"SHARING THE RISEN CHRIST TO ALL GENERATIONS"     

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                                    9:30am Sunday Worship          10:45am Bible Study following worship
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                        Pastoral Care: Pastor James Peter
​                        Lay Leader: Doug Taylor
                      Church Phone: 440.236.8900
                              Church Email: hosannalutheran1@windstream.net  


Simplistic and Modest

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Luke 6:20 (NRSV)

Jesus has a remarkable way of turning established values upside down. He calls into question things that would have been universally seen as good and desirable. And as he does, he invites us to look at them with fresh eyes.

The Lord wants you to know that life in his Kingdom is more real and substantial than the circumstances and challenges you face. He wants you to know that you have an identity that transcends your bank account or list of followers. In fact, according to Jesus, you can be poor and destitute and yet live this very moment as an inheritor of God’s kingdom.

Do we actually believe this?

If you live in the developed West, by historic standards you are incredibly wealthy. It is ironic then to consider how deeply we fear the loss of wealth and devote so much of our time to the pursuit of greater and greater affluence. Yet we often fail to realize how this pursuit is significantly shaping and forming us as human beings. This way of living can make us inward focused, self-absorbed people who miss God’s invitation to live in freedom and give ourselves away for the sake of others.

A significant leader in the early church, St. John Chrysostom, once said, “luxury often leads to forgetfulness.” How true this is! We can forget others and their needs. We can forget our own need for God. And we can forget that luxury is here today and gone tomorrow. To put our hopes and dreams in comfort and affluence is to look at a way that ultimately leads to death and to call it the way of life.

On the other hand, Jesus invites us to join him in the way of life even when it is hard and you are filled with pain and doubt. He wants you to know that there is always a way forward in which your fears and sorrows do not have to define you or derail your faith. Because we are loved and known by God, we are set free from the love of wealth and the endless pursuit of affluence.

Learn afresh the joy that comes from celebrating simplicity and modesty! It turns you outward from your own obsession with self and liberates you to freely give your time, talent, and treasure for the sake of Christ and his Kingdom!

​​Not Our Own (Romans 12:1)
We must regard our own bodies, then, as a sacred stewardship with which God has entrusted us. They are a part of the capital he has placed in our hands for investment. He expects us to make the most of them, to protect, preserve, develop, and use them, producing returns on this capital for the benefit of ourselves, our fellow men, and our divine master. Our bodies are not our own, to use as we please; to pamper, indulge, mistreat, neglect, overwork, destroy; they belong to God as a wise part of his creation, and are held by us in trust for his wise purposes.
—Luther E. Lovejoy (1864–1936)


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LINKS

HARP Mission www.facebook.com/harpmission
www.harpcaldwell.org

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod  http://www.lcms.org
Ohio District, LCMS http://oh.lcms.org/
Thrivent Financial  http://www.thrivent.com

LCMS Foundation  http://www.lcmsfoundation.org/

Our Daily Rest - Cultivating a lifestyle of restfulness and renewal    http://ourdailyrest.net/. 

Life Around the Coffee Cup - Encouragement to fuel the journey -
: http://www.leahheffner.com/ 
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Lutheran Hour Ministries  http://www.lhm.org

 DAILY BIBLE VERSE

HOSANNA BIBLE STUDIES

 SUNDAY WORSHIP BIBLE STUDY
  You're invited to join in on a weekly Bible study at 10:45 after morning worship. We are now in the book of 1 Samuel.


CHILDREN'S BIBLE CLASS
  10:45 am after worship
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 MEN’S SATURDAY MORNING
BIBLE STUDY 
Our Men's Bible Study will meet in January on the Saturday the 19th at 7:30am in
the upstairs conference room . We meet on the third Saturday of every month and will be studying God's message that he will be know by all people found in the book of Ezekiel. Bring your coffee - donuts or coffeecake usually find their way to the table! We look forward to seeing you -

WEEKLY AFTERNOON BIBLE STUDY
The Bible studies that meet during the week will not meet again until January. Watch this page for information on when they will resume.