What We're Reading - December Edition

As we enter the final month of the calendar year, the church has begun a new year with the beginning of Advent. This penitential season of waiting finds us waiting both for the celebration of the Christ child as we also wait for the final coming of Christ our King.

As a community, we want to support and inspire intentional discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and we hope that our monthly "What we're reading..." feature is one way we can support this work at home and at school. This month, we include resources on Advent, celebrating St. Nicholas, and other topics of interest to our teachers and families.

We give thanks for each of our families, and the wonderful opportunity to partner with you in the important work of educating and nurturing children. Thank you for engaging with us in these ongoing conversations and for sharing items you have read that may be inspiring to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

What We're Reading - November Edition

November is here, and in this season of thankfulness, we are reminded that we have so much to be thankful for within this church and school community at Immanuel. We give thanks for each of our families, and the wonderful opportunity to work with you in the important work of educating and nurturing your children.

This community and the close relationship between home and school, is fundamental to all we do at ILS, and we want to encourage and support you in this important work. As a community, we want to foster intentional discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and we hope that our monthly "What we're reading..." feature can inspire, encourage and support us in this work at home and at school.

This month, we’re grateful to the PTL for inviting Brooke Shannon, founder and CEO of Wait Until 8th to join us for a conversation on smart phones and other technology. We hope you will join us on Friday, November 15th at 8:30am for what is certain to be a thoughtful and encouraging discussion.

We also love for families to pass along things they have read that may be interesting to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Reflection on Classroom Participation

Mrs. Grace Egger (Kindergarten Teacher)

At our last team meeting, the Lower-School staff discussed the topic of participation in the classroom and how we as teachers best evaluate and assess a student’s participation. I chose to introduce this topic by discussing what a good participant looks like and why participation is an essential component to consider during the grading process, as well as the importance of participation as it pertains to vocation and the culture of the classroom.

The portrait of a good participant is a student who pays attention, listens well, answers questions and asks questions, contributes to discussion, reviews and retains content, sits quietly and raises her hand, and produces ideas based off of the knowledge she has gained.

What We're Reading - October Edition

As we enter the second month of the school year, it is delightful to watch the rhythms and routines of the school year return as the school is filled with the joyful sounds of singing, poetry, learning and laughter. We pray that our families are also finding comfort in the routines and traditions of the year, and we have so enjoyed seeing families in the mornings on the playground, at our First Friday Coffees, joining us in worship for Wednesday Chapel, and other events.

As we have noted previously, this community, and the close relationship between home and school, is fundamental to all we do at ILS. It is a privilege to serve each of our families, and we want to encourage and support you in the important work you are doing with your children. That desire to encourage inspired this blog series, our monthly "What we're reading..." feature. Here, we try to share and encourage discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and how we can together support this important work both at school and at home.

We hope that our ILS families and friends enjoy spending some time reading and reflecting on the articles, sermons, and news articles we share each monthl, and then join us at a First Friday Coffee or other parent program to discuss these and other topics.

We also love for families to pass along things they have read that may be interesting to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Meet Us Monday: Seminarian Aaron Schultz

Weekly all-school Chapel services are an important part of our ILS culture, and we warmly invite parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends to join us for these services.

A voluntary offering will be collected at weekly Chapel services throughout the year. The offerings will be distributed to Mr. Aaron Schultz, to support him and his family as he pursues his Master of Divinity at Concordia Theological Seminary, and to Pastor Bombaro & family, for their missionary work in Latvia.

We’re using our Meet Us Monday series to introduce (or re-introduce) ILS families to Mr. Schultz and Pastor Bombaro and their families, to better understand how our prayers and offerings will be supporting them and their work this year.

After 5 years teaching at Immanuel, Mr. Aaron Schultz and his family moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where Mr. Schultz is currently pursuing his Master of Divinity at Concordia Theological Seminary in preparation for ordination in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. They are now beginning their second year there.

What Makes a Hymn Good

By Rev’d Christopher Esget, Senior Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church

Recently I made an off-the-cuff remark about a particular hymn: "I know I'm not supposed to like [this hymn], but I do." That led a parishioner to ask me what I meant by that. What makes a hymn bad, or good?

