What will you do to celebrate the Fourth of July? Maybe you will have a picnic and set off some fireworks or maybe you will just spend the day with friends and family and enjoy a long-awaited day off.
This week, on the 4th of July, we will celebrate our nation’s 245th birthday. On this day we celebrate the precious gift of freedom because of the price others have paid. The ideal of freedom is one that our founding fathers believed valuable enough to risk everything on. They risked their fortunes, their families, their reputations and their sacred honor. They risked their very lives and many of them paid for our freedom with their blood and the blood of their children.
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- Published: 03 July 2021 03 July 2021
- Last Updated: 03 July 2021 03 July 2021
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The Pacific Hills Courtyard Jazz Series is back for for 2021! Omaha area musicians will perform in the courtyard at Pacific Hills Lutheran Church three times this Summer.
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- Published: 30 May 2021 30 May 2021
- Last Updated: 14 August 2021 14 August 2021
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With the return to normalcy, it is expected that we will have a return of the hymnals on July 4th. This opens up the opportunity for a Hymn Sing!
On Sundays, July 4th, July 25th, and August 29th we will have a Hymn Sing that starts 10 minutes prior to service in place of the prelude. This is the time for you to call out your favorite hymn and we will sing one to two verses! A list of the hymns by name can be found in the back of the hymnal and a page number for that will be provided in the bulletin that Sunday. While you may look them up that day, in my past experience, it is best to think of it beforehand as there are usually quite a few people who are ready and it turns into a race to shout your hymn number first!
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- Published: 23 May 2021 23 May 2021
- Last Updated: 23 May 2021 23 May 2021
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Yearly we gather on this day to hear the good news that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Alleluia!
Weekly we celebrate Resurrection Day as each Sunday is a reminder that Jesus lives.
Daily our lives reflect the resurrection as we drown the Old Adam so that the New Man in Christ Jesus might arise and live before God in the New Life revealed at the empty tomb.
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- Published: 04 April 2021 04 April 2021
- Last Updated: 18 April 2021 18 April 2021
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With the vaccine distribution reaching more people and us returning to the sanctuary in April, Pacific Hills will begin having music ensemble rehearsals again. All who have interest are welcome to join either the bell choir or choir!
Due to COVID, please use your own judgment/comfort in your call to rejoin/ join. Masks will be worn during rehearsals and during service. Once we return to the sanctuary, choir members will be spread out throughout the balcony to follow social distancing. Until then, we will rehearse in Acker Hall spread out.
Choir will rehearse on Sundays from 9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. in Acker Hall until we return to the sanctuary, which we will then be in the balcony. Please contact me if you have interest in joining or feel free to pop in at a rehearsal!
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- Published: 28 March 2021 28 March 2021
- Last Updated: 28 March 2021 28 March 2021
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Every year, many of us go through the tradition to "give up" something during Lent. Some people choose to give up chocolate, while some people choose to give up meat. There is no right or wrong answer as to what to give up, but it is generally expected you give up something with some meaning as a form of personal sacrifice. There are a large variety of things one can choose to give up for Lent, but do you know what the liturgy at church "gives up?"
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- Published: 27 February 2021 27 February 2021
- Last Updated: 27 February 2021 27 February 2021
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The Lenten season is the fourth season in the church year (after Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany). It begins with Ash Wednesday and is the oldest season of the church year. The original period of Lent seems to have been 40 hours. It was spent in fasting and contemplation on the sufferings of Christ. Later it became 30 days, then 36, and finally, in the reign of Charlemagne (about 800 A.D.), 40 days. Lent originally had one purpose — to prepare candidates for Baptism. For hundreds of years, the Baptism itself took place late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning before the dawn of Resurrection Day, during an all-night vigil.
While certain things may have changed, observing Lent as a time of contemplation, repentance and faith has not. Plan now to join us each week, beginning February 17, 2021 for our journey to the cross and empty tomb.
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- Published: 20 February 2021 20 February 2021
- Last Updated: 20 February 2021 20 February 2021
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Here is some more insight into the liturgy elements that Pacific Hills does every weekend!
The Psalmody is the singing/recitation of the Psalm text from biblical verses, similar to a Gregorian chant line. The use of the Psalmody dates back to biblical times, but was not as formal as it is currently. The Psalmody used to be sung strictly between the clergy and the choir. During the reformation, the Lutherans believed that the Psalmody should involve more than just the clergy and choir. They pushed to have it further involve the congregation, which is currently done here at Pacific Hills!
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- Published: 25 January 2021 25 January 2021
- Last Updated: 25 January 2021 25 January 2021
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January is regarded as Sanctity of Life Month and January 24, 2021 will be observed as Sanctity of Life Sunday. Our Lutherans for Life theme will be, “From Invisible to Indispensable,” based on 1 Corinthians 12:22. “On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable...”
This year we are once again partnering with Essential Pregnancy Services of Omaha in our effort to make a difference in the lives of at-risk mothers and their unborn and newly born children. As such, you are encouraged to support our Yahweh fund, which will then directly support the ministry of EPS.
The Essential Pregnancy Services “Glow” Banquet is scheduled for Sun- day, March 21, 2021. This year, due to COVID, the event will be a virtual event. This year you are invited to invite a small number of friends to your home in support of EPS. Your voice, your donation and your personal invitation to family and friends will go a long way in making a difference to inspire young mothers to choose the gift of life.
You can look for updated information by going to www.friendsofeps.org
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- Published: 23 January 2021 23 January 2021
- Last Updated: 23 January 2021 23 January 2021
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But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ
Galatians 4:4-7
Galatians 4:4-7
Since an old year is about to disappear forever and a new year is about to begin, it is appropriate that we consider together what God has to tell us about time. Time is part of the created world. Time is measured by created things. The earth rotates on its axis and a day has gone by. The world revolves around the sun and a year has gone by. Sometimes we measure time by significant events. Isaiah’s vision recorded in Isaiah chapter six is dated by the death of King Uzziah. We often date events by the birth of children. The things of this world and our life in this world cannot even be considered except in terms of time.
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- Published: 01 January 2021 01 January 2021
- Last Updated: 01 January 2021 01 January 2021
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