Living Logos News for the members and friends of

Living Savior Lutheran Church

Vol. 43, Issue #8, August, 2020

A Note from Pastor Pressnell . . .

In Your Presence Is Fullness of Joy! Psalm 16:11

These are hard days, challenging days. Never before have we seen a global pandemic steal hundreds of thousands of lives, then hemorrhage into so much political and social unrest that it feels like we’re on the edge of a vast precipice. All of us are feeling the weight of these days. All of us are feeling, at some level, some sort of isolation, frustration, and discouragement. In Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, there is this telling conversation between a brave hobbit and a wise wizard: “‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’”

So, as Christ followers, what ARE we to do with this time given us, this time we wish weren’t ours? All too often I find myself just wanting to hunker down and somehow survive this, somehow get to the other side of this “thing” in-fecting us on so many levels. It’s all too easy for me to focus on all the negatives I see around me. How true I find the words of Milton in Paradise Lost: “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heav’n of Hell, and a Hell of Heav’n.” It’s all too easy for my mind to see only the bad, to see only doom and gloom, to be blind to the good around me, blind to God’s grace and beauty all around me. Can there really be joy in our lives these days? How we languish when we forget what joy really means or from Whom joy comes!

Joy is not the same thing as happiness. Happiness is a feeling that comes and goes. When we eat ice cream or buy a new gadget we’ve been wanting, we feel happy. But feelings are fickle. Happiness based on feelings is too thin and

flimsy. It won’t last. It’s not that happiness is bad; it’s just not an adequate substitute for joy. Joy is bigger, thicker, more substantial, more reliable and sure, more available to us in every circumstance because joy is a GIFT – a gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift born of an intimate and ever-abiding relationship with Jesus. Unlike happiness, joy is so much more than an emotion. It is a way of living out our relationship with Him who is the source of all joy. Life might be messy and uncertain, but joy is rooted in our relationship with Je-sus, which is certain, sure, and unfailing. Experiencing joy is experiencing Jesus alive and well among us – and He is indeed alive and well among us, even in -- perhaps especially in the mundane things of our daily life. That’s why I love this painting by the 19th century Polish painter Piotr Stachiewicz. Mary has just finished washing Jesus’ swaddling clothes. She’s hanging them up to dry while the infant Jesus sits naked at her feet. There is nothing at all remarkable here. It is all so mundane and ordinary. Yet we see Mary experi-encing joy in the mundane and ordinary task on this mundane and ordinary day because Jesus is there playing at her feet. She sees ever so clearly her son who is THE Son. This is indeed joy, not just for Mary, but for all of us! May we truly experience this precious gift of joy today, tomorrow, always.

-Pastor Jim

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PASTORAL CALL COMMITTEE -JON HOPPERT

After a mid summer's pause in conversation with Rev. Kevin Fenster, the PCC met and remains confident that he fulfills the attributes desired for our next Pastor. Some mem-bers from the committee met with him personally and enjoyed an extremely positive con-versation discussing topics that challenge our congregation such as youth and family ministry, community outreach, and worship styles. Opportunities to introduce him to the congregation are being examined but permission from the state to meet as a large gath-ering does not appear to be on the near horizon. A prolonged wait of uncertain duration is not a satisfactory option. Therefore, a video-teleconference (ZOOM) along the line of

our Voter's Assembly Meeting held last June seems to be the best option to familiarize you, the voting laity, with this Pastoral candidate. Watch for e-mails and the weekly Parish Notes for in-formation regarding this. We hope to schedule the event in mid to late August. Keep the Call Committee and the Congregation in your prayers in addition to Rev. Fenster, his family and his

current congregation, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sandy, Oregon.

Jon Hoppert Chair, Pastoral Call Committee

From The Spiritual Life Board . . .

