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Sylvania Weather:
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Pray for:
Our schools that they may be
safe and secure and provide an environment where truth is taught.
For teachers, principals, maintenance
people, and counselors that they may be dedicated to teaching
caring for the children in their schools.
For our local public servants,
especially our police, firemen, and emergency response teams.
May they be safe as they serve the community.
For everyone in our community
that each home would experience joy, peace, and a relationship
with Christ.
Prayer Page at elca.org |
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Spiritual Gifts:
"A spiritual
gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the church."
1 Corinthians 12:7
Online spiritual gift inventories:
ELCA.org/
www.nisbett.com/sgifts |
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 Greetings!
What a joy it is to greet you in the name
of Jesus Christ! We, the community of faith at St. Stephen Lutheran
Church extend an invitation for you to come and see how we worship
and serve God. If you are already participating and serving God
through another congregation, we rejoice with you. If you are
searching for a deeper meaning of life and want to grow together
in faith, please join us for worship, Bible study, fellowship
and friendship. The journey of life, while never easy, is more
manageable when lived in community and in the awareness that
God loves, forgives and saves us from our sins. At St. Stephen
we find strength, encouragement, and purpose in serving Christ
while growing together through our worship of God and serving
others. We echo Jesus' words to his first followers when he said,
"Come, follow me."
Yours in Christ,
Pastor James W. Wicker
St. Stephen Vision Statement: St. Stephen is an active Christian community
seeking to glorify God by serving others. We foster an open and
loving environment where people grow closer to Christ and are
inspired to share His love with everyone.
St. Stephens Guiding Principles:
- All are welcomed and embraced
- Worship and prayer are the foundations
of our ministry
- We support each other through
the strength of our fellowship
- Christ centered activities ensure
spiritual growth
- Using our God given gifts, we
serve others
Who are Lutherans?
Lutherans are Evangelical,
and, as forgiven people, reach out to share the message of God's
grace. Lutherans try to look beyond themselves to bring the gospel,
or Good News, to community life with people of other faiths and
those of no faith.
Lutherans, like other Christians,
baptize infants, believing that God works grace in them. We believe
that every day and in every act of serious return to God, we
are returning to our baptism. Therefore, we are "born again"
- and again and again.
Lutherans worship, not as a pastor's
performance, but as a people's service. We are sacramental. Along
with Baptism, we celebrate the Eucharist (or Lord's Supper or
Holy Communion) frequently. At St. Stephen we celebrate Holy
Communion weekly at all services. We believe that Christ is truly
present when we gather in faith for this sacred meal.
Lutherans believe that all of
life and health, possessions and capabilities are on loan from
God. We are merely stewards of His gifts. We keep on learning
how to return on God's investment to us.
Lutherans believe that we are
a priesthood of all believers". Each one of us is a minister.
Lay people, in teamwork with pastors, take the initiative to
help see that Christ is represented among us and in our communities.
Our Logo... What does it mean?
As we look at the logo,
we see arms thrown open wide in welcome. St. Stephen Lutheran
Church is a welcoming community. The same arms and hands are
extended in invitation. St. Stephen people are meant to be disciples
&inviting others to come in and hear the Good News. "Simon
Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words
of eternal life. We have come to believe that you are the Holy
One of God.' " (John 6:68-69)
In the corner above the welcoming
figure is an indication of the Spirit, coming to us, "If
you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the
Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you
forever." (John 14:15-16) The Spirit is also being released
into the community, "Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) This same
portion of the logo represents the Light, "The Lord is my
light and my salvation" (Psalm 27:1), "As long as I
am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:5)
We have the gift of Light bringing us enlightenment (knowing
God's Word), delight (joy in serving Christ), and lightness (His
abiding presence.)
The colors are fresh, new and
contemporary with the yellow emphasizes the Spirit and Light.
We at St. Stephen are a community
of faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit to reflect the light of
Christ in our lives. Doing so will attract the lost in our community
so that we may welcome them to hear the Good News and lead them
to a life of discipleship.
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Pastor Jim Wicker directly: RevJimW at
Bex dot net
Susan, Secretary at St. Stephen:
SSLCSecretary at Buckeye-Express dot com
substitute [@] for "at" and [.]
for "dot" ------ email is written out to cut down
on spam mail |
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