Clear Out Clutter and Support Hurricane Relief with Electronics Recycling

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Join us on February 8 from 9:00 AM to noon in the LCR parking lot to recycle your old electronics and securely shred documents, all while supporting hurricane relief efforts!

Now is your chance to recycle those old electronics and shred documents to clear up some of your post-holiday clutter at our free community event in the parking lot of LCR.

Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, in partnership with Data Delete Recycle, invites the community to recycle all obsolete and outdated electronics. RAM Shredding will be securely shredding and recycling your old documents. Proceeds from the event will benefit hurricane relief efforts.

 

All Georgia Youth Gathering

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“There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:28

February 21-23, 2025 | Camp Glisson, Dahlonega, GA

All youth in grades 6–12 and their adult leaders from across the Southeastern Synod are invited to the All Georgia 2025 Youth Gathering! This annual event is a time of faith formation, fellowship, and fun, where we connect with God and one another in a retreat atmosphere.

We’re excited to return to Camp Glisson in Dahlonega for the second year in a row. This year’s theme, “United in Christ,” will explore what it means to be one in Christ as we learn to love God, ourselves, and our neighbors. Special guest presenters will guide us in meaningful discussions, worship, and activities.

Details:

  • Who: Youth (6th–12th grade) and adults of the Southeastern Synod,
  • Young Adults (18–30): May attend for FREE if serving as small group leaders
  • Cost: $175 per person (youth and adults)
  • Location: Camp Glisson, Dahlonega, GA

This is a wonderful opportunity to grow in faith and community.

If you’re interested, contact LeAnn Haack for more information.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Good Fellowship Dinners – Spring 2025

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Looking to connect with others in our church community over a relaxed meal? Join the Good Fellowship Dinners, a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow members and build new friendships. Adults will gather in small groups at each other’s homes from February through May. If hosting isn’t feasible or if you can’t commit for all four months, you can still participate as a substitute.

How It Works:

  • Who: All adults are welcome! Whether you’re single or part of a couple, you can join in.
  • What: Monthly dinners with rotating hosts and guests, offering a chance to meet different people each time.
  • Where: Hosts will choose the location—be it their home or another venue. Creativity is encouraged!
  • When: Hosts will coordinate with their assigned guests about two weeks in advance to set the date and time.
  • Bring: Hosts provide the main entrée, while guests bring appetizers, sides, or desserts. Everyone is responsible for their own beverages.

If you need to cancel, let your host know as soon as possible so a substitute can be arranged. For any questions or to contact a host, reach out to Nancy Papp at nancy.papp@harrynorman.com or Jill Gadebusch at jillgadebusch@gmail.com.

Sign up here

Don’t miss this chance to enjoy great food and even better company!

Discover Purpose and Community at the 2025 Men’s Retreat

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Men of LCR, mark your calendars for the Seventh Annual Men’s Retreat, happening Friday, January 31 – Sunday, February 2, 2025, at the beautiful Lutheranch in Tallapoosa, Georgia. This year’s theme, 40 Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things, invites you to consider how Jesus can use you—right where you are. He doesn’t seek our ability but our availability, faithfulness, and willingness to say yes to Him.

Last year, over 40 men from six different churches, including those from Marietta, Decatur, Clarkston, and even Spring Hill, Tennessee, gathered at Lutheranch for a meaningful weekend of faith stories, discussions, and time for reflection. Conversations were rich and deeply inspirational, attendees developed a closer relationship with Jesus and one another and renewed their commitment to caring for others and volunteering for the common good.

In 2025, we’ll continue this tradition of community building, reflection, and great fun, with plenty of time for fellowship and relaxation (including happy hours with adult beverages). How might Jesus use you in your current situation? Let’s explore that together.

Details:

  • Dates: Friday, January 31 – Sunday, February 2, 2025
  • Cost: $175 per participant (double occupancy) or $250 (single occupancy), includes 5 meals.
  • Location: Lutheranch, Tallapoosa, Georgia
  • Contact one of these folks for more info or to register:

Invite a friend and join us for an unforgettable weekend!

