Our next meeting will be held on August 11th at 4:30 PM. The meeting location hasn’t been determined but will be announced soon.
Outreach Archive
Lutheran Women News
Posted July 30, 2019 By adminHomecoming
Posted July 30, 2019 By adminOur annual Homecoming celebration is just weeks away. On August 26th we will welcome Pastor Brad Hales, NALC Director for Domestic Mission as our guest preacher. Pastor Hales serves as the Pastor of Reformation Lutheran Church in Culpepper, VA., where he leads a vibrant Senior’s Ministry within his church and community. As Director of Domestic Mission, Pastor Brad works with the Assistant to the Bishop for Mission and with NALC mission teams to develop a vision and strategy for domestic mission work. As chair of the Carolinas Mission team, Pastor David Nuottila works with Pastor Hales in several of these instances.
For Pastor Brad, it’s all about Jesus. He is known for his passion, excitement and joy in sharing the good news of God’s grace through Christ Jesus. He and his wife Lisa have been married for twenty-five years and have two daughters, Lydia and Abigail. Please welcome Pastor Brad to St. Jacob’s on August 26th and enjoy our Homecoming celebration.
Continue to watch your worship folders for updates and plans for the festivities.
Come Watch The Fireflies!
Posted July 30, 2019 By adminSt. Jacob’s Families and Youth are invited to a night of fellowship to watch the Columbia Fireflies baseball team on August 18th at 5:05 PM. Tickets are $9.00 per person and parking is an additional $4.00 cash per car. There is a sign-up sheet on the Youth Bulletin Board in the hallway next to the Fellowship Hall, the deadline to sign up is August 4th so reservations can be made! There will be an email sent out as the date approaches with specific details regarding tickets! Continue to check the Youth Bulletin Board often so you can stay updated on upcoming announcements and events the Youth will have coming!
Up and Going
Posted July 30, 2019 By adminUp and Going members and guests boarded the St. Jacob’s Express, with Gerald driving, to spend the day at the SC Farmer’s Market. Helen gave the devotions based on the surprising gifts from the farm.
A short business meeting was held before we left for the Market.
Arrangements were made by Tracy for us to visit the labs at the Consumer Protection Lab and Metrology Lab located at the Market. The laboratories are under the direction of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.
At the Consumer Protection Lab, we toured the Petroleum Lab, the Pesticide Residue Lab, The Seed Lab, Planting and Germination Rooms, the Dog, Cat, Horse Feed Lab and the Food Lab. Each individual lab provided a knowledgeable person to explain the workings of the lab and to answer any questions.
The tour continued to another building which houses the Metrology Lab, there we visited the Precision Weights Lab, the Grain Lab, Small Volume Lab, the Large Volume Lab and Small Mass Lab. These are the most fascinating labs. These labs ensure that the food items, animal foods, fuels, seeds and other items are the correct weights, items as listed, germinations of seeds are correct and in general are as labeled on the pack. Gas Station fuel pumps are checked for weight per gallon and contents as marked. The fuel pumps are labeled with a sticker stating the month and year that it was inspected. Each gas station should be checked once per year. We were overwhelmed with information but thankfully assured that someone was checking things that we all consume. We left the Labs with a huge appreciation for the work that these wonderful people perform daily. A special thank you to all who made this trip so enjoyable.
Lunch was enjoyed by all at the Market Restaurant. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. We spent a few minutes in The Tea Room browsing around and checking out all of the items made in SC.
Our tour of the Farmer’s Market concluded with a walk-on bus tour with Brad. We toured the fruit and vegetable sheds, the commercial sheds, the out of state vendors shed and other sheds in that area. Gerald then took us into the fruit/vegetable shed, parked the bus and gave us time to shop. Favorite items purchased were tomatoes, peaches, watermelons and cantaloupes. We stopped at the flower sheds and some purchased flowers. What a wonderful day we enjoyed together!
The August meeting will be the 4 Churches Meeting. It will be held on Thursday, August 22nd at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New Life Center at 11 AM. We each are asked to bring a side dish or dessert. The meat, drinks, etc. will be provided by Holy Trinity. Please arrive at Holy Trinity by 11am. This is surely to be an enjoyable meeting.
