Beacon Newsletter for Pentecost Sunday, 2021

Please note, this is very basic version of our newsletter. To receive a better copy, please email our church office.

Beacon News

May 23, 2021

Day of Pentecost

“Pentecostal Hour” by Mark DeBolt

No zephyr soft
but cyclone strong
bore thoughts aloft
in windy song.

No flicker mild
but flames of red
danced hot and wild
upon each head.

And so fierce was
our thundering word
in languages
of all who heard,

all knew it meant
the Spirit’s power.
This was our Pentecostal hour.

Our Church Calendar

Our Zoom activities and events are linked below; we also post videos on our YouTube Channel as well.

Sunday, May 23, 10 a.m. Worship—Pentecost Sunday

We will have our worship livestreaming on our YouTube Channel beginning at 10 a.m. The Prelude will begin at 10 a.m. You may view our worship live, or after as a recording here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8eSD2DkUpaCDCwagXnnrqw If you click on before 10 a.m., please refresh your screen (as often as needed) until you see the livestream video.

11:00 a.m. Virtual Fellowship will follow our worship! LAST ONE!

After our live worship is concluded, join us on Zoom for fellowship and conversation. The link below is the same one we have been using for our Sunday mornings.

https://zoom.us/j/602272570?pwd=VUdRVVp6NkRNczl5QjFnUkF4OGt4Zz09

Meeting ID: 602 272 570

Password: 344276

One tap mobile

+13126266799,,602272570#,,#,344276# US (Chicago)

MONDAY-TUESDAY, Whitefish Bay High School AP testing

Tuesday, May 25, 8:30 a.m. First Word for Men Bible Study meets via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89315542297?pwd=Q0txRmFyK3k3d3BQQlJOYUZjN3NuUT09
Meeting ID: 893 1554 2297
Passcode: 200544

Tuesday, May 25, 10:00 a.m. (*NEW TIIME*) Prayers and Coffee

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/117491031

Meeting ID: 117 491 031

One tap mobile

Wednesday, May 26, 9:30 a.m. Pastor’s Bible Study

Join us as we gather weekly via Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/568102184.
Meeting ID: 568 102 184 No password created.

Sunday, May 30, 10 a.m. Worship

Ways to Connect and Share

Altar Flower Sign up is back! A sign-up form has been created to sign up just the same as if we were in our gathering area! There can be two names (or more if you email the office separately) for each week that flowers will be in the church. Click on the link below to go to the sign-up sheet and when we get close to the day of your donation, Kate will email you for a dedication to be in the Beacon for the week.

The cost of flowers is $35. You may send a check to the office marked “Altar Flowers.” This is one more step toward resuming our Bay Shore lives together!

Altar Flower Sign Up

See all geranium dedications below.

We have a number of members who would love to hear from you! Each week we will publish the name and address of someone who is missing the fellowship of Bay Shore.

Please send a card or email to let them know you care.

This week we are thinking of Elaine Stalheim

1840 N. Prospect Ave.

Milwaukee, WI 53202

[email protected]

Do you have a child who is graduating from high school, college or receiving an advanced degree this year? Please notify the church office. We are planning to honor all grads on Sunday, June 13. If possible, please email us a picture! [email protected]

School is almost out for summer! Hephatha will continue the Youth Work program this June through August. Donations of non-perishable snacks and drinks for the youth can be made to Bay Shore Lutheran all summer (we will tell you when we can accept drop-offs to the office soon—until then, do not drop off food at the doors, thank you!). Also, monetary donations are being collected to provide scholarships for the participating youth. $300 sponsors one youth for the summer. Indicate Hephatha Youth Work Scholarship on your donation. Thank you!

Please keep in prayer: We continue to remember the Martineau family as Jean bravely battles on! We had such a great response to the first round of meal train volunteers that the family has said “yes please” when we asked if they would like us to continue. They have truly appreciated getting a meal twice a month prepared with love by us! See the link below to sign up. Wednesdays are the day that works the best for their family.

https://mealtrain.com/v1n5ny Please make sure and read the special instructions about food preferences, timing for delivery and so on.

