Epiphany Lutheran Church

Just a reminder that we'd love for you to join us for worship tomorrow morning at 9:30 am. We have a very special baptism - the Belfield's granddaughter - so we invite you to be a part of the service - https://epiphanylutheran.online.church/

Church keeps going after Easter? Check out what’s coming up!

A Jason Bourne Easter - This week’s blog. There are things that will change us for a while and things that will change us forever. For example, I’ve jumped out of an airplane, gone to the Indy 500, and ran on the same track as Steve Prefontaine. These were all really cool moments, but their impact wore off shortly after they happened. Now they are little more than stories that I can tell or memories that I can share with someone who may have done the same thing. These are no...t identity changers. Becoming a parent, taking an oath, or even a tragedy are moments that change us forever. Which category does our faith fall in? This past Sunday we celebrated Easter. Sure, it wasn't an Easter like 2019 or years prior, but it was a vast improvement over Easter 2020. We squeezed as many folks as we safely could into our sanctuary, and we heard again a story that we know so well. This guy who was brutally beaten and killed has come back from the grave. He isn’t a zombie or some other sort of weird thing, he is alive! He can be seen, touched, and he even eats! It’s a story that most church folks know very well, but does it change us forever or is it just a moment that quickly fades after we leave the church? I hope Easter and our faith are on the same plane, or even more important than those events that change us forever. They can easily fade into the background and become something that we take for granted, but I hope our faith changes us so much that it becomes our new identity. Yes, we may turn to God more when things are tough than when life is going well, but hopefully that reveals to us the foundation on which we have built our lives. When the road becomes tough, we turn to that thing that has changed us forever, the promise that death (or hardship, or loss, or anything else that might rock us) is never the end, but the best is yet to come. Of all the things that change us forever, none is greater than this. Thanks be to God. Grace and Peace, Pastor Chris

Please check out the Southeastern Synod's new website and their Vision video!

He is Risen! He is risen indeed! Happy Easter! https://youtu.be/KdbpLe6A0rc

Join us to discuss the possibilities of evangelism in the Southeastern Synod and beyond! Sign up here (or at elca-ses.org): https://se-reg.brtapp.com/Evangelism...ListeningPost Two opportunities: Thursday, January 28, 2021 - 7pm EST / 6pm CST Sunday, January 31, 2021 - 3pm EST / 2pm CST In Christ, Pr. Patti Axel - Assistant to the Bishop and Director for Evangelical Mission

Check out what’s coming up!

Follow Through - This week’s blog. We’ve been a two-dog family for a few months now. For the most part the new dog sleeps downstairs in a crate, but somewhere I heard or read about the benefits of letting your dog sleep in your room. (I wonder if I was getting punked here.) So, we started letting her stay in our room once in a while and to say it’s been an adventure is an understatement. She moves throughout the night like a young child, she likes to burrow under the cover...Continue reading

Lord, in your mercy -

How do we build and maintain community at Epiphany when we're all separated? We learn each other's stories! We started Church Chat so we can get to know more about our Epiphany family members and maintain that community we all love. This week we hear from Cori Snyder. Cori is a Music Therapist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Hear about how music can help individuals dealing with a variety of challenges to recover and heal. Not only is Cori incredibly smart, but she is using her career to help others and make a difference. This is a chat not to be missed! Join us at https://epiphanylutheran.online.church/

Some cool new things coming up at church! Check out the link for more info!

Be courageous enough to have some skin in the game... Today's message from Kris Perkola is a good one - https://youtu.be/ZGaDmDwSBJk

Finding Joy in a Garmin Watch - This week’s blog. For Christmas my son got one of those GPS watches that he now uses to track his runs. It links to his phone and a couple of apps that I’ve heard are almost as addicting as other social media platforms. Apparently, you can connect with other runners and compare your runs, times, etc. Shortly after January 1st he got a notification congratulating him on not letting 2020 get the best of him! He got that watch less than a week be...fore the year ended. It was a moderately elaborate video, full of info and graphics, and at the end it showed his run totals for the year, a total of 4 runs. We laughed about that but he, and all of us, might need a little encouragement from time to time, even if he/we only ran 4 out of 365 days. At Epiphany we have this tradition with our middle school youth where we go around as a group and say three things we like about every person there. When we have a bigger group, it can take some time but it’s always worth it. Sometimes you can tell it’s awkward for the student (or the adults - we affirm them too) to hear and receive these kind words said about them. How tragic is that?!? How is it that we struggle to hear others share what they admire about us or the good they see in us? It shouldn’t be this way and that’s why, even if it takes almost an hour, we always do our best to make sure we include this every time we meet. Not only is it okay to celebrate when things go well, but our souls need it. There is at least one story in the Bible where the disciples actually do well. Jesus sends them out to do ministry and when they return, they tell Jesus about everything that they had done and how successful they were. They say, Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us! In the Bible, the disciples look bad - a lot - so it’s nice to see them do well. What are the things that you can celebrate about yourself and the good that you’ve committed your life to? It’s been rough for a while, so we need those victories and celebrations now more than ever, even if it was only 4 runs over the entire year! In the story of creation when God creates people, God calls that part of creation very good. That is how God sees us. Do we see ourselves the same way? As we celebrate the promise of a new year, take a moment to reflect back on yourself and your accomplishments. This isn’t an everyone-gets-a-trophy sort-of thing; this is an our-souls-are-weary-and-they-need-this sort-of thing! What can you celebrate? How has God worked through you to make a difference or help someone in need? There is more good out there than bad. It’s okay to celebrate that from time to time, especially right now. Grace and Peace, Pastor Chris

What is the meaning or significance of Epiphany? Watch our 9:30 am worship service to find out - https://youtu.be/6UB_8QzgqIs

Join us for our Sunday worship services tomorrow - you can watch the live stream of our 9:30 am service at https://epiphanylutheran.online.church/

Happy New Year! We hope you join us for worship tomorrow morning at 9:30 am - https://epiphanylutheran.online.church/. Reminder that there's no online Faith Formation tomorrow and that our 8:30 parking lot service is no longer weather-permitting since we have the FM transmitter which allows you to listen to the service inside your car.

Reminder that we don't have a Wednesday night worship service tonight. Read today's email newsletter - something new coming soon!Reminder that we don't have a Wednesday night worship service tonight. Read today's email newsletter - something new coming soon!