News and Announcements are published on Friday each week.

The Day of Pentecost

June 8, 2025

Readings: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:23-31 

 Hymns: 498, 768, 659, 496, 497, 913

Calendar 

Witness

We get to tell them.  What do you know about missionary work in the LCMS?  Not much?  The LCMS offers many opportunities to serve for a week, several weeks, or even long term in positions near and far.  Check out upcoming mission trips and information about other service opportunities at at LCMS.org/serve.  To hear a missionary’s story check out this interview on the KFUO Coffee Hour program: kfuo.org/2023/03/09/coffee-hour-030923-opportunities-to-serve-international-mission-business-managers  

From Lutheran Hour Ministries - We may think of being neighborly as mostly a warm-weather activity, but there are plenty of helpful things we can do at any time of year. Drawing inspiration from Don Everts' book, The Hopeful Neighborhood: What Happens When Christians Pursue the Common Good, we can connect with those who live nearby to create a more hopeful neighborhood.  No matter what time of the year it is, The Hopeful Neighborhood Project (HNP) is ready with ideas to assist you where you live. To learn more, go to hopefulneighborhood.org and request a FREE Starter Kit. 

Mercy  

The Gorham Backpack Program is distributing weekend food bags and school-day snack bags to Gorham students facing food insecurity. The current need is to stock the Food Closet at Gorham High School.  We will be collecting food items on an ongoing basis.  Please bring your donation to church.  There will be a box in the narthex for the collection. 

They are requesting the following items: Pretzels, Cheez-Its, Trail mix, Granola bars, Capri sun or other juice boxes, Fruit snack, Goldfish, Mac and cheese (Velveeta cups), Ramen Individual size, cereal boxes, Individual size popcorn bags, Spaghettios, Deodorant, Chapstick.

If you need anything (rides, supplies, medicine pickups) or any assistance please feel free to contact Sandy or Tom DiPasqua at 207-883-2730 or tjdipasqua@aol.com.  

Life Together 

Hospitality will be providing the meats (burgers and hotdogs) for a BBQ immediately following the Divine Service on Sunday June 8th.  Please bring a side dish or dessert to share.  Any questions, please see Betsy.

Pastor Strawn will be starting a Wednesday evening Bible Study, with the first class being held on June 18th at 6:30pm, with a light supper provided. The topic for that session will be the Nephilim.  Please let Pastor know if you’ll be attending so he can order sufficient food for supper.

Looking for hosts for our coffee hours following service. Sign up on the Fellowship Board near Pastor’s office. This can be one family or several families.  

Dear Friend of Issues, Etc.,You can meet and hear journalists Mark and Mollie Hemingway at the 2025 Issues, Etc. “Making the Case” Conference.  The premier conference for Christian laity is Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19 at Concordia University Chicago.  Mark and Mollie will be joined by CNN Political Commentator Scott Jennings, Dr. Carl Trueman of Grove City College, President Jon Bruss of Concordia Theological Seminary, President Tom Egger of Concordia Seminary and Pastor Will Weedon of “The Word of the Lord Endures Forever.”Registration is $160 and includes three meals.  On-campus dorm options are available..To learn more, CLICK HERE.

A Life Thought in the Church Year for June 8 – Pentecost: Words about the worth and purpose invested in every human being belong not to us alone but to Almighty God Himself (John 14:24). Our Savior graciously endows the Words of Life with the Holy Spirit’s power (John 14:26). So we must not dilute or suppress what He has made unquestionably clear, and we may entrust the public effects of the message to His wisdom.

A Stewardship Thought for June 8 – Day of Pentecost Acts 2:1 – “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.” Notice that Pentecost was actually an Old Testament festival. It happened around the time when the wheat and oats were ready to be brought in. In the New Testament, Pentecost foreshadowed the great harvest of humankind that God will bring in through the preaching of His Word. God gives the seed, and God brings about the harvest through the work of His church.

SACRED MUSIC STATION… You can listen to the best of the Church’s music for the past 2,000 years on Lutheran Public Radio.  LPR streams 24/7 at lutheranpublicradio.org, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomePod, TuneIn and the Lutheran Public Radio mobile app.

Communications

Newsletter Deadline – If you wish to contribute to the JULY church newsletter, please email your submission to the church office by JUNE 22. 

All announcements and prayer requests received in the church office by noon on Thursday will appear in print that week in Friday’s email. If there is an announcement that you would like Pastor to make following Sunday’s FB live stream, please email him that information.

