<![CDATA[Atonement Lutheran Church Spring Valley LCMS

<![CDATA[Atonement Lutheran Church Spring Valley LCMS - Blog]]>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 19:43:33 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[MARTIN LUTHER-Leader Of The Reformation]]>Tue, 18 Oct 2016 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/martin-muther-leader-of-the-reformation Luther's soul was tormented by the fear that he was a sinner condemned by God. Then one day a new light broke upon him, which in its results was like a miracle. He was reading the words of the Apostle Paul, "The just shall live by faith." So that was the real meaning of the Gospel! Life would come not by works but by faith and not by what a man had to try to do but by what the love of God had done already. Salvation came not through fasting or self-flagulation, but by the mercy that was declared in Christ. Jesus was not most of all the Judge; He was the Savior. Martin Luther, a poor sinner that he might be, through the love of Jesus crucified was already saved!
The Reformation is not just an event that happened 500 years ago. It is all about Grace alone, Scripture alone, and Faith alone in CHRIST ALONE ! ! !

-Remi Tufts, Member of Atonement Lutheran Church]]><![CDATA[A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD]]>Wed, 12 Oct 2016 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/a-mighty-fortress-is-our-godAuthor and Composer:     Martin Luther , 1483-1546

English Translation:          Frederick H. Hedge, 1805-1890

Tune Name :                    "Ein' Feste Berg"

Scriptural Reference:       Psalm 46

One of the important benefits of the Reformation was the rediscovery of congregational singing. `Luther became intensely interested in encouraging it.
He said, " I wish to compose sacred hymns, so that the Words of God may dwell among the people also by means of song." He felt that the people should have hymns as well as the Bible, in their own language, so that they could " read God's Word and speak to Him in their songs." The Protestant Church
services were no longer to be in Latin, but in the common language of the people.

The first Protestant hymnal was published in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1524. It contained only eight hymns, four of them written by Luther himself. This powerful hymn, written about 1529, became the battle cry of the people, a great source of strength and inspiration even for those who were martyred for their convictions. The first line is inscribed on Luther's tomb in the famous old town of Wittenberg.

- Remi Tufts, Member of Atonement Lutheran Church ]]><![CDATA[Parenting in the Pew: 6 Steps To Help Kids Behave in Church Concordia Publishing House]]>Wed, 27 May 2015 18:48:50 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/parenting-in-the-pew-6-steps-to-help-kids-behave-in-church

Thomas Edison reportedly tried to invent the light bulb 10,000 times before he found success. In reference to his long-awaited achievement, a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 10,000 times?”

“I didn’t fail 10,000 times,” Edison answered. “The light bulb was an invention with 10,000 steps.”

Parents of young children likely feel that getting their kids to behave in church is a lot like inventing the light bulb. A small container of cereal transforms into a pile of crushed crumbs underneath the pew. Crayons and a coloring book give way to a freshly illustrated hymnal. The new board book magically becomes a Frisbee. After innumerable trips in and out of church with an unruly little Christian in your arms, you cannot help but wonder, “Is all this effort worth it?”

Just as the light bulb was worth every step, so are your efforts. You are not failing, but instead trudging up and down the hilly path to success. While my three oldest usually display appropriate church etiquette, there remain those Sundays when I feel I must go back to the drawing board. Even so, I humbly offer the following steps that have served our family well, in the hope that they may guide you as you travel toward the goal of raising an engaged and respectful little church goer.

Step 1: Serve a filling breakfast or bring a small snack. Hungry children have shorter attention spans, especially later in the morning.

Step 2: Dress your child in something special. Teach that church is something unique and important, requiring specific clothes such as “church shoes.” Explain that just as you wear your best to Jesus’ house, you likewise act your best in Jesus’ house.

Step 3: Sit in one of the front pews. Children are short and need all the help they can get seeing the action. Holding them in your arms gives them an even better view. While they are watching the pastors or other participants, whisper words of simple explanation; “Those are words Jesus said,” or “Jesus likes to hear us sing.”

Step 4: Bring along a few books reserved only for church. CPH has a series of board books that point out different objects and actions children can expect to experience in church. This series includes Things I See at Easter and Things I see at Christmas. Your church library might also have Things I Hear in Church and Things I See in Church. My Church Words Book is another good one that allows kids to match the pictures in the book to what they are seeing.

Step 5: Enlist fellow church members to sit with your family. This is especially helpful when you have several small children in tow. Many older members of your congregation would be thrilled to hold your little ones and help them pay attention. Take advantage of their experience of raising their own children as well as their desire to pass on the faith to a new generation.

Step 6: Practice at home. Just as kids often play house or school, join them in playing church. Take turns acting out the roles of pastor, choir director, reader, banner bearer, person in the pew, and so on. Show them how you would like them to act at different parts of the service, and hopefully they will remember on Sunday.

By bringing your children to church each week, you are familiarizing them with the sights, sounds, smells, and rhythm of worship. You are acknowledging they are valuable members of Christ’s family now, instead of only when they are older. You are teaching them that every week begins in God’s house: thanking, praising, confessing, and praying to Him who made us and saved us.