Return to Worship News The Spiritual Life Board (SLB), Church Council, and the Planning and Implementation team are working on the plans for our eventual return worship at Living Savior. We are making great progress in planning a safe environment to worship in, but have many critical steps to com-plete before we are ready. As you know, much of this is dependent upon the rules issued by the State of Oregon, and we will follow those guidelines. We will not begin in-person services until we can do so safely. No date has been set to begin in-person services at this time. We will be offering an online option for worship into the future to meet the needs of everyone at LSLC. If you are looking for a way to help and have sewing capabilities, you can make masks or face cover-ings for us to hand out to those who don't have them. Please watch your email for updates as we move closer to a return to services at Liv-ing Savior. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this complicated process. Planning and Implementation Team purpose:

To create clear Living Savior Lutheran Church return to on-site worship protocols, in a way that is consistent with LCMS theology and adheres to government mandates, so that a majority of church members and guests feel safe and welcomed to worship at Living Savior.

God bless you all. Josh Wolfe Spiritual Life Board Chair

Expect a Call

In our efforts to reach out, encourage, and care for one another, a group of fellow members will soon be calling every family in our church community. Please welcome them!

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love, and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting to-gether…but let us encourage one an-other-and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

In Christ’s love,

The Spiritual Life Board

FACILITY USE UPDATE - Church Council would like to remind everyone to please schedule all building use through the church office or via the online calendar. Please also remember to use provided cleaners before and after use. This will help to maintain a clean and safe environment here for all.

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Contributions through July 19, 2020 are as follows:

General Fund:

Received: $ 287,943

Budget: $ 326,250

Variance: $ - 38,307

Building Fund Contributions: $15,241

Thank you for your faithful giving!

We are introducing a new web and mobile based method of making your offering contributions, Give+. This feature makes it possible for either one-time or recurring offering from either your checking or savings account. A link to Give+ is on the church homepage, and you can also download the app on your mobile device. One giving option that may help you reduce your tax bur-den is a “Qualified Charitable Distribution”. For those that are over age 70 ½ and have an IRA with a Required

STEWARDSHIP UPDATE -ADAM WILKIE

Minimum Distribution (RMD), you can bypass pay-ing taxes on any proceeds that are gifted to a charity/religious organization/501c3. Instead of receiving the RMD, paying the full tax, and then making your regular offering contribution, you can instead have some portion of your RMD transfer directly from your IRA to a 501c3 organization (like Living Savior) and avoid paying taxes on that income. If you would like more general infor-mation about this, please contact Adam Wilkie. For anything more specific or detailed, please con-sult your tax advisor.

If you have questions, please contact me at awilkiecfa@gmail.com

Thank you, Stewardship Board Adam Wilkie, Chair

Our deepest sympathy to the family and

friends of Leah Dooley who died July 22. Leah

is the daughter of Darin Dooley and the

Granddaughter of Pat and Leonard Dooley.

Dear Friends,

Our hearts are so sad. Losing our Haley has been something we could never have imagined. There is a hole in our hearts and souls. It is so hard to understand. All your cards and calls filled with love and sharing God’s promise have given us comfort. Thank you all.

Sincerely,

Michael, Kathye, Megan and family

THANK YOU to the congregation for all your en-couragement through Lyle's hospitalization and recovery. And also for the thoughts and prayers to my family with the loss of my dad. Thank you again for all your support. ~ Shari Remmick

THANK YOU - We deeply appreciate the many years of being part of the Lord's family at Living Savior. Thank you for the many prayers as we begin a new life with our son and his family in Indi-ana. May our Lord continue to bless each and every one of you. ~Marilyn & Alan

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STEPHEN MINISTRY

Does Summertime Stress Slow you Down?