Looking Forward To Holy Trinity

Readings: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:23-31 

Holy Trinity

June 15, 2025

Readings: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:23-31 

 Hymns: 507, 948, 563, 947, 718, 506

Calendar 

Witness

We get to tell them.  What do you know about missionary work in the LCMS?  Not much?  The LCMS offers many opportunities to serve for a week, several weeks, or even long term in positions near and far.  Check out upcoming mission trips and information about other service opportunities at at LCMS.org/serve.  To hear a missionary’s story check out this interview on the KFUO Coffee Hour program: kfuo.org/2023/03/09/coffee-hour-030923-opportunities-to-serve-international-mission-business-managers  

The last issue of the Journal of Lutheran Mission (JLM) was published in 2017. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is delighted to relaunch the publication with a renewed emphasis on theological and academic fidelity.  The LCMS Office of International Mission (OIM) has a number of academic faculty members who serve in our partner churches’ seminaries around the globe. In addition to their regular duties, these theological educators will be editing JLM so the LCMS’ theological and practical mission in the 21st century might be made available for academic study and discussion.  You can sign up to receive this email journal at this LINK.

Mercy  

The Gorham Backpack Program is distributing weekend food bags and school-day snack bags to Gorham students facing food insecurity. The current need is to stock the Food Closet at Gorham High School.  We will be collecting food items on an ongoing basis.  Please bring your donation to church.  There will be a box in the narthex for the collection. 

They are requesting the following items: Pretzels, Cheez-Its, Trail mix, Granola bars, Capri sun or other juice boxes, Fruit snack, Goldfish, Mac and cheese (Velveeta cups), Ramen Individual size, cereal boxes, Individual size popcorn bags, Spaghettios, Deodorant, Chapstick.

If you need anything (rides, supplies, medicine pickups) or any assistance please feel free to contact Sandy or Tom DiPasqua at 207-536-1547 or tjdipasqua@aol.com.  

Life Together 

Pastor Strawn will be starting a Wednesday evening Bible Study, with the first class being held on June 18th at 6:30pm, with a light supper provided. The topic for that session will be the Nephilim.  Please let Pastor know if you’ll be attending so he can order sufficient food for supper.

The June 2025 issue of the LWML NED newsletter “Pass It On”, is available to read via this LINK.   A printed copy is on the bulletin board downstairs.

Looking for hosts for our coffee hours following service. Sign up on the Fellowship Board near Pastor’s office. This can be one family or several families.  

Dear Friend of Issues, Etc.,You can meet and hear journalists Mark and Mollie Hemingway at the 2025 Issues, Etc. “Making the Case” Conference.  The premier conference for Christian laity is Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19 at Concordia University Chicago.  Mark and Mollie will be joined by CNN Political Commentator Scott Jennings, Dr. Carl Trueman of Grove City College, President Jon Bruss of Concordia Theological Seminary, President Tom Egger of Concordia Seminary and Pastor Will Weedon of “The Word of the Lord Endures Forever.”Registration is $160 and includes three meals.  On-campus dorm options are available..To learn more, CLICK HERE.

A Life Thought in the Church Year for June 15 – Festival of the Holy Trinity/Father’s Day: The Maker of heavens and earth has the nature of fatherhood and sonship. Begetting and parenting belongs to His distinctive and eternal character. No greater wisdom, insight, or answer exists for any circumstance of humankind—surprise pregnancy and terminal diagnosis included—than the goodness of delighting in children and parents—embryo, elderly, or otherwise—and submitting ourselves to their welfare.

A Stewardship Thought for June 15 – Holy Trinity Isaiah 6:3 – “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ ” Three times the angels cry out: “Holy, holy, holy!” It is an indication of the three-ness in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the Name into which we are baptized. We have been made a part of God’s family and are now called to live lives that are in harmony with this new family. We are to be godly and live in God’s image. As God is loving, kind and generous, so also are we called to be.

EDUCATING A NEW GENERATION OF LUTHERANS… Issues, Etc. is a radio talk show and podcast produced by Lutheran Public Radio in Collinsville, IL and hosted by LCMS Pastor Todd Wilken.  Recent topics include: Freeing Kids & Teens from Smartphones, The Movie “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning,” The Table of Duties in Luther’s Small Catechism, Name Changes in the Bible and more.  You can listen at your convenience at issuesetc.org, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomePod, TuneIn, the LPR mobile app and a podcast provider.

Communications

Newsletter Deadline – If you wish to contribute to the JULY church newsletter, please email your submission to the church office by JUNE 22. 

All announcements and prayer requests received in the church office by noon on Thursday will appear in print that week in Friday’s email. If there is an announcement that you would like Pastor to make following Sunday’s FB live stream, please email him that information.

Looking Forward To the First Sunday After Holy Trinity

Readings: Genesis 15:1-6; 1 John 4:16-21; Luke 16:19-31