Verbal Announcements
13th Pentecost
7 Sep 2025
12th Pentecost
31 Aug 2025
11th Pentecost
24 Aug 2025
10th Pentecost
17 Aug 2025
9th Pentecost
10 Aug 2025
8th Pentecost
3 Aug 2025
7th Pentecost
27 Jul 2025
6th Pentecost
23 Jul 2025
5th Pentecost
13 Jul 2025
4th Pentecost
6 Jul 2025
3rd Pentecost
29 Jun 2025
2nd Pentecost
22 Jun 2025
Trinity
15 Jun 2025
Pentecost
8 Jun 2025
7th Easter
1 Jun 2025
6th Easter
25 May 2025
5th Easter
18 May 2025
4th Easter
11 May 2025
3rd Easter
4 May 2025
2nd Easter
27 Apr 2025
Easter
20 Apr 2025
Palm Sunday
13 Apr 2025
5th Sunday of Lent
6 Apr 2025
4th Sunday of Lent
30 Mar 2025
As We Gather
If the Lord describes Himself in Scripture as our “Shepherd,” it follows that we, as those who belong to Him, are His “sheep.” True to our broken nature, we all wander away from our Shepherd’s provision, wrongly assuming we can find our own way. Not only can we never find our own way to lasting life, but we can find our own way only to everlasting death. We all stand in need of rescue! We all are the lost sheep who have wandered away. Thank the Shepherd for coming to your rescue. His death and resurrection are proof that He never gives up on us! He pursues His wanderers. Finding us and claiming us, He carries us home. And that’s exactly where He gathers us today: at home in His presence so that He, our Shepherd, can fill us, His sheep, with His love and mercy.
Holy Communion
The Lord’s Supper is celebrated today with the confession that we receive the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, in, with and under (a way of saying that Christ is fully present in) the bread and wine. Christ's presence gives us the assurance that our sins are forgiven and to nourish our faith. This is a solemn celebration, “For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves” (1Corinthians 11:29). The Lord’s Supper is meant for our good, not to our judgment. But, before presenting yourself ask these questions:
1. Am I sorry for my sins and need forgiveness?
2. Did Christ die and rise to forgive my sins?
3. Am I receiving the very body and blood of Christ Jesus?
If your answers are yes, you are welcome. If you are not a member of a LCMS church, or have further questions about The Lord’s Supper, please speak with the pastor.
Stewardship
Luke 15:2 – “And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ ”
Thanks be to God: Jesus receives us sinners. What the Pharisees can’t understand, we praise with all our being. We live by the grace of God. The more of it we receive, the more we will want to conform ourselves to the image of our generous and gracious Lord. Knowing the Lord and trusting Him come first, and the desire to imitate Him cannot help but follow
Lutherans For Life
“A Christian funeral isn’t the end. Yes, we don’t deny death. That would be foolish and insensitive. But in Christ, we defy death. That’s Christian. Because the dead don’t stay down when Jesus is involved. They are saints triumphant! Encourage one another with these words.” Rev. Peter Sulzle, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Redwood Falls, Minnesota – A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life • lutheransforlife.org
Benevolence
A ministry that helps individuals and families facing immediate financial hardship. Whether it’s a neighbor behind on their utility bills, someone recovering from a crisis, or a church member in need, your contributions help us respond with love and compassion in real, tangible ways. Luther once said that we are like vessels through which God's blessings flow to others. When we give to the Benevolence Fund, we become part of that flow—we become the hands and feet of Jesus to those who are struggling. This isn’t just charity. It’s personal. It’s ministry. It’s the body of Christ caring for its members and community in a time of need. (Online to donate: https://www.shalimar.church/human-care)
American Heritage Girls Troop 1517
The American Heritage Girls (AHG) is a Christian Scouting-like organization. The organization has more than 52,000 members with troops or individuals ("trailblazers").The stated youth membership standard is that it is for "All biological girls of any color, race, national origin and socioeconomic status who agree to live according to the standards of the AHG Oath and the AHG Creed". Adult leaders must subscribe to a Trinitarian Christian statement of faith.
For more information contact Adrienne Cook.
Blood Drive
Donating blood is a simple yet powerful way to save lives. Each gift of blood provides hope for patients in need—from accident victims to those battling cancer—and allows us to live out our calling to love and serve others. By coming together and rolling up our sleeves, we can make an impact that reaches well beyond our church family and reflect Christ’s love in action.
For more information contact Jean
"Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." – Galatians 6:9
Children Sunday School
This week in Sunday School, we learned that "God Creates Adam and Eve," including providing them with perfect physical attributes and a lush garden in which to live. God created the world's many natural resources so it would be a wonderful place for His most treasured creation, human beings, to live. Parents might ask, "How were Adam and Eve different from the rest of God's creation?"
