1

Pastor Gary Hedding of

Bethlehem Lutheran Church,

in Cedar Falls, Iowa, relates a

wonderful story about sacrificial giving:

Adeline (in her 60s) was a developmentally dis-

abled woman who lived with her mother, and the

two survived on their combined Social Security

benefits. Her mother (90+ years old) died, re-

moving half of their joint income. Adeline con-

tinued to give the same amount of money in her

offering each week, even though her income was

half what it used to be. People were concerned

because Adeline wasn’t very good at math, and

they suspected that she didn’t realize what she

was doing. I talked to Adeline about how she

could reduce her giving and still be a good stew-

ard. Her amazing response was that she had only

asked for two things in life. First, that her mom

would live a long time, and she did. Second, that

God would let her mom die peacefully when she

became ill, and that happened. This convinced

Adeline that “God would take good care of her,

and that God would use the money better than

she would.”

Adeline’s hope and security is in God. So is

ours. We are called to be good stewards of our

resources, so that does entail saving for retire-

ment and emergencies. It means making prudent

choices. Yet we often accept the world’s procla-

mation that our hope and security is in what we

have, how much we make, and what we have

stored away. Again, we are to make sound finan-

cial arrangements, but we also need to recognize

that our ultimate hope and security is in God

alone.

In our stewardship theme verses for this year we

have looked at the poor congregations in Mace-

donia. Despite their poverty, they were eager to

give. I assume Adeline didn’t have much, living

on Social Security, but she gave what she could,

joyfully. That’s what St. Paul emphasizes in 2

Corinthians 8:12: If you are eager to give, God

will accept your gift on the basis of what you

have to give, not on what you don't have. Ade-

line may not have had much to give, but she is a

wonderful example for all of us of generous giv-

ing

I pray that as we close out our look at Steward-

ship and the example of the Macedonian congre-

gations that you have not seen it as fund raising.

That’s not the purpose. Rather, it is designed to

help us grow in faithful discipleship that all our

life is an example of the generosity of God.

Thank you for your faithful stewardship,

Pastor Jon Christenson

Volume 49—Number 2 February 2019

Voice of Redeemer

Redeemer Lutheran Church

2

REDEEMER LUTHERAN CHURCH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

2525 BELLE TERRACE, P O BOX 13132-93389, BAKERSFIELD, CA 93304

Pastor: Rev. Jon Christenson ………... 832-7881 ……………. Secretary: Phyllis Elrod

E-mail address: rlcbakersfield@sbcglobal.net Web site address: www.bakersfieldlutheran.org

O ne of the most misquoted verses in the entire Bible is First Timothy 6:10. Most people misquote this verse as follows: "Money is the source of all evil."

Actually, the Scripture says, "For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil." There's quite a difference between the two.

Money in and of itself is not wrong. The Scripture gives no indication that it is wrong to have money. In fact, many people in the Bible who sought to put God first

in their lives were people of wealth. Names like Abraham, Esther, Job, David, Solomon, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea come to mind. Money is not the source of all evil; money is simply a commodity that enables us to buy and sell goods and services. Money is neutral; it is neither good nor bad.

What counts is how we view money. Paul wrote to Timothy that " . . . The love of money is a source of all kinds of evil." What does it mean, then, to love money? To love money is to desire it above all else in your life. It is to make it your primary focus. It is to seek to acquire it at any cost. The only problem with that philosophy is that it does not work.

Remember this: God is our source! All that we have comes from His bountiful hand. For our good, God wisely instructs us to put Him first in all things, including how we obtain and use money. However, when we make money our primary focus, and when we spend our waking hours planning, scheming and laboring to acquire more and more money, it becomes the main object of our affection. Our love for God then takes second place to our love for money.

Solomon gave some advice concerning those who love money. He said, "If you love money, you will never be satisfied. If you long to be rich, you will never get all you want." In contrast, Solomon ob-served that it is better to have only one handful of material possessions accompanied by peace and tranquility than always to be struggling for more, which he said is sort of like chasing after the wind.

So, you see, money can be a blessing or a curse, depending on our attitude toward it. If we view it as merely a means to an end, then it can be used of God to be a blessing in our lives and in the lives of those around us. It can be used of God in our lives to glorify Him. However, if we see money as an end in and of itself, something to be grasped and hoarded, then it will become a curse in our lives and will adversely affect us and others.

Listen to this solemn warning found in First Timothy 6 ‹ " . . . those who want to get rich fall into temp-tation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows."

How do you view money?

3

BAKE SALE RELAY FOR LIFE

FUNDRAISER

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10

11:30—FELLOWSHIP HALL

Sponsored by

REDEEMER’S

MGHTY FORTRESS

If you have any church keys that

you no longer have any reason

to have in your possession,

please return them to the office.

It is imperative to the security of

our facility that extra keys that

are not being used are in safe

keeping in the office.

Thank you!

4

AREA OF SERVICE February 3 February 10 February 17 February 24

Altar Guild Lyda & Vernon

Flowers Laura Haywood Lemley Family Laura Haywood Clayton Family

Assistant Minister Jan Lemley

Communion Assistant Laura Haywood

Lector Karen Musgrove Jan Lemley Judy Peterson Mike Jacobsen

Greeter Karen Musgrove

Coffee Hour Linda Cohen Judy Peterson Mary Ellen Karen Musgrove

Please know that your prayers are so very much appreciated. Thanks and Blessings to all!

