Happy May of 2026!  Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it?  I want to begin by thanking all that participated with the functions the church experienced last month.  We held our first Games, Grub and Grace session and had a wonderful turnout!  There was plenty of food, fun, and support, making the event a true success!  Niki Baringer has set the bar very high for herself and us to live up to this wonderful night in the future.

I want to express my deepest and sincerest thanks to all who helped set up, serve, and clean up in readiness for the celebration of life of David Henderson.  It was an immense undertaking, but we did it in true Living Lord form.  David would have been proud, and I certainly am!

A heartfelt thank you to all who have been working on cleaning out the church of its clutter accumulated over the years.  It is said that “cleanliness is next to godliness” and through the efforts of our wonderful volunteers we are getting closer and closer to God!

Our Council members are hard at work getting things done and preparing for more activities at the church.  Pray for each of them!

I also express thanks to God for the return of May Love, and celebrate her continued recovery from her accident.  The Lord is so good!  Let us all give thanks and praise for the many things He does to bless us.  And let us ask for His guidance and energy as the church continues to work on His behalf.

I pray that you all have a blessed and joyful month of May and that as we experience more sunlight let us not forget the true light of lights, Jesus Christ.  He is the illumination to lead us to Heaven, let us follow His light now and forever.

Pastor Gerry

Monthly Men’s Breakfast…Please join us for our monthly men’s breakfast the second Wednesday of each month at 9:00 am at Eat-N-Park.  All are welcome!

Church Information…Please remember that you can obtain church information from the monthly Lamplighter Newsletter, the Constant Contact emails you receive, on the church website (www.lllc.org), on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Living-Lord-Lutheran-Church-493806727349110/), and postings on the church bulletin board.  Church Council Meeting minutes are posted on the bulletin board and sent out via Constant Contact.  We would like to see a better “open rate” when we send information to you via Constant Contact so that we know you are being informed of the activities that are occurring at the church.  If you have any other suggestions on how best to reach out to our parishioners, please see a Council member.

Congratulations Living Lord Lutheran Church members—you have gracefully completed a year of helping to provide food, personal items, and clothing to students in need in the Howland Local Schools.  Your efforts are greatly appreciated.  God bless you and we plan to continue our efforts for another year of giving!  Thank you for your generosity and caring.  Go Tigers!  The Evangelism/Membership Committee and the In-Reach Committee will be working together to accomplish our goals.  With an older congregation, we need to strengthen and adjust our missions to better meet our needs.  I’m sure we are all planning to help and support our new Youth Director and her plans for success.  What are your ideas for new or successful activities?  What would bring new life to our activities?  Exercise classes, book clubs, craft activities, game night, cooking classes, bring a guest, you name it, dream on…  God bless all Living Lord Lutheran Church members.  Thank you for your support and let us know your ideas for finding ways to serve our Lord.

There will be Fellowship on Mother’s Day and on Scholarship Sunday.  Anyone interested in bringing a treat, please call Nancy.  There will be a wish list on the bulletin board for items needed for fellowships.  These include: regular coffee, coffee creamers, canisters of lemonade mix, cold cups, napkins, cake plates, salad bowls, Press-n-Seal roll, sandwich bags, gallon bags, and aluminum foil.

Monthly Women’s Breakfast…Please join us at our monthly breakfast at Vasilio’s in Cortland on the second Thursday of every month (May 14) at 10:00 am.  All are welcome!

Special thanks to Pastor Gammon and Christian Scheiner for their guidance since last October.  The last Adult Forum class before summer will be on Sunday, May 17.  Hope to see you in the fall.  Have a blessed summer.

Hope everyone enjoyed the blessed season.  Thanks to Pastor Gerry for the beautiful services throughout Holy Week.  Easter was such an enlightening celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is risen, Alleluia!  Spring is here!  As we prepare to spring clean our homes, it is also a time to spring clean the church.  We have already started with the Worship storage areas.  Many thanks to Joyce L’Amoureaux and Denise Scheiner for all their help with these two areas.  Thanks also to Niki Baringer for organizing a cleaning in the Education Wing.  There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board for anyone who would like to help.  And let us not forget Ernie Gerbetz, who went to Home Depot and picked up our shelving units for the Education Wing generously paid for by the Fuchs Fund.

Thank you to everyone who played a part in the success of Games, Grub, and Grace.  I truly appreciate all of the encouragement and support in helping bring our very first youth event together.  I am already working on ideas and plans for our next event and will keep you posted!

Hallelujah He Is Risen!  April brings us the celebration of the resurrected Lord.  We all love to remind ourselves of the miracle of this wonderous day.  We celebrate the end of our time of fasting, walk with an extra bounce in our step, and cherish the great gift of salvation we receive with a little more joy.

