From Pastor's Desk
Lately, I have been talking about Jewish Holidays in my newsletters. God prescribes many religious Holidays for the people of Israel in the Bible. Today I want to talk about Purim. Although Purim is not as important a holiday as other days we have discussed, it is still Biblical. Purim is celebrated annually on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar (typically in March). The Day celebrates when Esther saved her people while they were living under the Persian Empire. We find out in her own Book of the Bible that Esther is a Jewish Girl. She is made a wife of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) after he has a falling out with his wife Vashti. This probably happened around 478 B.C. I want to give a short outline to Esther. First in the early section of the book there is a sense that the lives of Jews are in danger (1:1-5:14). During these verses Queen Vashi is replaced by Esther. Then there is a report by Mordecai. He is an older Cousin/father figure to Esther. He discovers assassination plot against Ahasuerus and tells Esther of it. Haman asks permission of the king to kill the Jews since Jews (Mordecai) were not bowing to him. King issues a degree. Mordecai talks to Esther to convince her to go before king. Mordecai says this to Esther in 4:14: "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" She goes before the King. The plan gets found out and Haman is revealed as wicked. Mordecai is made an important official. A lot happens in the book and I encourage every Christian to read the book. It’s probably the closest the Bible gets to a spy novel or movie. The holiday of Purim itself is established in the book in 9:20-23. The fun thing about the holiday is the book of Esther is read in public and their actions for the audience who is listening. When Esther’s name is said, you supposed to “ah”. When Mordecai’s name is said, you are supposed to cheer. And when Haman’s name is said, the listeners are supposed to BOO! Apparently, it’s a fun holiday with drinking and dressing up and Jews still celebrated to this day. What does Purim or the life of Esther have to say to us? First, we to should not bow before paganism nor treat Government as a God. Second that God has in a certain time in certain roles to do our duties. We might not know what important roles God has planned out for us.
The Defiance/Napoleon Zone’s LWML Fall Retreat
The Defiance/Napoleon Zones' LWML Fall Retreat will be held Saturday, September 16 th at St. John Lutheran Church Family Center at the corner of 6 & 66 South of Archbold from 9 am to 1:30 pm with registration starting at 8:30 am. The theme is "Serve the Lord with Gladness". The $ 15.00 registration fee for the retreat includes the lunch. Free childcare is provided. Watch for more information in future bulletins and registration forms on the narthex bulletin board. This year rather than having a guest speaker a Servant Event Day will take place in the forenoon and a Prayer Walk in the afternoon. Servant event activities will be assembling layettes for World Relief, assembling hygiene kits for Orphan Grain Train (supplies except for the bath towels will be purchased with a Thrivent Action Team Card), signing cards for Phil's Friends and items for House of Ruth. The ingathering is new bath towels, preferably dark colored, to complete the hygiene kits for Orphan Grain Train. The towels can be brought to the church and placed in the designated box in the narthex or brought to the retreat.
A Peek from Preschool
Thank you to all our volunteers and families who attended our Preschool Carnival. We were able to raise $75 towards our St. Jude Children's Hospital lemonade stand challenge and we are still accepting donations until the end of July. Thanks for helping us support a great cause and our event was another huge success! We also look forward to our upcoming Open House and Registration night on Tuesday, August 8 from 5:00-6:30 pm. Families are invited to come meet the teachers, visit the classroom and receive important information for the upcoming school year. Our 1st day of Preschool is on Monday, August 28 and we look forward to another amazing school year!! Mrs. Arce
