Living Faith Church, Cape Coral, FL www.livingfaithcapecoral.com f aithbo ok Spring2014 PASTOR PAT’S POST Dear friends in Christ, In that brief salutation are two words that give us great comfort, “in Christ”. As Christians, we are hidden in Him. As Christians, we are not defined by what we do but by Jesus and what He has done. Paul said it this way: " “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy". In our fast paced and driven world, we so easily find our value in what we accomplish, what work we do, what we accumulate, what plans we have, etc. But as Christians, whenever we hear those two little words, “in Christ”, we remember and are encouraged to know that He is our identity, our comfort, our security, our future and more. In Christ, Pastor Pat Page 2 For the third year, many of us from LFC attended the Liberate conference at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale. It was a time of powerful reminders of God’s awesome ONE WAY LOVE for us! “What though the vile accuser roar of sins that I have done; I know them well, and thousands more, My God He knoweth none.” LFC comes to LIBERATE! ‘You are called what Jesus really is: the righteousness of God, pure, perfect, holy, blameless, child of God, apple of His eye...Jesus is seated by God, on His throne, saying these things about us.” -Justin Holcomb (and there were more!) ‘We suffer from identity amnesia. We forget whose, who and what we are, by God’s grace.” -Paul David Tripp LFC welcomes the CLB! “God is sovereign over every area of our lives. There is no perspiration on the upper lip of our sovereign God.” -Steve Brown “Our brain takes in the Law very well...but it leaks the Gospel.” -Elyse Fitzpatrick "The Gospel doesn't just free me from what people think of me, but also from what I think of me." -Tullian Tchividjian Page 3 Page 4 LFC FINANCIAL UPDATE As of JANUARY 31, 2014 Target 2014 Weekly offering: YTD average Weekly offering: $4,759 $4,375 Weekly shortfall: $(384) The Property and Finance Committee had a busy fall/winter. The highlights are:  Worked with other churches to attain an Institutional Exemption for the City of Cape Coral SW 6 & & Utilities Expansion program. LFC’s annual UEP payment will be $4,447.  Established a credit and debit card system to accept gifts. We can now automatically process your gift monthly, weekly, etc., and you can earn credit card incentive points. (Contact Terrie Hall).  Established a task force to seek solutions to the repeated damages to the projection and sound system. Progress is being made and we should have a proposal to the Elders by the first of March. The Fall Drive contributions totaled $15,835 (!) which allowed us to make up two missed mortgage payments and pay our support to our Synod and local charities. Thank you to our LFC congregation for your faithfulness and generosity!!! -Terrie Hall & Brett McAtee City of Cape Coral Utilities Extension Expense The Good News is that we will be getting city water and sewer at the church! The not-as-Good News is that it’s not free! Annual expenses will begin in November 2014 on the Ad Valorem (property tax) bill. The Extension program is separated into two charges: 1. Line Extension: $3,078/year, 20 year amortization. 2. Capital Facilities Expansion: $1,368.97/year, 6 year amortization. The non-amortized cost of the Capital Facilities Expansion charge is $6,750. If we can pay it in full by July 31, 2014, it will be reduced to $5,400. Savings by prepaying would be: Total payments over 6 years x $1,368.97 = $8,177.82 Prepayment amount = $5,400.00 Prepayment savings = $2,777.82 Prepaying the Capital Facilities Expansion assessment would also reduce our annual expense by $1,368.97 for the initial 6 years of the 20 year program. Please help us raise the $5,400 prepayment by giving a gift to Living Faith Church and designating it for Utilities Extension. Thank you! Page 5 On March 16th the Fellowship Team is planning an All-Church Picnic right after our service. Enjoy an afternoon visiting with friends, meeting new people, and of course eating!! The team will provide the meat and beverages and everyone is asked to bring a side dish. But, the fun part is that we will have Olympic games for the kids, and those young at heart! We also will put our Pastor Pat and his wife, Karla, in a jail cell, and we will see who can raise more money to get out of jail, with the funds going to our water utilities project. We are inviting the Spanish congregation to join us. Make sure to put this date on your calendar today! Can you sing, dance, tell jokes, or have another talent?? Then, you need to sign up for the annual LFC Talent Show! This funfilled event will be held on April 12. Come and share your special gift with all of us!! Even if you just want to watch (and laugh), plan to be there!! We will have pizza at 5:00pm, Talent show at 6:00, and dessert and awards following! We want all of you to share your hidden talents! This is a great time of fellowship! Page 6 Have you noticed the left screen in the sanctuary hasn't been working? I'm sure you have! We were, yet again, hit by lightning this fall. It fried our hanging stage lights, a monitor in the booth, the video recording system, the projectors and a few other things. So please bear with us as we find the best way to get it all fixed. We want to do our best to find the source of the strikes, and have a team assembled to do just that. If you have expertise in any of these areas, please see Kari Turner. We would love to get up and running