Bancroft School Project Tax Credits Approved

Some of you may have already received the news!

In case you haven't, let me inform you that the Bancroft School Project has received the needed tax credits from the State of Missouri.

That means that groundbreaking will take place on June 1 as long as everything remains on schedule. The Make It Right Foundation will fund the project. BNIM (of Kansas City) is the architect firm that will design the project. J.E. Dunn will do the construction. Dalmark Construction (also of Kansas City) will manage the building.

Over 50 apartment and condominium units will be created. The building will also house a medical clinic manned by Truman Medical, a public meeting area for classes, as well as other open to the public amenities. There is even talk of placing a police substation in the building. The perimeter of the property is to be removed, including the fence and mature trees. An underground garage will be added for the use of those who will live there. Every effort will be made to retain the original facade while making the property look brand new. The construction project will require one year to complete.

Here is a link to an article in the Kansas City Star with more details:

 Brad Pitts foundation to help redevelop Bancroft School

The next thing to do is to pray for all the new people who will come. Will they be people who could become part of the Lord's flock at Immanuel? That is what we must pray for.

In Christ,

Pastor

Written in Flesh and Blood and a New Bible Study Begins

Sunday (January 29th) sermon theme: "Written in Flesh and Blood," based on Mark 1:21-28.

The Bible doesn't say much about what Satan's fall involved. Jude tells us that the evil angels "abandoned their own home," and from that, we believe that behind Satan's leadership they would not submit to God's authority. Mostly what we know about the devil from the Bible is that he is our tempter and accuser. The angels serve us (Hebrews 1:14), but Satan and his helpers have refused to serve us from the beginning. What is it about flesh and blood they object to?

This Sunday, the Adult Bible Class begins a new study. It will be a study of the Book of Daniel. The Book of Daniel is generally thought of as end time prophecy. That’s a strange generalization. Every kid who has been to Sunday School knows the account of Daniel in the Lion’s Den (Daniel 6). He knows also about the Three Men in the Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3). He may even be familiar with the account of The Hand Writing on the Wall (Daniel 5). It’s highly doubtful that these accounts are being taught in Sunday School as end time prophecies. In fact, these three accounts tell of the richness of the Book of Daniel. There is near term prophecy, Messianic prophecy, and end time prophecy in this book, all of which deserve and will receive our in-depth study. At the same time, this book provides a window into the life of a man of faith, who, along with his friends, was trying to remain faithful to God both in his private life and in his public life. He tried to do this while living in a society with which he found himself at odds. It would result in a lions’ den for himself and the fiery furnace for his friends. While these methods of behavior correction are foreign to us, we face what Daniel and his friends faced: strong, continuous pressure to “go along with” beliefs and values that are in conflict with the Bible. Even more important to us in any study of Daniel is how the Lord worked in the life of Daniel and his friends to strengthen them and others to remain faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We start at 9:30 am downstairs in the fellowship hall every Sunday.

Count yourself in!

In Christ,

Pastor Dunn

The Lord and Giver of Time

The sermon title for this week is "The Lord and Giver of Time" and is based on Jonah 3:4, 1 Corinthians 7:29, and Mark 1:15.

All three verses make reference to God as the creator and controller of time.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Dunn

Immanuel's 2012 Theme

Over the many years, Immanuel has given birth to numerous congregations in the Kansas City area.  Our congregation has also supported the Gospel proclamation efforts of still other churches, particularly those in the inner city.

Such cooperative efforts for the sake of planting the Gospel seed have a long history that goes back to the work of St. Paul.  I am thinking not only of the cooperative effort at Antioch that launched Paul and Barnabas' first missionary journey.  I have in mind also, what Missionary Paul wrote to the church in Philippi:  "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel..."  (Philippians 1:4-5)

That particular partnership had begun when Paul baptized Lydia, and she invited him and his companions to her home (Acts 16:15).  It continued with the Philippian Christians' lively interest in Paul's work and support of his work, as well as their own Gospel outreach efforts in Philippi.

I believe that such a partnership in the Gospel work must continue at Immanuel, now more than ever.  I do not have all the answers.  I realize that a number of things have been tried before at Immanuel.  I certainly don't mean to suggest that this idea is a direct revelation from God.  I have prayed about this and approached other pastors with this idea, and they have approached me.  All  of this leads me to this idea:  Partnership in the Gospel.

So I have chosen these words of Philippians 1:5 as Immanuel's 2012 theme:  "Partnership in the Gospel"

What does this mean for Immanuel?  In 2011, it meant a cooperative effort with eight other congregations to put on a Vacation Bible School.  For 2012?  The pastors of Peace Lutheran Church and i have discussed the possibility of starting an outreach Bible study here at Immanuel, utilizing their contacts in this neighborhood.  Still I would want to do further study and receive your blessing on this plan before proceeding.

At the same time, partnership in the Gospel means, at the very least, the valued fellowship of faith in the Gospel that we enjoy within the Immanuel family.  It means the work we do to confess the truth of the Gospel in our community.  It means that we have the fellowship of worship and of life together under the grace of the Gospel.

I know you join me in praying that we may remain faithful to our partnership in the Gospel in 2012.

In Christ,

Pastor Dunn

The Misgivings of Common Sense

The Magi who followed a star to worship the newborn king of Israel were astrologers.

Perhaps, that puts them, in our minds at least, somewhere between sorcerers and palm readers. Yet, in their serious work of studying the stars through their primitive observatories, we may see in them something of the modern scientist.

The following words have been spoken about Sir Isaac Newton's discovery of the Laws of Gravity, but they could be used to describe the Magi's own search for knowledge: "It was as if a key had been found to unlock the door to knowledge of the universe, or as if a light powerful enough to reach into the heavens had been handed over and switched on."(Okamoto)

The Magi's search for knowledge makes us think of all the ways we benefit from man's search for knowledge. Science has given us electricity to light our homes and cook our food, cars we drive and planes we fly, vaccines to prevent disease and drugs to treat them, telephones to talk with and computers that process information.

The Magi's worship of the Infant Jesus makes us wonder how science and the worship of God fit together.