Mark 2:23-28 - One sabbath he (Jesus) was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples be-

gan to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sab-

bath?”And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in

need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is

not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was

made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

I was sitting in my big comfy chair watching football yesterday and realized real quickly how uncomfortable I was. The

air conditioning vent sits right next to where my favorite TV watching chair sits and it was blowing cold air on me. So I

got up and retrieved my lap blanket and covered myself and then I was so comfortable that I fell asleep and missed most

of the rest of the game I was watching.

I tell this little story because it occurs to me that comfort is where we want to be and sometimes when our discomfort is

exposed we cover it over and then miss what is right in front of us, in my case, the football game. It seems to me, that

what our nation is going through right now, which is most clearly exemplified by professional athletes taking a knee dur-

ing our national anthem playing really pushes this discomfort/comfort aspect of ourselves.

We do not want to deal with the fact that there is still very real systemic racism in our nation and it is embedded so

deeply that we breathe it in and do not even notice it – we are comfortable with it. Now, when someone does something

somewhat shocking to highlight that fact, we are put into a little tension and discomfort and dis-ease and we tend to go

quickly to find ways to cover it up with our lap blankets and find comfort again.

Engaging this issue requires much work and pain that we rarely want to give ourselves over to. If we want a real chal-

lenge, reread Martin Luther King Jr.’s, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, to see how much things have not really changed.

Listening to some of the arguments in this whole debate today, they all sound eerily similar to the issues that Martin Lu-

ther King Jr. was addressing at that time and place from his jail cell. If we want to really be put at ill-ease, read Michelle

Alexander’s, Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness. Tension and discomfort should not be considered a bad

thing for Christians to be confronting. They move us to Christian action.

I have also lifted the above scripture text up because believe it or not, this is a text where either Jesus got the Old Testa-

ment text wrong, or Mark did in his writing of the Gospel. Jesus mistakes the high priest Abiathar, with his father

Ahimelech. If that does not create some tension and dis-ease within you I do not know what else could. There has been

much ink spilled over this text trying to make it not be so. There has been Greek exegesis that has an explanation, but it

is not totally satisfying, and is open to much critique. There have been many scholars from all sides of the spectrum ar-

guing over this text. Bart Ehrman, who is the dean of the University of North Carolina’s religious studies department,

basically started the slow exit of his Christian faith over his study of this text and then others. Before we so easily dis-

miss him as some sort of kook and put on our lap blankets of comfort, his education is the Moody Bible Insti-

tute/Wheaton College/ and Princeton Theological Seminary. Two of those three are not known for their theological

liberalism. (continued on page 3 “Pastor’s Corner Continued”

OCTOBER, 2017

O u S a v i i o u r ’ s

L u t h e r a n C h u r c

OUR SAVIOUR’S LUTHERAN CHURCH 1524 WEST MAIN, DURANT, OK 74701

PASTOR’S CORNER

OUR SAVIOUR’S NEWS

P A G E 2 O U R S A V I O U R ’ S N E W S

Church council notes

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church Council Meeting Minutes

Sunday, September 10, 2017

In attendance: Evelyn Engel, Gary Hicks, Martha Landua, Paige Poppe, Rade Radasinovich, Sarah Weissenbuehler and Pr.

Jeff Corson. Absent: Shanetha Collier.

President Rade Radasinovich called the meeting to order at 12:25 PM. Pastor Corson opened with a reading from the Book

of Concord and prayer. The minutes of the August 16, 2017 regular meeting of the Council were presented for approval.

Financial reports were not available due to the unavailability of a bank statement from First Texoma National Bank. Evelyn

moved to approve the minutes as presented; second by Gary; motion passed.

Committee Reports were presented by the following representatives:

Shanetha (Fellowship) – Shanetha left a written report, which was read by Martha. The following is a listing of upcoming

events: Wednesday, Sept. 20 @ 6:30 pm - “Martin Luther: The Idea That Changed the World,” Sherman Town Center Cine-

mark, $12.50/ticket; Friday, Oct. 13 @ 6:30 pm – Rick Steves Reformation Movie & Reformation Games, OSLC, Dinner pro-

vided, if desired attendees are invited to bring snack items; Tuesday, Oct. 31 @ 6:00-8:00 pm – Halloween Trunk or Treat,

OSLC, Hot dog dinner provided to guests, decorated cars with goblins handing out candy, Needed: minimum of 8 to 10 cars

and a minimum of six volunteers to work in the kitchen (This event has been approved for Thrivent Action Team money to

purchase most of the food for meal.)

