The Wonder of Being Loved - First Lutheran Church of Sioux Falls

Mission Statement
First Lutheran Church
welcomes all people into the
community of Jesus Christ,
equipping and sending them
forth to serve and witness
in Jesus’ name.
Guiding Principles
We are grounded in the great
commandment of Jesus.
(Matthew 22:34–40)
We are grounded in the great
commission of Jesus.
(Matthew 28:16–20)
We are committed to welcome
and minister to all people.
We are committed to equipping
people for ministry.
We are committed to service in
our community and world.
We are committed to a ministry of
relationship building.
We are committed to our heritage
and identity as a reforming church.
We are committed to excellence
in broadcast ministry.
Worship Services
Saturday (Christ the Victor Chapel)
5 p.m. Vespers with Communion
Sunday (Sanctuary)
8:15 a.m. Traditional Worship with
Communion
9:45 a.m. Traditional Worship
11:15 a.m. Contemporary Worship
12 p.m. Worship in an African
Context (Chapel)
Every third Sunday of the month at
11 a.m. a healing service takes place in
the chapel.
Media Ministry Broadcasts
8:15 a.m. KELO-FM Radio (92.5)
11 a.m. KSFY-13 (Sioux Falls Cable
7), KPRY-4 (Pierre) and
KABY-9 (Aberdeen)
First Word is the monthly newspaper of
First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, S.D. It is
distributed to members of the congregation
and others upon request.
If you have material for First Word, please
contact the editor, Kerrie Vilhauer, or a
member of the First Lutheran Church
pastoral or program staff (see staff listing on
page 3).
Opinions expressed in First Word are those
of the author and are not necessarily shared
by the First Lutheran Church congregation
or staff. The editors of First Word reserve the
right to edit submissions. Responses are
welcome.
The deadline for articles for the March issue
is Monday, Feb. 9, by 12 p.m. Please e-mail
articles or questions regarding First Word
to: kvilhauer@flcsf.org. First Word is also
available online (www.flcsf.org).
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the
midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents yet
gentle as doves.”
–Matthew 10:16
By Pastor John Christopherson
Perhaps more than any other time in
our history, 21st century Christians in
America should pay
“careful” attention
to this categorical
imperative of Jesus
in the 10th chapter
of Matthew—as
he serves a toughminded
but
humble warning to
John
disciples of every
age. Materialistic
idolatry seemingly
Christopherson
has us cornered in recessive and
depressive kinds of thinking. Increasing
religious pluralism tempts us into
thinking “all roads lead to the top of
Mt. Fuji” and thus Christianity is but
one among all the other religions of
the world. They’re all the same. Right?
And evangelism …? What’s that about?
(Muslims sure know. Two new mosques
are being built in Sioux Falls as I write
this little pre-flection for 2009.) …
“Tolerance” is so broadly defined as to
imply “anything goes” (well, as long as
you don’t hurt anyone else). And for fear
of being arrested by the “thought police”
of secularism, the church has become the
silent minority where moral absolutes are
only “good” on Sunday morning (at least
for the few who take time to worship
and study what God’s Word has to say).
These are defining times.
Listen to these defining, guiding
words from the days of the early church
written nearly a century after Jesus:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God; for many false prophets
have gone out into the world. By this
you know the Spirit of God: every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is of God …”
(1 John 4:1–2). How then ought we
to live? What is our foundation for
ethical decision-making? There’s so
much ambiguity! These are defining
times.
* * *
Between services, on the Sunday
Pastor John Christopherson
announced that gifts had been
received to cover the cost of a fullpage,
full-color newspaper ad listing
the Christmas services at ELCA
churches and to fund the color printing
of the First Word in 2009.
President Eric Severson reported
that Mark Smith, a structural engineer,
examined the roof in the sanctuary
in order to evaluate whether it could
support the additional weight of
gypsum board to improve acoustics; he
determined that it could not.
President Severson announced
that a Project Task Force, with Steve
Larson as coordinator, is being formed
to gather information and to make
recommendations on the scope of the
renovations included in a possible
Capital Campaign. He asked each
board to nominate someone to serve
prior to Christmas, a young newsman
from KELO-TV asked if he could have
a couple minutes with me to ask some
questions. His litany began … “How
has the recession affected the church?