We all look forward to summer each year as we like to think of summer as being a relaxing, enjoyable time. Unfortunately, hurts, struggles, and life’s problems do not take a vacation. Many times our own difficulties seem even worse during the summer because everyone else seems to be enjoying life while some of us might be feeling down. If you are experiencing a difficult time — personally, emotionally, spiritually, or relationally — do not have to suffer alone. Our Stephen Ministers are trained and ready to listen, care for, and encourage you during your visits They will pray with and for you and provide one-to-one Christian care to help you through whatever it is that you are facing. Men are matched with male Stephen Ministers and women are matched with female Stephen Ministers. It’s free. It’s confidential. It will make a difference in your life! Please contact one of the Stephen Leaders listed below if you would like a Stephen Minister or know of someone who would benefit from having one.

Stephen Ministry Leaders: Andrew Westlund: 503-593-4613 Valorie Westlund: 503-740-6734 Karen Hoppert: 503-936-3661 Pastor Phil Alexander: 978-514-3231 Pastor Jim Pressnell: 503-985-2194.

A Simple, Powerful Way to Care for People Who are Grieving

Journeying through Grief is a set of four short books for those that are griev-

ing. The books are designed to mail or hand deliver at four crucial times dur-

ing the first year after the loss of a loved one. However, the books can be pro-

vided to a person all at once if they feel that might be more beneficial to them

as they grieve. Author, Kenneth C. Haugk, writes in a warm, caring style, with

short, easy-to-read chapters. Kenneth walks alongside the reader through the

grief journey, sharing helpful insights about grief, biblical truths, and stories

that provide comfort and assurance that God is with them. The set includes

four books, four envelopes, and a tracking card that helps you know when to

mail/deliver each book. If you want to mail/deliver the books, they are available for free from the church office dur-

ing regular hours or by contacting a Stephen Ministry Leader. You can also have the Stephen Ministry team mail the

books throughout the first year to the grieving person. Please contact a Stephen Ministry Leader if you wish to discuss

the grief books in more detail.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy

pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a

new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put

their trust in him. Psalm 40:1-3 NIV

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Living Savior Scholarship Winners

The Living Savior Lutheran Church Scholarship has been awarded to two of our members who are attending college in the fall. Each of the winners received a $1,000 scholarship. Please ex-press your congratulations to our winners!

Lindalynn Spath is attending George Fox University and will be a junior this fall. She graduated from Sherwood High School. Lindalynn is the daughter of Paul and Stephanie Spath and was baptized as an infant at Living Savior by Pastor Shawn Hazel.

Tyler Zawacki graduated from Tualatin High School this spring. He will start his college career this fall a University of Oregon with the goal of becoming a physician. Tyler is the son of Scott and Jenifer Zawacki.

Their essays on “What My Christian Faith Means to Me” were sent out in an email through the church office. Copies may be obtained by contacting the office.

Thank you to the members of the Scholarship Review Board: Diane Hilton, Mary Fribley and Phil Bartsch. As a congrega-tion, we are blessed to have such willing participants. – Cathy Dexter

Our Group Home Friends are all doing well. They are missing our monthly visits, Bible lessons and dinners but it is important they stay well during this time so no visits are allowed. (I have waved at their front or back windows.) Bethesda has sent Bible Lessons and there are programs on the internet filled with lessons and music. Thank you to everyone who has sent treats and crafts. A special thank you to Leonard Dooley who filled their garden boxes with beautiful vegetable plants that appear to be growing well. I heard Robert has been the chief watering person.

We have sent gift cards from our Group Home budget for take out from Dominos and Red Robin as well as for some treats and crafts which the staff and our Group Home friends have enjoyed. Please send a card if you think of it and keep our friends in your prayers.

Our Group Home friend, Peyton, passed July 23rd in his sleep. Peyton lived at the Santiam home with Robert and April. He had been coming to church often at the late service and he really enjoyed the music. He loved to clap. It was one of his favorite things to do. Staff said he was enjoying watching the vegetable garden grow outside his window. Peyton enjoyed our dinners and Bibles lessons and craft time. He will be missed at San-tiam. Peyton had a very loving and supportive family. Please remember them and the staff in your prayers.

