REMEMBER: Daylight Savings Time begins again! Set your clock forward by one hour before you go to bed on April 1. This is no April Fool!

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Hoping Against Hope

When I was a kid I loved cowboy movies (except those where they sang all the time) and so I had the dream of being like a cowboy. Just wearing a cowboy hat or dime store chaps and a toy six- shooter on my hip didn’t do it for me -

I hoped for a PONY!

I prayed for a pony. I dreamed about riding my pony – out in the open spaces without a thought that all the open spaces belonged to someone who might not be happy about me riding around in a full pony gallop. I begged my parents for a pony.

But I never got a pony.

The problem was that I lived in town. There was no place to keep a pony even if we could afford one— which we couldn’t. I had no idea of what pony ownership might have meant—I just had the high hopes.

I had to get over the pony dream.

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries has high hopes too. We hope for a new resident Sr. Pastor. We hope for the transformation of the old brick warehouse into a shiny new Ministry Center. And even more – we hope for, well, eternal life!

And our hopes have a good chance of becoming realities!

We have a Call Meeting on April 2 (6 PM) to select our next Sr. Pastor – elect. We are having our “Building Up – Reaching Out” stewardship effort that with the hard work of all of us will result in the Ministry Center finally being built. Easter Sunday, April 16, is the celebration of the promise of life with God forever that Christ has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ.

And this is all a whole lot better than a pony!

Blessings!

Richard Brewer, Interim Pastor

Imagine your favorite combination pizza. What kinds of toppings do you like? Think about how each topping carries its own flavor, aroma, and texture to add to the wonderful taste of the pizza, hot out of the oven. Now think about putting your favorite pizza through a cold food blender. The ingredients are still there, but would it taste the same? Have the same mouth-watering appeal? Probably not. In fact, you might react to homogenized pizza the way our Lord would react to the lukewarm church in Revelation 3:16.

The unity of our fellowship and unity of our ministries come up frequently in discussions between staff and at Lay Governing Board meetings. This unity is precious, yet it does not mean that we all think alike, have the same ideas, see the same opportunities, or view our ministry in the same way. If our unity were based on being run through some kind of giant blender, the homogenized result would be a mess! So as exasperating as our diversity might sometimes be, I thank God for it!

Why bring this up now? Well, because our congregation is sort of like the combo pizza. Some of us are like sausage, some are like pepperoni, and we even have a few who are cheesy (you know who you are!). We have different ideas about our ministries, we see different kinds of needs in our fellowship and in our community, and we see some amazing opportunities and challenges ahead as we grow to share Jesus with our friends and neighbors. The Lay Governing Board hears ideas, concerns, and suggestions from all points of the compass at OSLM. Sometimes these ideas support and complement each other, and sometimes they generate a creative tension. So, we try to build a strategy to pull the different ingredients together into a God-pleasing mix of ministry. In other words, we want to make pizza rather than a messed-up mush.

Given the diverse perspectives and needs and the competing ideas and opportunities, what holds us all together? Someone asked me if it was because we are Missouri Synod Lutherans. Well, not really. The source of our unity goes much deeper, and to the heart of everything that matters: we rally around the cross of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:19-22 says it well. To paraphrase, we build our ministries, and God is building us, into a holy temple in the Lord. May God continue to strengthen us in faith and unity to serve Him!

We Give God the Glory for:

• The basketball season that has concluded and we give thanks for another successful season. We are thankful for our coaches Fred Brauer, coaching the 7th-8th grade boys, and Johann Lotscher and his assistant coach Susan Pereira, coaching the 7th- 8th grade girls.
• Our 7th-8th Grade girls basketball team for winning the Good Sportsmanship Trophy at the Lodi Basketball Tournament in March. Great Job!
• Fourteen students who presented their science fair projects at the Annual Tri-Valley Science and Engineering Fair (TVSEF) on March 29th. This was the first year the event was conducted at the Robert Livermore Community Center in Livermore.
• All the “little lambs” of OSLS!

Re-enrollment / Registration – We are still accepting registrations for enrollment for next year. Four classes are filled and have waiting lists, but there is still room for students. If you know of someone who is considering Our Savior Lutheran School – now is the time for them to check us out.

If you would like a registration form, please contact the school office.

