Southwood Lutheran Church

Why Small Groups?

Imagine something small becoming something big. A few drops of water become a wave. A few flakes of snow start an avalanche. A few people with a good idea become a movement.

2000 years ago Jesus and a few friends met together, served together, learned together, ate together, and prayed together. Today the Christian church has 2.1 billion members.

Small groups work in our hearts in much the same way. We agree to something small—meeting with a group of people to study God’s word. Soon we find that we are asking questions, exploring ways to serve, praying for others, and being cared for. The small piece of our heart that we gave to God in the first place is suddenly centered (perhaps for the first time ever) on God.

³ Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34 NIV)

Why join a small group? Because this group of people will walk along side you as you explore and grow in your faith. Because growing in love for God and God’s people is so much easier to do with the encouragement of others. Because your small group just might be the place where God’s place in your heart becomes something very very big!

How can I join a small group?

We have a connection event on Sunday February 6 at 12:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Please join us for a time to connect with others who are also looking for a small group. Light refreshments will be provided.

What will we study?

This February, our small groups will be studying the book of Jonah. We will dig into this adventurous Old Testament story about a prophet of God who tries to run away because he doesn’t like the message God is asking him to distribute. The book includes Jonah getting thrown overboard, swallowed by a fish, and complaining about a plant that gives him shade and then doesn’t. Certainly you can relate—right? Jonah is a lot like you and I, join in a small group discussion and find out why!

1 Potato, 2 Potato, 3 Potato, 4 ...

Southwood Lutheran is known for its service to the community and the world. The church’s small groups play an important role in this mission. Some service projects are regular and routine while others are more unique and less frequent.

An example of the more unique project took place back in September when small group members Jerry and Connee Frahm, their grandson Jackson Luedtke, and Stewart and Claudia Livers with the help of Dean and Maria Eisenhauer took on the task of digging potatoes for the Lincoln Food Bank. The project took place at the Eisenhauer family farm near Burr, Nebraska. In a matter of two short hours the group dug 317 pounds of potatoes which were later brushed cleaned for delivery to the Food Bank. People in need received fresh-from-the-Nebraska-field produce!

This is just another example of how we can use our talents to serve others! Do you dig it?

 … 5 Potato, 6 Potato, 7 Potato, More!

More and more people are finding out the great things about joining a small group:

• Get to know 6-10 other people from Southwood who are in the same age and stage of life as you.
• Knowing other people makes a big church like Southwood feel much smaller.
• Growing in God’s word is much more fun to do with a group of people.
• Serving together allows you to be creative, use your gifts, and reach out to a world in need. Do you dig it?
• Small groups give you a place to process the questions you have about living out your Christian faith.


Get connected to a group!

Come to the connection event on Sunday, February 6, at 6:30 p.m. in Southwood’s Fellowship Hall.

Our upcoming study will be digging into the book of Jonah. Discuss with your small group why Jonah got swallowed by a “really big fish” and what that means for you!

Perfect Excuse Not to Cook - Pancake Feed

Saratoga Elementary School is hosting a pancake feed of Thursday, October 21 from 5:00 - 7:00 P.M. in Saratoga's Cafeteria (2215 South 13th Street). Proceeds will benefit Saratoga's playground fund. 

Cost is $2 for 2 pancakes and 2 sausages.

Bring your friends, family and small groups to dine together to support the students at Saratoga Elementary school. 

 

Southwood Serves - Orange Shirts

On Saturday, October 9th, 500+ volunteers from Southwood will be heading out into the community to serve at 37 different locations around Lincoln. You will easily be able to spot them all over the city in their bright orange t-shirts.

Ben, who made our t-shirts, made this cool video outlining the t-shirt making process: Watch Video Clip

Watching all of the orange t-shirts piling up in this this video gets me even more excited to see everyone heading out after worship to serve in the community wearing their orange t-shirts.  I still have the picture in my head of last year at the end of worship with everyone wearing their t-shirts, waiving their serving towels, and cheering "Who are we going to serve? JESUS, Who are we going to serve? JESUS" and it gives me goosebumps!

I pray that this year we will be able to make an even larger impact in the city of Lincoln and that all of our volunteers can show the people we serve a reflection of God's Love.  Please join me in praying for the families and individuals we will be serving, for all of Southwood's volunteers, and for good weather to complete all of the projects. 

If you didn’t get a chance to pick-up your t-shirts and serving packets, there is still time! Stop by the office this week Monday – Friday from 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.

Or if you didn’t sign-up to serve but would like to join in, there is still time! E-mail Nicole Mroczek to get involved and get a t-shirt!

Southwood Serves - Serving Story

During Southwood serves 2009, a group of members spent the day cleaning Bill’s apartment giving their time and hard work to create a clean homely environment for him.   He was so touched by the experience that he wrote a letter to Southwood thanking the group for everything they had done.

