BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260730T212929Z UID:54-366833@peaceotsego.org DTSTART:20260802T153000Z DTEND:20260802T163000Z CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20260730T122403 DESCRIPTION:Dear friends of Peace\,\nNews Edition For Sunday of August 2\, 2026\nLessons this week:  1 Kings 17:1-6\, Ephesians 1:3-10\, Matthew 14: 13-21\nSongs this week: God Himself Be for Me\, God Is the Strength of My Hear\, Be Still\, My Soul\, It Is Well with My Soul\nService Sunday 11:30 am\nWhat Makes Christians Different?\nThe Bible says Christians are diffe rent. Christians are people who believe in Jesus as their Savior. But they often look the same as those who do not believe in Jesus. How are Christi ans different? The answer is often something internal\, attitudes or persp ectives that come only from the work of the Holy Spirit in Word and sacram ent. Ultimately\, Christians are people who run to Christ for forgiveness because they have failed to live perfect lives. As we receive the mercy of Christ\, it moves us to strive with all our being to do all the things\nt hat Jesus says Christians do\, things that make Christians different.\n\n\ n\nChristians Trust God to Provide\nThe hardest times to trust God are the times we need him most. It’s easier to trust God when your job is going great\, your health is fine\, your relationships are fine\, and your fami ly is good. It’s easier to trust God when the sun is shining\, but what happens when your life is suddenly overshadowed by dark days?\nWhen traged y strikes\, we may wonder if God continues to care for us. At those times\ , Christians do not despair like those who have no hope. Instead\, Christi ans focus on certain foundational facts. We are chosen and adopted as God ’s dear children. God provides us innumerable spiritual blessings and pr omises us an eternity of peace and joy. If we recognize those spiritual bl essings\, how can we doubt that God will give us everything we truly need at the right time? Christians trust God to provide.\n\n\n\nVoters Meeting August 2nd :  Over the past month there has been conversations and intere st in discussing joint ministry with Portage. After talking with Pastor Si mms it was suggested that we vet this option before making another call. W ith this in mind\, the council has decided to hold off on making a call th is Sunday and have a voters meeting instead. At Sunday’s meeting we will be discussing what a ministry might look like\, and whether Peace is inte rested in continuing discussions/pursuing this option. We will not be maki ng any final decisions at Sunday’s meeting\, only whether we want to con tinue looking into this option or not.\n \nPlease plan to attend as every voice matters!\n \nSeeking a Committee to Plan a 75 Years of Peace Celeb ration \nWhat is something special we could do for the community to comme morate 75 years of "The People of Peace Bring the Gospel to Otsego"?\nBrai nstorming Session...\nPotluck\, cook out\, or just cake\, Games\, Choir\, Photo Wall\, Decorations\,\nPlease join the committee to help plan.   Sun day\, August 9th at 11 am everyone is welcome.\nConnecting with People of Peace and the Community  :  \nChristian Neighbors:\nFood Pantry needs fo r July is Ramen Noodles\nThank you again for continuing to show God’s lo ve to others.\nBenevolent Fund: What is the benevolent fund? It is a dedic ated pool of money set aside by the church to help provide short term emer gency financial assistance to people experiencing hardships. If you would like to give a financial gift please put it in an envelope marked “benev olence fund” in the offering basket.\nVolunteers sign ups:\nTo sign up f or volunteer opportunities please let Shelly Wedge know what you would lik e to sign up for and I will send you an emailed invitation. Open the link and it will take you directly to the calendar to sign up. You can select m ore than one date at a time. \nClick the date on the calendar you desire and then click the submit at the bottom of the page.\nHere is a list of vo lunteer opportunities\; \nMowing and string timing (make sure to scroll a ll the way down the calendar until you get to the string timing section if you would only to sign up for just timmer)\, \nGeeters: Hold doors open before service (commitment level 15 minutes before service) \nChurch Clea ning: (commitment level 20-30 minutes\, done anytime during the week befor e sunday service.) We only need 2 people a month as we have a cleaning ser vice come in every other week.\nSlides: Ellise and Shelly would be happy t o show you how to do the slides\, and set with you as you learn if you are interested. (commitment level 20 mins before and after service.)\n \n \ n \n \nA look ahead:                                       Aug 2nd 11:30 am Sunday Service \nAug 2nd 12:45pm Voters Meeting                         Aug 4th 10-11am Coff ee and Crafts \nAug 9th 11:30am Sunday Service    Aug 16th 11:30 am S unday Service\nPastor Rau will be on vacation the 1st week of August if th ere is a pastoral emergency you can still reach out to him\, and he will m ake arrangements for someone to visit with you. \nMay God be at work amon g the people of Peace and our gospel ministry as we listen to him and foll ow him!  Assistant Administrator at Peace Lutheran Church\,  Shelly Wedg e\n       Got this from a friend? Sign up here: https://peace.breez echms.com/form/news\nUnsubscribe? Email church@peaceotsego.org\nWant to vi sit with pastor? Schedule a visit/meeting reach out to our interim Pastor David Rau (ST.James Portage) at pastor@stjamesportage.org or 262-325-9355\ nHave a suggestion or comment you’d like to share? Let us know!\nWould y ou like to donate to Peace? Please use the link for online giving\nPeace L utheran Church 805 S Wilmott St Otsego\, MI 49078\n269-694-6104 https://pe aceotsego.org\n \n  LAST-MODIFIED:20260730T122403 LOCATION: SUMMARY:Coming up at Peace URL;VALUE=URI:https://peaceotsego.org/events/coming-up-at-peace--54/2026-08 -02 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR