| Trinity Lutheran ChurchVilla Park, IL |
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| The Lion's RoarAmos 3:8 The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?” |
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“I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Gen. 9:13-15 ESV).” Reclaim the Rainbow I just recently drove by a church down the street with rainbow flags hanging in front of the church. I asked the youth group what those flags meant. One of the youths told me that it meant that the church was accepting of LGBTQ+ people. I asked why a rainbow meant that and there was a vacant look returned. She could not fathom that old people like me just didn’t understand the obvious. Duh, Pastor. Get with it! Hello! 2021 is calling. To be honest, I knew what the rainbow flags meant. It just gave me the opportunity to tell the real story of the rainbow. Too often Christians have just rolled over and allowed the sin-filled world to commandeer our most precious things. The rainbow has absolutely nothing to do with an LGBTQ+ lifestyle. It was created by God to be in the sky after a rainstorm to remind us that he had promised Noah that he would never destroy the earth by flood again. Otherwise, people would have been terrified every time in rained after the flood. Now, a few thousand years have passed, so we don’t shudder with fear every time raindrops hit our head, but imagine living in the times immediately after the flood. That promise was important! It is still important. While we do not break into cold sweats every time it rains, we do need to be reminded frequently that God keeps every single promise he ever made. When Jesus promises, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20 ESV),” we need to hear and remember that promise as surely as Noah’s family needed to hear that God would not flood the earth again. This is why we need not fear the things of this world. Jesus is with us always, even to the end of the age. We need to reclaim the rainbow! It does not represent sinful lifestyle choices because Judy Garland made it popular with her song “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” The rainbow was a creation of God, not Judy Garland or any particular group. The rainbow reminds us that God keeps His promises. That is why we can remain calm even when the world around us is spinning out of control. In the midst of the pandemic, we calmly soldiered on, doing what we always do: worshipping God, praying for all in need, reading and hearing His Word, and receiving His Holy Sacrament as often as it was possible for us. In the midst of hurricanes and tornadoes we soldier on. In the midst of riots and unrest, we soldier on. Remember the rainbow. God has kept that promise for thousands of years now. If he has done that, and he has promised to be with us always, what have we to fret over? Nothing! The God who is powerful enough to destroy the entire world has promised to be with us always. Stop fretting. He is with you, even to the end of the age. Reclaim the rainbow. Pastor Rob Rogers |
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| Golf OutingSaturday, Aug. 7th Sugar Creek Golf Course starting at 2 pm Dinner In the Prayer Garden 5:30 PM Don't forget, this Saturday: the first annual Jim Van Ewyk Memorial Trinity Golf Outing on August 7th at Sugar Creek Golf Course. This year’s dinner will be a fundraising event held in Trinity’s Prayer Garden. Appetizers and dinner begin at 5:30 pm, although we encourage you to bring outdoor games and hang out all afternoon. Soft drinks are included in the cost of dinner with a cash bar provided by Matt Thompson. There will be raffles including a split the pot raffle. Our goal last year was to support new Prayer Garden doors, floors, and stairs, and we hope to enjoy many upcoming events in this space as we continue to beautify it. This year, our fundraiser goal is to end the year without a deficit, which will allow us to begin returning the money we took from the Congregational Foundation Fund in 2019. |
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Third ThursdaysThursday, August 19, 7 pm Don't miss the final summer Third Thursday. Join Us in the Prayer Garden on the Third Thursday of the Month Each Month of Summer! Bring a chair, bring a snack, a game, an instrument. We will be enjoying the beauty of our prayer garden and each other's company. Also enjoy a game of bags donated for our use. This is a family-friendly activity. All are welcome. |
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| Voice of Care FestSaturday, August 21st 10:00 am - noon St. Peter Lutheran Church Schaumburg, IL Celebrate people of all abilities at Voice of CareFEST! This FREE family-friendly celebration features a complimentary Chick-Fil-A picnic lunch, an inclusive fun walk, games, crafts, and music, plus opportunities to financially support Voice of Care's ministry of equipping churches to serve people with disabilities and their caregivers. It’s all FREE, but please register online at VoiceOfCare.org or call 630.231.3862. |
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| Love Your Neighbor DaySaturday, Sept. 18th 7th annual Love Your Neighbor Day will be held Saturday, September 18, 2021 (rain date on September 25). This year, we are once again going to focus on outdoor work for homeowners to be on the safe side for our homeowners and our volunteers. We would like to have a group from Trinity participate again this fall. In August, volunteer sign-up sheets will be placed in the narthex. If you know anyone at your church or otherwise who could use the help of the volunteers on LYND, contact Marna Rundgren. |
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Sponsor-A-Bill Stewardship is requesting your help in sponsoring some of Trinity's bills in an effort to keep from having a budget deficit at the end of the year. This quarter's highlighted bills are Fire Compliance Inspection ($350/mo.), Elevator Maintenance ($25/mo.), and Water Bill ($400/mo.). Please consider helping by entirely or partially adopting payment towards one of these bills (you can note this on your Property Maintenance envelope or in your e-Offering). Your adoption of this bill will lighten up our financial load, help to finish out the year without a deficit, and free up funds to sponsor more of our favorite missions, which we are proud to be actively supporting. Thanks to you, Trinity's success continually impacts the community in which we live. |
