Mar 7, 2020 | Events, News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
A Word From Pastor Jim About Our Life Together and the Coronavirus
At TLC we care about our community and the well-being, abundant life of all.
There is no need to panic about the coronavirus, but we will use best practices to be prudent and responsible. Our staff is monitoring the situation and we are thankful that to date there are no reported cases of coronavirus in Island County. However, we do know that the senior population is the most vulnerable and so we will proceed with caution.
In light of the recent events in the State of Washington we will be making some temporary changes in our worship practices.
There WILL be church this Sunday at 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m.
There will NOT be Holy Communion this Sunday. We may suspend the celebration of Holy Communion altogether for some period of time.
If you are sick or have any symptoms, you are encouraged to stay home and watch the sermon online.
We encourage everyone to wash their hands upon arrival at TLC. We will dispense with hugs and handshakes until the Coronavirus situation is better understood. Ushers and greeters will greet you, but will not make physical contact. There will be no greeting line after the service. The coffee hours will be conducted as usual, with servers wearing gloves. Please wash/sanitize hands before attending coffee hour.
This Sunday we ask you to take your bulletins home with you for recycling.
We will suspend the printing of bulletins until further notice.
We are not canceling regular church activities at this time; we are simply asking everyone to use good sense and precaution.
Lenten Services will go on as scheduled, but the Lenten Meals have been canceled. Holden Evening Prayer Services will take place every Thursday at 7 p.m.
You can always watch sermons online at TrinityLutheranFreeland.org, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/TrinityLutheranChurchFreeland.
Fear will not win the day! Do not be afraid, but do look both ways before you cross the street, do stay home if you are sick, and do wash your hands.
My love and prayers to you all!
Oct 18, 2019 | Events, News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog, Uncategorized
Weekly Word
I hope that you will join us for worship this Sunday, October 20th. I promise you that it will be a unique worship experience. Unique in the 66-year history of TLC.
Inspired by the Ken Burns PBS Documentary titled, “Country Music,” we will be using country songs and country sounds at all three worship services. We will be led by many fine musicians, as they break out their guitars, fiddles, and banjos. They will be picking and singing all morning long, to the glory of God.
When I was a kid, we had a rather cantankerous old widower who lived in our neighborhood. One summer he got sick and my mother asked me to mow his lawn. I protested, “Mom, he is not nice, he yells at us when we cut through his yard. I don’t want to mow his yard. I don’t like him.”
My mother responded by saying, “Do you like me?”
I said, “Yes.”
“So, go mow the lawn, you are not doing it for him, you are doing it for me.”
Some of you probably don’t like country music. You may think that you should just stay home this Sunday. But to quote a country song, “When I am alone, I am in bad company.” So, don’t be alone, come to TLC and join the party.
Some of you probably don’t like country music. Do you love God? Don’t stay away because you don’t like country music. Show up and we will worship God together.
I hope to see you in Church this Sunday. Saddle up your horse and come to TLC. Bring a good attitude, cowboy hats and boots are optional.
If you play this message backward, you will get your house, your wife, your dog, and your pick-up truck back.
Keep smiling!
Pastor Jim
Nov 30, 2016 | Events, News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
Weekly Word from Pastor Jim
This Sunday at TLC you are invited to wear your favorite Seahawk, Husky, Cougar, Bronco, or even Patriot gear. Actually, we will be talking about John the Baptist this Sunday. So, if you are so inclined, you could wear a leather girdle and eat a few locusts.
On Sunday, December 11 we will be lighting three of the four Advent Candles as we continue to make our way to Bethlehem. In days gone by the color of Advent was purple, but on the third Sunday of Advent a blue candle would be lit. On December 11, you are invited to WEAR BLUE. Blue shirts, blue jeans, blue hats, blue dresses, blue ties, and blue sweatshirts will all be in style at TLC.
On Sunday, December 18, in addition to the Sunday School Christmas Program, we will be having our second annual Christmas Sweater Sunday. (The louder the better.) This might be your only chance to wear that sweater in public this year. At the 9:30 a.m. service that morning, this Grandpa will be holding little Camden James McNany, as he is baptized into the Christian Church.
Christmas Eve is on December 24th this year and we will be celebrating with a family Christmas service at 4 pm. Candlelight Services with Holy Communion will be held at 7 and 9 pm.
The next morning, on Christmas Day at 9 am we will gather for a simple, beautiful celebration of the Nativity. I will have the coffee made early that morning. Please join us.