Martha (Secretary) – Nothing to report this month

Sarah (Education) – Sarah has decided to use the lectionary-based Book of Faith for the 2017-18 Christian Education pro-

gram. The Adult Class, which is studying the Gospel of Matthew, began its study on this date. Family Faith Formation will be

held on Sunday, Sept. 17 with the theme of “The Flood and The Promise.” Three individuals (Susan Remshardt, Shanetha

Collier and Kathleen Barnette) have volunteered to assist with the crafts during the 2017-18 term. This year, due to the FFF

theme and the hurricanes that have devastated south Texas, the Bahamas, Florida and east coast, an offering will be re-

ceived at both the Adult Bible Study and the FFF, which will be given to Lutheran Disaster Relief. Beginning on September

21, Pr. Jeff will host a weekly Thursday Evening Bible Study on the Gospel of John.

Paige (Worship) – The Worship Committee is sponsoring a campfire event on Friday, Sept. 29 at OSLC beginning at 7:00

PM. Camp songs will be sung around campfire(s) and S’mores will be enjoyed. Members of the Worship committee will pro-

vide the ingredients for the S’mores. Attendees are invited to bring coolers with their favorite beverage(s), camp chairs and

insect repellent and to invite friends and neighbors.

Gary (Stewardship) – The annual Harvest Dinner was discussed and scheduled for immediately after worship service on

Sunday, November 5.

Evelyn (Ministries) – After discussion the Council voted to give the December Noisy Offering to the Church of the Damascus

Road. Sarah moved to present the December Noisy Offering to the Church of the Damascus Road; second by Paige;

motion passed.

Pastor Jeff – Pastor Jeff submitted a written report.

Other Business: None

(continued on page 3 Church Council Notes)

New Business: Sarah requested that Christmas Caroling be included in planning for the

holiday season this year. She will give some thought to bring back to the Council for dis-

cussion.

Gary moved to adjourn the meeting (12:58 pm); second by Sarah; motion passed.

Respectifully submitted,

Martha Landua, Secretary

The next scheduled meeting of the Church Council is scheduled for Sunday, October 8.

P A G E 3

CHURCH COUNCIL NOTES

O C T O B E R , 2 0 1 7

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

5 Lorenda Hicks 9 Moses Nannestad 11Bill Boreham 12 Meghan Bacu 16 Keith Gray 18 Candy Lahr 25 Dar Ortlip 26 Martha Landua 28 Sarah Comer

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

1 Trey & Rhonda Collier

5 Duane & Dianne

Anteau

15 Debra & Charles

Johnson

OUR SAVIOUR’S

HARVEST DINNER

WILL BE HELD ON

SUNDAY, NOV.

5TH! MARK YOUR

CALENDAR NOW.

DETAILS WILL BE

ANNOUNCED

SOON.

Besides this little bit of textual tension in this text from Mark’s gospel, the text

on its face has Jesus and his disciples behaving in an “In Your Face” manner that

Jesus later can use to make a point to the “Powers That Be” about Sabbath rules.

Although not a straight comparison it is roughly similar to taking a knee to get us

to see how our rules are not working - if we can separate our civil religion from

our Christian witness long enough to recognize it.

Here is the crux for us who still claim that God is most fully revealed in the per-

son of Jesus Christ for the reconciliation of a lost and broken world. WE have an

obligation as the people of Christ, bearing “GRACE,” to struggle and wrestle

with these tensions and resist the urge to put on our lap blankets, however they

may want to manifest themselves, and miss the moment and thereby be relegated

to irrelevance. So I am leaving you with a quote from Andrew Wilson in an arti-

cle from the September 2015 issue of Christianity Today with the subtitle, “The

Messiah made a “mistake” for good reason,” in response to the biblical text

quoted above;

“I think that’s wonderful. The Holy Spirit didn’t put discrepancies in Scripture to

provide fuel for skeptics, employment for commentators, or annoyance for evan-

gelical Christians. He did it to make us think, search, meditate, read, learn—and

be ever filled with awe.

This is the year of the 500th anniversary of the reformation where we celebrate

our namesake and his insistence to the powers that be that, “Here I stand, I can do

no other.” Let’s take this racism issue on in its full and painful existence and

think, search, meditate, read, learn and I would add listen – and then after all that,

we will be compelled by our faith in Christ, to be prepared to speak some grace

into the midst of our tension and disease but faithfully be able to say, “Here We

stand, We can do no other!”