IN HIS SERVICE

NOTE: THIS SCHEDULE DOES NOT REFLECT CHANGES MADE AFTER JANUARY 26

Bruce

Bev

Suzie

Margaret

Patty

Carlotta

Lilian’s niece

Karen Manes

Ralph

David

Marge

Nathan

The family of

Dixie Kellogg

January Prayer Requests

ALTAR

GUILD

TRAINING

Pastor Jon will

hold an Altar

Guild training session after

second service on Sunday,

February 10, in the Fellowship

Hall. Anyone interested in

being a part of the Altar Guild

is invited to attend.

In loving memory

Pearl Dixiana Vaage-Kellogg (Dixie)

April 28, 1932—January 9, 2019

5

Dallas and Mary Thompson

(pictured left) from Glenwood, MN

are busy making lefse for coffee hour

Sunday, Jan. 13.

Redeemer is so grateful that these

“snow-bunnies” found our church to visit

during their annual trek to CA to escape the

cold and visit their son in Bakersfield—-

and treat us to “Norwegian tortillas”,

more commonly know as lefse.

This is now an annual event, which we will look

forward to with great anticipation!

Mange Tusen Takk !

Pictured above is Bob Lansford celebrating birthday

#89. Cake and all the trimmings thanks to Rosie

Baker and Christy Schroeder.

REDEEMER COUNCIL

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

JANUARY 14, 2019

Dixie Kellogg passed away – Service February

7, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.

$20,000.00 in donations have been made to-

wards the Loan payment.

Stewardship Focus:

Debt Repayment :

1)Commitment ; 2) Generosity ;

3) Abundant Joy ;4) Gratitude

Annual Meeting – January 27, 2019 with

potluck.

Charities : Tijuana

Staff Evaluations completed

Nori Eakes, secretary

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” ― Dr. Seuss

6

ASH WEDNESDAY

March 6

Lenten Services with soup

suppers will begin March 13

through April 10

February 21

6 pm

DATES TO

REMEMBER

Saturday

Feb. 09 @ 9 am

Monday

February 10 @ 6 pm

Everyone is Welcome

WINE & DINE : is Thursday, February 28,

2019 / 6:15 pm. at Cafe Med, 4809

Stockdale Highway. Please make reservations

with Linda Cohen.

FEBRUARY

ACTIVITIES

LUNCH BUNCH IS Wednesday 2/6/19 @

11am, Marie Callender’s, 3801 Califor-

nia Avenue. Everyone is invited. Please

make reservations with Judy Olson-

Peterson.

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY/QUILTING will meet on

Wednesday, 2/13 from 9 am to 2 pm in the Fellowship

Hall. All are welcome to join us in making quilts/ knit-

ting/crocheting prayer shawls. Bring a sack lunch and

enjoy fellowship with friends. Judy will furnish snacks. Kathy McKnight 02

Azeadra Johnson-Haley 10

Hollie Schindler 13

Ella Dommer 14

Anne Benson 16

Carlos Romirez 21

Susan Petty 22

Phyllis Elrod 25

Asher Schindler 26

Bill Schroeder 26

John Werts 28

Neil & Becky Barsanti 14

Mike & Sharon Jacobsen 22

RUTH CIRCLE will meet February 4, 6:30 @ the Lemley

household. Pastor Donella will continue our study/appreciation of Handel’s Messiah. Please plan to join us.

AFTERNOON CIRCLE is Wednesday 2/20/19 @ 1:30 pm

in the Fellowship Hall. We are discussing Meetings with

Jesus from John 3-6 & Gather magazine. Judy Olson-

Peterson will lead the discussion & Anne-Marie Truax will

provide refreshments.

TEHACHAPI CONFERENCE

The Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin

Southwest CA Synod Bishop

Saturday, February 2

Emmanuel Lutheran

1900 Baker St.

Beginning with coffee @9:30 am

Conference meeting 10:00—noon

a light lunch will be served @noon.

Everyone is invited to attend.

7

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THRUSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2

3

Praise Worship

8:30 am

Sunday School

9:30

Worship 10:30

Fellowship 11:30

4

Ruth Circle

6:30

5

Pacifica 3 pm

6

Lunch Bunch

11 am

Brown bag

supper 5:30

Bible Study 6

pm

7

Pacifica 10:15

8 9

Work Day 9 am

10

Praise Worship

8:30 am

Sunday School

9:30

Worship 10:30

Fellowship 11:30

Altar Guild

meeting

11

Worship &

Music 6 pm

12

Pacifica 3 pm

13

Prayer Shawl

& Quilting

9—2

Brown bag

supper 5:30

Bible Study 6

14

15 16

Martin Luther

11/10/1483—

2/18/1543

17

Praise Worship

8:30 am

Sunday School

9:30

Worship 10:30

Fellowship 11:30

18 19

Pacifica 3 pm

20

Afternoon Circle

1:30

Brown bag

supper 5:30

Bible Study 6

pm

21

Pacifica 10:15

Council 6 pm

22 23

25 26

Pacifica 3 pm

27

SS&T 12 noon

Brown bag

supper 5:30

Bible Study 6

pm

28

FEBRUARY 2019

24

Praise Worship

8:30 am

Sunday School

9:30

Worship 10:30

Fellowship 11:30