Pastor Truog graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 1983 with a Master’s of Divinity and a Sacred Theology Masters.  He served at Hope Lutheran in Aurora, Illinois from 1983-1987.  His next church was Cross Lutheran in Yorkville, Illinois where he served from 1987-2011.  In 2011 he accepted the Call to Christ Our Savior Lutheran in Loudon, Tennessee.

   “My greatest joy in ministry is seeing the “light bulb” go on for someone when the Holy Spirit enables them to grasp the free gift of God’s grace for salvation.  At Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church we have an opportunity to nurture and share this gift of God with people from all over the country who have chosen to retire in East Tennessee as well as with those who have had the privilege of living here all their lives.  We are a congregation that stands squarely on the Bible as the very Word of God.  We are known for our friendliness and our desire to serve our community.  We welcome you to get to know us and to discover a place to worship, a place to learn, and a place to serve with your Christian brothers and sisters at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church.”

Pastor's Message

New Year – New Beginnings – New Opportunities

Do you mark the end of the old year or the beginning of the new year on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? It’s usually a little bit of both, isn’t it? But, as the name suggests, both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are focused on the “new.” It’s a time of hope, and optimism, and planning. Resolutions are made and (sometimes) kept. We get out a new day planner with lots of blank spaces to fill in. It’s an adventure waiting to happen!

This is what I hope retirement will be like: A time of hope, and optimism, and planning; resolutions to be made and (hopefully) kept; a new day planner with lots of blank spaces to fill in. It’s an adventure waiting to happen!

And the same is true for this church. My retirement is not marking the end of the old, but, rather, the beginning of the new. It will be a time of hope, and optimism and planning. It will bring resolutions made and (by the grace of God) kept. There are lots of blank spaces to fill in on the planner that will provide many opportunities for a great adventure.

And the best part of all of these adventures is that, in spite of the fact that our plans and resolutions don’t often work out the way we thought they would, we know there is a bigger plan put together by our Heavenly Father which will give us a certain hope and a blessed future. So let’s celebrate a new year, a new beginning, and many new opportunities to seek God with all of our heart as we call upon Him in prayer.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call up-on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)

Pastor Brian                                                 

  Pastor Rhoads graduated from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis  with a Master’s of Divinity degree in 2008. He has served as Associate Pastor at Christ Our Savior since his graduation. Before entering the seminary, he served as a Director of Christian Education at LCMS churches in Florida, Alabama, and Texas.

  Pastor Rhoads enjoys teaching the faith and providing opportunities for people to live out their faith in daily life. “My greatest joy in ministry is helping people grow in their knowledge and appreciation of the grace of God as revealed in the Bible.” In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family and hiking the many trails in our area.

Pastor's Message

A Life of Love
“We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)

How’s your love life? Most people measure their love life by how much love they receive. Such measurements usually end up in disappointment and resentment. We tend to want or expect more love than we are getting and giving.

Ole and Olga lived on a farm in northern Minnesota. Olga was starved for affection. Ole never gave her any signs of love and so her need for love and affection went unfulfilled. Instead, she was increasingly filled with resentment toward Ole. She, in turn, withheld love and affection from Ole. This went on for years. Finally, Olga could take it no longer. One day she complained, “Ole, why don’t you ever tell me that you love me?” Ole seemed surprised as he mumbled, “Olga,
when we got married, I told you I loved you and I’d let you know if I ever changed my mind.”

If you have ever loved another person, you know it just doesn’t work that way. Love is something that demands to be communicated not just in words but also in actions, and not just once but over and over again. This is true not only for people but also for God. We find the command to love others throughout the Bible. God does not simply command us to love, He demonstrates love. In fact, God loved us before we could ever love Him or anyone else. Even before we were born, God demonstrated love for us by sending Jesus to die for us. But He didn’t stop there. Not a day goes by that God does not shower us with His love. He speaks it in countless ways throughout Scripture. He demonstrates it through His gifts of daily bread and unlimited forgiveness. As a result of His death and resurrection, nothing can now separate us from the love of God, our Father.

When our thoughts turn to the love of God in our life, our love life is rich indeed. This month, each Sunday our gospel readings will remind us of the love of God. On February 2, we see God’s love for the world revealed in the baby Jesus. This same Jesus reveals His love for His disciples with a miraculous catch of fish on February 9. The next Sunday, February 16, we hear the good news that we are blessed to live in a permanent state of God’s love. On the last Sunday of February, confident of God’s love, Jesus calls us to share His love with everyone - - even our enemies.

How’s your love life? Thanks to Jesus, His life, death and resurrection, we are guaranteed an unlimited and everlasting amount of love from God our Father for this life and the life to come. Regardless how many Valentines you receive, or give this year, in Christ you truly have an amazing life of love.

Pastor Mark

Here’s an interesting comparison by Rev. Dr. James Baneck of the LCMS that might answer that question. The lambs and sheep our Savior sent Peter to feed and tend were not the wooly kind residing on a beautiful hillside. There are, however, rich parallels between shepherding sheep and shepherding God's people.

James Rebanks watches over real four-legged sheep in the United Kingdom. He writes about the parallels in his article, “Are You Hard Enough to Survive as a Shepherd?”
"The romance wears off after a few weeks, believe me, and you will be left standing cold and lonely on a mountain. It is all about endurance. Digging in. Holding on. You will also need to be emotionally. tough … Carrion crows hang over our lambing fields waiting to steal the eyes out of anything sick or dead that cannot resist … You’ll need the patience of a saint, too, because sheep test you to the limit with a million ways to escape, ail, or die … It requires a body of knowledge and skills that shepherds devote decades to learning."

How this applies to our pastors! There is nothing romantic about being a pastor; it is hard work and often lonely. It demands an endurance that comes only from God. Like carrion crows, Satan seeks to devour God’s people. The pastor stands guard. protecting and feeding God’s sheep with Christ in the preached Word and blessed Sacraments. The formation of men for the Holy Ministry begins at Baptism. And while pastoral formation is intensified during seminary, “it requires a body of knowledge and skills that [pastors] devote decades to learning."

Pastors are to be clothed with the humility of Christ, “who humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). Pastors must be equipped to lead Gods people to the waters of Holy Baptism, where God gives new birth to sinners and opens the kingdom of heaven for them. Pastors are formed to be stewards of the mysteries of God. Pastors feed God’s sheep the Word of God in preaching and teaching and with the body and blood of our Lord at His table. Pastors listen, love and seek the lost.

Looking at all that a Pastor does, how is he prepared for this role at the Seminars’? Can you help with this preparation? Could you sponsor a seminarian? Could you help COS in their sponsoring of eight seminary students? Please help with your gift! ‘For more information, contact John W. Smith. God bless your help.