Our church family, neighbors and friends are invited to attend our annual Thanksgiving Eve service of Worship on Wednesday, November 23, 2023. We will share the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Following our service, as is our custom, we will prepare cake slices for distribution at the annual community Thanksgiving meal provided by The Hub. Please contact Billy for more information concerning how you might help.
Other Happenings Archive
Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service
Posted November 13, 2023 By adminFrom the Pastor’s Heart
Posted November 11, 2023 By admin“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
As I write this installment, we are only a few days beyond our Homecoming celebration of October 15th. Yet, even after a few days, the warmth of the day continues to well up in my heart and mind. What a great day we had. It was good to see so many folks from our St. Jacob’s church family who took the opportunity to “come home.” The welcoming of Pastor Andy Eargle and his family was simply icing on the cake.
The many stories and conversations shared, and the smiles, hugs and well wishes extended to all our guests will live on in our hearts for quite some time. I know it will live on in mine. You see, a pastor’s congregation occupies a special room in their pastor’s heart. You may have noticed this as you greeted Pastor Andy and his reaction to being back among you. His smile is one that I immediately recognized as a pastor’s genuine heart-felt love and gratitude for the blessing God has bestowed upon him. Truly, I have experienced this emotion firsthand.
Later, in the week as I write this, I am preparing to officiate at the wedding of a former youth group member from my first call as pastor. It’s been over twelve years since I left St. Barnabas in Charleston, and I am delighted that Emily has asked me to be a part of her special day. The congregation is closed now, but I do anticipate seeing several members who will gather as friends of the bride’s family. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Angela and me as we are reunited with them.
I think I can speak for most pastors who have served in other places when I say, the love shared by pastor and people never fades. Former congregations and church family members continue to occupy that special room in their pastor’s heart. To see what this looks like, simply recall seeing Pastor Andy at our homecoming and picture his reaction to being among you. Simply put, in his heart, as well as in yours, he remains the shepherd who loved you for many years. Why? Because Jesus first loved him.
Each week, I am afforded the opportunity to share with you a message from God concerning his love that is poured out through his Son Jesus Christ. I am blessed to be called by our heavenly Father to stand among you as his disciple sharing with you the love Christ so deeply shared with us. When we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion, I am afforded the opportunity to look upon everyone with the compassion of our Lord and place in your hands our Lord’s precious body and blood which he has given for you.
While Angela and I were away in September, the one thing that remained in my thoughts was how much I missed worshiping with you on Sunday. As I watched the live streams of our services, your faces and names were brought to the forefront of my heart and mind. Yes, I truly missed you. I truly missed being with you here in this place and sharing the love that Christ first shares with us.
Through Scripture, our Lord Jesus reminds us that his command for us is to love one another as he has loved us. This isn’t always easy, but it is essential. When the evidence of such love presents itself, we should always take the opportunity to remind one another of this love and its source. Love’s source is Christ Jesus in whom all loves exist.
The special room in my heart reserved for the church family members of three congregations and the many folks to whom I have ministered along the way is not yet full. There will be more, I’m sure. They will take their place among you as those whom I have been blessed to serve, just as I am blessed to love and serve you, my church family. This is what is on your pastor’s heart today and quite frankly, every day. God bless us all as we share this time and space together in Christ’s name.
Grace and peace,
Pastor David Nuottila
Lutheran Women
Posted November 10, 2023 By adminThe Lutheran Women’s Group will meet on Sunday, November 19th at 4:00pm in the Fellowship Hall. This will be our last meeting for the year. All ladies of our congregation are welcomed.
Lutheran Men’s Fundraiser
Posted November 8, 2023 By adminThe Lutheran Men will be making Country Sausage on Monday, November 20, 2023. If you would like to purchase BULK sausage at $5.00 per pound, please place your order in advance. See a member of the LM or contact Gerald on or before Sunday, November 12th. The sausage can be picked up between 3:00 and 6:00 pm on Monday, November 20th in the Fellowship Hall.
Pastoral Devotion for November – God Is Love
Posted November 7, 2023 By adminRead 1 John 4:7-21
The tired old man was perched on the steps leading into the church. He sat there every day. He had no other place he needed to be. He had no place to go; no particular circumstance required his presence. He was homeless, jobless and for the most part, invisible. No one noticed him, except for the pastor who supplied breakfast and the newspaper a few times per week. The two were friends; brothers you could say. In the beginning, we would sit rather quietly, so obviously different, yet so much the same, but soon we became bound together in great friendship.
In the text before us, John has but one message; Jesus Christ came as the manifestation of God’s love. “For God so loved the world,” John would write in his gospel, “that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). God’s love is realized through Christ, so that humanity may be saved through him. God’s love is perfect, undeserved, and everlasting. It is the love shared by his people. Those who abide in his love, abide in him, and he in them. Such a friendship in Christ lasts forever.