Accreditation Progress – Our Accreditation Team is moving along strongly. We are planning to have the final visitation for accreditation completed in the spring of 2007. Focus group committees are being formed as we evaluate our school in various areas. If you are interested in serving on a focus group in one of the four following areas, please contact Dennis Dirks at the school office NOW:

• Organization for Student Learning
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth
• Resource Management and Development

PTO AUCTION – Set aside the date of April 29th for the Annual PTO Auction. In the past this fundraiser (besides being a great night out!) has purchased playground apparatus, backstops, computers, digital cameras and projectors, etc. We have numerous suggestions as to what can be funded for this year. But it all starts with YOU being at the Auction. Further information will be coming your way soon, but keep this date clear: April 29, 2006 – AUCTION

CHAPEL – We invite all members to join us for our weekly chapel worship on Thursdays beginning approximately at 8:40 a.m. Our overall chapel theme is, "Come! Grow with us”. This month’s sub-theme is “The Cure”. The chapel speakers and themes for the upcoming month are:

• April 6: "He Became One of Us," Linda Greenhagen
• April 13: "The Death of a Kernal," 1st Grade (A special Maunday Thursday Chapel!)
• April 20: No School – Easter Break
• April 27: "The Gardner’s GOOD NEWS," Brett Bortnem

SAT10 TESTING – Stanford Achievement Tests, 10 Edition (SAT10) will be given to all students in grades 1-8 on April 4-7th. Students in grades 1, 3, 5, and 7 will also be given the Otis Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT). These tests are given annually to our students in the spring to monitor each student’s progress. Individual results of these tests are distributed to the parents of each student as soon as we receive them from the scoring service (usually the end of May).

WINTERIM – During the time of the SAT10 testing (April 4-7), students in grades 6-8 will be participating in our annual “Winterim”. The mornings are used for testing and the afternoons are filled with a series of “mini”-classes and fun activities which we call “Winterim”. The classes range from shark dissection, bridge making, flower pots, digital photography, bracelets, and mask making, to airplane design, origami, and bonsai trees. Our intent is to have traditional “homework” at a minimum during the week of testing so our students get more rest and do better on the tests!

EASTER BREAK – Easter Break for OSLS begins on Good Friday, April 14th and continues through April 21st. School resumes on Monday, April 24th.

CONNECTIONS takes place on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. in the gym. It is a small-group based, high energy Sunday morning program, for Jr. High and High School students. For more information or if you have any questions, talk to Brett by giving him a call 447-1246 ext. 261 or emailing him at brett@osyouth.com .

Click on www.osyouth.com for information about upcoming Youth Events!

Go to www.osyouth.com for all the Youth Ministry information!

Women's Ministry

The Wednesday Women's Bible Study group meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday night of each month at 7 p.m. at the home of Dee Christopher. Please call the church office (925-447-1246) for directions. This month, the group will meet on April 26.

Men's Ministry

• Men’s Breakfast Bible Study will take place on Fridays at 6:30 a.m., April 7 and 28 at Baker’s Square, 1116 Stanley Boulevard, in Livermore. The topic is “Men of the Bible: Peter.”
• Men’s Open Gym Basketball on Mondays from 7:30—9:00 p.m. Come out and enjoy some good competition and fellowship.

Young Adult Ministry

Visit http://yam.osyouth.c om for more information about Events & Activities for Young Adults!

Ongoing Events

• Blood Pressure Monitoring will be offered in the Family Room after the worship service on the first and third Sundays of each month.
• Pinochle Club—This group meets on the second Tuesday evening of the month. Everyone is invited to come out for a game of cards on Tuesday, April 11 from 7—9 p.m. in Room 18. Come and join in the fun!
• The Christian Reading Club of Our Savior meets on a monthly basis to share insights and reactions to a monthly reading assignment. In April, we’ll be reading What About the Big Stuff? Finding Strength and Moving Forward When the Stakes are High by Richard Carlson, Ph.D., ISBN #0-7868-8880-6. This book is available at local bookstores or at www.amazon.com. We’ll meet for our discussion time on Tuesday, April 18 from 7:00-8:30 pm in Room 8. Call Steve Christopher at 447-1246 ext. 228 for more information.

Upcoming Event

Mark your calendar for Vacation Bible School at Our Savior: July 30 - August 3 from 6 - 8 p.m. It will be for the whole family!