by Easter, but this equipment is very expensive. Pray the correct decisions are made. Praise God that He doesn't need projectors or equipment to go forth in power and truth! :) -Kari Turner IN CONCERT at LIVING FAITH CHURCH Friday, March 28, 2014 Proceeds to benefit the LFC Equipment Fund –More details to follow Page 7 Soup Suppers and our Lenten Series will begin on Ash Wednesday, March 5th, and will continue for 6 weeks. There will be a sign-up sheet if you are able to help out by bringing soup, dessert or bread. The Fellowship team is also planning a Breakfast for April 20th, Easter Sunday, before the Worship Service. You will be able to sign up soon for what you would like to contribute! The Prayer Team meets after the Service on the North Side of the Sanctuary. What a blessing it is to pray with you and hear how God has answered. It is a privilege to stand with you and call on our Lord Jesus to hear and bless us with his answers. GOD DOES ANSWER PRAYER! “Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers…” Be glad in heart, I'm telling my Father about you! :) Ephesians 1:16 —Tery Dugan Page 8 April 13-20 9:30 am Page 9 I was going through a file and came across this talk on marriage that Garry had written. I don't know when or if He ever had the opportunity to give the sermon. In the light of Valentine's Day; I think all will enjoy it.. —Tery What the Bible says about Marriage . . . by Garry Dugan Gen 2:18-24 Marriage is God's idea Gen 24:58-60 Commitment is essential for successful marriage Song of Songs 4:9,10 Romance is important Jer 23:10,11 Marriage holds times of great joy Mal 2:14,15 Marriage creates the best environment for raising children Mat 5:32 Unfaithfulness breaks the bond of trust, the foundation of all relationships Mat 19:6 Marriage is permanent Rom 7:2,3 Ideally, only death should dissolve Marriage Eph 5:21:33 Marriage is based on the practice of love, not on feelings Eph 5:21:32 Marriage is a living symbol of Christ and the Church Heb 13:4 Marriage is good and honorable Now let's go back to Marriage is based on the practice of love, not on feelings. There are a lot of people around the world today asking what happens to love after marriage? The desire for romantic love in marriage is in our psychological makeup, books, magazines, TV, radio and talk shows deal with keeping love alive in our marriages; it's pretty serious business. How is it that we can read a magazine article on "101 Ways to Express Love to your Spouse", select two or three ways that seem good to us. Try them and our Spouse doesn't even acknowledge our effort? We give up on the other 98 ways and go back to life as usual. We must be willing to learn our Spouse's primary love language if we are to be effective communicators of Love. In the area of Linguistics, there are major language groups; Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, English, German, French and so on. In the area of love it is similar your emotional love language and the language of your spouse may be as different as Chinese is from English. According to the Author Gary Chapman, there are basically 5 emotional Love Languages; five ways that people speak and understand emotional love. As with linguistics, a language may have numerous dialects or variations. The number of ways to express love within a love language is limited only by ones' imagination. The important thing is to speak the love language of your spouse. Once you identify and learn to speak your spouse's primary love language, you have discovered a key to a long lasting loving marriage. The Five Love Languages are: Words of Affirmation; Quality Time; Receiving Gifts; Acts of Service; and Physical Touch. How can we speak each other's love language when we are full of hurt, anger, resentment and our past failures. The answer to that question is the nature of our humanity. We are creatures of choice. The "in-love" experience simply happens in the normal context of male-female relationships. It can not be planned and it does not arrive by choice. It is short lived (usually about two years or less). Meeting your spouse's need for love is a choice that needs to be met everyday. If you know your spouse's primary love language and choose to speak it, their deepest emotional need will be met and they will feel secure in your love. Love is a choice and either partner can start today! Page 10 Rev. Joel Egge, President of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren since 2001, was our guest, along with his wife Barbara, at LFC on Wednesday, February 12. He shared with us the vision of “Lifting Our Eyes” to extend the ministry of the CLB in three areas over the next five years. These slides give an overview of the CLB distinctives, the vision for new ministry, and information on how we can be involved. Watch for more information on this exciting plan! Page 11 If you don’t know what is wrong with this cartoon, you need to come to this Seminar! ESTATE PLANNING SEMINAR at LIVING FAITH CHURCH Friday, March 14 at 7 pm This Seminar is presented by Roy Heggland (Attorney at Law), free of charge, as a service to you from the CHURCH OF THE LUTHERAN BRETHREN. Page 12 LIVING FAITH FAMILY NEWS Welcome to our newest members! Page 13 LIVING FAITH FAMILY NEWS Solomon’s Castle “Fun trip! House looked a bit crumply...like a coke can lol—but SO CREATIVE!” (Paulette) Eric & Gianna Reese “Live...from Bethlehem!” Page 14 1st Saturday of every month 8 am at LFC Followed by 9 holes of Golf! Page 15 Which Season Do You Prefer?