-Kathye Greene

Living Savior successfully conducted its first ZOOM Voters’ Assembly Meeting on Sunday, June 14th following the Sunday service. (Thank you Josh Wolfe!)

Jon Hoppert reported on the Pastoral Call Committee (steady progress) and Adam Wilke reported on the financial health of the congregation (good).

Election of Board chairpersons resulted the following incumbents continuing with a new, two-year term:

Shari Remmick, Mission & Service

Josh Wolfe, Spiritual Life

Adam Wilke, Stewardship.

No one ran for Board Chair of the Witness Board.

Karen Richter was re-elected as Council Secretary but will be moving with her family in August.

Judy Chase’s appointment to complete Karen’s posi-tion as Council Secretary was approved at the July Church Council meeting.

Filling out their remaining terms are

Dennis Olson, Properties

Lori Stevens, Education

Dara McGuire/Mary Wilkie, Youth

- Cathy Dexter

GROUP HOME NEWS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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During this time of COVID we have had an increase in the number of requests for support from LCMS pro-jects, and also community projects and organizations. Mission & Service has used the budgeted funds to con-tribute to our projects for the greatest impact especially when matched funds were available. We have tried to manage our distributions over the months instead of any large sums at one time. Mission & Service meetings are open to everyone and would encourage all of you with a special passion to join us in our choosing and supporting future projects. We are currently looking for a contact liaison for Bethesda Auxiliary and a person who serve in the Military Minis-try project.

Survey Results The Survey Monkey has provided us with your prefer-ences on missions moving forward. I just wanted to give you a summary of the results. Types of projects: Evan-gelism had the highest response but ranked 3rd in fo-cus; here is the rank of focus: (1) Poverty & Hunger; (2) Educational (3) Evangelism & Homelessness; (4) Medi-cal; (5) Powerlessness; (6) Church Planting; (7) Social Justice; (8) Minorities. Lutheran Programs, Community Programs and other Christian programs and World Pro-grams were designated in that order. We will be looking at both onetime events and ongoing projects as they were evenly matched in importance. You had sugges-tions for projects that were identified in all the areas and we will be considering them as we set up our pro-jects for 2021. Concerns raised in other areas of service (i.e. the need for an improved youth program) were forwarded to the appropriate boards. Again I want to thank you for taking the time and responding to the survey and we invite your participation in planning for 2021. If you have any questions please give me a call. Shari Remmick 503-789-4789.

Community Warehouse is located in Tualatin at 8380 SW Nyberg Street. 503-612-0020. The Estate Store is now open : Thursday-Saturday, 11am – 4pm.

We will continue to collect smaller items that will fit in or next to the purple bag in the fellowship hall. This is a worthwhile organization to donate furniture that truly serves needy people in our community. You can either drop it off yourself or they will pick up large items at your house for $30. For information about Community Warehouse go to: www.communitywarehouse.org

Changes in requested items.

• Pots & Pans: Clean; no excessive wear • Baking Pans & Dishes: Clean; no chips, cracks or

broken parts. No metal rimmed dishware or china • Armchairs • Coffee tables • Sofas: no sleeper sofa, sectional or recliners • Mattresses: 15 yr. or newer, stain free • Hollywood (metal) bed frames • Night stands • Mattress & box springs: no king size

MISSION AND SERVICE -SHARI REMMICK

Tualatin School House Pantry Most needed items requested: canned hearty soups, chili, pasta, fruit, corn, mixed veggies, mac & cheese and hot or cold cereal.

Bring donations to the church and place them in the bin in the Narthex. So far this year, Living Savior has donated 541 lbs. of food and grocery items to the pantry.