PASTOR’S CORNER CONTINUED

DID YOU KNOW?

The name “Lutheran”

originated as a de-

rogatory term used

against Martin Luther

by German scholas-

tic theologian Johann

Maier von Eck during

the Leipzig Debate in

1519.

OSLC will be having their annual

garage sale on Saturday, Octo-

ber 7th from 8:00 am—??.

Start cleaning your homes and

garages out for any items you’d

like to contribute to the sale.

Please price items prior to bring-

ing them to the church (with the

exception of clothing). Items

can be brought to the church

and placed in the Fellowship

Hall beginning Wednesday, Oc-

tober 4th.

Set up for the sale will take place

on Friday, October 6th starting

around 9ish. ANY and ALL help

the altar in the sanctuary, so all

members are benefiting from

this sale!

If you need help getting your

donations to the church, please

see Shanetha Collier or contact

her at 580-775-0552.

P A G E 4

with set up and the actual sale

will be greatly appreciated—the

proceeds are going to offset the

cost of the new flooring around

Caption describing picture or graphic.

for a sign up sheet on the

bulleting board! This is al-

ways a great community

event, but it takes LOTS of

volunteers to make it great,

so hopefully you will join us

for this frightfully good

time!

Our Saviour’s will once again be host-

ing a Trunk or Treat hot dog dinner

and trick-or-treating during Durant’s

Halloween downtown trick or treating.

The event will take place on Tuesday,

October 31st from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Set

up will need to be started around 5:30

p.m.

As has been done in the past, deco-

rated vehicles will be needed to pass

out candy to our visitors. Also needed

will be kitchen hands to help cook the

hot dogs and serve the other food.

The cost of the majority of the food will

once again be covered by a Thrivent

Action Team, but the congregation is

being asked to provide individually

wrapped desserts. Be on the lookout

O U R S A V I O U R ’ S N E W S

TRUNK OR tREAT

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

WESLEY STUDENT

LUNCH Our Saviour’s is hosting the

Wesley Campus Ministry Stu-

dent Lunch on Thursday, Oc-

tober 13th from 11:00 am to

1:30 pm.

This semester, instead of ask-

ing OSL members to help pur-

chase food items to make the

entrée, Mary Slice has re-

ceived seed money through a

Thrivent Action Team request

to purchase everything but

the desserts.

Members are being asked to

provide cookies, brownies or

cupcakes. Volunteers are al-

ways welcome to help. If you

would like to help in either of

these categories, please con-

tact Mary Slice.

This is a great opportunity to

meet Southeastern students

plus the new Campus ministry

directors, Janie and Devon.

WORKING TOGETHER WITH

FRIENDS IS A BLESSING!

OUR SAVIOUR’S NEWS PAGE 5

OUR SAVIOUR’S LUTHERAN CHURCH

500TH ANNIVERARY OF THE REFORMATION

Oct. 31,1517 CELEBRATION Oct. 31,2017

Join us for some fellowship fun on Friday, October 13th at 6:30 p.m.

In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the video “Luther and the Reformation” by Rick Steves will be shown at OSLC, with “Reformation

Games” to follow. (This is not the same movie recently shown on PBS or at the

Cinemark in Sherman)

Rick Steves (A Lutheran himself) takes a look at the Ref-

ormation and the role Mar- tin Luther played in it. The

movie runs about 1 hour, so to have some fun with what

we learned during the film, carnival type “Reformation

Games” will take place in the Fellowship Hall.

Dinner will be provided, and attendees may feel free to bring a drink or a snack

to share.

All are invited (Non-Lutherans too!!), so bring your family and friends to join in

on some Reformation fun on October 13th!

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A FUNDRAISING BANQUET FOR THE

PREGNANCY CENTER OF BRYAN COUNTY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2017 AT 6:30 P.M.

AT FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

5400 WEST MAIN STREET

DURANT, OKLAHOMA

FEATURING: SHARI RIGBY

ACTRESS AND AUTHOR

(TV credits include “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful”

and she has appeared in 8 independent feature films)

AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A DONATION WILL BE EXTENDED.

