From the Pastor’s Desk… ““Dad’s ladder”
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Dear friends in Christ,
Our Lord Jesus was all about God and people and healthy relationships. Father’s day is June 19th. I invite you join me in giving thanks to God for our fathers and male mentors who helped shape our lives in their words, encouragement and example.
It was time to spring clean the garage; Some throwing away of broken items and donation decluttering. For fifteen years I had spared my dad’s old wooden ladder in similar purges. Speckled with dried colored splashes of paint it spoke of the times he or I climbed to paint a room together. The attached shelf stabilized it and held the paint can allowing you to get close to the ceilings and walls doing the trim work. Once Mom wanted a cabinet in the bathroom; Dad was sick and weak from battling lung cancer so my brother Joel and I attempted the installation. Dad stood by watching and giving directions. He was a perfectionist. When we finished he wasn’t satisfied with the way it looked. So he told me to get down from the ladder, took the screw driver from my hand, ascended the ladder and further tightened the screws. “There” he said for emphasis when it was over. (He was German, what can I say!) “if you are going to do a job, do it right!” Like his body, now three ladders’ steps had become cracked from age. Resisting my many attempts to reinforce them, it was unstable and dangerous to climb and taking up space. I wondered if Joan could use it for a plant stand? We concluded there was already enough clutter. As I took it down to the end of the drive way for the garbage man to haul away on Thursday, a heavy sadness overcame me tempered with my thoughts of thanks for years of good service. Ten minutes passed when overcome with guilt, I rushed out the door to retrieve it asking, “What I had done?” I had just thrown away my dad! We’d find another use for it. Alas, the ladder was gone with the week’s trash! The many good stories told, important skills and work ethic taught, our working together along with rich shared experiences and completed projects remained etched in my mind and would be enough as a rich reference point for a life time! Dad passed away early in the morning on the 4th of July. He had one more important task for me. He told me how proud he was that I was his son and had become a minister and was equally proud of my brother and sister. Then, “Take care of your mother!” I responded, “You got it dad, thank you for everything, I love you, it will be my honor.”
Men, women and children - our influence begins at home. Joshua took responsibility for the care of his family which included their physical welfare and spiritual life. Joshua’s leadership of his family was more important than his leadership of the country of Israel. It may not have to be said but after our love for God, our family comes first and the greater community and everyone benefits. When leaders place their job or their communities first, both their families and communities suffer. Starting at home is always the key to affecting others and the world in a positive way. Joshua and my father had their priorities straight and I am blessed. May God be with you and all Fathers as we remember and give thanks for God our Heavenly Father’s presence and our dads on this special day!
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether God whom your fathers and mothers served on the other side of the River or the gods of Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
PRAYERS FOR JUNE 2022…
Prayers of thanks…
“Gracious Lord, you have entrusted to us the precious gift of our children who are loved by you and redeemed by Jesus Christ. May we who are washed in Baptisms’ waters earnestly strive to follow the instruction of your Word and help them know and love you, most holy God. Give to our children healthy bodies, believing hearts and a hunger to walk in your footsteps. Give us grace that we may set an example for them in our words and actions and daily living. Protect them from danger and Satan’s lies. May your Spirit guide and lead them to find a home with you forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
+ We are thankful …
Celebrate Kaneland high school graduate, Ms. Anna Olp, daughter of Jamie Stoker and Gordon Olp, granddaughter of Sandi and Ray Kepka
+ May God bless the celebration of marriage of Bobby Wilgus and Reagan Maly on June 25.
+ May God bless the baptism of Ethan James Villanueva Kotalik son of Michael and Tara Kotalik on June 18th.
+ We are thankful for the lives of children and teachers and the year completed. May our schools and churches become safe places where children can learn without fear.
+ We are thankful for the life of Rick Stahl, a loving spouse, father, grandfather and good friend. Like his dad, Butch, Rick was a pilot. He traveled the world and never knew a stranger. May God comfort his spouse Rebecca (Becky), children Jennifer (Chris) Richardson and Emily (Bobby) Cuddy, his mother and father, Etta (Webber) and Everett “Butch” Stahl, grandchildren, family and friends.
+ We are thankful for the life of Dr. Barbara Dellenback, she practiced medicine in St, Charles, loved her family, her patients, animals and helping people and was very generous. May God comfort her family, brother Bill Dellenback, nieces Lori (John) Carey, Jeanne (Doug) Skelton, Karen (Steve) Erhart and friends
Prayers of Healing, Strength, Comfort and Faith…
+ a friend receiving chemo and is getting better.
+ a friend on dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant.
+ a daughter healing from an infection and receiving chemo treatments for cancer.
+ for Gene and Grace, we are thankful for every day!
+ for a friends battling dementia and their support team!
+ thank you for healing from a friend’s bout with Covid.
+ patience for a friend recovering from an accident.
+ For God bless our marriages.
Prayers for the people of Ukraine…
+ May God be with the people of Ukraine granting courage, strength and the will to defend their homeland. Help the world unite in their support that all people may live with one another in peace. Be with President Biden and the leaders of the nations, the United Nations as they work together and we pray for peace.
Prayer for the innocent children, teachers and families of Uvalde, TX.... we are called to pray...
May God comfort the people of Uvalde, Texas as all Americans join in morning their loss. As we look at the bright faces in the photographs of the children. We see the bright faces of our children and grandchildren, students attending school and Sunday School, Confirmation and worship. They had futures and sang songs and told jokes and read books and played and loved and deserved the chance to grow up and live. May we, America, now work together and make bold new decisions to prioritize the safety of every child. May God welcome them to heaven with their angels and embrace their families in his arms of love as they must mourn their passing while here on earth. Grant faith to believe the crucified and suffering Jesus is our brother as he helps to carry this pain and sorrow. Help us when faith waivers in the face of things we cannot understand to trust in your never failing love and your spirits abiding presence. Help us raise our eyes and prayers to heaven for you are our strength and our redeemer and where help is found as we grieve and press on toward that new Kingdom to which you are calling us. In Christ our Lord, Amen.