Building, Serving, and Connecting: Highlights from God’s Work, Our Hands Weekend

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Bob Wills was so inspired by the impact of the God’s Work, Our Hands team at YELLS, of which he was a major part, that he went to the Wednesday Morning Men’s Group and suggested that they sponsor additional updates to the YELLS facility. This was quickly agreed. So, just a couple of weeks after the initial effort on September 7, Bob led a team to replace 12 light fixtures in addition to the original 6 done on God’s Work, Our Hands weekend. Thanks to Bob, Kirk Gadebush, Ron Kostamo, and Don Auenson for installing the additional light fixtures and the entire Wednesday Men’s Group for funding the purchase.

We want to thank all of the congregation for supporting this year’s God’s Work, Our Hands activities. We had 37 people give their time and talent on Saturday morning at YELLS, MUST, and the Promise Garden. At YELLS they installed new lighting and chair rails, repaired drywall, painted walls, and organized supplies. At MUST they put together nearly 200 food packages and in the Promise Garden they built two large raised beds, erected deer protection posts/line/scare tape & pinwheels, and spread mulch. There was also work assembling and planting a vertical herb garden and blueberry bushes that continued into Sunday.

On Sunday morning between services, we had many dozens more of the congregation in the Gathering Room. They visited six ministry tables representing LCR Blanketeers, Special Needs Cobb, Guatemala, Shepherd Staff, MUST Ministries and Knitters for Peace and joined in the work of these ministries. Comforting blankets were prepared, ornaments were made, prayers, bible verses and messages of comfort were written, hygiene kits for the homeless were assembled, information was shared and new volunteers recruited. In addition, two staff tables provided general information and crafts for children. 

Special thanks to the Fellowship Team for providing refreshments to the work crews on Saturday and a special breakfast for all on Sunday.

Everyone had a great, productive and rewarding weekend celebrating the work done by these and the other LCR ministries throughout the year.

We surely felt God’s work being done by our hands.

 

Stitching Hope & Comfort

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Creating handmade items to bring warmth, support, and care to those in need, both locally and beyond.

Knitting is an ancient craft dating back to Biblical times. Proverbs 31:19 explains the spinning staff and spindle were used to make thread that was twisted into yarn.

Knitters for Peace originated in January, 2000. Over the years, the group has made various knitted and crocheted items for a variety of organizations. Our current outreach focuses are hats and scarves for MUST; baby hats and blankets for Northside Hospital’s NICU; baby hats and octopi for Kennestone Hospital’s NICU; as well as potholders, dish cloths and scrubbies for Special Needs Cobb homes and octopi for the residents of those homes.

The Prayer Shawl ministry also started in 2000 for our congregational family who are hospitalized, homebound with an illness, or other situations and need some comfort. In the summer of 2019, Pocket Prayer Crosses, a mini version of a prayer shawl, started to have a portable source of comfort someone could keep in their pocket. These have been added to Blessing Bags for MUST, sent to Guatamala for our ministry there, as well as given out by Shepherd’s Staff when they make visits. We often have people ask for one to give or send to a family member or friend in need.

The Knitters for Peace ministry group meets twice a month in the evening (1st and 3rd Tuesday at 7 pm in the LCR library). All knitters and crocheters are welcome. If you don’t know how to knit or crochet, we can help you learn.

We are a casual small group where we come together to enjoy fellowship and crafting. If you are not able to make the meetings but want to knit or crochet at home, no problem. We can provide you yarn and instructions.

For more information or to get involved contact:

Lyn Ruswinkle at laruswinkle@comcast.net or Sandy O’Donnell at sodonnell317@aol.com

 

The Power of Kindness

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For our Back to School Blessing last month, we shared a backpack tag that said “Be Kind.” Kindness is a powerful force in the universe and a much needed commodity in our current political and social climate. As we continue into the fall and the 2024 presidential election heats up even more, we wanted to offer an excerpt from a sermon by Rev. Adam Hamilton, the Senior Pastor, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection near Kansas City, as a witness to kindness in politics. 

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Someone asked, “If we believe the other party is wrong about some really critical issues, are we simply to be nice and not address these serious differences?” No—we should stand up for what we believe in. But too often we do that with rancor, in a way that merely pushes people away from what we believe. That only further polarizes us. Micah 6:8 offers us a better way.