How often do we really think about what happened in the days that followed Jesus’ return from the grave?  It was during this time that Peter was told to “feed my sheep”.  Jesus’ sheep are His followers.  And through Peter the Church was established to feed the sheep.  Note that Christ never said if it is convenient for you, or if others don’t mind, or if you’re not too busy.  No, He just said do it!

That is still what the Church is called to do today.  Feed the sheep and bring them to Christ the Good Shepherd.  To do this we must have a mindset of service and urgency.  Not waiting for someone else to do it, but volunteer to do it ourselves and follow through.  Our little church is no different.  We are part of the universal church instituted by Jesus.  We are called to feed His sheep.  We are to do what needs to be done to sustain the church and all those that are part of it.  We all have gifts we can contribute to the flock.  We all can build the church up through our actions, giving, prayer, and time.

But to do this, we must commit to it.  And we must remember that when we do, we not only commit to this church, but He who instituted it!  Maybe we have busy schedules, maybe we don’t want to have church activities interfere with our leisure time, maybe we just don’t like some of the people we would have to be involved with.  Jesus’ command wasn’t given with options.  Feed my sheep!  As Christians and part of His church, we are all called to this.  We are all expected to spread the love of Jesus to others and to care for them spiritually.

Some feel that they have nothing to offer.  Others try to take on more than they are capable of because they feel no one else will do it.  This leads to people getting overwhelmed and not being productive.  (At times it can cause roadblocks for others, and opportunities can be missed.)  The old adage “Lead, Follow, or get Out of the Way” applies to serving the Lord and church too!

Let us take some time and ask ourselves where we might improve serving.  How can we help feed the sheep?  Can we find better ways?  Can we be more supportive of those who are answering the call?  Are we willing to change when called to for the greater good?

Have we become stumbling blocks or are we building blocks?

We feed the sheep here.  We spread the Good News of the Gospel and live out the love of our Lord.  Let us also make every effort to feed not only those currently in our midst, but also those to come to Jesus in the future.

Hallelujah He Is Risen!

God bless each of you, and may you always be filled with His Spirit!
Pastor Gerry

Monthly Men’s Breakfast…Please join us for our monthly men’s breakfast the second Wednesday of each month at 9:00 am at Eat-N-Park.  All are welcome!

Well, this year is marching along!  We are rapidly approaching our Easter Holiday.  We are midway through the Lenten Season, and we have had a good response to our Wednesday Lent Mid-week Service and Soup Suppers, which I am very pleased with.  Pastor is doing an excellent job with his message each Wednesday.  Our weekly Sunday attendance is averaging between 40-45 and as the weather gets better and our snowbirds return to us that will help these numbers.  Holy Week will be upon us soon.  Maudy Thursday and Good Friday services will be at 5:00 pm.  Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday services will be at our regular service time of 10:00 am.  Don’t forget that Fellowship is sponsoring a Palm Sunday Breakfast at 8:30 am on March 29.  Please plan to attend if you can!  Our new Director of Youth Activities, Niki Baringer, has been hired and is at work with our first planned youth and family event on Friday, April 24.  She is working on other events coming throughout the summer.  This is all very exciting here at Living Lord.  We are still working on plans for some church projects that will be funded through the Fuchs Fund this year, and we are in the process of getting estimates to help us choose which ones to do.  You can be sure that a building of this age also seems to need work to keep it going.  I will wrap this up, and I have probably left something out I wanted to say, but it can wait until next month.  Have a blessed Easter and please remember to love each other as God loves us.

Church Information…Please remember that you can obtain church information from the monthly Lamplighter Newsletter, the Constant Contact emails you receive, on the church website (www.lllc.org), on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Living-Lord-Lutheran-Church-493806727349110/), and postings on the church bulletin board.  Church Council Meeting minutes are posted on the bulletin board and sent out via Constant Contact.  We would like to see a better “open rate” when we send information to you via Constant Contact so that we know you are being informed of the activities that are occurring at the church.  If you have any other suggestions on how best to reach out to our parishioners, please see a Council member.

Is the snow really finished?  I hope so, since the snow drops and daffodils are popping their sprouts above ground calling for spring.  I think I am also calling for spring and some warm weather.  The Evangelism/Membership Committee is back at work.  If there are any new or renewed ideas that you have for us, we would be happy to give it a try.  Your support of the Howland Schools Paw Pantry has been amazing!  In January, February, and March, we collected all sizes of T-shirts, socks, and undergarments for younger students in the primary grades.  The Outreach Committee is also now collecting for our Easter Food Basket distribution.  Thank you for your generosity and caring.  We resumed our communion visits to our homebound members in mid-March.  Don’t forget there are members who will help with transportation if you are in need.  Information is posted on the main bulletin board.  God’s blessings for your help and welcome spring!