Thank you for gifts to help the people of Ukraine given through Lutheran World Relief...
To: Pastor Dave and the people of Our Savior’s,
Thank you for sharing your love and generosity with our neighbors in Ukraine. You are bringing hope in the form of cash assistance, food, medical supplies, quilts and gifts. Please look for email updates from me and I look forward to continuing our partnership into God’s promised future.
Grace and Peace,
Rev. Tim Krick
A prayer for Pentecost…
We celebrate the festival of Pentecost June 4th and 5th with worship Saturday night at 5:30 and Sunday at 9:30 and on the Good News Broadcast.
We pray “Come, O Holy Spirit come” fill your Church on earth pouring out your love, strength and justice that we may conquer the hatred of this world and the sinful wickedness of people. Make all things new in our lives as we take up our commission to bring your love to the world in caring service. Then raise me and all believers to our eternal home, in Jesus name, I offer this prayer.
Thank you Char and Lynn Christian… For your donation of great Christian books for O.S. Library
Char and Lynn Christian donated some wonderful books to the Our Savior’s library. Subjects include daily women’s and men’s devotions, living a joyful Christian life, Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Maury”, Max Lucado’s “Traveling Light”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “The Cost of Discipleship” and more. Stop in, we’ll show them to you and get you checked out for 2 weeks of great reading. What a rich source of spiritual strength and faith in this time of challenge!
Sunday School Thank you…
Thank you Sunday School leadership team, teachers and students…for a great year of learning in Christ centered and student friendly workshops. We had an amazing year together.
You shared the gospel of God’s love in weekly onsite classes helping faith to grow and passing on to each child the basics of our faith with a warm welcoming spirit in Covid’s shadow. The stories of “the Good Samaritan, won’t you be my neighbor?”, “Resurrection Revealed, seen in Easter’s symbols”, “The Missionary journeys of St. Paul, believers, you’ve got mail.” were communicated in hands on workshops of Cooking foods, Playing games, Art, Bible stories and video and presented with love, faith knowledge and smiles. Thank you for your preparation and prayers and being here for us and with us, Joan Kaul, Sharon Beverage, Cindy Fraser, Beth Butler, Bill Brubaker, Elly and Mel Goldstein, Allison Swanson, Kristina and Eva Cutsinger. Classes begin next fall on the Sunday after the Sandwich Fair. The Sunday School and Our Saviors family invite and encourage children of all ages to worship on site or on line watching the “Good News” broadcast.
Worship Broadcasts of some good news...
What happened to Our Savior’s Good News Broadcast of May 24 shall forever remain a mystery. The recording said “Live” but never posted to the O.S. Facebook page. A short, test follow up broadcast looked like an old Godzilla movie with actors’ lips moving and the audio out of sync and arriving several seconds later! We went to work to discover it was a onetime Facebook issue. You may choose to worship in person Saturday night at 5:30 or Sunday Morning at 9:30. Thank you! It was very affirming to hear how much you appreciate receiving this broadcast at home. The live “good news” broadcast with everyone sharing together in the 9:30 worship hour is super and a great outreach. But until we find a better Wi-Fi provider than unreliable Frontier, we will record the Saturday night 5:30 worship, and then post it for home worship on Sunday morning. Pray that God will lead us to a new Wi-Fi provider! Techies assemble!
Coffee hour... Sundays following 9:30 worship -
Stop in to say hello after Sunday 9:30 worship and enjoy some coffee/juice and a bite of sweetness and warm conversation in the dining hall.
Our Savior’s loves and lives by the power of the Holy Spirit and our many important volunteers!“Make me a servant of your peace” is our prayer this summer. We want church to be a refuge and safe place of healing. You can help us by volunteering. Below find a list of needed volunteers:
Please specify your preferred day/service.
Important Note – Your preferences will be noted and respected when scheduling!
**Worship Assistant
__ Sat, 5:30 PM -or- __ Sun, 9:30 AM
__ Greeter
__ Usher
__ Reader
__ Communion Assistant …… please specify …..
__ Distribute elements - wine, juice, (or wafers,
if necessary)
__ Collect Communion cups
__ Altar Team, help set up Holy Communion
__ Operate sound System/Project worship service
__ Count Offering
__ Provide Altar flowers
**Christian Education (beginning in September)
__ Sunday School Teacher/Presenter/Shepherd
__ Planning Sunday School Workshops
__ Substitute teacher
__ Confirmation mentor
**Office Help
__ Help assemble monthly Lightshine newsletter
**Property Care
__ Trim Bushes & Weed Team, Yard clean up
__ Adopt an Island
**Carry Out Chicken BBQ/Auction Team (Aug 13)
__ Worker for Carry Out or Auction Team
**Live Nativity- December
__ Publicity
__ Help with Costumes
__ Sight/Sound music preparation
__ Cast member
Please e-mail your response or any questions to
oursaviorssandwich@gmail.com, 815-786-6406
Our Savior’s Carry Out Chicken BBQ is August 13th!
Would you help your church to sell tickets, prepare and serve and enjoy
this delicious meal that is needed along with your weekly offering gifts to the
building fund to help pay the monthly mortgage!
Donate an auction item or two for our fall e-mail auction.
We want to include a list of your auction items, gift cards and services
with each carry out meal served on August 13th
Sign up or e-mail us to volunteer and give your auction item. Thanks!