Today we’ll focus on kindness, and how it might just be the key to saving American democracy. We find one model for this in the relationship between Senator Orin Hatch, conservative Republican from Utah, and Senator Ted Kennedy, liberal Democrat from Massachusetts. These two were often adversaries in the Senate but cared for one another as friends. Shortly after Kennedy’s death in 2009, Hatch noted, “I have to say that we became very dear friends. That doesn’t mean we didn’t fight each other. We fought each other like tooth and tongue but afterwards, we’d put our arms around each other and laugh about it… and we passed a lot of very important legislation together, and I will greatly miss him.” Plant Seeds of Kindness and see what grows

Kennedy and Hatch both fought for justice as they understood it. Their understandings of what justice looked like, and the proper role of government in how to achieve it were at odds with one another, at times. Yet even in fighting for justice, their fight was tempered by kindness.

The Hebrew word for justice was mishpat. But with it, we also need to learn the Hebrew word for kindness, hesed. The word hesed appears 250 times in the Hebrew Bible, pointing to its critical importance for the Bible and the Jewish faith. Like the New Testament Greek word AGAPE, it is so important in the Bible, and with such varied nuances, that it is impossible to capture the full depth of its meaning with a single word.

Hesed includes a concern for another person, and in this sense it is sometimes translated as COMPASSION. It is a commitment to provide care or help for another person, and in this sense it is sometimes translated as KINDNESS. It is at times providing aid to someone who has no right to expect this kindness from you, and in that sense it is MERCY.

And there are times it expresses a deep commitment to and relationship with another person, and in this sense it is often translated as STEADFAST LOVE or LOYALTY. In this last sense, a husband and wife can show hesed to each other. Friends are meant to show hesed – steadfast love – to each other. Steadfast love is a primary attribute of God’s character and relationship to humanity. It is with reference to God’s care for humankind that we find the word most often appear in Scripture. In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, 174 of the 250 times hesed is used are translated as steadfast love.

What God demonstrates towards us–compassion, kindness, help, mercy, loyalty and steadfast love—is what we’re meant do for others. This was why Micah said that the LORD requires mishpat and hesed of us.

At a wedding I tell couples, “This is what you are signing on for–compassion, kindness, mercy, and steadfast love.” It is not just a feeling, and often it is not a feeling at all. It is an orientation towards others, a dogged determination to help, care for and bless them. This is how we’re meant to live our lives towards all others, not only spouses. It is how God cares for you, and how you are called to care for one another. It is how we are to live towards our fellow human beings. This is what Orin Hatch and Ted Kennedy shared in their relationship.

Hesed—kindness, compassion, and mercy—might just be the critical answer to our polarization and divisions. It won’t instantly solve our differences. At times, our differences are our strength—they are meant to make us better, stronger, smarter and coming up with better solutions. We should have vigorous debate about our challenges and problems, with two or more sides working to come up with our best assessment of the challenges and problems we face, and the best solutions to address these. The debate in politics is intended to be constructive, but that often requires compromise, and always must have the best interests of our country at heart and not just of “our” side.

What does the LORD require of you? To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Want to learn more about how you can engage in a campaign for kindness? Visit campaignforkindness.com

 

 

Our Walk with ILAG – Iglesia Luterana Augustina de Guatemala

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By: Suzanne Demosthenes

To understand our partnership in this ministry one needs to come to know our partners. ILAG’s focus has always been to minister to those on the fringe of society, the forgotten, the discounted. At the end of the 16 year civil war in Guatemala those who had fled largely to Mexico but also beyond returned to their homeland. However these refugees were not allowed to reclaim their homes, but rather were deposited in rural regions that were unfamiliar and undeveloped with no infrastructure or resources. Essentially they were left to make their own existence. These were the individuals that ILAG chose to minister to and this was the nidus of the rural communities that now comprise the eighteen congregations of ILAG. They span the various regions of Guatemala. From the outset ILAG recognized that to teach and embody the love of Christ and the saving grace of the Gospel encompassed addressing the quality of the people’s daily lives: their health, education, nutrition, and livelihood and so the ministry of this church has struggled to do.

In 2012 LCR began its walk alongside ILAG. Pastor Bob Bear was among the first…“I have always been amazed as to the effect global missions have, not only on those we serve and visit, but also on the lives of those who participate. Because of the personal relationships shaped over many years in our partnership with ILAG, our ministry in Guatemala has been especially meaningful and will always remain so to me, locked in my heart.”