Ways to Grow and Learn

Pastor’s Wednesday Morning Bible Study continues on May 26 at 9:30 a.m. Pastor Sarah will walk through the main parts of Deuteronomy. Did you know? Jesus quotes the book of Deuteronomy more than any other book in the Bible? It is worth reviewing! Following the study of Deuteronomy, Pastor Sarah will walk through the Letter to the Hebrews. Join us as you are able. You will be surprised how much you learn!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/568102184
Meeting ID: 568 102 184

Take note! We have combined prayer time and coffee chats! Join us on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 a.m. for some fellowship and prayer. Bring your favorite beverage to this special time where we share our prayer concerns and a lot of good humor!

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/117491031

Meeting ID: 117 491 031

Just a kind reminder: The Zoom company updates its software frequently on your smart devices, often without your knowledge if you have given permission for automatic app updates. Each week, you may or may not need to enter passwords, ID numbers, etc. It is also a good idea to check your microphone (audio) when you enter a Zoom meeting. You can do this under Audio Settings within your Zoom program.

Lutheran Summer Music Program has been a summer-camp tradition for high school youth who play instruments or who sing in a school choir since 1981. Each year, the camp moves from one location to another to showcase local ELCA colleges. This summer, it is at Valparaiso College in Indiana. It is a 4 week camp for high school to study an instrument or two with professional instructors, and/or sing in a choir with a professor or two from an area college. This year, the Greater Milwaukee Synod has scholarship funds to offset the costs, and our high school youth who are interested—we encourage you to apply.

Pastor Sarah’s eldest daughter Amy attended LSM at Luther College in 2011. It was a great experience for her, and truly prepared her for “going away” to college after HS graduation. If you have any questions about the program, please connect with Pastor Sarah. For more information from LSM, use the link here: LSM (lsmacademy.org)

Ways to Serve and Give

BAY SHORE HAS TEXT TO GIVE!

(855) 461-0194

You can quickly and easily make a one-time or recurring donation to Bay Shore!

Or, simply download the GivePlus app from your phone’s app store and search for Bay Shore Lutheran Church. You will then be all set to give whenever the time is right. When you download the app there are several areas where you can choose to give from the general fund to Hephatha appeals to Lutheran World relief! It’s quick and EASY!

Want to help make a difference while you shop in the Amazon app, at no extra cost to you? Simply follow the instructions below to select “Bay Shore Lutheran Church” as your charity and activate AmazonSmile in the app. They’ll donate a portion of your eligible mobile app purchases to us.

How it works:
1. Open the Amazon app on your phone
2. Select the main menu (=) & tap on “AmazonSmile” within Programs & Features
3. Select “Bay Shore Lutheran Church” as your charity
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to activate AmazonSmile in the mobile app

Prayer of the Week

On this Pentecost Sunday, we ask that you breathe on us once again. Make our consciences tender to your touch. We hunger for the life-changing power that your Holy Spirit brings. May our lives exemplify the fruit of your Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May we use the gifts of the Spirit that you have distributed to bless the church and build your Kingdom on earth.

Lord of Power, just as the outpouring of your Holy Spirit on Pentecost so drastically changed the lives of the disciples, may the burning fire of your Holy Spirit refine and renew us, so that we will never be the same. May we move in the power of the Spirit, and may our lives and ministries be infused with your divine touch and love. May the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation cause us to grow in our knowledge of you. Amen

A Special Word from Pastor Mary Martha

Hephatha young men who abide in God’s love as they tend the church yard and the yards of several elderly neighbors. Wonderful young people! We thank God for them…and for you!

THANKS FROM HEPHATHA to you, dear mission partners, for continuing to serve with us on 18^th and Locust in this time. We are thankful to be able to continue in safe mode in numerous ministries, both in a limited capacity on site and in a growing capacity online. Please visit us at www.hephatha100.com .

From John 15: “Abide in my love.” WE THANK YOU for abiding with us in the love of God!!!!