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LCMS Stewardship Ministry When it comes to stewardship, a favorite Bible verse is the account of the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1–4). It’s a moving account. Our Lord praises the seemingly small gift of two copper coins given by a poor widow above the abundance of gifts given by the rich, saying, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them” (Luke 21:3). And that is usually where we stop. But the text goes on. “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:4). “She … put in all she had to live on.” She gave everything. She held nothing back. She trusted that the Lord who made her and all creatures; who gave her everything she had; who redeemed her from her own sin, from death, and the power of the devil; who called her by the gospel and enlightened her with His gifts of Word and Sacrament; would continue to do this. He would provide her with all that she needed for this body and life because that is the character of the God she had. But this is not why we give small gifts. Her gift, though it appeared small, was actually large. When we are tempted to give small gifts, it is precisely because we want them to be small! We don’t trust the Lord to provide for us. We give small gifts because we lack faith in the One who created us, redeemed us, sanctifies, and keeps us in the one true faith. We give small gifts because we doubt that God will really give us what we need and desire. We give small gifts because we are not content with what God has already given. We are not slaves, children of the slave woman, under the Old Covenant (Galatians 4). We are adopted sons of the free woman. And since we are sons, we are also heirs. And heirs receive the inheritance. For everything is already ours in Christ. And thus, moved by the willing spirit of adoption, we do the will of God in financial matters far beyond all that done by those under the Old Covenant who were forced by legal demands. So, what have you decided to give? How do I decide what to give? Let the Scriptures be your guide. We are to give proportionally to what we have received from God’s giving to us (Luke 12:48; 1 Corinthians 16:1–2, 2 Corinthians 8:12). But you have not been set free to give nothing. See that you excel in the grace of giving (2 Corinthians 8:7)! We are not free to live selfishly outside the Gospel, without regard for God who gives us all good gifts, without generosity for our neighbor who needs us and our gifts, without supporting the community of faith in which we live, without care for our spiritual fathers and those who teach and help raise our children in the faith, and without resources for the poor and needy. In short, we are not free to live unto ourselves, hoarding what God has given us only for us. For love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10). And the sum of the law is this: Love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:34–40). We love because He first loved us. We give because He has given to us. Luther once said, “Possessions belong in your hands, not in your heart” (LW 14:240). There is a reason your 10 fingers spread apart. With your hands you catch God’s gifts for what you need and let the rest fall through your fingers to your neighbors – your family, your friends, your community, your church. |
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Youth News Share the Love Day. The youth received a thank- you note from the Lombard/Villa Park Food Pantry for the donations they made from their "Share the Love" day in April. They collected $110 and 150 pounds of food from people in the community and our church. They also potted and gave out 75 flowers, one for each person who drove through the parking lot and one for a friend. We collected cards colored by Villa Park kids and cookies made by a nursery school mom to be delivered to first responders and veterans. Then dinner was made for seniors at a home in Lombard and at Trinity before the day ended with a prayer tour of the village. This event was a meaningful way for Trinity to connect with people in the area. NYG. Judy and Bonnie Dale attended a youth leader convention in Houston in preparation for the upcoming 2022 National Youth Gathering. They were able to attend workshops and learn the ins and outs of the host city. There is a potential for Trinity to send 8-12 youth to the event. Watch future newsletters for news about who will be attending and ways that you can support the teens. Wednesday Night Meals. One of the most successful parts of our youth ministry is providing a meal for the kids on Wednesday nights. On a typical evening you'll find a great mix of junior high kids, high schoolers, and college age/young adults eating and laughing together. If you would like to either join the group for dinner OR would like to make/buy dinner for them, please contact Judy Bruschuk. It would help out our budget and give you a chance to get to know the young people in our congregation. This week Pastor Rogers is making his famous pancakes and bacon! VBS. This Summer - the youth have been partnering with the VBS kids for various projects. They hid crosses on the Prairie Path for them to find, did a STEM experiment, listened to memory work, and put flags in the Prayer Garden for July 4. What a great experience for the youth and the younger kids to work together. Thanks to Ashley Collins for the creativity she put into this year's VBS. The Projects junior high program is holding a summer session. Some of the highlights will be making meals for seniors, pickling vegetables, and crafting kites. In August they will be making a trip to Youth Outreach Services in Melrose Park to deliver items that they made to enhance the therapy rooms there. If you want to know more about The Projects check out their Facebook Page: The Projects at Trinity. MANY thanks to The Projects mentors: Gary Buehre, Dave Bruschuk, Jim Long, Paul Varno, Tony Pavlovsky, Heather Pavlovsky, Lori Varno, Cindy Meier, Maggie Myers, Denise Airdo, Sue Pfannes, and Dom Cappetta! The Projects is completely run by volunteers and could not exist without these people. Also, we appreciate Kaite Wendorf giving massages at the Third Thursday event and donating her tips to The Projects. Confirmation students will attend a retreat at Camp Reynoldswood in Dixon, IL on August 9-11, where the focus will be on how the Word of God feeds our faith and will give them ways to reflect on what He says to us in the Scriptures. The retreat is always a fantastic opportunity for the youth to build relationships with the adults and their peers. We're thankful to have Jackson join us on this trip.