As I sat with my friend there on the church steps each morning, we both recognized the love that united us; we spoke of it often. As we shared the news of the day, we+ shared something even more fulfilling – our friendship that had its roots deeply planted in the love of God through Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Holy God, fill us with your love, that together, we may abide in you and you in us. Amen.
Mid-Week Bible Study
Posted November 7, 2023 By adminOur Mid-week Bible study has resumed with the topic of Scriptural Retirement. Join us as we explore what retirement means for life in the church. The study is adapted from a Bible study written by Pastor Brad Hales, Director of the NALC Aging Ministries. All are welcome. Mid-week Bible study meets at 9:30a.m. on Wednesdays in the church office.
Happy Thanksgiving St. Jacob’s
Posted November 6, 2023 By adminIt’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. We all have so much to give thanks for, our families, our homes, and certainly our very lives and the life we share here in Chapin. Most of all, in the spirit of the Day, we express our thanks and praise to God who continues to supply for our every need. Please keep your church family in this prayer.
Almighty God our Father; your generous goodness comes to us new each and every day. By the work of your Holy Spirit, lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience. This we pray through the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.
Filed in Other Happenings
For All the Saints
Posted November 6, 2023 By adminThe first Sunday in November brings with it the opportunity to give thanks to God for the faith, witness, life, and love we shared with all who have entered into glory before us. As is our custom, we will lift up the names of our dear brothers and sister in Christ, lighting a candle in prayer and ringing a bell as their name is read. This year we will include names of some who were not members, but were parents and children of St. Jacob’s members who have passed. White roses will be provided for each family in remembrance of their loved one. The list of those who will be remembered are Floriede Lindler, Virginia Peeples, Daniel Oneal Lindler, Helga Shobert, Philip Morris, and Bert Slice.
Filed in Other Happenings, Worship Service
Historical Truth Concerning Halloween
Posted November 6, 2023 By adminPeople claim that Halloween came from a pagan Irish festival of the dead called Samhain. But that claim did not appear until the mid-20th century, and there are no records of the celebration of Samhain until the 10th century, almost 600 years after the coming of Christianity to Ireland. Even then, Samhain was a seasonal festival, the end of the harvest and beginning of winter. There ARE records of Irish Christians celebrating All Saints Day in 843 AD, however.
Halloween is based on All Saint’s Day, not the other way around. Everything you read about October 31 being the time when ancient Celts believed the spirits walk the earth and must be placated with food or they will play tricks, and the living must dress up in disguise to fool the evil spirits–none of it is true. There is no primary-source evidence for it, and plenty that shows that this was something made up in the 20th century. There were indeed ancient Celtic festivals of the dead/spirits but they were not near the day we know as Halloween.
It is also not true that the Church tried to take over this supposedly-popular ancient Irish holiday of Samhain and “Christianize” it, stealing it from the non-Christian Irish. Pope Gregory III moved Hallowmas (what we know as All Saints’ Day) to November 1st in the *8th century*, when leaders in Rome did not care one bit what the backwater Irish were doing. Before that, All Saints had been celebrated in May, and had been celebrated since the 2nd century. Keeping in mind calendar changes (Julian to Gregorian) and the fact that Samhain was a lunar festival, not solar–there is no evidence to support the fixed date of October 31 as being anything other than the Eve of All Hallows, shortened to “Hallow E’en.”
Halloween is great fun and a favorite holiday for many. But the traditions and backstory most associate with it are both modern and Anglo-American, they are 20th century inventions of ancient pagan roots portrayed in the media and popular culture. Don’t believe everything you watch on the “History” Channel: Halloween is [truly] a child of the Church.
Christians should absolutely be free to observe Halloween, and All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) as a time to give thanks for the saints, and for all our beloved dead, and to tweak the nose of Satan, too, knowing that no matter what beasties and creepy clowns and ghosts may be lurking in the dark night, Christ always has the final victory over the devil, and death has no power over us ever again!
By Lutheran Pastor Rev. Pari Bailey STS
Filed in Other Happenings
Up And Going
Posted November 6, 2023 By adminThe Up and Going gathered in the Fellowship Hall at 10:00 am on Oct 12, 2023, for devotions given by Team leader Helen Lindler. The devotions were based on Paul’s directive instructing us to be compassionate towards others and ended with a prayer. We then headed by cars to Shealy’s BBQ in Batesburg-Leesville for a delicious lunch as only Shealy’s can prepare. After a long, leisurely lunch with desserts, it was time to go shopping; And shop, we did. We only shopped at two stores; time permitted. An hour plus later, we headed for home. We were so blessed to have enjoyed the day with thirteen guests and members.
Our love and prayers go out to Mrs. Ann on the death of her son, Bert.
The Nov meeting will be our Thanksgiving Luncheon. A list will be posted. Please bring three items for the Mercy Bag Project.
