either another guitarist or a drummer. These individuals need to be committed individuals who love to play contemporary hymns. If

interested please see Kathlynn, Kiara or Ben. Rehearsals for praise band are every Sunday evening from 7 – 9. All rehearsals are held in the music room. If you cannot make a rehearsal please notify Kiara Knarr or Ben Lehr BEFORE rehearsal so we are aware of you not being able to be here. Updates are also sent via our connect text service so make sure you are signed up for any rehearsal updates.

College Ministry Please email me at kknarr.gfs@gmail.com with your child’s college mailing address. If you think I already have it please send it to me again just to be sure I have the correct address just in case anything may have changed. I don’t want anyone to miss out on getting mail from us and letting them know we are thinking of them. In your email please include their mailing address, year of college they are in, what they are studying, and their birthday. Any other interests they have that you would like to share would also be appreciated! This program is for commuters as well as living on campus students and also any military service personnel.

Sports Ministry Volleyball night for the month of February will be only be on Wednesday February 3rd from 7 – 9 p.m. in the multi-ministry hall! Due to the Lenten season this will be our last

volleyball fun night till after Easter! Sandwiches, drinks and snacks are provided. Please come out for a night of fun! All are welcome so bring a friend!

All are ALWAYS Welcome! Bring a friend!

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

Join us for an afternoon of fun tailgating in the Multi Ministry Hall with your own covered dish to share and then sit back and relax together with your church family to

watch the Super Bowl! We will gather in the Multi Ministry Hall on Sunday February 7, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. for food and fellowship! Wear your favorite team apparel even if they are

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not being represented in this Super Bowl. Bring a friend and help to make this a great event! Please sign up on the bulletin board so we have an idea how many to expect!

Operation Easter HugsSpreading the Love of Jesus with our Community!

Bring in a NEW stuffed animal from February 10th through March 20th!Sit, hug and fill the stuffed animals with love throughout the entire Lenten

season. On Palm Sunday (March 20th) the animals will be collected and given to some of our shut-ins as well as Child Care Centers and residents in Nursing

Homes within our community.Operation Easter Hugs is sponsored by the Christian Education Committee and

distributed by the Youth Ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Good Shepherd Youth MinistryChocolate Easter Egg Sale

Make your orders for HOMEMADEPeanut Butter or Coconut Eggs dipped

in milk or dark chocolate!

All proceeds benefit the Youth Ministry Program of Good Shepherd Lutheran

Church4 Types of Eggs Available:

Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter; Dark Chocolate Peanut ButterMilk Chocolate Coconut Cream; Dark Chocolate Coconut Cream

$4.50 per ½ pound or $7.50 per poundOrders can be made in the Gathering Area after church or by

contacting Kathlynn at 610-926-4201 ext. 205 or kknarr.gfs@gmail.com

Choose Your Pick-Up Day:Saturday March 19th from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

ORSunday, March 20th AFTER our 10:30 a.m. church service

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AYCE BREAKFAST

February 13th from 7 - 11am at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.  4201 Stoudts Ferry Bridge Road, Reading, PA 610-921-4201. $6 for adults and children 11 and up, and $5 for Children aged 4 - 10. Includes Western and Scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, French toast, sausage, OJ, coffee, and more

KID’S KORNER

We are now accepting registrations for the 2016-2017 school year.  We are currently accepting registrations from existing families and church members and will open to the public on March 1st.  We also have a few open spots remaining for the 2015-2016 school year.  If you or anyone you know would be interested please contact Rebecca Watson at 610-926-4201 ext. 207 or email at slw0219@comcast.net.  You can also check us out on the church website www.goodshepherdelc.org and our Facebook page, Good Shepherd Kid’s Korner.

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