Family Promise Since COVID-19 had shut down the rotational programs, Family Promise Tualatin, working with Washington County and Family Promise Beaverton has secured housing for families and adult only households for up to 10 hotel rooms in the geographic area. The volunteers and church organiza-tions help to provide food and other recourses to the families. Living Savior did so here in July and is available to continue support in August and September if needed. Wes Tanac is coordinating these

efforts and I will keep us posted. Continued support is available in Club 365. www.familypromiseoftv.org/club-365

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LUTHERAN WOMEN IN MISSION

Your Mites in Action

National LWML (Goal $2,100,000.00)

2019-2021 Mission Grant

#13 Digital Media Development

Lutherans for Life—$30,000 The mission of Lutherans For Life (LFL) is to equip Lutherans to be Gospel motivated voices for life. Life issues, like abortion, embryo experimentation, and

physician assisted suicide are not political or personal choic-es but matters of the heart that effect people, neighbors, loved ones, and family. In America some 30 million wom-en have undergone abortions

since 1973 of which 54% identify as Christians. Sui-cide rates nationwide are rising. Physician assisted suicides are escalating. Digital media offers an open mission field to address these and other life issues. Yet much online communication degen-erates, disrespects, and deval-ues life. LFL believes our Savior is calling us to speak the truth in love. This grant would fund infographics, memes (pop culture snap-shots with captions), shareable video clips, webinars, and podcasts. This digital media initiative will serve as a visual witness and virtual conversation for Lu-theran individuals and congregations to engage peo-ple using social networks like YouTube, Facebook, iTunes, and Instagram.

2020~2022 LWML Oregon District Mission Grants

$97,020 $72,765 for Oregon District Mission Grants,

with $24, 255 for LWML.

Projects selected by delegates for this biennium: Bridge of Hope CARE Pantry expansion. $5,500 Bridge to Jesus Soccer Clinic & Beyond $6,000 Bringing Christ’s Light $6,500 Carrying Christ into Hispanic Home $6,500 Equipping People with Intellectual Disabilities $6,500 Expanding Dominican Republic Ministry $6,500 Filling Haitian Tummies $5,000 Financial Assistance/Food & Clothing Co-op Concordia Theological Sem. Ft. Wayne $5,000 Healing Spaces $6,500 Project “GO” (Gospel Outreach) $2,957.50* Safeguarding our School Children $6,350 Support for Concordia Seminary’s International Graduate Students $2,957.50* Taking the Gospel to B.C. North $6,500 *Partial Funding For information about each of these projects go to https://www.lwmlor.org/missions and other projects: https://www.lwmlor.org/mission-grants-in-action

Can You Believe it?

Just out of curiosity, I asked the Oregon District LWML treasurer if she had a record of how much money had been donated to mites from our congregation and she was able to give us the amount since July 31, 2018. In the past two years the members and friends of Living Sav-ior have donated $2,152.20!

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BOOK CLUB Enjoy a summer of reading books that feed your soul and entertain as well. We hope that you include reading God’s word through a Bible study or daily devotion.

We can all look forward to September 12 when we resume our book club. We meet the second Saturday of each month, 10:00-11:30am, September-May. We don’t know what the future looks like concerning meeting in a group, but we will certainly meet via ZOOM if necessary. A lively discussion of the book occurs, fellowship is shared. Please consider joining the group when you can and invite a friend! There is no obligation to attend every month and no pressure to have the right answers because there are NO right answers. The following is a listing of the books that will be read and discussed: Sept. 12: Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors

of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace by Kim Phuc Oct. 10: Eiffel’s Tower by Jill Jonnes Nov. 14: Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan Dec.: No meeting. Enjoy Christmas devotions

NEWS FROM THE MISSION FIELD

Dominican Republic—Group Home

Terry Putnam reports that the kids have been under quarantine and inside the house, much as we are in the U.S., missing normal routines of school, church, work, and other activities.

Francis just finished his school year at Santiago Deaf School. Unlike most of us, he loves wearing a mask and makes sure no one leaves home with theirs. Ramona is a great quaran-tine buddy

especially if you like puzzles, dancing, laughing and rockin’ out with your headphones. Dominican Republic Ministries is one of the 2020-2022 Oregon District LWML Mission Mite pro-jects.