 

After reading about Bill, my small group decided to continue the relationship that had already been started by the group prior to us.  My small group met Bill in November and we quickly became friends as we would spend Sunday afternoons in fellowship with him.  We took turns doing laundry, cleaning and running errands for him as the winter weather was too difficult for him to get around.  Our children also became involved inviting him over for card parties, making cookies & cards for him and talking with him about their lives during our visits.  We had our small group Christmas celebration at our home and we were delighted that Bill could join us.  It brought the true meaning of Christmas to our table…serving & loving those that are in need.  In sharing our time and talents with Bill, we realized that WE were the one’s being served…..being served by God’s grace & love for us.

 

As we approach our second Southwood Serves Day, I would like to share the final comments Bill wrote in his letter, “again, thank you for sending such an outstanding group of individuals out into the community to do what God really wants us all to do with the abilities we have all been given.”   WE all have been given certain talents & abilities to serve those around us.  God gives daily to us….his people in need.  Please prayerfully consider sharing of yourself (& family) to those in the community in need on October 9^th.  I promise that you will walk away feeling refreshed in his word & blessed beyond belief.  

 

In Christ’s Love,

 

Holly Leach

 

Southwood Serves is a great opportunity for families, friends and small groups to serve in the community on October 9th! We encourage you to serve together!  Sign-up continues this Sunday in the Upper Level Café. 

Click here for more information and a list of serving opportunities.

Extra Books

Our Small Groups have been studying The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller for the last six weeks.  We have 11 copies of this book left over and will sell them to you for $10.  Yes folks, that's $5 off!!  If you've been wanting to read it or pick it up for a gift for someone, now is your chance.

Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want one, then I'll leave it at Southwood Central with your name on it it.  You can pay for it when you pick it up!

Enjoy!

Pastor Sara

God is Sufficient

This post comes from Scott Koehn, a member of Southwood's Tanzania team who recently hosted a visitor from Tanzania.

This past weekend, Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning, we have had a Tanzanian named Munguatosha staying with us. It was his first trip to the United States and we spent all afternoon Sunday touring Lincoln.

He was amazed at the homes people live in, the shopping malls, the automobiles with only one or two people in them, the downtown area, and the university campus. As we passed a small used car lot he couldn’t believe the number of different cars and trucks there were for people to choose from. In his country walking, bicycles, and buses, are what most people use for transportation. I next took him to the new car lots on North 27th streets.

He asked how people could purchase such nice vehicles and live in such nice big homes. I tried to convince him that not everyone was so fortunate and drove him to some of the poorer neighborhoods with small houses and apartment buildings. He pointed out that people still had cars or trucks there as well.

We ended the trip by driving by a Starbucks and store that was marked Pet Hotel. He looked at me and before he could ask I said yes people pay money to leave their pets there while they are on vacation or out of town.

On Monday night I took him to small group where we went through the first chapter of the book “Enough” He sat and listened quietly to us talk about “affluenza” and “credititus” and keeping up with the Joneses. He listened quietly to us read and discuss the Bible verses. As we went through the discussion questions he talked about coming back from Henry Doorley zoo earlier that afternoon and seeing storage buildings where people stored there “stuff” they didn’t have room for in their homes and garages. Then I sat and became quiet. I thought about my own life filled with consumerism, all the stuff I had, and being driven to work hard to get a large enough retirement account that some day I could retire. But the thoughts and questions remained unanswered. How much is enough?

Munguatosha left Tuesday morning to visit other places in Nebraska. As Faye and I discussed the weekend’s events and our visitor around the dinner table Tues, evening, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I laughed out loud when it dawned on me the answer to my thoughts and questions had been with me all weekend. Munguatosha’s name translates to “God is sufficient”.

Our God is all we truly need.

Southwood Serves - Hunger Ministries

Several years ago as a result of becoming involved in a Small Group at Southwood, our group choose to volunteer at the Center For People In Need (Neighborhood Food Distribution Program). This one time choice of serving has evolved into volunteering at the CPIN every first & fifth Tuesday of each month ever since.

In 2008 the Neighborhood Food Distribution Program delivered 1 million pounds of groceries to low-income families each. This served about 4,000 families each month. Southwood volunteer contribution to this effort was serving about 8,000 families in 2008, & the numbers for 2009 seem to be on the rise.

Watching the many families come through the food distribution line is a very humbling experience. Not an evening goes by that you do not receive several “God Bless You’s” or “Thank You’s ” from the adults going past your distribution point. It is even more humbling to see the sadness in the eyes & faces of the many children that accompany their parents. After each session as we travel back to our comfortable home to eat our dinner meal, it is truly a wonderful feeling that maybe you contributed positively in a small way to someone else’s day & makes you thankful for what God has provided to us.