OUR SAVIOUR’S TABLE HOST IS MARY SLICE.—CONTACT MARY BY OCT. 16TH AND SHE WILL

MAKE YOUR RESERVATION OR GO ONLINE TO www.PregnancyCenterDurant.com AND LIST

MARY SLICE AS YOUR TABLE HOST.

SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS

Here are the fall opportunities for Christian Education:

Adult Education

Sunday morning 9:30 – 10:15 am Study on the Gospel of Matthew facilitated by Sarah Weissenbuehler

Thursday evening 7:00 – 8:00 pm Study on the Gospel of John facilitated by Pastor Jeff Corson

Family Faith Formation Intergenerational Sunday School: Light lunch followed by activities and

learning centered around Bible stories. Theme for the year: Stories of Water and Wonder

October 1 12:00 – 2:00 pm The Crossing of the Red Sea

November 19 12:00 – 2:00 pm Water from the Rock

December 3 12:00 – 2:00ish Advent activities and Caroling (hopefully)

Join us for one or more of these educational opportunities!

Page 6 Our Saviour’s News

DID YOU KNOW? *The Luther rose (or Luther seal) was created at the request of printers to have a personal symbol rep-

resenting the reformer’s faith that could serve as a mark indicating something was an authorized publi-

cation of Luther’s. It became widely recognized as the symbol for Lutheranism, and still is today.

*Prior to the Reformation, congregational singing—and even—talking—during church services wasn’t

standard practice in Germany.

*Education was set on a far-reaching course of reforming thanks in part to Luther’s advocacy and

ideas that a proper, well-organized and broad education for all children—not just those of the wealthy

elite—would benefit the state as well as the church.

*Today, more than 200 denominations and churches in North America have histories connected to

the Reformation.

*There were reformers well before Luther and what became known as the Reformation, but Luther

and other reformers of his time became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give

their ideas a wide audience.

*The idea put forth during the Reformation that God sees all believers as spiritually equal had pro-

found repercussions in the church—especially when the idea was applied to women.

*Whether or not to use pipe organs and other musical instruments during worship became a hotly de-

bated issue for many churches involved in the Reformation movement. Some went as far as banning

the use of organs and instruments.

For more information about the Reformation go online to livinglutheran.org and click on the

“Reformation” tab. You will find a wealth of information there.

October 2017

The October Noisy Offering recipient is Families Feeding Families

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9:30 Adult CE

10:30 Worship

Noon: FFF

Happy Ann.

Trey & Rhonda

Collier

Begin bringing

items for Garage

Sale. Please

mark price on

items except for

clothing

Happy Ann.

‘Duane &

Dianne Anteau

Happy B;day

Lorenda Hicks

7:30pm Bible

Study

9am Set up for

Garage Sale

6:30/7am Set

up for Garage

Sale

8-?? Garage

Sale

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

9:30 Adult CE

10:30 Worship

& Fellowship

Noon—Council

Columbus Day

Happy B’day

Moses

Nannestad

Happy B’day Bill

Boreham

Happy B’day

Meghan Bacu

11-1:30pm Host

Wesley Student

Lunch

7:30pm Bible

Study

6:30pm Refor-

mation movie,

dinner and

Reformation

games

NT-NL SWO

Retreat 13-15th

at Briarwood

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

9:30 Adult CE

10:30 Worship

Happy Ann.

Debra &

Charles

Johnson

Happy B’day

Keith Gray

Happy B’day

Candy Lahr

7:30 pm Bible

Study

Newsletter Arti-

cles due

9-4pm Quilters

Retreat

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

9:30 Adult CE

10:30 Worship

& Fellowship

Mosiac Fall

Treat Bags due

back by today

Mosaic Fall Treat

Bags taken to

Mosaic office in

Carrollton, TX

6:30pm Bryan

County Preg-

nancy Center

Banquet at First

United Method-

ist Church

Happy B;day

Dar Ortlip

Happy B;day

Martha Landua

7:30 pm Bible

Study

Happy B’day

Sarah Comer

29 30 31

Reformation

Sunday

Noisy Offering

9:30 Adult CE

10:30 Worship

Reformation

Day

Halloween

5;30pm Set up

6-8pm Trunk or

Treat for com-

munity

OUR SAVIOUR’S LUTHERAN CHURCH

1524 West Main Street

Durant, OK 74701

OCTOBER, 2017

OUR SAVIOUR’S NEWS

500th Anniversary of the

Reformation

October 31, 1517–October 31, 2017