"The Rockslinger and His Greatest Hit," featuring the children's choirs of Our Savior, will be presented on Sunday morning, April 30, during the Sunday School/Bible Class hour (10:30 a.m.). Come to support these young singers as they entertain and encourage you with the biblical account of David and Goliath. God is faithful, even when the road ahead looks bleak or impossible, and the message of this musical certainly will encourage you! Who will be Goliath??? You will have to come to find out, and when you do, we promise you will enjoy our presentation and be uplifted by God's message through these young people.

God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

During National Lutheran Schools Week, we learned that God does indeed love cheerful givers. Brandon and Andrew came over to chapel and let me wash their feet, as we learned how Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. This visually helped bring the story to life and got us all talking of ways that we could be cheerful givers. We discover that each week when we bring our offering to chapel, we are being cheerful givers. When a friend falls down and we help that friend, we are giving love cheerfully. Even helping in the classroom is giving of ourselves cheerfully. We love giving at the preschool and we do it so cheerfully.

March was a fun packed month at the ECDC, beginning with bears and our annual Teddy Bear Picnic and Parade. National Lutheran Schools week had us all having fun in crazy ways from crazy hair and socks day to sports day. Fun was had by all, especially joining the K-8 for opening Devotions on Monday. How cool was that to have all of our little lambs together in our awesome sanctuary! We didn’t stop the fun there—we then went into Circus and Zoo week, having our very own Circus in the ECDC. We then learned how awesome our God is to be able to stop storms, and what a better week to learn that than when it was storming in Livermore. We were waiting for God to say “be still”. We became builders and built some wonderful creations during Home Construction week. We were able to learn of Mary and Martha finding out that God really wants us to take time and stop and listen to Him. We ended our month learning about the farm and how God takes care of animals that live on the farm, just as he cares for us.

This month our challenge to you is to think like the ECDC children did and come up with ways in which you can be a cheerful giver. It may mean giving to the building fund, giving your time at VBS or simply giving time like Mary and sitting and listening to Jesus in His Word.

Please click here for the Financial Report for February and also the Fiscal Year Report for July 2005 to February 2006.

The mission pledge is current and all expenses have been paid.

General Giving is down 10% from budget for February and down 3% YTD. As a reminder, General Giving is where we pay our church salaries, benefits, facility needs, program and other general operating expenses. One way to ensure that you don’t miss a month is to sign up for Simply Giving.

Balances in our various checking, savings and stock accounts total $642,785 which includes $149,463 for the Ministry Center. Architectural fees are currently being paid from that account. The pledges for the Ministry Center totaled $137,248.

Pledges for the continuation program totaled $706,284, of which $596,648 has been received. This is the account from which we pay the church portion of the mortgage. Monthly pledges needed to make the mortgage payment are $22,000. In February we received $16,790, so I encourage you to remember this very important part of our stewardship.

Discipleship Component #8 = Lifelong

We continue with our series on the key components of discipleship as discovered by noted church researcher, George Barna, with this month’s topic on the subject of lifelong discipleship.

There is a phrase that has been used in reference to Christian education, that it is something that should take place from “womb to tomb.” In addition to its catchy rhyme, there is a truth to it that should register deep within all who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The truth is that learning and growing in the faith never stop.

Growing in the faith doesn’t stop:

• at Confirmation
• at the end of the high school years
• when you’re out of college
• when you become an “adult”
• at the time you become a parent
• or when you become a senior citizen.

Learning something new has no age boundaries. Although we all learn differently and can learn different things—growing in faith is not limited to a particular age classification.

Even if you experience a social setback, growth can continue. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison. The same is true of physical disability. One of the great devotional authors of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Pastor Herman Gockel, wrote many of his books after he became blind!

We are made for the long haul. We are made to grow and increase in our understanding of our Lord Jesus every single day of this life! We don’t even get weekends or holidays off from growing! New insights and growth in faith can take place at any time and in any place we may find ourselves.

As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” As some people like to say, “It’s a God thing.” It is God’s idea that we grow physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually, and it is a lifelong process.

God’s not finished with any of us yet! There is always room to grow!

Work has begun! Not much visibility, since it’s all inside so far. There is some testing to be done before the seismic retrofit can start. By the time you read this, the drawings should be in their final state. Then, we can get an estimate of the costs and schedule. Next step is to enter into a contract for the main refurbishing effort.