Youth Director & Family Ministries
Posted July 30, 2019 By adminWith summer in full swing, most of us have gone on vacation (or plan to), spent extra time with our families, and hopefully got caught up on our sleep. Summer can be a very busy time of the year, but it can also be a time where we can prioritize rest. What exactly does this word rest mean? How do we do it? What does the verse in Genesis mean when it says, “On the seventh day, God rested?”
We don’t know exactly what God did when he rested, but we do know that He took the time to look all around at His great creation and felt joyful about the things that were in it. Have you ever heard the saying “stop and smell the roses?”
That’s exactly what our rest should look like. In the midst of our busy lives, whether we are looking at a sunset over the ocean, animals on a farm on the side of the road, or our family members across the dinner table; we should sit back, take a moment to breathe, and pray to thank God for all that He has blessed us with. We can pause, reflect, and focus our mind’s on Jesus with all the evidence around us of His goodness. Summer break is the perfect time to begin a routine of spending time daily in prayer and in God’s word that will carry us into the next season with gratitude, peace, and joy.
In Christ,
Rachel Shelton
Pastoral devotion for July
Posted July 1, 2019 By adminBeautiful Feet
Read Romans 10:1-15
It goes without saying, our feet are not our most attractive attribute. Yet, the human foot is wonderfully designed by our creator. Our feet carry us places; hold us up on sure footing. Feet can be graceful and athletic; they can be sturdy and agile. But the most wonderful thing about our feet is that, because of Christ, they can stand in the presence of God as we worship him in his temple, and then carry us in mission for the sake of God’s people.
Consider the feet of Christ, those once wounded by the nail. They are the same feet once anointed with Mary’s tears and dried in a devotional act of love with her hair. Even as the nail pierced his feet and affixed them to the cross, Jesus continued to speak words of love and forgiveness. Even as his feet could no longer take him to places where people were in need of healing, Jesus provided ultimate healing for a broken humanity. And even though life giving blood ceased to flow through the wounded feet of our Lord Jesus, death could not hold them in the grave; our Savior would walk again in the glory of the resurrection.
Consider your own feet, once wounded by the nail of sin, yet forgiven and washed clean by the blood of Christ Jesus. Consider your feet, made strong and sure by the power of the Holy Spirit and empowered to take you to those places God would have you go. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, God calls us to take to our feet and proclaim his gospel to a fallen broken world. God calls us to bear witness to his grace, proclaiming the lifesaving power of Jesus’ victory at the cross.
Prayer: Guide me, O Christ, as I walk in your ways to share your gospel. Amen.
In the Wild, Vacation Bible School
Posted June 26, 2019 By adminOur 2019 VBS, “In the Wild”, was held Monday, June 17th through Thursday, June 20th. We started each night with a delicious meal and then off to our encounters in the wild and with Jesus. We studied animal habitat, sounds, camouflage and learned some animal facts. Most importantly….we experienced Amazing Encounters with Jesus.
Our class rotations included lessons, music, crafts and games. Games included dodge ball, kick ball, golf, baseball, anything with a ball and running. Everyone played including the teachers.
On Monday night, we encountered Jesus in the Temple. We made traveling tic-tac-toe boards and in music, we started learning the song – “Why He Came”. Our younger children started to learn “Jesus Knows My Name” and “I Hear Stories of Jesus”.
On Tuesday night, we continued to travel with Jesus. This time we met him at the Jordan River where John baptized Jesus. In music, we started a new song, “What God Has Done” as we continued to work on “Why He Came” and the younger children continued learning their two songs. During crafts, we tie dyed our animal shirts – tiger, zebra and giraffe.
On Wednesday night, we met Jesus on the water again. But this time during a storm he walked on the water to his disciples in the boat. We made balancing butterflies in crafts and continued to learn our songs in music.
On Thursday night, we encountered Jesus at the empty tomb as he spoke to Mary and she ran to tell the disciples – “I have seen Jesus! He is alive!” In crafts, we made happy, trumpeting elephants as we celebrated and rejoiced that Jesus is Risen!
We celebrated our 2019 VBS on Thursday night, with family and friends as we presented our songs, stories, and crafts and closed with ice cream and cookies.
A very special thank you to our teachers and cooks. Without them, VBS would not have been possible for our 71 attendees who were ready and willing to experience some amazing encounters. Thank you to our parents and grandparents for sharing your children with us. We had some amazing adventures on the Wild Side! See you at VBS 2020!
Filed in Bible Study, Fellowship, LCY, Other Happenings, Outreach, Pastor, Worship and Music, Worship Service
Come Watch the Fireflies
Posted June 26, 2019 By adminSt. Jacob’s Families and Youth are invited to a night of fellowship to watch the Columbia Fireflies take on the Georgia Rome Braves Sunday August 18th at 5:05 PM. Tickets are $9 per person/child (children 2 and under are granted free admission.) We will announce a meeting time at a later date to coordinate ticket pickup at Segra Park, 1640 Freed Street, Columbia SC, and parking is an additional $4 cash per car. There will be a sign-up sheet on the Youth Bulletin Board in the hallway next to the Fellowship Hall if you would like to attend this event.
Up and Going
Posted June 26, 2019 By adminFourteen members and guests gathered on Thursday, June 13th in the Fellowship Hall for the monthly Up and Going Meeting. Devotions were given by Helen Lindler on Pentecost. An interesting note from the devotions was information on the Holy Ghost Hole. In the Middle Ages, many Catholic churches had what was called a “Holy Ghost Hole”. This was an opening in the ceiling, which allowed a dove and red rose petals to be dramatically released on Pentecost Sunday, during the Gospel about the first Pentecost. We enjoyed a bountiful and delicious meal of salads and such. Thank you to all that provided such tasty food. The program was provided by Mrs. Amanda. She and her husband have a small farm in Prosperity with an emerging goat farm business. They have 5 Nubriun milk goats. From the milk gathered each day, Amanda is making goat milk soap, cheeses, yogurt and other products. She brought cinnamon, lavender and black raspberry soaps for us to admire and purchase. We enjoyed hearing about her farm and the many facts about her goats and the many process steps and facts about cheese and soap making. We sincerely appreciate Amanda sharing with us. We came away knowing more than we did before and that is always a good thing. The July Meeting will be a trip to the SC State Farmers Market on July 11th (2nd Thursday). Gerald will drive the bus and a car will also go for those who can’t ride the bus. We will leave St. Jacob’s at 9 AM and return between 2-3 PM. Hope to see you then.
Church Council
Posted June 26, 2019 By adminThe St. Jacob’s Church Council met June 4th for its regular meeting.
Good things noted for the month of May:
- Congo Meal went very well
- Children’s Choir musical was fantastic and raised over $1,500 for new choir robes and music
- Start of Wednesday evening services
- Hiring of Rachel Shelton to fill position of Youth & Family Services Director
- Thanks to Walt Shealy for volunteering to be Church Treasurer
- Thanks to all the volunteers for the upcoming VBS for your eagerness and willingness to serve
- Wrap-up of Pastor’s first Confirmation; Public exam was well received
Important Notes and Dates:
- Vision Workshop and info meeting for election of new bishop to be held June 30th @ 4pm
- Pastor to be in Congo from July 8th – 24th for mission work
- New pictorial picture days are July 29th & 30th, keep a look out for sign up sheet
- TV in Nursery is operational for viewing of service
- Next council meeting is scheduled for July 2, 2019 @ 6:30 PM in the Church Office
Ongoing Project Updates:
- DIGITAL SIGN: Pending arrival, has been delayed to the end of June for completion of electrical work and scope of parking lot discussions
- PARKING LOT: Building Team has made recommendations for implementation of a new parking lot with an added covered Portico and elimination of roadside parking to address safety concerns. Council has approved for funds earmarked for the Parking Lot Restoration given by SCE&G to be used to have a Topographical Improvement Survey, Construction Renderings and Civil Engineering Scope completed to comply with all county, DHEC and DOT guidelines and regulations.
Development of construction plans and estimates to be made as they become available. Expected expenditures of initial document process are well below current level of earmarked funds. - DIRECTOR OF YOUTH/FAMILY SVCS: Position has been filled by the hiring of Rachel Shelton. Rachel started officially on June 3rd.
Respectfully submitted, Andrew, Secretary, St. Jacob’s Church Council