Carol Halter—Hong Kong I pray for all of you in the midst of the difficult situations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic is closing down borders, countries, provinces, cities, flights, and plans. And yes, because of the disruption, I have had to postpone my trip to the USA for home service. Origi-nally I was going to be traveling from April through June, with 13 flights, so that I could visit people in five different states. I am fine, but instead of seeing you in person at this time, here I am still in Hong Kong, and especially missing you. At first I was thinking, “It is so sad, so sad, so sad that I won’t be able to see you, my dear brothers and sisters in the USA. I wanted to be able to share with you in person about some of the work of the Lord in Hong Kong. In spite of the pandemic, here in Hong Kong

we do see God doing great things in the midst of it all by giving lots of opportunities for witnessing. Some la-dies in the Abundant Life Lutheran Mission Station are sewing masks. So far they have

made over 1000 masks to give out on the streets. The churches in Asia have now learned how to use a vari-ety of ways to proclaim the Gospel.

Jan. 9: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Feb. 13: The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott Mar. 13: The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure Apr. 10: Killing England by Bill O’Reilly

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Come Check Us Out! The Library is open to check out material during regular office hours. Be sure to use antibacterial wipes on the covers of the books and DVD’s before using. Place them in the return bin at the li-brary and they will be wiped before being placed back on the shelves. There are some great DVD’s of Christian based films available.

PUZZLES! The church library is offering puz-zles for lending. We use the honor

system so please return a borrowed puzzle in a timely fashion so others may use them. Please wipe the puzzle when completed and the box with antibacteri-al solution prior to returning to the library shelf. If you have quality puzzles, no pieces missing, that you would like to share with others, place them in the Rubbermaid tub to the right of the puzzle shelf in the library.

Shut In

Ministry

“You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” -Luke 22:28

Living Savior has an active team of people who have a heart for those who are unable to attend church be-cause of illness or disabilities. As a visitor to shut ins, they have an opportunity to make a positive difference in someone’s life by visiting and bringing to them fel-lowship and love from the congregation. Would you like to visit Shut Ins or know of someone we can visit? Volunteers are trained for this ministry. If you would like to be a part of this ministry or have questions, contact:

Peggy Hefflin, 503-263-1886 or Lola Erickson, 503-625-6025.

Greeting cards are

the next best thing

to being there…….

The Shut In ministry has collected cards to place in two assisted living facilities, Marquis and Riverwood in Tualatin. These cards enable the residents to not have to shop for cards or pay for them. However, we have an abundance of cards that you have generously donated and we would like to share some of them with the congregation. They are in clear plastic con-tainers with blue lids, located in the Library, upstairs next to the arched room. Please help yourself to cards and connect with someone who would benefit by being remembered during this quarantine.

These Numbers Have Faces: We

have received a note from Innocent. Check out the website. The students are awaiting the re-opening of the universi-ties for classes to resume. Living Savior

has made our annual donation to Innocent for the next academic year.

Check out an article by Pastor Pressnell in the Lutheran Society for Missiology (theology of missions). The twice-yearly journal publication is called Lutheran Mission Matters.

https://www.lsfm.global/our-journals/ It is also avail-able on the Mission & Service Homepage on the Living Savior website.

Living Savior is in the process of upgrading the au-dio/video system in the sanctuary to include an on-line streaming service with a single button opera-tion. More volunteers are needed for helping in the sound booth.

Contact the office for more information or to volun-teer. Training is available.