We are pursuing resolution of our differences with the Historic Preservation Commission over the design of the opening on the north face of the Ministry Center (that facing South Livermore Avenue) We will keep you posted.

Thank you for your prayers. Don’t let up.

This year, as we did last year, Our Savior will be serving an Easter Brunch following our Easter Service on Sunday, April 16. The brunch will be held in the gym and begin around 10:30 a.m. We will continue with the tradition of the men of the congregation preparing and serving this special meal on this special day!

We are looking for a lot of “good men” (young and old) who can volunteer to do everything from the purchase of supplies, set-up, cooking, and serving, to clean- up and decorating! The men will do it all! If you are interested in helping out in any way, please show up on Saturday, April 15 at 9 a.m. in the gym to help with set-up, decorations and other preparations. If you have any questions call Steve Christopher in the church office, 447-1246, x 228.

There are so many ways God's people give their time in service to Him and our community of faith. This month we thank several people who work behind the scenes to help keep our sanctuary ready for worship each week. Christine Townsend cares for the potted plants in the chancel area. Since they are really outdoor plants that we are putting into an indoor environment, this job takes someone who has a good eye for possible problems. Christine does a great job - gardening is something she loves to do, and we thank her for using her skills in this area.

Have you noticed our prayer, visitor and worship cards in the pews? Joe and Geneva Humphrey come periodically to go through the entire sanctuary and make sure those cards are replenished. In addition, they check the pencils and sharpen those that need attention. We thank them for their faithfulness to this time-consuming task! Watch for a new set of cards in the pews soon. These "About Us" cards will give a brief description of Our Savior Lutheran Ministries, and will be available for folks to pick up as they sit in our sanctuary for any kind of event.

Well, they do here at OSLM in the back of the church!

Starting on Sunday, March 26, you will find an “Egg Tree” on which there are 50 eggs with the names of families in our Livermore community to whom we want to deliver Easter baskets on April 15. Feel free to pick up an egg and check out the names and ages of the families, and then create a special “Easter Basket” for them. Please bring the basket to the church office the week of April 9.

Questions? Please call Steve Christopher in the church office at 447-1246, x 228.

The following letter was received in the church office. It was in response to door offerings gathered at the Christmas concert:

Dear Christian Friends,

Acts 20:30 records the words of St. Paul: "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Thank you for your gift of December 15, 2005, in the amount of $309 designated to bring the joy of Christmas to the children served by the Bethlehem Children's Treatment Center. We are grateful for your support of this ministry of loving care and compassion.

We at Lutheran Social Services of the South can continue to minister to many in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ because of your thoughtful support. We are thankful for the privilege to serve in His name and mindful of your partnership in ministry.

Sincerely,

Dan Zieschang, Associate Vice President for Community/Church Relations

Lutheran Social Services of the South, Inc., Austin, TX

With Thrivent matching funds of up to $1600, we successfully raised over $3800 for our CONNECT Student Ministries mission trip to Cuba, New Mexico. Thanks to everyone who donated!

Some students have shown interest in doing extra services to help pay for their cost of the trip. If you are interested in finding a student to serve, and you didn’t win someone in the auction, contact Brett at 447-1246, ext. 261.

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries is a Christian Community--

• Rooted in Grace
• Growing in Faith
• Serving with Joy

Worship Schedule

• Sunday Worship and Communion: 9:00 a.m.
• Informal Worship: 10:30 a.m.
• Sunday School for all ages: 10:30 a.m.

Critical Targets and Goals

To accomplish our mission and ministry here at Our Savior:

• Pastor: A new Senior Pastor is installed and competently fulfilling all the obligations of his position by May 1, 2006.
• Membership: There is a 20% increase in active membership by July 1, 2006.
• Communications: Every person in our “community”—in the church, in the school and in the area—is aware of events and activities that are of interest to them. OSLM’s leaders know the opinions and feelings of those in the “community” with regard to our ministries.
• Stewardship: There is a 10% increase in General Giving for 2005-’06 versus 2004-’05.
• Ministry Wing: The Stewards give their approval to proceed with the construction of a Ministry Wing by July 1, 2006.

Mission Statement

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries’ Mission is to:

• Proclaim salvation through God’s grace in word and song
• Build Christian relationships
• Care for the people of the community
• Equip God’s people for Life in Christ