There is a subjective answer; some texts or tunes just resonate with us, or annoy us. At that level there is no bad or good, it's just a taste or style preference.

At another level, though, there are objective qualities to a hymn that we can analyze. Detailing all of those would require a long essay, or even book. But here are some of the things I look for:

Faithful to Scripture

If a text is ambiguous – or worse, teaches something false, that's a problem. On the other hand, if the text helps us understand a truth of Scripture better, that's one good reason to sing it.

An example that comes to mind is the Advent hymn Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending. The second line in the original reads, "Once for favored sinners slain." This suggests that the death of Jesus was only for some people (the favored sinners), and not for all. That's false doctrine. So we can't sing it - unless we alter the text. The version in Lutheran Service Book changes it to "Once for every sinner slain." That accords with the Biblical truth that Jesus died for all sinners, not just some.

Meet Us Monday: Pastor Bombaro & family, Eurasia Mission

Weekly all-school Chapel services are an important part of our ILS culture, and we warmly invite parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends to join us for these services.

A voluntary offering will be collected at weekly Chapel services throughout the year. The offerings will be distributed to Pastor Bombaro & family, for their missionary work in Latvia, and Mr. Aaron Schultz, to support him and his family as he pursues his Master of Divinity at Concordia Theological Seminary.

We’re using our Meet Us Monday series to introduce (or re-introduce) ILS families to Pastor Bombaro and Mr. Schultz, and their families, to better understand how our prayers and offerings will be supporting them and their work this year.

The Bombaros accepted a call from the LCMS Office of International Missions to Riga, Latvia, where they will aid in the EU and English credentialing of Latvia’s only seminary, plant an English-speaking Lutheran church in the capital, teach and mentor seminarians, and provide theological education throughout Eurasia.

What We're Reading - Back to School Edition!

Happy first week of school! It was such a joy to see all of our students and families gathered together to begin our first day of the new year. This community, this relationship between home and school, is fundamental to all we do at ILS. Throughout this year, we’ll be sharing and encouraging discussions on culture-building and culture-shaping, and how we can together support this important work both at school and at home.

One place we’ll share ideas on this topic is here on our monthly "What we're reading..." feature. Each month, we collect and share a selection of articles, sermons, blog posts, or other materials that we have found to be particularly insightful or inspiring. We hope that our ILS families and friends will enjoy spending some time reading and reflecting as well, and then join us at a First Friday Coffee or other parent program to discuss these and other topics.

We also love for families to pass along things they have read that may be interesting to others in our ILS community! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!

Run with Endurance: A message from Pastor Esget

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Over this coming academic year we will meditate on this theme verse from Hebrews 12:1-2:

"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

In recent weeks we examined the phrases "cloud of witnesses" and “lay aside every weight.” This week we'll look at what it means to "run with endurance the race that is set before us."

The race "set before us" was a common expression for athletic events, where the organizers of the contest would mark the course to be run. In this context, the race already marked out for us Christians is the course that Jesus went upon. 

Literally, this would mean to retrace Jesus' footsteps, leading to a crucifixion at the same place Jesus died. But the meaning here is figurative. How did Jesus live and die? Let us imitate that with the same kind of endurance, the same kind of dedication to the Father's will and calling.

Remembering previously the "cloud of witnesses" (the saints who have gone before us), and the instruction to take off garments that would slow us down in an athletic contest, we now are placed at the starting line in a race. The stadium is filled with a crowd (the cloud of witnesses) and we have put on our running clothes.

What We're Reading (August edition)...

As we enter this final month of our summer break, we pray that our students, families, and teachers have enjoyed some rest and leisure. With the approaching new school year, stay tuned for some fun posts as we look forward to the school year to come!

Our "What we're reading..." feature for August is full of news articles, sermons, and other news that we’ve found interesting or insightful over the summer, and we hope that you will enjoy spending some time reading and reflecting as well.

In preparation for the new year, we’d love to hear from you! Would you take a moment and share a book or article that you’ve read lately that you think others in our ILS community may enjoy?