Beacon News
August 23, 2020
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Faith – Poem by Adrian Wait
Faith is the light of the next step
Illuminating a way ahead,
Without revealing the direction.
Faith will sustain, and comfort
Through our darkest hours.
Faith upholds the unseen hope,
It is the seasoning that endures,
the pain of life whilst revealing
that misery can be optional.
Faith is a light in the darkness,
Surrounded, yet not consumed.
In the storms of our lives
Faith is the stillness, seated at
The rear of our boat
Our Church Calendar is Listed Below.
We are offering many activities and worship through Zoom. Join Us!
Friday, August 21, 10 a.m. – Coffee Chats with Pastor Sarah.
Join Pastor Sarah for relaxed conversation and catching up every Friday morning. You may drop in and leave when it’s convenient.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 117 491 031
No password created.
One tap mobile: +13126266799,,117491031# US (Chicago)
Sunday, August 23, 10 a.m. Worship
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/602272570?pwd=VUdRVVp6NkRNczl5QjFnUkF4OGt4Zz09
Meeting ID: 602 272 570
Password: 344276
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,602272570#,,#,344276# US (Chicago)
Virtual Fellowship will follow our service.
You can watch our services after they happen on our YouTube Channel. Click here!
Sunday, August 23, 3 p.m. – Synod Service of Repentance (Virtual). For information, please read the article within this newsletter.
Monday, August 24, 6:30 p.m. – Stewardship Committee Meeting
Tuesday, August 25 – NO Staff Meeting this week.
Wednesday, August 26, 9:30 a.m. – Pastor’s Bible Study Join us as we gather weekly via Zoom as we walk through the life of David.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/568102184.
Meeting ID: 568 102 184 No password created.
Thursday, August 27, 10 a.m. – Prayer Time via Zoom. Pastor Sarah will lead a brief time of prayer every Thursday at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Perfect for those of you at home or work who need a quick “lift” for the rest of the day.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 529 280 391
No password created.
One tap mobile: +13126266799,,529280391# US (Chicago)
Thursday, August 27, 7:00 p.m. “Troubling the Waters” vital discussion regarding racism in America and what we can do as people of God.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86714669874?pwd=akxhRW5qVGFPK3hxMzlCSWJSS2M5UT09
Meeting ID: 867 1466 9874
Password: 724958
Items are available here from our class. Click here.
Friday, August 28, 10 a.m. – Coffee Chats with Pastor Sarah.
Join Pastor Sarah for relaxed conversation and catching up every Friday morning. You may drop in and leave when it’s convenient.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 117 491 031
No password created.
One tap mobile: +13126266799,,117491031# US (Chicago)
Sunday, August 30, 10 a.m. Worship
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/602272570?pwd=VUdRVVp6NkRNczl5QjFnUkF4OGt4Zz09
Meeting ID: 602 272 570
Password: 344276
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,602272570#,,#,344276# US (Chicago)
Virtual Fellowship will follow our service.
You can watch our services after they happen on our YouTube Channel. Click here!
Ways to Grow and Learn
Bible Study continues…
We gather on Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom for our Pastor’s Bible Study. All are welcome, and no preparation and previous knowledge is required.
We are walking through the life of David, King of Israel. Come and learn more about this complicated man. And we are getting to the “good stuff”—that is, topics and realities of David that you normally don’t hear in a homily on Sunday. Join us!
Thursday evenings you are invited to join other Bay Shore members in an open conversation about race and white privilege. Your experience and voice are needed in this discussion. We all have something to share and also to learn. As a Body of Christ in our community, it is especially important to be engaged in this conversation and be as Christ called us to be—real neighbors.
Link to Materials:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kmbe4fkcbbdkeqf/AADdapbc7vJXGrPLxppTdjTCa?dl=0
Zoom Invitation:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86714669874?pwd=akxhRW5qVGFPK3hxMzlCSWJSS2M5UT09
Meeting ID: 867 1466 9874
Password: 724958
One tap mobile: +13017158592,,86714669874#,,,,0#,,724958# US (Germantown)
Pastor Sarah will lead a discussion on the book, Dear Church: A Love Letter by Lenny Duncan on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. We will walk through the discussion questions found in the back of the paperback edition. Please, this discussion is for those who have read at least half of the book by Sept. 9th. We hope to have an honest conversation about the book, the author’s points concerning the ELCA and more. If you have any questions, please connect with Pastor Sarah. A Zoom link will be shared after September 1.
Ways to Love, Serve and Give
Pastor Sarah will “ride” for Outreach for Hope’s main fundraiser during the month of August and September. Like last year, she has set up a fundraising page for this Lutheran charity here in Milwaukee. Support local ministries of our synod through supporting Outreach for Hope. Click here to donate to her page directly. Pastor is now within the top 5 fundraisers for this synod event! The more funds she raises, the more she will walk!
Thank you for your continued to support of Bay Shore during this difficult time. Our mission and ministries are funded solely on the offerings we receive. Please continue to mail your offerings to the church. Or, to make an offering online right now, you may do so here. See below how you can even “text” your offering to Bay Shore.
Office Desk Needed!
Danny Ellis and Dulcie Shoener are busy furnishing their new music office space on the lower level of our building. They still are in need of an office desk. Do you have one you would like to donate? Please contact the church office if you have one to give.
[email protected] or 414-332-6436.
To assist globally, Lutheran World Relief is on the front lines in many places across the globe. You may help globally here. Another place that can use our help locally is Hunger Task Force. Click here to donate Directly to HTF.