Thank you to the many Southwood Volunteers who have given of their time to support the Neighborhood Food Distribution effort. If you, your family, or small group is interested in serving, sign-up at Southwood Central of call me @ 421-2447 or 450-1576.

Merlyn Schuster

Southwood Serves

This fall’s preaching and small group series is called Southwood Serves.  We will be focusing on what it means to roll-up our sleeves and join God and honor him with our talents, passion, money and time.   

“… choose today whom you will serve … as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”  Joshua 24:15

On the blog throughout the fall, I will be posting people’s first hand experiences of serving by featuring quotes, faith stories, information regarding Southwood’s mission partners and how you can get involved. 

If you have a story about serving that you would like to share, please email me at nmroczek@southwoodlutheran.org, I would love to hear from you!

Here are some important events that are going on at Southwood this fall, make sure to mark your calendar:

· Small Groups – September 27^th – November 22^nd

Southwood Serves – an 8 week session focused on Serving.  Books go on sale September 6 at Southwood Central.

· Global Mission Sunday – September 27th

Learn about Southwood’s work in Honduras and Tanzania and ways you can get involved by participating in an upcoming mission trip or from the comfort of your own home.  A Hunger Banquet will be at 12:00pm in the Fellowship Hall.  Please join us to learn more about Hunger in the world.  Guest Speaker – Scott Young from the Lincoln Food Bank - Come, Eat, and Leave Hungry!

· Southwood Serves –October 3
Serve with your family, friends and small group at Southwood!  Day begins at 8:30am with Worship, followed by serving in the community of Lincoln from 9:00am – 12:00pm.  Opportunities will be available at City Impact, Tabitha, Food Pantry, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and many more.  Registration for serving opportunities begins on September 6^th in the Café.  Childcare for Children under 6 years will be available.  A barbeque lunch on the lawn following at 12:00pm for all participants.

· Serving Fair – October 18
 Visit with our Community Missions partners and volunteers from Southwood to learn ways that you can get involved at Southwood’s Hospitality, Hunger, Mentoring, and Medical Ministries. 

Stories from Tanzania: People are People

"A person's a person, no matter how small."  When I was a kid my mom would read to us Horton Hears a Who, it was one of our favorite books.  Last summer I saw the movie and thought they really captured well the theme of the dignity of each and every human life.  It really is a global mission theme.

I really believe this:  No matter where you go,  People are people.   After my trip to Tanzania, I believe it even more!

One of the biggest insights for me on our trip to Tanzania was that at the very core of who we are as human beings we are all the same.  No matter where we live, no matter how much we have or don't have, no matter the color of our skin - we all have the same basic needs.  We need relationships with other people and we need hope.

I recently read this quote at  www.oxfamaerica.org:

"The one thing I would like you to remember is this:  Everyone on earth has the same basic needs; it is only our circumstances - where we live and the culture into which we are born - that differ.

Some are born into relative prosperity and security, while millions, through no choice of their own, are born into poverty ....

While the US is one of the wealthiest countries on earth, almost 37 million Americans live in poverty.  Stark inequalities prevail everywhere."

In the picture above is Pastor Moshi and Benarick Urassa.  Pastor Moshi is the pastor in charge at our sister parish, the Uswaa parish.  Benarick (Ben) is an evangelist for this parish, and has responsibilities in confirmation and youth.  These are two incredible people, they are compassionate, they are faithful to God, and they are on a mission to reach out and serve in the name of Jesus Christ.

It was so fun to get to know Pastor Moshi and Ben and to hear about the life of the people in their parish.  The needs are so great, poverty, hunger, health care, and education are all at the top of the list.  What is the church doing about it?  They are forming small groups, they are going to people's homes and praying with them, they are building a new church. Is it surpising to you that our Sister church in Tanzania is committed to small groups?  It surpised me, but it also helped me to think more of our similarities than our differences.  It also just solidified for me that our hope comes from relationships, not from money.

Pastor Moshi writes this about relationships built in small groups:

All of us need to learn to motivate and encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24-25).  In an interview, Manjau said that "you hear someone in the group saying 'I know what you're experiencing.  When I was going through a similar situation, the Lord directed me to this passage.  Let's study it together.'"

When a woman anointed Jesus' feet before his death with costly perfume and was reprimanded by Judas for wasting money that could have been spent on the poor, Jesus said this:

"'Leave her alone,' said Jesus.  'Why are you bothering her?  She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them anytime you want.  But you will not always have me.'"  Mark 14:6-7

Pastor Moshi and Ben believe that bringing people together under the banner of their faith brings them hope. Building relationships with God and with other people brings hope to people.  That is true here in Nebraska too.There will always be problems, but when we come together around the cross of Christ there is hope.

What brings you hope?  I am so thankful for the ministry of these faithful servants in Tanzania who bring hope to countless people through their dedication to Jesus.

Pastor Sara