COVID19 Notification - November 23, 2020

November 26, 2020

Dear Friends of the Milton Lutheran Parish,

I hope you are all doing well! As we check in with one another for another week, I wanted to continue our conversation about the fruits of the spirit. Paul writes in Galatians 5:22-26, “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.   Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

This week we are looking at peace. In the midst of yet another spike in Covid-19 cases across our country, I pray that we all find some peace. The holiday season is shaping up to be different from any other time before it. We are not able to gather the way we want to. We are being forced to keep our distance from those we love. We are traveling less, and our sense of fear and frustration grows. But despite all of that, we know that in order for the Spirit to move in our lives and produce good fruit that we must find peace. Let us find peace in God’s love, let us find peace in celebrating the blessings that we do have, let us find peace by being thankful. 

By now you should have received a notification that our in-person worship service has been suspended for the next two weeks due to a Covid-19 exposure. Even though we will not be able to worship in person we will still be gathering online. The worship video will be made available Sunday morning. 

This Sunday also marks the beginning of Advent. As we enter this time of anticipation and hope we do so with a worship series based on the book, “Love is the Way” by Bishop Michael Curry. Each week we will spend some time talking about how we experience God’s love and how we share it with others. I want to encourage you to purchase the book, if you have not already, so you can participate fully. You can contact Donna at the Parish office at 570-742-4601, and she can make sure you get a copy. If you don’t have the book you can still participate by attending online worship and our weekly bible study. 

We also have three online small groups that are meeting each week to dig deeper into the book. You are invited to join the small groups through Zoom either by your computer or by calling in with your phone. Download the series schedule here.

As always, if you need anything please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. 

Many Blessings,

Gary