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AUGUST DEVOTION -JUDY CHASE

This summer we have more time to be at home and catch up on projects, on reading, on spending time with family—if not with friends. And perhaps more time to spend with some of the many devotional materials that seem to be proliferating even more than in the past. I’ve noticed that if I spend too much time being grumpy and complaining about how awful these circumstances are, that my attitude and my conversations are really negative. I’ve been reminded recently that what goes into our minds comes out of our mouths. Therefore, it behooves us to listen to Paul’s advices in Philippians 4:8 Whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if

there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. And if I can’t think of anything right off hand to be joyful about, I can go to the concordance in my Bible. I am amazed at how many references the are to joy. Many are in the Psalms — always a good place to begin. For example: Psalm 63:7~ for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. Read the rest of the Psalm to be encour-aged if you are in a wilderness place like

David was when he wrote this song. Another way to lift our spirits is to sing. We are encour-aged in Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Fa-ther in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…. (5:19-20) We may be tired of living with the restrictions and limi-tations we are experiencing these days, but with an attitude of gratitude we will be able to put our trust in the God who made heaven and earth, who is never sur-prised at our circumstances and who will give us comfort and courage to not only rejoice in Him, but to be able to witness to others in their times of need. Our God is bigger than any trial or tribulation. Even a pandemic.

Are you tired of it yet? Tired of being socially distanced from friends and

even from some of our family? Tired of hearing daily updates of confirmed or pre-

sumptive cases of Covid-19? And of death totals? Tired of the indecisiveness of schools opening? And if they open, what will that look like? Tired of warnings about wearing masks? Especially

for a doctor or dentist appointment? And even gro-cery shopping?

Tired of waiting to hear when we can meet together for worship? And communion?

If you are anything like me, the answer is “Yes!” What was originally suggested to be a 2-week isolation period has entered its fifth month. So many plans have had to be cancelled or changed. Graduations, weddings, vacation trips, even funerals and memorial services were dramati-cally changed due to restrictions placed upon us by this pandemic. It is true that we live in a fallen world. Our world was created beautiful and perfect until our relationship with God was broken as sin came into the world. Genesis tells us that what was once perfect now will cause us grief and pain. The woman’s pain in childbear-ing would be multiplied and the ground is cursed with thorns and thistles and it would be by the sweat of the man’s face that we would eat bread “till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:17-19. The good news is that even before He pronounced that result of sin to Adam and Eve, He announced a curse upon the serpent, the devil, with the promise that he would ultimately be destroyed by the offspring of the woman. We celebrate this victory every Easter and eve-ry Sunday as we worship together. In the meantime, we are living with death and Covid-19. But I don’t believe that God has sent a plague to punish the world. I think it is just a result of sin in the world. But this situation does bring up opportunities that we can take advantage of as we have had to make adjustments to what we consider “normal”.

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The Mission of Living Savior Lutheran Church:

Alive in Christ, we share the love of Jesus—we serve, care for, support and nourish each other, our community, and the world!

Living Savior Staff

Pastor ............................................................................. Phil Alexander Pastor2P@gmail.com

Summer Pastor ......................................................... Rev. Jim Pressnell Jim@thesenumbers.org

Preschool Director ................................................... Denice Hornberger Dhornberger@livingsavior-preschool.org

Office Manager .................................................... Roberta Rinderknecht Secretary@living-savior.org

Treasurer ............................................................. Roberta Rinderknecht bookkeeper@living-savior.org

Living Logos is a publication of Living Savior Lutheran Church. Submissions are due the 24th of each month in the church office or by email to newsletter editor: Judy.Chase@frontier.com or lslc@living-savior.org. Sunday Morning Worship Schedule: Returning date TBA Zoom Worship, Sundays .......................................................... 9:30am Secretary’s office hours: Monday ........................................... closed Tuesday - Friday: ................................ 10:00am - 1:00pm Office phone: (503) 692-3490 Email: lslc@living-savior.org Website: www.living-savior.org Preschool Office phone: (503) 692-3303

PORTALS OF PRAYER

The July – September Portals of Prayer are now available in the church office. Office hours are

Tuesday – Friday 10:00 – 1:00.

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Living Savior Lutheran Church

8740 SW Sagert Street

Tualatin OR 97062-9116