How will cut-backs in church budgets
affect increasing poverty? Do you expect
offerings at Christmas to be down?” My
responses were those of how the church
can affect the recession (not vice versa),
and how most churches I was aware
of in Sioux Falls were “up” in budgets,
with “great expectations” as our very
existence is to help those in need—
especially with the reminder once again
of “love came down at Christmas, not
the DOW.” Well, the little “interview”
never aired. Supposedly a town fire
in Iowa caught more attention. “And
besides, Pastor John, we were looking for
more of a recession message.” Hmmm?!
Defining times.
* * *
On the “first [or was it the second]
day of Christmas” I finally got around to
finishing Stephen Ambrose’s bestseller,
Undaunted Courage. About a third of
the way in, he describes the pivotal day
when the famous explorers Lewis and
Clark and their tiny band of explorers
sent their large keel boat back down
the river to St. Louis. The boat had
carried all of their supplies, weapons and
Church Council Highlights: Dec. 18, 2008
on the task force, which will meet
every other week for approximately
four months.
First Lutheran members Bob
Lommen, Morris Magnuson and
Norm Ekeland, accompanied by
Bob Perkins of Automatic Security,
came before the council to present a
proposal from the Board for Property
and Administrative Services for the
addition of a fire detection system
in the sanctuary. They reported that
the volunteers had discussed fire
detection with representatives of the
fire department and that the Property
Board had requested a cost estimate
for the project from GF Electric Inc.,
which totaled $35,709.02. Bob Perkins
described the smoke detection system
as it might be installed in the sanctuary
and explained how it would function.
Questions about the later addition of
First Word • February 2009
Defining Times–A Pre-flection for 2009
It is in these
defining times,
that God’s Spirit is
calling us to rise to the
challenges of this new year—
“being wise as serpents yet
gentle as doves” …
sharing the very best of
our gifts as a
Welcoming Home
in the Heart of
Sioux Falls and beyond.
ammunition. It had served as a secure
refuge from attack. Now it was gone and
they were headed west toward the Pacific
Ocean, alone. Lewis sat in his buffaloskin
tepee late at night and entered these
words in his journal:
We were now about to penetrate a
country at least 2,000 miles in width,
on which the foot of civilized men had
never trodden … The picture which
now presented itself to me was a most
pleasing one, entertaining as I do, the
most confident hope of succeeding in a
voyage which had formed [a calling for
me] for the past ten years. I could but
esteem this moment of my departure
as among the most happy in my life.
It seems to me that Lewis should
have been scared to death. He had just
watched all visible means of support and
sustenance, all security, all contact with
the “outside world” sail down river. And
yet, he called it the happiest day of his
life. It’s almost as if he knew it was his
defining moment—the convergence of
his particular gifts with a challenge that
required the very best of those gifts.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters of First
Lutheran Church: so it is in these
defining times, that God’s Spirit is
calling us to rise to the challenges of
this new year—“being wise as serpents
yet gentle as doves” … sharing the very
best of our gifts as a Welcoming Home
in the Heart of Sioux Falls and beyond
… Will we be at regular worship? Will
we be in daily prayer and read the Bible?
Will we grow into the wisdom of St.
Augustine’s dictum of “faith seeking
ever deeper understanding” through
the many excellent children, youth and
adult Christian education offerings? Will
we be faithful in financially supporting
the various ministry and mission needs
by a strong tithe or pledge? Will we
share our talents in volunteering? As we
move into this new year, the answer to
these questions will be most telling … of
whether the times will define us (as the
church) or whether we (as the church),
by God’s grace, will define the times.
In Christ-defining-times,
j.r. christopherson
Senior Pastor
a fire suppression system and liability
and insurance coverage were discussed.
A motion was made that the proposal
for a fire detection system considered
by the Property Board and presented
to the council by Bob Lommen, Norm
Ekeland, and Morris Magnuson (based
on the bid proposal) be approved,
subject to all outstanding issues
regarding final design, liability, and the
participation of the volunteers being
approved by the Executive Committee
in consultation with Steve Larson.
The motion was seconded and passed
unanimously.
A request from Bishop David
Zellmer to support Campus Ministry
at South Dakota State University
was announced. John Kittelson
reported that the Board for Outreach
Ministries had approved a $1,000
donation.
First Lutheran Church • 327 S. Dakota Ave. • Sioux Falls, South Dakota • Phone (605) 336-3734 • Fax: (605) 336-8370 • www.flcsf.org