Skip to main content

January 2025 Newsletter

 Friends of Shalom,

Painting by David Zelenka - Baptism of Christ

We are now several weeks into the season of Epiphany! This is a time in the church calendar following Advent/Christmas where we focus on the reality of Christ being revealed to the world. As the Apostle Paul said to Timothy:

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of        godliness: He was manifested (epiphany) in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16

In Epiphany God is doing something new! His son is being revealed to the world through the star that guided the magi, the Father's voice from heaven at Jesus' baptism, the water turned into wine, and through Jesus' own pronouncement of the purpose of his ministry in Luke 4:16-21. 

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

It must have been electrifying to be in the synagogue that day and hear Jesus say, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." In other words, "It's a new day!" This was Jesus' inaugural address. It contains his purpose, vision, and values for the Kingdom of God. 

Jesus invites all who follow him to join in on that mission. This is something I can't help but be aware of in the work of church planting. Like the beginning of Jesus' ministry, we too are beginning something new. You too are a part of this work. Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter, pray, and support Shalom Anglican! 

Updates:

  • We had a wonderful Advent and Christmas season! We were able to offer a mid-week Advent service throughout December, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day service. 
  • Some of our folks went Christmas caroling for the mother of one of our members who is shut in. 
  • We gave our first financial update to our church and saw some first time givers over the month of December. 
  • We were able to raise $9,282 for our year end gift (our goal was $12,000). About half of that came from outside support and the other half from within our own church. Thanks to all who gave! 
  • Recently we've had some new visitors who are sticking around! 
  • I continue to be encouraged by the community that is forming. A few weeks ago our fellowship hour (coffee/treats after church) was full and I enjoyed seeing new relationships being formed!
Prayer:
  • We started our second catechism class. This one is being hosted by one of our core couples. Please pray for the 5 adults enrolled!
  • We are planning our next Baptism (2/23). Please pray for the 3 adults preparing to be baptized! 
  • Please pray for my energy in the work. I've noticed I'm a little more tired than normal. Pray also for wisdom as there is much to do and develop. 
  • Pray that the Lord would continue to bring folks to Shalom and that we would continue to love and reach out to our friends. I was encouraged this last week as one brother shared with me how he's been inviting a friend to come check out our church. 
For the Shalom of Kitsap,

Father Rob Steinbach 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

June Newsletter

My wife and I have been building a garden… well, mostly my wife ;)  I underestimated how much work it would be.  We had to get stones out of the soil, lay down Beth's Garden mulch, then build a fence to keep the deer out. After that there was ordering dirt, wheelbarrowing the dirt, building planters, filling the boxes, and finally planting. This got me thinking about the work of ministry and specifically the balance between working hard, but then trusting God with the growth. In our garden we are working hard, but after we do our work we can’t make the plants grow. That’s outside of our realm. This partnership we have with God that began in Eden is a hard one. It seems like we’d rather just work hard and make it all up to us… or throw our hands up and just “let go and let God” to do it all.  But neither is how it all works. We do work hard. We do build. At the same time, only God brings the growth!  We see this in a wonderful text in Paul’s first letter to Corinth. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

August Newsletter

 Grieving but grateful...  Robert Michael Steinbach Sr. 9/7/1946 - 7/28/2025 This is has been my response to people as they've asked me how I'm doing.  On July 28th my Dad's spirit left his failing body into the presence of the Trinity. My heart is heavy because of the finality of death. I can no longer see him or talk to him. Now I wait to go to him.  But I'm also grateful for his life. He had an amazing testimony which I shared about briefly at his memorial service . He was a gift to all who knew him. He was my Dad and I loved him dearly.  Needless to say July was a blur. I made two trips back to Maryland. The first was to see him and support my mom in his final days. The second was a week long trip after he passed for his memorial and committal service. I'm settling back into work and processing my grief as well as looking forward to the end of summer and some fall planning. Updates: While I was gone our church stepped up and handled the Sunday service. I'm g...
Post a Comment
Read more

July Newsletter

A Personal Update This last month was very full for our family. It began with our youngest son Asher proposing to his girlfriend! We couldn't be more happy for Asher and Angel and their upcoming wedding next summer. This means that a year from now Beth and I will officially be "empty nesters." I'm still not sure how I feel about that and will definitely need some therapy to process it all 😅. In mid-June we took a trip back to Maryland with our oldest daughter, son in law, and granddaughter.  We spent a few days enjoying Baltimore. This included time with Beth's family, an Oriole's game, the best crab cakes on the planet, and a few "snowballs." Then we spent time with my parents and my sister who live in Annapolis. My dad is going through some health challenges and it was a blessing to be with him and bring his great granddaughter around to lift his spirits.  Shortly after we got back we began planning and putting the final preparations together for ...
Post a Comment
Read more