And the memories impact us still:

Mike Mynhier: “On one of our trips to the village of La Israel we helped families install efficient and vented wood cooking stoves in their homes to replace the open fire cooking rings they were using. These new stoves used less wood, eliminated burn hazards to the young children, and reduced health issues of smoke inhalation to the women. For a couple of nights I was a guest of one of the families who had just received a new stove. The last night, before going to bed I went outside to wash in the rain barrel at the back of their house. I will never forget seeing the young mother of the house, alone in the cooking area, lightly patting her new stove with one hand as she slowly walked all the way around it with a contented smile on her face. Yes, what we do for Guatemala has a great impact and is worth it!”

Jill Gadebusch: “We traveled with 8 members of LCR to ILAG in February 2012. (Pr. Bob Bear, Mike Mynhier, Betty Didicher, John Didicher, Karl Sidor, Kirk Gadebusch, Jill Gadebusch and Adele Dengel (Jill’s mother). The theme of the mission trip was Puedo Ayudarles? (May I help you). During our time at ILAG Betty, John, Bob and Mike prepared meals for the leader’s conference, while the rest of the group painted, reinstalled a tile floor and repaired the water system. A satisfying part of serving was watching the participants in their studies intently learning more about Christ and the church. The participants were warm, compassionate and very dedicated to the ministry God had given them. They were clearly appreciative of what little we were able to do for them.”

Betsy Olson: “As far as memories go nothing will replace ‘my early to bed to read’ only to be serenaded by the heavenly sounds and voices from the girls in choir practice just upstairs from our room. God was in that place and still is.”

Marge Mynhier: “When I visited one of the villages on a mission trip to Guatemala, I stayed with one of the midwives, Anna, who we brought delivery kits to for their use. She and her granddaughter Katerina shared their home with Jenn and I during our stay. To my surprise Katerina was one of the Milagro girls that we met on our next visit. It was such a joy to see that she was  being given a chance to escape the cycle of early marriage and motherhood that is so common in the villages.”

John Mellott has been instrumental in advising Pastor Karen of ILAG over the past decade:
“I remember sitting with Pastora Karen, with tears in her eyes, listening to her describe the lives of young women in rural Guatemala. I remember her saying how we needed to find a way to help them…..  If you have doubts that God remains active in our world – you need only visit Milagro.”

Karen Bear: “Hearing the Milagro’s girls sing hymns enthusiastically and beautifully, is music that transcends all language, and fills my heart with joy.”

Suzy Mellott: “When Milagro first started, Bob Bear asked me to paint quick watercolor portraits of each participant and their teacher. These were made into notecards and each student wrote her story for the backs of the cards. As I painted each participant and read her story, I could feel her joy and gratitude for the Milagro program.”

Suzanne Demosthenes: “I recall on one visit to Milagro hearing the girls each speak of  their dreams …mirroring those stories Suzy spoke of. They spoke confidently and eagerly…

Sonia: “I see myself as a teacher in a school but also a teacher for my village, giving new skills to my people and making a better living.”

Karen: “My dream is to finish high school, to help my family develop all together, to be a leader in my church. I want to create a new environment to live peacefully and equally regardless of gender.”

Paulina: “I want to be a lawyer, a leader, a helper in my church, and with a good job to help my family. I’m going to be able to change my future and also the future of my church and family.”

Violeta: “In my future I see myself getting a lot of experience and becoming a leader in my community, an agent of change. My dream is to become a nurse, to give that benefit to my village, and to create my own clinic to help people who are sick or hurt.”

Brenda: “I am in the Milagro house because I want to learn new things, be a brave woman, and good leader. My dream is to start my own business, to become a chef.”

Johana: “My dream is to share my new skills with the girls and boys in my community, to reproduce that knowledge. I have a new vision.”

And we have seen many of these young women realize their dreams, becoming teachers, lawyers, nurses, bakers, accountants. And they are each very brave women and good leaders. We thank you Pastora Karen and the staff of ILAG for your vision and perseverance that shaped this ministry that you so willingly shared with us at LCR.”

We invite you to join us in this ministry, expect to see this miracle for yourself.

Take a moment to listen to these young women as they tell their stories on video.

Gala Gathering
Carpool with us Saturday evening September 14th to the gala gathering at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Suwannee.
Visit our online calendar for the link to carpool.

Hear Pastor Karen preach
Sunday morning September 15th at LCR

 

 

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