I don’t know about you, but I have found myself emotionally exhausted from witnessing all the pain and devastation in our world this past week. We see people fleeing for their lives in war torn Afghanistan. We’ve watched catastrophic devastation to property and the loss of over a thousand lives from the earthquake and subsequent storms in Haiti. Here in our own country, Covid cases are rising, water reservoirs are drying up, and forest fires rage. We have anxiety and concern about safety as we begin a new school year. It can be overwhelming.

In our gospel story today, Jesus questions the disciples about whether or not they want to continue to follow him in the face of difficult circumstances. Simon Peter gives a reply that can provide us all with an anchor in these turbulent times, and a reminder of our calling and response as disciples of Jesus Christ today. Simon’s reply to Jesus?  “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” This does not mean that following Jesus magically solves all of the crisis in our world. Rather, following Jesus gives us a path into and through these crisis, allowing us to bring the light and love of Christ into the places of darkness, despair, and death.         

This past week our Church Council and Covid Task Force met and updated our guidelines for indoor, in-person gatherings.   

Click HERE for a video on these new guidelines.  Click the button below for a chart of the new guidelines.

As of August 17th our regional hospitalization rate is at 19.99%.  This means we are in level II of our protocols which includes indoor, in-person gathering with masks required, social distancing, and minimized social interaction. 

God's peace be with you,
Pastor Jake 

In-person in the Sanctuary and Livestream worship each Sunday at 10am.  

Our summer schedule will continue with one worship service.  

 Join us  livestream   

OBITUARY

We celebrate the life of sister Nancy June King who died on August 14th. We give thanks for her witness; mourn her loss; comfort one another in our grief; and turn to Christ and the power of the resurrection.

 As the new school year begins, we pray for all students, teachers, and staff at schools everywhere, that they may learn and grow in body, mind, and spirit. We pray for school campuses; pre-schools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities, that they may provide a safe and nurturing learning environment.

During our worship service on Sunday, August 22nd, we will pray for all students, teachers, and staff, and especially those in our Peace family.  As a reminder that our prayers go with them,  backpack tags will be available at church on Sunday and will be delivered to children, youth and adults who are not attending in-person worship.  

Seekers and Sponges -  Sunday 8:30am ZOOM
Join Seekers and Sponges on Sunday at 8:30 am.  The class will continue to meet by Zoom.  For those who want to attend in person when gathering guidelines permit, we will meet in the church conference room, but space is limited.   We have been discussing a series of video presentations, "Great Figures of the New Testament" by Amy-Jill Levine, who is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinty School.  After listening to the DVD lecture via Zoom, all participate in a class discussion.  Each week is a stand alone lecture, so feel free to join in any week you would like.   This week we will continue our discussion on the prayer Our Father.   To prepare for class discussion, please read Matthew 6:9-15

Sweet Hour of Prayer Group
Our weekly Prayer Group Zooms every Monday at 9:00 am. We have a devotion, share prayer requests and pray over each request. The group is led by Becky Voges. If you would like to be a part of the group, please email Becky (beckyvoges@yahoo.com) and she will send the Zoom link. All prayer requests will be kept confidential.

Pastor's Virtual Conversation
Every Monday from 3 pm - 4 pm; Come join Pastor Jake on Zoom to ask questions, check-in, and lift up prayers. Join HERE - Meeting ID: 991 3660 5065; Password: 015347

Stephen Ministers
Are here to listen and help: If you need help or support, click HERE to learn more about Stephen's Ministry at Peace Lutheran Church.

Tech Support
Need some technical support? Trying to stay connected in a virtual world can be frustrating when things don't work or the technological learning curve seems steep. If you need some help, contact: Patti Kassel @ kasselpatti@gmail.com or Deacon Darcy Mittelstaedt @ darcy.mittelstaedt@gmail.com

We are in need of 2 (two) singers to lead the congregation in singing during the Sunday morning worship service.  

We would also like to see people sign up to provide special music.  This would entail preparing a special musical offering to share.  This offering can be instrumental, bells, solo, duet, etc.  Please provide the name of the music and all copyright information when signing up.  The deadline to sign up is one week before the date of your performance.  

To sign up, you can visit our website and click on the Sunday Morning Music Button located at the bottom of the home page or click on the button below.

We now have full use of our new media booth which utilizes a sound technician, a livestream operator, and a powerpoint operator. 

To sign up to be one of the media booth technicians/operator, please click the button below to be redirected to our SignUpGenius.  You can also sign up by clicking the link at the bottom of Peace's homepage @  www.peacenb.org

If you would like to learn how to be a media booth technician/operator or you have any questions, please contact the Peace office at 830-620-0618.

We are part of one church body organized in three expressions — congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization. Each expression has its particular functions but all three together share a common mission of doing God’s work in the world and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Together, they ensure a solid foundation of leadership, active involvement in communities, opportunities for dialogue and diverse perspectives, creative partnerships, and support for members and ministries of the ELCA.