February 2022 Newsletter

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours in Christ our Lord and Savior.

Dear Family of God at Grace,

Looks like Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow which means six more weeks of winter. I’m not sure that applies to southwest Florida, past week excluded. It has been 13 years since I last wore a sweater. Looks like we are back in the 80s this week already.

Perfect timing as we have Rev Trevor Sutton coming to speak to us on Saturday the 5th from 10-2. Pastor Sutton is from Michigan and is leaving about a foot of fresh snow to come to the warm sandy beach of Naples. Please come out and hear this wonderful speaker! Whether you signed up or not, come and listen and grow in your faith.

Let me spend a paragraph or two on our school topic. We have looked at Project Genesis through our Synod to study the feasibility of a school in our location. This would be a big endeavor that would take time and money. It would tell us what we already know. Our campus is just not big enough for a full-fledged K-12 or K-8 program. We would have to build up on our already existing building and the process of permitting and zoning would be a challenge. The cost of a K-8 school is a bit overwhelming. After saying all that I believe that there is a strong desire by many to have Christian education happen on our campus.

We see the need for teaching our children the Biblical truth about gender confusion and same sex attraction. Those two topics alone are enough of a need to have a school at Grace. So how can we make this desire a reality without a massive infusion of finances and rebuilding of our campus? This would take a few years before the first students entered the classroom. There is another way. A way that we can utilize our facility just as it is. A way that we could call minimal staff. A way that we could have students in class by next August. We could start a homeschool consortium. What does that mean?

We could call a headmaster/pastor to run the program. There is a homeschool group that meets at the Pelican right now. They utilize a classical curriculum. They have a few teachers. This is a cost-efficient program that would utilize our existing campus and could be up and running by the 2022-2023 school year. I’m excited about this opportunity and for the possibilities of teaching our children a classical Christian education here at Grace. What do you think about this? More conversations to follow.

Change of topic. I hope and pray that you are enjoying this Epiphany season. Epiphany is kind of lost between Christmas and Lent. We have that let-down after Christmas. The decorations come down and the music and lights go away. Yet, Epiphany has some great music, and the light of the world is still shining.

Epiphany is about Jesus the Light of the world being revealed as the Christ, the Messiah. We get to see Jesus starting His ministry and doing miraculous things. All that we waited for and anticipated in Christmas is now coming to fulfillment. We are witnesses of these things with the apostles, the people at the wedding in Cana, the members in the pews at Nazareth, and so on. Epiphany is a wonderful journey with Jesus from His baptism to a heavenly discussion about Jesus’ exodus on the mount of Transfiguration. Four more Sundays to go in the journey. May God bless your travels with Jesus.

In His Service,

Pastor Lingsch