New Year's Update from Pastor John Bombaro
As we kick off 2020, we are sharing updates from the Bombaro and Schultz families - the recipients of this year’s ILS Chapel offerings. Pastor John Bombaro and his family are back in Alexandria, and Pastor Bombaro was our special guest at Chapel this morning. He shared an update on upcoming missionary work in Latvia. (Please forgive the background noise due to the construction work underway on our chancel.) You can also view the latest newsletter from the Bombaro family with more information on their work online.
Learn more about our ILS weekly Chapel Services and 2019-2020 Chapel offerings.
New Year's Update from the Schultz Family
As we kick off 2020, we wanted to share some quick updates from the Schultz and Bombaro families - the recipients of this year’s ILS Chapel offerings. This week, the Schultz family checks in and shares an update from Fort Wayne, where former ILS Upper School teacher Aaron Schultz is pursuing his Master of Divinity at Concordia Theological Seminary.
Learn more about our ILS weekly Chapel Services and 2019-2020 Chapel offerings.
“I’m in my second year of seminary. This April we will find out where we will be going for vicarage. And then sometime in the summer, likely July, we will leave for vicarage. Vicarage will last for a full year, and then we’ll come back to Fort Wayne for me to complete my fourth and final year of seminary. Katie is still at home with our three youngest. We don’t call it “home school”; instead, Benjamin decided to call it, “school home”. So, Katie is doing school-home with Ben, who just turned 5 years old. Benjamin loves art and gymnastics. Canon (7) is still at Redeemer Classical in Fort Wayne. I teach at Redeemer once a week, and I thoroughly enjoy getting to still be in the classroom. Canon, like his father, loves math and is about to start his basketball season. Samuel (2) and Augustine (1) are also home with Katie. Sam lives up to his nickname quite well: Wild Man SamBam. We are currently in the throes of potty training with Sam. Auggie is pulling himself up to a stand and should be walking in no time.”
What Makes a Hymn Good
By Rev’d Christopher Esget, Senior Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church
Recently I made an off-the-cuff remark about a particular hymn: "I know I'm not supposed to like [this hymn], but I do." That led a parishioner to ask me what I meant by that. What makes a hymn bad, or good?
There is a subjective answer; some texts or tunes just resonate with us, or annoy us. At that level there is no bad or good, it's just a taste or style preference.
At another level, though, there are objective qualities to a hymn that we can analyze. Detailing all of those would require a long essay, or even book. But here are some of the things I look for:
Faithful to Scripture
If a text is ambiguous – or worse, teaches something false, that's a problem. On the other hand, if the text helps us understand a truth of Scripture better, that's one good reason to sing it.
An example that comes to mind is the Advent hymn Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending. The second line in the original reads, "Once for favored sinners slain." This suggests that the death of Jesus was only for some people (the favored sinners), and not for all. That's false doctrine. So we can't sing it - unless we alter the text. The version in Lutheran Service Book changes it to "Once for every sinner slain." That accords with the Biblical truth that Jesus died for all sinners, not just some.
A Stone's Throw: January - February Update from Mr. and Mrs. Stone
Responding to a call from the Lutheran Church - Hong Kong Synod, former ILS Manager of Operations, Mrs. Ruth Stone, along with her husband, Lyman, are now serving as missionaries in Hong Kong. Mrs. Stone serves as a missionary and English teaching assistant in a local Lutheran school, and she and Mr. Stone together volunteer their time to support school extracurriculars, church functions and Sunday school classes, Bible study, and evangelism with the Mission of Christ Network.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing regular updates from the Stones as they embark on their work in Hong Kong.
Please join us in praying for Mr. & Mrs. Stone as they live and serve in the Lutheran Church-Hong Kong Synod, and especially the children, faculty, and parents in its’ associated school system.
Sermon: The Marriage of Jason Stegman and Rebekah Reistad
On November 17th, our ILS 2nd grade teacher, Rebekah Reistad, was married to Mr. Jason Stegman at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Pastor Christopher Esget performed the ceremony. Please join us in extending best wishes to Mr. & Mrs. Stegmen!
