Blessing of the Pets

Join us Sunday afternoon, October 3, at 3:00 p.m. for the St. Francis Blessing of the Pets. During a brief worship service, each pet will receive a blessing and St. Francis medallion to hang from its collar. Cookies and lemonade will follow.

St. Francis of Assisi is remembered for his love of all God's creatures. His commemoration day is celebrated on October 4, and on the closest Sunday many churches hold a Blessing of the Animals or Blessing of the Pets. The love we share with our pets is indeed a blessing, and the experience of living with pets, service animals, and farm animals can help draw us into a better understanding of the circle of life and the wonder of creation--all gifts of our gracious Creator God.

First J.A.M.s P.S. Party This Coming Sunday!

Hello, Trinity J.A.M.s members (grades 2-5)! This Sunday, following 11:00 a.m. worship, we'll have our first P.S. Party for the year (Pizza and Service) from 12:15 p.m. -2:00 p.m. Parents, you are welcome to stay for this one!

We'll be making something special for Trinity shut-ins and talking about the year. Oh, we'll be eating pizza, too!

Please call or e-mail Pastor Sharron to let her know if you plan to be there!

(Photo by Ernesto Andrade used under a Creative Commons License. Thanks!)

Family NIght, September 8, 2010

This coming Wednesday night, we'll meet at 5:30 to share a simple Haitian style meal and then travel to St. Peter's Episcopal Church on Ashland Terrace to hear Les Petits Chanteurs, the boys' choir of Holy Trinity Music School in Port Au Prince, Haiti, who will perform at 7:00 p.m.. The school and Holy Trinity Cathedral sustained severe damage during the earthquake.

There is no charge for the meal or for the performance. There will be a free will offering taken. The School has also asked for donations of musical instruments. If you have instruments that you are no longer using and that are in good condition, please consider donating them to this cause.

There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex, so Pastor Sharron will have an idea of about how much food to have on hand for supper.

Hope to see you there!

He Knows My Name (Christian Music Video)

The Fall--September 5, 2010

Need to Know: Human beings had a wonderful life given to them by God. The serpent entered the picture and convinced the woman to take fruit from the one tree that God had told them to not to eat from. Of course, they did, and they realized their mistake. With bad decisions come consequences, and the man and woman had to leave the garden, work hard, and bore children in pain. Even so, God never left them and still loves them. We can never hide from God!




Bible Story: The Fall (Genesis 1:1-3, 31)

Consider using the cartoon story on the handout your child brings home to review the story.



Remember Verse: Genesis 3:8-9 (NRSV)

They heard the sound of the LORD God waling in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"



Don't forget to ask your children about the sign language they learned for this verse. You can see Christy Smith's tutorial at http://www.faithink.com/, FINKlink BMO2.



At Home:



1) Practice THE FAITH 5 each night!

Be sure to SHARE highs and lows--What was the best thing about your day and the worst thing?

READ the Bible verse listed above.

TALK about your highs and lows and the verse. How does this verse relate to your life? To your highs? To your lows?

PRAY for one another. Don't forget to give thanks for your highs and turn your lows over to God.

BLESS one another with these words: (Name), child of God, may you bring the light of God to every corner of your world this day! Be sure your child(ren) have the opportunity to bless you, too!



2) Listen to the song by going to the FaithInk website (http://www.faithink.com/) and entering the code BM02. Remember you can also watch the sign language, and you can purchase the song or album from iTunes via the link provided. There are also games to play. If you enjoy the song, be sure to click here to learn more about artist and Christian hip hop artist Agape or visit his website at http://www.hiphopoutreach.com/.



3) Check out "He Knows My Name" posted separately on the Joy Factory Blog. Talk about the song and how God does know our names--in good and bad times and will never, ever leave us.


4) Talk with your children about a time when you made a mistake, suffered consequences, but were assured of love nonetheless.



5) Discuss how knowledge can bring pain and suffering. When we know about injustice, how does it make us feel? Want to act?



6) You may have heard the statement "The devil made me do it!" Talk about this statement in light of free will, choice, and personal responsibility.

Sunday, August 29, 2010: Creation!

Need to Know: When God began the creative act, "the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep." God created everything and declared it all GOOD!

Bible Story: Creation! (Genesis 1:1-3, 31)
Consider using the cartoon story on the handout your child brings home to review the story.

Remember Verse: Genesis 1:1-3, 31 (NRSV)
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness  covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the fae of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light...and it was good.

Don't forget to ask your children about the sign language they learned for this verse. You can see Christy Smith's tutorial at http://www.faithink.com/, FINKlink BMO1.