BAY SHORE NOW HAS TEXT TO GIVE!
(855) 461-0194
You can quickly and easily make a one-time or recurring donation to Bay Shore!
Click this link for a short video about Vanco’s Give+Text.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj7AiH6rty0
Give Up Plastics
The statistics are shocking: People around the world buy 1 million plastic drinking bottles every minute, and use up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags every year. Humans are addicted to plastic, and hardly any of it — about 9 percent — gets recycled. A staggering 8 million tons (7.25 metric tons) ends up in the ocean every year. Break the cycle. Stop buying bottled water. Say no to plastic shopping bags and use cloth bags instead. Don’t use plastic straws. Drink from a reusable cup instead of a plastic one. Avoiding plastic can divert a ton of waste from the oceans and landfill.
Our 2020 coffee import is shipping from Tanzania. Your online coffee orders are helping to support the coffee farmers on Mt Meru. Even though the international coffee market is at its lowest price for years the Mt Meru Coffee Project continues to pay the consistently high price it has paid for years. This additional income is improving the standard of living in the Meru Diocese. Free shipping of coffee extended to August 31! Visit mtmerucoffee.org to order today!
Ways to Connect and Share
Join us on Sundays for our Virtual Coffee Hour
immediately following our worship service.
Stay online and chat with friends. We will have small group break outs for more intimate fellowship, and we will also have conversation starter questions, too. We hope to create a virtual time like our “coffee fellowship” was on Sundays when we were in the building. Stay, drink a cup of coffee, and reconnect with friends.
Synod News to Share:
Bay Shore is a congregation within the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA. Be aware of not only what is happening here at Bay Shore, but also our Synod.
Sunday, August 23 at 3 pm. – A joint service of area partners – A service for a Day of Repentance. Watch it virtually through this link.
Our Synod has shared worship services for churches to use over the next few weeks. Would you like to watch synod members preach and others in our synod participate? Pastor Sarah is featured in one of the services sharing a petition. Here is the link to see them as they are available.
The latest newsletter is HERE: You can also visit their website HERE, or like the Synod’s Facebook page for the MOST CURENT information.
More Community News to Share:
While our church staff continues to work remotely, you may reach us at any time through email, or by leaving a message on the church’s voicemail.
A couple from our Bay Shore family is seeking onsite childcare for an 18 month and 5 year old in the Greenfield area. The hours would be M-F, 9 am to 1 pm. If you know someone who is available and may be interested, please have them email [email protected]
We are looking for Hymn Requests! Please email Dulcie Shoener at [email protected] with your suggestions!
Do you know someone who needs some crisis care for mental health, especially now during the pandemic? If yes, dial 211 and request assistance with a Crisis Counselor. Project Recovery is available. Projectreceoverywi.org
Prayer of the Week: Prayer for what’s next
Dear God, thank you for helping us to make it through this difficult year. Thank you that you’ve carried us through the uncertainty of deep waters, through the flames of trials, and through the pain of hard losses. We are constantly aware of how much we need you, your grace, your strength, your power working through even the toughest days.
Help us to keep our focus first on you this season. Help us to remember that the gift of Christ, Immanuel, is our greatest treasure. Fill us with your joy and the peace of your Spirit. Direct our hearts and minds towards you. Thank you for your reminder that both in seasons of celebration and in seasons of brokenness, you are still with us. For you never leave us. Thank you for your daily powerful presence in our lives, that we can be assured your heart is towards us, your eyes are over us, and your ears are open to our prayers. Thank you that you surround us with favor as with a shield, and we are safe in your care.
We choose to press in close to you today and keep you first in our hearts and lives. Thank you for your healing power, thank you for bringing us into this new season up ahead. We look forward to all that you still have in store.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
The Bay Shore Lutheran Church Foundation (BSLCF) is accepting grant applications until September 30, 2020. Grant requests should reflect the religious, charitable and educational responsibilities of Bay Shore Lutheran Church (BSLC), including furtherance of its spiritual ministry, care of its physical properties, implementation of educational responsibilities, and support of organizations and groups within the congregation.
Grants from the BSLCF are intended to supplement, not substitute, financing provided by the normal BSLC operating budget. Grant applications can also be considered for support of agencies and activities outside of the BSLC congregation which have, in the opinion of the Foundation, a clearly identifiable Lutheran character and emphasis, complementing the ministry of BSLC and/or providing services to its membership. These grants should also reflect a religious, charitable and educational responsibility and focus.
The grant application form is available now by contacting the church office at [email protected]
Readings for this Sunday, August 23
First Reading: Isaiah 51:1-6
1Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. 3For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation; for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples. 5I will bring near my deliverance swiftly, my salvation has gone out and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope. 6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended.
Psalm 138
1I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
2I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.
3On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.
4All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.
8The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
Second Reading: Romans 12
1I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 16:13-20 At a climactic point in Jesus’ ministry, God reveals to Peter that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus responds with the promise of a church that will overcome the very gates of Hades.
13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Click here to see our Sunday’s Order of Worship to be used at home. It includes our hymns, too.
Stay in Touch
We would love it if you would fill out a new contact information form for us!
You don’t need to be a member to do so. Follow the link below to give us your latest contact information. If you’ve already completed the new form, thank you!
https://forms.gle/zcUGXgbPUJAK2Zfw6
STAFF
Pastor Sarah Stobie [email protected]
Kate Yelvington, Church Office [email protected]
Dulcie Shoener, Minister of Music [email protected]
Daniel Ellis, Choir Director [email protected]
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