Finally, I would ask your help as we seek to make our year-end General Fund budget goals. We have given away more than $200,000 this year! Praise be to God. Now it is time to balance our bottom line. Blessed to be a Blessing! I thank you in advance for your Christmas gifts to TLC.
Ho Ho Ho and I will see you in Church!
Love, Pastor Jim
Nov 2, 2016 | Events, News, News-for-Home-Page, Pastor Jim's Blog
My Grandfather died on All Saints’ Day. Harold Lindus was a Norwegian sharecropper. Even though he worked very hard for 70 years, he never owned property. He was a man of deep faith. With my Grandmother Aline, (and a handful of others), they gave birth to Trinity Lutheran Church in DeKalb, Illinois. In the depths of the depression they stepped out in faith and built a little church.
My Grandmother would die on her birthday. After kissing my Grandpa good morning, she walked back into the bedroom and collapsed. A heart attack had taken her life before she even hit the floor.
Left alone in the twilight of his life my Grandfather entered a very difficult season. He was lonely; his emphysema was worsening. Each breath was labored. His body was failing him, and he could not help but wonder if his God was failing him too. This season of doubt was more painful than his disability. He would watch Christian television shows. People were healed. He was not. He prayed. He sent money. People were healed, and he was not.
He was the last person that Felicia and I visited before heading off to internship at Bethany Lutheran Church on Bainbridge Island. Grandpa Lindus was so proud that we were giving our lives to the church that he loved. He pressed a couple of hundred dollars into my hand and said, “I want to pay for the gas. Be safe.” We walked to the car that day with tears in our eyes.
Ten weeks later, on November 1st, 1984 my Grandfather took his final labored breath and joined my Grandmother on the other side. Felicia and I boarded a plane and headed home to the still small church that my Grandfather had started. We had come home to bury him.
When I was a boy my Grandpa Lindus would take me to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs. My Grandfather was a big Cubs fan. My Father, in his rebellion just to tick my Grandfather off, pulled for the hated St. Louis Cardinals.
It is All Saints’ Day, and I spent the evening pulling for the Cubs, and playing on the floor with my Grandson Camden. When he was fussy, I held him tight and we paced the house. We came to a mirror in the dining room. I looked in the mirror and I recognized the faces—his and mine. I had become Grandpa Lindus. Twilight was setting in. God is good and the seasons are passing.
This Sunday we will be celebrating the Saints who have lived, served, and died at TLC in the past year. I hope to see you. I hope to greet you. I hope to share a holy hug with you. Life is short. Life is sweet. Life is fragile. Life is a gift.
I am honored to share the journey with you!
Love, Pastor Jim
Aug 14, 2015 | Events, Groups and Projects
For the past five years Trinity Lutheran Church has sponsored a popular fishing 101 workshop primarily designed for women who have little to no fishing experience, (men with little to no fishing experience are also welcome).
UNFORTUNATELY, this year’s workshops (2016) are cancelled due to the WA State Fish & Wildlife ruling not to open any season for silver salmon (Cohos). We plan to resume hosting the Fishinista workshops in 2017 because the pink salmon will be running in summer of 2017 and we hope that silver salmon will also be open to be caught.
This workshop provides both an overview of basic shoreline salmon fishing plus practical tips including the following:
Putting together your Fishing Kit:
- Fishing License — How to fill out a catch record – displaying a Vehicle Use Permit
- Fishing rod / Line / Lures (mainly buzz bombs) / Jellies / Skirts
- License & pen / Fish & Wildlife Booklet / optional laminated fish ID chart
- How to Identify the different types of salmon: King or Chinook / Silver or Coho / Pinks or Humpies
- How to identify the different salmon (humpies, silver, and kings and how many will be running this year)
- Wild or hatchery? How to tell. Why this is important.
- Why to use different color and sized lures
- Signs to look for on the water. Jumping, roiling, bait balls, scanning the water
Basics of Fishing
- Understanding catch limits & size (refer to booklet)
- Where you can fish according to the zone
- Private property signs
- Open places to fish on Whidbey Island
- Best times to go fishing
- How to read a tide chart
- Knowing the rules and safety tips (like looking in back before you cast)
- Preparing the hook.
- Basic Knots: Show Modified Clinch knot
- Tying on a buzz bomb
- Casting and Retrieving techniques
- How to cast
- Strikes — what they feel like, how to tell, how to set the hook
- What to expect according to different types of fish
- Retrieval techniques; how to ‘play’ the fish
- Common mistakes
After the Catch
- Once you land the fish, how to bonk, bleed and gut the fish
- Recording your catch
- How to donate salmon to Good Cheer Food Bank
- Local fishing derbies and fishing clubs you may enjoy
