Who We Are
Our mission is simple...
As for me and my house we will serve the Lord in how we Love, in how we Live, and in how we Give.
We are an active, growing, and energetic congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org) and the Northeastern Iowa Synod (www.neiasynod.org).
We offer both contemporary and traditional worship services and offer faith building opportunities for people of all ages.
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Love is in the air. Love thy neighbor. I love spaghetti. I love snow days. I love you. I would love to go shopping. ![]()
With so many different uses for the English word love, it can be hard to understand how we are called to love each other. By definition love can be a noun; a person can have an “intense feeling of great affection (her heart was filled with love) or a deep interest in something (I love pizza).” Love also can be a verb; a person can “feel deep affection for (I love my husband) or enjoy very much”. ![]()
I much prefer to think of love as an action/verb. It is more than a feeling, it is a doing. “Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious, boastful, or arrogant, or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.” (1 Cor 13:4-6) These actions of patience, kindness, bearing, belief, hope, and endurance take work. They can be overwhelming tasks. Love is not easy. ![]()
So, how can we live out our love for each other on a normal day? ![]()
L – Listen to each other. Don’t just hear them, listen to them. What can I learn about my friend/neighbor today by listening to him? (Not by stalking him on Facebook or Instagram)![]()
O – Offer to help or support each other. Walk with your friend, not before them or after them, but next to them. Share your blessings with others. Encourage each other. What can I offer my friend today?![]()
V – Validate each other’s feelings. You don’t have to agree with your friend/neighbor, just acknowledge how he/she is feeling and remind her it’s ok to feel however she does. Feelings by themselves are not wrong (the response to the feelings is where things get tricky). ![]()
E – Express your care through actions. Hold open the door. Communicate calmly. Say thank you. Wash the dishes. Shovel the sidewalk. Send a card. Show your love through what you do, not just what you say. ![]()
“We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) Christ’s action of love for us was sacrifice. What will your action of love be today in response to Jesus’ love for you?![]()
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Gina DeBoer
February 25![]()
Boggle![]()
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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)![]()
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I like to play Boggle. The game begins by shaking a covered tray of cubes with a different letter printed on every side. Then you put the tray down on the table, wait for the cubes to settle into a grid, and set the timer for 3 minutes. Every player searches for as many words as they can find with the letters that have settled on top. It’s amazing how many words you can find. Sometimes you even learn new words. ![]()
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Sometimes it can feel like we’re in a covered tray getting tossed about. Everything feels up in the air and none of us is sure how things will land. But in faith we trust that God holds us close. We settle into God’s promised love and by God’s grace we see things we hadn’t seen before. Sometimes we even learn something new.![]()
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Dear God, I’m glad you’re always with me. Help me to trust you so I worry less and love more. Amen.
I know we’re just rolling into February, but I’m starting to feel hopeful – the kind of hopeful I usually feel when I am confident that Spring is just around the corner. Perhaps it helps that the sun is out today (I’m writing this nearly two weeks before you’ll read it so forgive me if the weather has been nothing but terrible since I wrote this.) I just feel that things are looking up.![]()
In-person worship will start up again on February 7th (covid restrictions are still in place – mask required, use the front door only, keep socially distanced, etc.), hopefully for good this time. Youth activities are beginning to happen again here at the church. Small meetings and gatherings are starting to happen. It just feels good to see some life in the building once again.![]()
I received a phone call just a little while ago from the synod office. They wanted to thank Immanuel for their generosity. The people of Immanuel have given a good sum of money to Lutheran World Relief and World Hunger. People of Immanuel have also designated $5,000.00 to Ewalu. Things are looking good right now.![]()
The phrase ‘looking good’, however, is a relative term. To what are we comparing what we now consider good? 2020? It doesn’t take much to be better than 2020. From where are we getting the hope that the future might be better? The past? Again, it doesn’t take much to be better than 2020.![]()
You might argue that, as Christians, our hope in the Lord also comes from the past and I understand that. However, the year 2020 is only a moment in time. The pandemic has a beginning and an end. It has no power other than the power we allow it to have.![]()
Jeremiah (29:11) puts it like this, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This hope that Jeremiah spells out for us is not a moment in time but a moment in eternity. This same moment in eternity is played out in the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14), the Battle of Jericho (Joshua 6), and the raising of Lazarus (John 11). It is the same hope we celebrate at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. And this is the same hope we proclaim in our funeral liturgy.![]()
Our hope is based on a promise not a feeling. It’s more than sunshine and enthusiasm. It’s more than good reports and encouraging outlooks. Our hope is God’s love. Our hope is God’s plan. Our hope is the future as God has already written it. And I think it’s looking pretty good!![]()
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)![]()
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Rev. Greg DeBoer
February 24![]()
Cribbage![]()
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“A time to keep and a time to throw away.” (Ecclesiastes 3:6b)![]()
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In our family, we love to play games - it is the glue that has held us together. When the children were young, it was Candyland. Now that they are adults, it is Cribbage. This card game is about what cards to keep and what cards to throw away. Now, what I have not mentioned is that we “edit” the rules of games. For us, it is Extreme Cribbage! We feel this makes games more challenging. Why? Because as we make our way through life with the twists, turns, starts, stops, hopes, plans and dreams, the skill of knowing what to keep and what to throw away will be a gift to ourselves. When have you had to toss your plans or ideas and start over?![]()
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Lord, give us the gifts of wisdom and the courage to know what things to keep and what things to throw away. Amen.
Youth - Is EWALU for you?![]()
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Early registration for EWALU church camp is due by the end of February. Immanuel wants to help you experience the love of God at church camp! Please complete the campership application and EWALU registration form and turn into the church office, with your $50 deposit, BY February 28th. Campership amounts will be awarded in March. If you have questions about which session to register for or what a difference church camp can make, please talk to Gina DeBoer.