OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH
3301 The Alameda
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.235.9553
MARCH, 2020
MID-WEEK LENTEN WORSHIP
WEDNESDAYS
6:30 P.M. SOUP SUPPER
7:30 P.M. VESPERS
Remember, set your clocks ahead. Daylight Savings time begins March 8.
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Our Saviour,
As you may have heard, Pastor McClean fell in his apartment on February 19 and broke both his right arm and a finger in his left hand. After spending a few days at Mercy Hospital, he was moved to Manor Care on Falls Road for rehabilitation. After injuring his leg during physical therapy there, he was moved to Mt. Sinai hospital. His leg has since mended and he is able to walk without pain. He does, however, still need more time to recuperate. They are currently determining the facility to which he will be moved.
Although he will need several more weeks to recover, Pastor has asked us to assure everyone that he feels he has turned a corner in all this and is on his way to recovery and hopes to be able to return to the pulpit by Holy Week. We will keep you up to date on his condition as things progress. In the meantime, we are being served on Sundays by several military chaplains. So we will have pastors for our Sunday worship services.
We do find ourselves in the annual observance of the penitential season. Some thoughts from Pastor McClean about Lent from a couple years ago:
My dictionary tells me that the word Lent is rooted in an old English word “lencten” which means spring. The word no doubt suggests the lengthening days which come in the springtime. But I want to suggest that it is very useful indeed to think of the holy season of Lent as a spiritual springtime, a time of new life and light. You may remember that in the ancient church the forty days of Lent were the time when the adult candidates for Holy Baptism received their final preparation for the reception of that Sacrament which took place at the Great Vigil which took place on Easter Eve. Since you and I have already been born again of water and the Holy Spirit, we – obviously! – cannot prepare to be baptized. Yet Lent is most certainly a time for returning to our Baptism, for again contemplating and rejoicing in the blessings of Baptism and through daily repentance and faith living as those who have been baptized into the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. We remember the words of Saint Paul: “We are buried therefore with Him by baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Few things are more foolish than supposing that God somehow needs our observance of Lent: God does not need Lent but you and I do! It is that season of the year which calls us to renewed faithfulness as those who through Baptism have been made one with the Savior in His atoning death and life-giving resurrection. It is a time for saying no to everything in our lives which contradicts Christ and His love. We need to hear God’s Word calling us to repentance, we need to hear God’s Word showing us the Lord Jesus in whose death our sins are dead and who calls us to follow Him in faith and hope and love.
Please be assured that we will have our usual Wednesday worship throughout Lent, at 7:30 PM, each preceded at 6:30 PM by a soup supper. The following people have volunteered their culinary skills: 3/4 – Bernie Knox, 3/11 – Merton Masterson, 3/18 – Judy Volkman, 3/25 – the Ushers, and 4/1 – Danitta Hawkins.
One interesting note for our Wednesday services this year is that one of them falls on March 25, on which we will observe The Annunciation. This festival, nine months before Christmas, recognizes the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary, announcing that she would bear the Son of God, Jesus Christ Our Savior. This gives us a brief moment of celebration within this Lenten season. Please join us for these mid-week opportunities for spiritual refreshment during this holy season.
As the Easter season approaches, we will be looking forward to adorning the altar with Easter lilies. Judy Volkman will again coordinate this for us. The cost this year is $11 per lily. There are envelops in the back of the church. Please get your information and payment to Judy Volkman by Palm Sunday (April 5). .
Our good friend Pastor Robertson of Martini Church has agreed to assist Our Saviour with pastoral care while Pastor McClean is recuperating. If you need pastoral care during this time, please call Paul Techau at 703-531-0762, and he will notify Pastor Robertson.
In Christ,
The Church Councel
Free Flea Market
May 9th will soon be here, and that is the date for the first Free Flea Market for this year. Thanks to a generous donation of household items from Scoot Jones’ family, we are well stocked with them. However, we have NO men’s or women’s warm weather clothing. We donated the clothing from last season’s stock to Orphan Grain Train, and now we need to restock. We need warm weather wear (winter just does not move during the summer) and shoes for both men and women. We sometimes get requests for children’s items, but not enough to try to have the variety of sizes needed.
So as you are going through your closets, think about what you could donate. There are individuals who count on us for their clothing! Please try to get it to Judy Volkman by April so we can see what we will need to request from Orphan Grain Train.
The Lord has given us much bounty and we need to share it!