Fundraising Schedule for NYG:August 2021 - Sponsorship letter is distributed to people/businesses who may be interested in supporting the youth. Benefits to sponsors will be advertising at all youth events for the entire year and free admittance to youth sponsored events. October 2021 - Parking Lot Garage Sale. Spaces will be sold to the public for $20. We will provide a table and 2 chairs for each space along with advertising for the event. December 11, 2021 - Breakfast with Santa. Tickets will be sold for breakfast which will include a photo op with Santa. Groups at Trinity will be invited to set up tables to promote themselves and possibly sell items. January 29, 2022 - Trivia Night June 2022 - Final Event, Houston Rodeo Theme. No charge for event, but will offer opportunities to make donations. Ongoing - Sunday morning cookie sales. The youth will bake and sell cookies on occasional Sunday mornings. The sales would not interfere with other planned activities such as coffee hours. The cookie sales also promote fellowship between the youth as they work together and with the congregation so that they get to know the kids who will attend the gathering.
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Coffee Shop News The coffee shop is now open for limited days and hours. We hope to continue adding on as more volunteers are available. Here are the days and hours that you can visit, along with the activities that are taking place: Mondays @ 10:00 - Noon: Flying Hooks and Needles knitting group continues making items for different causes. Knitters of all skill levels are welcome as well as those who'd just like to visit Tuesday beginning August 17 @ 9:00 - Noon: Adult Coloring (for kids, too) The Trinity Center hosts the adults with disabilities from UCP Seguin who color pictures for the trays at Meals on Wheels. They'd love to have you join them. Wednesdays beginning September 8 @ 9:00-Noon - 10:00 AM Bible Study with Pastor Allyn Thursday @ 9:00 - Noon: Men's Group. Guys hang out, drink coffee, discuss important stuff, and read to preschoolers Fridays - Closed |
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SENIOR OUTINGS The Board of Human Care oversees planning events throughout the year for the Seniors (all adult members of Trinity) and we would like your input! Now that things are opening up in IL, we’d like to know what interests you might have or places you might like to attend as a group in the coming year that we can consider planning for you. Please share your thoughts. Email them to Donna Heuser at heuser.donna@gmail.com or write your idea in the space below, then put it in the Board of Human Care mailbox located outside of the church office. |
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TCNS News TCNS has been busy preparing for next school year, which begins on September 7th. We've been giving tours and enrolling new students all summer. We still have some spots open in the program! If anyone is interested in more information, please reach out to Tracy at directortcns@trinityvp.com or 630-833-1080. To increase our visibility in the community, TCNS set up a Make and Take area near the playground during a concert at the Gazebo. Lots of little ones came to make a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" while their parents could learn more about the Nursery School. |
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Bishop & Mrs. Pittelko Memorial Service THE Memorial Service for Bishop Emeritus Roger D. Pittelko and Mrs. Beverly Pittelko will be at Trinity Lutheran Church on St.Mary, Mother of Our Lord Sunday Aug 15th at 2:00pm. |
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Save the DateSeptember 12, 2021 Rally Day Worship ServicesSaturdays 4:30 pm Sundays 8 am & 10:30 am |
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Each month you will receive a newsletter from Trinity in your email. If you have any upcoming news, events, photos or other information to share, please email Marna Rundgren @ marnarundgren@gmail.com |
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