Sunday Sermon, January 19, 2020
…from Worship at Good Sam on January 19, 2020
Lessons: Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40:1-11, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John:29-42
Sermon: A Message from Pastor Daniel Rinehart
Prayer: Holy God, our strength and our redeemer, by your Spirit hold us forever, that through your grace we may worship you and faithfully serve you, follow you and joyfully find you, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
The sermon begins after the reading from John’s Gospel.
Sunday Sermon, January 12, 2020
…from Worship at Good Sam on January 12, 2020
Lessons: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-43, Matthew 3:13-17
Sermon: A Message from Pastor Lamar Bailey, Assistant to the Bishop of the Metro DC Synod.
Prayer: O God our Father, at the baptism of Jesus you proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized into Christ faithful to their calling to be your daughters and sons, and empower us all with your Spirit, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The sermon begins after the reading from Matthew’s Gospel.
Sunday Sermon, January 5, 2020
…from Worship at Good Sam on January 5, 2020
Lessons: Jeremiah 31:7-14, Psalm 147:12-20, Ephesians 1:3-14, John 1: [1-9] 10-18
Sermon: “Alive To What God Is Bringing”
Prayer: Almighty God, you have filled all the earth with the light of your incarnate Word. By your grace empower us to reflect your light in all that we do, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The sermon begins after the reading from John’s Gospel.
February Highlights
Good Sam Happenings in February
February 2nd [Sunday Theme] “Having Received What God Gives”
February 9th [Sunday Theme] “A People Imbued With Salt And Light “
- February 8th – Empty Nester’s Dinner Theater, Shop Til You Drop – Dead by Craig Sodaro @ 5:30 pm
- February 9th – 16th – W.A.R.M at Good Sam
February 16th [Sunday Theme] “In Fields Of The Lord”
- February 17th – Office Closed in Observance of President’s Day
February 23rd [Sunday Theme] “Transfigured?”
- February 26th – Ash Wednesday Service @ 7:00 pm
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New Mission and Engagement Coordinator
We are delighted to announce that Kelsey Knobloch will join the Good Sam Team as the Mission and Engagement Coordinator. He will begin his work among us on January 21, 2020, and his first Sunday will be January 26th.
The Mission and Engagement Coordinator will continue to interact with the Good Sam Community to invite and engage in mission activities, so that we meet our neighbors, grow our own sense of faith and reflect on what happens when we make ourselves available to God’s work in the world.
Kelsey Knobloch moved to Maryland in late 2019 with his wife, Amanda, after spending 6 years in Virginia. A native Texan (and proud of it), Kelsey is the son of a Lutheran pastor and received his degree in English Literature from Texas Lutheran University in 2011. As a lifelong Lutheran, Kelsey has a passion for being the hands and feet of Christ in the community and abroad, and has been a part of mission trips to Mexico and all along the Eastern US coast. He has worked with youth and adults to help them grow in their faith, learn more about Christ and each other, and serve those in need.
Kelsey enjoys learning new things, trying different foods & drinks, and science education. His hobbies include tabletop gaming, mycology, woodworking, lexicography, and comic books.
Please join me in welcoming Kelsey’s leadership in our Good Sam Community.
W.A.R.M February 9-16, 2020!
W.A.R.M – Wrapping Arms Around Many, is an organization run by (25+) local churches staffed by church volunteers with support from the Department of Social Services. Upon assessment by DSS, many of the homeless are housed by local churches throughout the coldest winter months, November through April. Good Sam has been participating in this effort for ten years and have been blessed by many in the homeless community that we would have otherwise not gotten to know.
This year we will house and feed our homeless brothers and sisters during the week of February 9-16. Our week will begin with a major transformation of the fellowship hall directly after fellowship time, where we will set up cots and an eating area. The guests arrive each evening around 6pm and are served dinner. Throughout the week, we will serve breakfast and dinner each day, watch movies, play game, and just fellowship. At the end of the week (Sunday, 16th), our fellowship hall will transform back to its norm set up following breakfast with our guest. All of this will take a HUGE volunteer effort. Many of you are aware of this and have participated in the past, some of you are new and may want some more information.
