A Place to Worship, to learn and to serve
Christ Our Savior Lutheran
Church is a warm caring fellowship of Faith. Our congregation, which has grown
to over 300, strives to communicate God's awesome gift of love to our ever
changing world. We are a collection of natives of East Tennessee and
transplants from other parts of the country who now call
Our Beginnings:
• 1996 A group of people, led by the Holy Spirit sought to plant a new Lutheran Church in East Tennessee.
• 1997 We worshipped in a store front while purchasing 7 acres on Highway 72 and Wade Road.
• 1998 A building committee was established as Rev. Bob Torgler served as worship leader.
• 1999 Dedicated members paid for the property
• 2000 In May the construction of the new worship facility was begun.
• 2001 The first worship Service in the new church was held on January 7th. On August 26th our first permanent pastor, Rev. Jim Kirk, was installed.
• 2009 The church membership has now grown to over 300. We have added a Christian Ministry Center that will expand our worship and fellowship facilities.
Who we are:
• We are a people who share a common faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
• We are natives of East Tennessee and transplants from other parts of the country.
• We live in Blount, Loudon, Knox, Monroe, and Roane counties.
• We worship with different styles in order to meet people's needs
• We are a growing church with over 200 in worship on a regular basis
Merry Covid Christmas
It was disappointing not to have Easter services this year because of the Covid shut downs. God-willing, we will have Christmas services but they will most likely be different than the “usual.” We will continue to monitor the situation, but we want to offer as much of a sense of security as we can as we walk through this pandemic together, while maintaining as much of our normal rou-tine as we can, as well. We have been blessed with a facility that allows us to worship at over 70% of our normal attendance while maintaining social distancing. We appreciate the hard work of many individuals and the tolerance of all to make this possible.
We are planning on having our normal Wednesday night Advent schedule on December 2, 9, and 16 at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. We are adding services on Christmas Eve to accommodate for what we hope will be a large crowd. We will have Christmas Eve services at 4:00, 6:00 and 8:00. We will be taking reservations for these services so we don’t have everyone show up at the same time. Reservations will also allow us to put larger family groups together and still maintain social distancing. You can begin calling in your reservations at this time. We are expecting we will have to use the overflow for Christmas Eve, so let us know when you make your reservations if you don’t mind sitting in the overflow. We will accommodate as many as we can in the sanctuary. As it stands now, we are not going to have candles handed out on Christmas Eve.
We will tape our special Advent and Christmas services “live” and put them on the website, but they may not get posted until a day after the service. We appreciate your patience with all of this and pray that we will all put our focus on worshiping the New Born King rather than on any unusual circumstances we may face. Remember that the first Christmas took place under some very unusual circumstances, as well, and this did not prevent Mary, Joseph and the shepherds from experiencing the joy of God’s amazing plan of salvation and the love He demonstrated by becoming one of us through the virgin birth.
Our theme for the Wednesday Advent services will be The Cast of Christmas. We will look at the prophets, the angels, and the shepherds.
Our Sunday Advent theme will be Christmas in the Four Gospel Homes (based on a book by Cynthia M. Campbell). We will look at how each of the four Gospel writers presents the Christmas story.
On Thursday, December 3rd, I will be leading a special GriefShare event called Surviving the Holidays from 2:30 – 4:30 in room 103 of our Christian Ministry Center. Please contact the church office if you plan to attend. This is open to anyone dealing with the loss of a loved one. On Thurs-day, January 7th, we will begin a 13 week GriefShare session.
Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year with Christ Our Savior!
Pastor Brian Truog
Pastor's Message
Let’s Get Together
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another,
and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:24-25
Remember that old phone commercial that promised, “Long distance it’s the next best thing to being there”? It
pictured the joy of connecting with loved ones through a phone call. What it didn’t show was the increased feelings of loneliness and separation when the phone call ended. I was reminded of that commercial as I reflected on the conversations I have had with people during this pandemic.
“Pastor, I’m glad you are putting the worship services online. It’s nice, but it’s not the same. I enjoy watching
them, but I can’t wait to be back in the sanctuary. Seeing, and hearing, the worship service reminds me just how much I miss being there.” It’s not just Sunday morning worship.
Things we took for granted like shopping and eating out are now cautioned against. When we do go out, wearing masks and social distancing remind us how much of our sense of community we have lost. God feels the same way. He longs to be in community with us. He doesn’t want anything to get in the way of a close, personal relationship with us. That’s why He sent His Son Jesus to be one of us, one with us and to die for us.
This month, our church will be focusing on this God-given gift of community through the season of Lent. When we come together in worship we acknowledge the barriers we put up through sin and look to the cross, thanking Jesus for His act of redemption and restoration. The cross reminds us that God is, and always will be, near you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He invites and welcomes you to enjoy this relationship by meeting together with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Come together in public worship. If Sunday mornings or Wednesday afternoons appear too crowded, try Thursday afternoons at 1pm. Outside of worship, encourage one another as you call on the phone, send cards and emails, meet in homes. And know that your pastors are ready and willing to come to your home if you’d like.
God has brought us into community. Celebrate this community throughout the season of Lent, and every season, “as you see the Day drawing near.”
In His service and yours,
Pastor Mark R. Rhoads
What Does a Pastor Do?
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.