At Home:

1)  Practice THE FAITH 5 each night!
Be sure to SHARE highs and lows--What was the best thing about your day and the worst thing?
READ the Bible verse listed above.
TALK about your highs and lows and the verse. How does this verse relate to your life? To your highs? To your lows?
PRAY for one another. Don't forget to give thanks for your highs and turn your lows over to God.
BLESS one another with these words:  (Name), child of God, may you bring the light of God to every corner of your world this day! Be sure your child(ren) have the opportunity to bless you, too!

2)  Listen to the song by going to the FaithInk website (http://www.faithink.com/) and entering the code BM01. Remember you can also watch the sign language, and you can purchase the song or album from iTunes via the link provided. There are also games to play. If you enjoy the song, be sure to click here to learn more about artist Tony Axtell or visit his website.

3) Check out this sign language version of the hymn "How Great Thou Art," that Team Leader Linda Draeger found on YouTube by clicking here.

4) Find examples in the yard or on a walk of things that God created and talk about how they are "good."

5) Make a meal or dessert from "scratch" with your child(ren) and compare creating something in the kitchen is similar yet very different from what God did in creating the earth.

6) Talk about stewardship of God's good creation. How are we doing? What could we do better?

We CAN Do It!

The J.O.Y. FACTORY is supporting the Trinity Lutheran Church Food Pantry as its fall local offering project. Mr. Tim, one of our team leaders, has agreed to dye his hair (and maybe his beard?) two different colors when we reach our goal of $200 or more.

Why are we raising money and collecting CANned meats for this project? The answer is simple: people in our area are hungry. Money is tight, and our food pantry is receiving more requests for help every month. Meat is one staple that we always run short of when preparing the boxes, so this an important way that we CAN make a tangible difference in the lives of our neighbors.

You CAN also bring CANs of tuna and other meat to count toward the goal. Each CAN counts as $1.

So don't forget your CANs and offerings every Sunday morning. Together we CAN do it!

P.S.: Thank you, Mr. Tim, for giving us great incentive!

CAN your guess how many times the word "CAN" or one of its forms was used in this post? Take a guess and then count and see how close you came to the right number.

The Tuna Fish Wall photo by TheGiantVermin used under a Creative Commons License. Thanks!

Write Your Own Psalm

A few weeks ago, I challenged our Summer Sunday school students to write their own psalm.

A psalm is simply a song directed to God. The book of Psalms in our Bible is a collection of worship songs that God's chosen people used for worship. Many of those songs were written by King David. Psalms are used to praise God, to seek help, to ask forgiveness, and to express sorrow and hope.

Here are two psalms that J.O.Y. Factory disciples Abby and Sam wrote:

Thank you Lord

Lord thank you for giving us food.
Thank you for water and everything you do.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you
for everything you do. Thank you.

--by Abby S.

A Psalm

Lord you created the sun.
Lord you created the wiggly worms.
Lord you created us.

You created the sea.
You created the fish.
You created the world.

You created the land.
You created the plants.
Lord, you created us!

--by Sam S.

Why don't you write a psalm and post it for us to see and share? Let's praise God with arts, and hands, and voices!

Photo by woodleywonderworks used under a Creative Commons License. Thanks!

Rally Day 2010

Need to Know: We live in God's circle of caring. God cares for us. Becuase God loves us, we care for others. Others draw near to God because we show love and are for them. Our relationships with others say a lot about our relationship with God.


Bible Story: God's Circle of Caring (Isaiah 58:9b-14)

Remember Verse: Isaiah 58:10 (NRSV)

...if you offer (make a motion like ladling soup in a bowl)
your food to the hungry  (hold out an imaginary bowl in front of you)
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, (pretend to comfort someone)
then your light shall rise in the darkness (bring hands up over head in a big circle to make a sun)
and your gloom be like the noonday. (spread your hands wide to your side)
Isaiah 58:10  (Hold up 5 fingers, then 8 fingers, and then 10 fingers)

At Home:

• Talk about the backpack supplies you received today. What do you plan to do with them? How did you feel knowing that many supplies will be sent to needy children somewhere in the world through Lutheran World Relief, while other supplies will stay here in town.

• Discuss how you know that God cares for you. How can you show the love of God to others? Reread the passage from Isaiah (you may want to read all of chapter 58 throughout the week) and discuss the kind of change God wanted from the people.

• Think about how helping others can make you a better person. Parents, you may be able to give specific examples of how your faith has grown through serving God and your neighbor.

• Visit the Lutheran World Relief Website (http://lwr.org/) and look at the many ways people are helped through this organization.

• Click here to watch the video "God Loves Us" from Club Dust and Work of the People. Club Dust is a faith-based ministry in Tecate, Mexico, ministering to the very poor. Talk about the video and how God loves all of us. How can we love others more?

Next week we will be studying Creation using BibleSong!

Note: Photo courtesy of Schipulites and used under a Creative Commons License. Thanks!