Whether a longtime volunteer or new to the program, on Sunday, January 12th Gail Wathen will be offering an opportunity to have a conversation and discuss volunteer opportunities during coffee and conversation. Please join Gail as we plan another successful year welcoming our neighbors during our WARM week.
January Highlights
Good Sam Happenings in January
January 5th [Sunday Theme] “Alive To What God Is Bringing”
- January 5th – Epiphany Pageant
January 12th [Sunday Theme] “A Message from Pastor Lamar Bailey “
January 19th [Sunday Theme] “A Message from a Pastor Daniel Rinehart”
January 26th [Sunday Theme] “Embracing Liberation”
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Stitching Sisters make Shawls for Chesapeake Shores Nursing Center
Thank you to Stitching Sisters for your beautiful work!
It’s Advent, More is Coming!
December has arrived and Advent is beginning. Well, more accurately, the coming of Christ has not ceased. Every week in our life together I see ways that Christ is alive in your lives and in our community. Our worship is alive and energetic, our witness to our neighbors and with our guests in worship is vibrant and strong. I am so eager for the life of Jesus to be revealed among us. I also notice that as I get older I hunger more and more for a deeper and richer flow of Christ’s coming in my life as much as in our community.
I am also reminded of John the Baptist’s comment about the coming of Christ’s activity that his disciples notice. John says, “He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30). John feels like this is his faithful response; embracing the good news of Jesus. His work was to prepare the way and then stand out of the way as it begins to take hold.
So, too it is for me. 2020 will be for me a year of transition. I will be shifting to retirement or semi-retirement with a different balance between my family life and my active faith life in ministry. I have shared this need for transition in my life with our Good Sam Council Leaders and we have begun dreaming and planning just how this transition will take place. We are partnering in this endeavor just as we did when I was called to come to Good Sam 10 years ago.
For now, I will be reducing my time at Good Sam by ⅓ beginning this January. In the short term, you will not notice much of that change as I will be here each Sunday as always. I will reduce my office days to three days a week (Monday through Wednesday). As the year progresses your Council and I will be talking, exploring possibilities and making plans that will allow me the transition I need and bring to life the possibilities for life and ministry to which Good Sam is called.
In the meantime, may we ask for your prayers while we pray and dream and seek the coming of Christ in all these things. Will you please invest yourselves faithfully in watching for Christ’s coming in our worship and with your neighbors. Together we can witness and herald the wonder and grace of Christ’s coming among us both in our ministry in Lexington Park and in our individual lives of faith and hope.
I am thankful for our ministry together and even more for the faithfulness and surpassing grace of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.
Your faithful Servant in Christ,
Pastor Mitch Watney
December Highlights
Good Sam Happenings in December
December 1st [Sunday Theme] “How do you like to wake up in morning?”
- Dec. 4 Advent Supper 5:30 pm
- Dec. 4 Advent Vespers 6:30 pm (Holden Vespers)
December 8th [Sunday Theme] “The Welcome of Christ”
- Dec. 11 Advent Supper 5:30 pm
- Dec. 11 Advent Vespers 6:30 pm (Holden Vespers)
December 15th “One Small Child” Christmas Pageant Cookie Exchange during Fellowship / Annual Meeting at 10:30 am
- Dec. 18 Advent Supper 5:30 pm
- Dec. 18 Advent Vespers 6:30 pm (Holden Vespers)
December 22nd [Sunday Theme] Christmas Cantata “Joy”
*December 24th – Christmas Eve Services
- Family Friendly Christmas Eve Service 5pm (ABC’s of Christmas)
- Traditional Christmas Eve Service 8pm
December 29th [Sunday Theme] “A Gift Received” (Lessons and Carols)
December Newsletter “Grapevine”
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