The summer will bring us another year of work ministry with the young people, a bit freer than last year. We are working hard against lead poisoning of children in our area (on the Hephatha census tract a full one third of children are lead poisoned). We are growing our Strong Baby Sanctuary ministry (some 120 children are covered by it at this time). Outdoor food outreach and indoor use of the fellowship hall in safe mode for distribution of basic items weekly to those who are experiencing homelessness are other ministries that you are helping make “go” in this time. We abide with you in the Gospel, in prayer and in the hope of the resurrection.

I will be on sabbatical this summer and extend my wishes to you for a summer of health, growth in faith, and times of enjoying the gifts of this season.

God’s peace and our deep thanks,

Pastor Mary Martha

Readings for Sunday, May 23, 2021

First Reading: Acts 2:1-21

Originally Pentecost was a Jewish thanksgiving-type festival celebrated seven weeks after Passover. On this particular Pentecost, however, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the entire community of believers just as Jesus had promised and the scriptures had prophesied. Empowered by the Spirit, the entire community bears witness to God’s activity in multiple languages.

¹When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
⁵Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” ¹²All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
¹⁴But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
¹⁷‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
¹⁸Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
²⁰The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
²¹Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ”

Psalm: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. (Ps. 104:30)

²⁴How manifold are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵Yonder is the sea, great and wide, with its swarms too many to number,
living things both small and great.
²⁶There go the ships to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you made for the sport of it.
²⁷All of them look to you
to give them their food in due season.
²⁸You give it to them; they gather it;
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.
²⁹When you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
³⁰You send forth your Spirit, and they are created;
and so you renew the face of the earth.
³¹May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
O Lord, rejoice in all your works.
³²You look at the earth and it trembles;
you touch the mountains and they smoke.
³³I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will praise my God while I have my being.
³⁴May these words of mine please God.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
^35bBless the Lord, O my soul.
Hallelujah!

Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27

By pouring the Holy Spirit into our hearts, God gives us the promised first fruit of eternal life so that we await God’s future in hope. In the meantime, the Spirit also intercedes for us by carrying the prayers of our weak human hearts to God.

²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

While speaking to his disciples before his death, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Helper” and describes the difference the Spirit will make in their lives and in the world.

[Jesus said,] ²⁶“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. ²⁷You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

^16:4b“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. ⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; ¹¹about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Click here to see our Order of Worship including all readings, to be used at home It includes our hymns, too.

“Who lights the fire of the Holy Spirit in you?”

Geranium Dedications 2021

Joanne and Rob Bischmann—in honor of our parents Elwyn and Sandra Bischmann and Joe and Virginia Besasie.

Connie Blair

Kathleen Briggs—in memory of my grandparents: Grandma Briggs, widowed on my birthday, and Rev. Otto Durr and Clara Hahn Durr

Gennie and Pete Crance—in memory of Harry and Imogene Frank, Irene and Bill Drongowski and in memory of the Rev. David Paul.

Doris and Ed Heiser—in honor of our granddaughter Cecilia Presti in North –Carolina graduating from High School this year.

Barb Johnson—in memory of my Mom (Peggy) and my Grandma (Peggy) who always had a prayer for you and their Bible close by!

Bev Kingma—in loving memory of my mom Nancy McConnell and my brother Bob Sexton and also dedicated to my daughters Kim Kingma and Cheryl Kingma-Kiekhofer and their families.

Clare Leslie—in memory of Dick Leslie.

Wendy Moeller and John Emanuel

Tiffany and Bryan Pfremmer—in memory and honor of our wonderful grandparents and in honor of all the front line workers that have provided support and care over the past year.

Barbara Rasmussen—in memory of the Rev. Bob Scheuermann.

Roberta and Dave Remstad–In memory of Janet Remstad.

Dulcie Shoener—in memory of and with eternal gratitude to my parents, Jack and Hilvie Gross, in honor of the Bay Shore Lutheran adult choir and handbell choir, and in honor of the four choir directors who have inspired and encouraged me at just the right times throughout my life: Jack Steve, Jim and Danny.

Pastor Sarah and Pete Stobie—in memory of Royce and Gwen Curtis, Arnold Crance, Joan Stein and Alice Williamson and to Pastor David, Pastor Sarah’s mentor, who taught her how to be a joyful pastor.