Edison’s hard work paid off, and so will yours. May your efforts, inspired by the Holy Spirit, illuminate your child’s many steps with the gracious light of Christ.

By: Lindsey Eggold Copyright © 2014 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

]]><![CDATA[May - Pastor's Newsletter Article]]>Tue, 28 Apr 2015 17:12:01 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/may-pastors-newsletter-article2Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleuia!
Now we have a job to do as resurrection people here at Atonement Lutheran Church.

As a member of Atonement one of our vocations is “church member”. So what are the responsibilities of being a member of local congregation? In addition to attending regularly to receive the blessings of God found in the Word and the Sacrament in the Divine Service and in Bible studies, sharing your talents and abilities through volunteering, and participating in a regular habit of tithing, we also have the responsibility of voting.

Our annual Voters’ Meeting is scheduled for May 17 following the Sunday morning Divine Service. Attendance at this meeting is not only a responsibility as a voting member of the congregation but I would also like us to see it as an opportunity. The annual Voters’ Meeting is an opportunity to gain information about all of the Ministry that has been taking place here at Atonement and within our community on a daily basis. It is also an opportunity for you to ask questions and support this Ministry by voting on a budget that will enable us to continue proclaiming the good news of our risen Lord in this place.

Please make a point to attend this voters’ meeting. Please make a point to continue to become an engaged participant in the Ministry of Atonement Lutheran. You can do this through your prayers, through the giving of your time at a Voters’ Meeting and in volunteer efforts, through the offering of your skills and talents for the ministry of the Church, and through the generous giving of your financial treasures in healthy habit of tithing.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! We are free and enabled by his Spirit to serve in his name!

In Christ,
Pastor Josh

]]><![CDATA[What is Easter?]]>Mon, 06 Apr 2015 18:22:55 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/what-is-easter

]]><![CDATA[April - Pastor's Newsletter Article]]>Mon, 30 Mar 2015 17:49:12 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/pastors-april-newsletter-articleBrothers and Sisters in Christ:

This year, as the calendar turns from March to April, Atonement Lutheran Church will be in the midst of its Holy Week observance. This month I would like to help us all prepare for Holy Week by taking a brief moment to consider the incredible unity of the Holy Scriptures. I want us to see in greater clarity the connections between the events of Holy Week as recorded by the four Biblical Gospels and the week of creation as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. We will refer to an article by Professor Charles Arand of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis to help draw out these connections. It is my prayer that our trust in our Creator God who in the fullness of time sent forth his Son to renew all creation might grow.

Consider this: on the 6th day of the week, God created his human creatures; on the 6th day of the week, Jesus (the Creator incarnate) dies for his human creatures. God’s human creatures were not content to remain creatures. They wanted to rise above and transcend their creatureliness. They wanted to be like God. Yet in that very moment, when they overreached, they fell. And when they fell, they dragged down with them the entire creation into violence, death, and decay. And then we come to Holy Week. The sixth day, the day on which the God had made his human creatures, now becomes the day that the Son (through whom all things were made) now suffers and dies as a human creature. Jesus dies and endures God’s judgment upon his human creatures. And creation fell apart: the earth quaked, the sky darkened.

The parallels continue. In Genesis, after God finished creating, He rested on the seventh day and delighted in all that he had made. And now on the seventh day, after Jesus declared on the cross that “it was finished,” Jesus rested in the tomb. This time he rested not from his work of creation, but from his work of rescuing creation. And then the new beginning. On the first day of the week he arose bodily from the dead. Again, consider the connections. God began his work of creation on the first day. He now ushers in the new creation on the first day of the week—first for humans and then for the rest of creation. And so Sunday becomes the first day of the new creation or the 8th day of creation—a point illustrated by the shape of many of our baptismal fonts. And so where the fall of the entire creation began, there the restoration of the entire creation begins (namely, with us, God’s human creatures). [1]

The one who created all things in a week has intervened in in a week of new creation to recreate you in the image of his Firstborn Son, Jesus Christ. Let us ever be found in this Christ as baptized, believing new creations.

A blessed Holy Week and Easter season to all of you!

In Christ,
Pastor Josh

[1] Dr. Charles Arand, “The 6th Day” found on togetherwithallcreatures.com.

]]><![CDATA[What is Holy Week?]]>Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:23:14 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/what-is-holy-week

]]><![CDATA[What is Lent?]]>Mon, 09 Mar 2015 19:55:50 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/what-is-lent

]]><![CDATA[Radical Realities or Disclosures of a Distracted Director of Music]]>Mon, 09 Mar 2015 19:50:24 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/radical-realities-or-disclosures-of-a-distracted-director-of-musicCheck text messages. Add up hymn board numbers. count bricks on the wall .....

]]><![CDATA[A Curiously Christian Webcomic]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2015 19:55:17 GMThttp://www.atonementspringvalley.org/blog/a-curiously-christian-webcomic

For this comic and more like it, please visit:
http://adam4d.com/

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