Pastor Christopher Esget
November 17, 2018
Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Alexandria, Virginia
Jason and Rebekah, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus says to His mother, “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” Jason, don’t try this at home.
It’s not so offensive as it sounds. The language calls to mind the first woman, the mother of all humanity. “Woman” evokes creation.
God’s created order is predicated on self-giving. The world itself is gift to mankind. Man and woman are then made to be dependent on one another. The woman’s life derived from the man’s body. God made her from man’s side, so she is bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. And she in turn would give her body to him. These two, becoming one flesh, giving themselves to each other, find then a third—a child—who receives life from their union.
A Stone's Throw: November Update from Mr. and Mrs. Stone
Responding to a call from the Lutheran Church - Hong Kong Synod, former ILS Manager of Operations, Mrs. Ruth Stone, along with her husband, Lyman, are now serving as missionaries in Hong Kong. Mrs. Stone serves as a missionary and English teaching assistant in a local Lutheran school, and she and Mr. Stone together volunteer their time to support school extracurriculars, church functions and Sunday school classes, Bible study, and evangelism with the Mission of Christ Network.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing regular updates from the Stones as they embark on their work in Hong Kong.
Please join us in praying for Mr. & Mrs. Stone as they live and serve in the Lutheran Church-Hong Kong Synod, and especially the children, faculty, and parents in its’ associated school system.
It is also Mrs. Stone’s birthday this week, so please join with us in wishing a very happy birthday to her!
A Stone's Throw: October Update from Mr. and Mrs. Stone
Responding to a call from the Lutheran Church - Hong Kong Synod, former ILS Manager of Operations, Mrs. Ruth Stone, along with her husband, Lyman, are now serving as missionaries in Hong Kong. Mrs. Stone serves as a missionary and English teaching assistant in a local Lutheran school, and she and Mr. Stone together volunteer their time to support school extracurriculars, church functions and Sunday school classes, Bible study, and evangelism with the Mission of Christ Network.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing regular updates from the Stones as they embark on their work in Hong Kong.
Please join us in praying for Mr. & Mrs. Stone as they live and serve in the Lutheran Church-Hong Kong Synod, and especially the children, faculty, and parents in its’ associated school system.
A Stone's Throw: Update from Mr. & Mrs. Stone
Responding to a call from the Lutheran Church - Hong Kong Synod, former ILS Manager of Operations, Mrs. Ruth Stone, along with her husband, Lyman, are now serving as missionaries in Hong Kong. Mrs. Stone serves as a missionary and English teaching assistant in a local Lutheran school, and she and Mr. Stone together volunteer their time to support school extracurriculars, church functions and Sunday school classes, Bible study, and evangelism with the Mission of Christ Network.
Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing regular updates from the Stones as they embark on their work in Hong Kong.
Please join us in praying for Mr. & Mrs. Stone as they live and serve in the Lutheran Church-Hong Kong Synod, and especially the children, faculty, and parents in its’ associated school system.
Sermon for Grandparents Day Matins, Friday, April 27, 2018
Rev. Peter J. Eckardt, Associate Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We are blessed to have you grandparents here with us today. You are a blessing to your children and to your grandchildren. And I’m sure that the grandchildren who have grandparents here with them today feel that way as well. It’s such a blast to have Grandma and Grandpa come by. It’s fun and exciting to spend time with them. And grandparents are a blessing to you grandkids not just because they’re the ones who spoil you and maybe give you treats that your parents wouldn’t give, and play games with you, and spend extra time with you, but even more importantly, because they are examples and models for you. They model virtue and character, the wisdom that they have gained over many years. You children, should be watching and learning from your grandparents. And we ought to honor our grandparents; just as, God says, we ought to honor our father and mother, so also we honor the fathers and mothers of our father and mother.
God says in Proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” You grandparents have been a part of this training up, not only of your own children but of your grandchildren, in many and various ways, and by your examples and have thus blessed them.