Marionette Puppets
God is with us even when we are afraid. Although David might have been afraid, God was still with him when he fought Goliath. God will help us with out problems too.
How AI is Used in Fraud and Scams
Learn how artificial intelligence is being used in today’s scams and how to stay protected. Ashley Bailey from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office will share real examples and safety tips. Join us in the Café for this important and practical session on digital awareness and protection.
Community Education Topic: Medicare Enrollment
Join us for an informative session with Marti Hearn from the Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging as she shares helpful guidance on Medicare Open Enrollment. Come learn about your options and get your questions answered!
Concert Series
Echoes of Elegance
Experience chamber music that radiates grace, charm, and timeless optimism! Enjoy captivating works by Haydn, Handel, and Vivaldi, performed by distinguished musicians from Northwest Florida and Alabama under the direction of conductor David Ott.
Free Admission
Council Meeting
Let us do everything with love. The Church Council is a gathering of elected advisers who serve and guide the ministries of the congregation toward our given mission. (Matthew 28:19-20). We meet in the library.
Council Stewardship Focus
As summer ends and fall begins, we invite you to reflect on stewardship—the joyful sharing of time, talents, and treasures in response to God’s grace. This season, we’ll highlight ways to support GSLC’s ministries and outreach. Volunteers are needed for worship, groundskeeping, events, and mission work. Financial giving is vital, as monthly expenses average $41,000 while income averages $33,000. Please prayerfully consider your giving and estate planning. In the weeks ahead, Sunday announcements will spotlight ministry needs. Let’s renew our commitment to love God, serve others, and share Christ’s light in our church and community.
Family Trip To Pensacola Aviation Museum
Join us for a day of fellowship at the National Naval Aviation Museum on NAS Pensacola. The museum is the world’s largest Naval Aviation museum featuring Naval Aviation’s rich history with more than 150 restored aircraft on display. Admission to the Museum is free.
For more information contact Curtis Parker
Military Love & Care Bags
As a church community grounded in compassion and service, we have a special opportunity to come together and make a real difference in the lives of local military families who are facing financial hardship.
Many of these families are struggling to afford everyday essentials—items that most of us may take for granted. We invite you to join us in showing Christ’s love through generosity by contributing much-needed supplies.
Please bring essential items and place them in the designated donation box located in the Narthex. The Outreach Committee will organize and distribute these donations directly to families in need.
Let’s come together as the body of Christ to bless our military families with dignity, love, and tangible care.
Mite Boxes
The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) collects mites—small, voluntary offerings—to fund mission grants that spread the Gospel and serve people in need. Inspired by the biblical story of the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1–4), the practice encourages all to give sacrificially and joyfully. Together, these small gifts make a big impact, supporting missions locally, nationally, and around the world.
Reformation
We are celebrating the Reformation with a congregational picnic, live action drama, Lutheran trivia, pumpkin carving, and fellowship. The first act of our three act play starts at Noon. The conclusion of that first act will signal the start of the picnic.
The Reformation commemorates the rescue of the Gospel (Faith alone, Grace alone, Scripture alone, Christ alone, All Glory to God alone) from a corrupt medieval church. The catalyst for the reformation was the Oct 31, 1517 posting on the door of the Wittenberg Church a disputation protesting clerical abuses and the sale of forgiveness.
Sharing and Caring
A ministry supported by our congregation through donations of non-perishable food items, placed in the collection basket in the inner Narthex. Sharing and Caring serves individuals and families in need by providing food, clothing, and emergency assistance. It brings hope, encouragement, and practical support to those experiencing hardship or crisis.
Smokes and Jokes, a Christian Fellowship
Attention cigar smokers, pipe smokers, bourbon and scotch drinkers! Pastor Klemme is organizing a fellowship group around shared interest in the leaf and libations to meet at one of the local cigar bars and in each other’s homes, where we can smoke and joke on the patio. Those interested should contact Pastor Klemme directly.
Council Stewardship Letter
Greetings In Christ!
As we start the transition from summer vacations to fall’s regular work and school schedules, GSLC is going to highlight the many ways in which you can support the ongoing mission of sharing the Good News of Christ’s love. We have needs both within Good Shepherd for the building up of the church, and more importantly, outside in reaching our neighbors. In the words of Matthew 28:18, we are called to go and make disciples of all nations.
As we gather as a family of faith, it is a fitting time to reflect on the call to stewardship that God has placed upon our congregation. Stewardship is more than a duty—it is a joyful response to God’s abundant grace, an expression of trust and gratitude through the sharing of our time, talents, and treasures. Each one of us is invited to participate in the life and mission of Good Shepherd, not only in service but in the wise and faithful management of the resources entrusted to us. What a wonderful gift this is!
Through our collective stewardship, we support the ministries that nurture our spiritual growth, care for our neighbors, and extend Christ’s love into the wider community. Your involvement, whether through volunteering or through generous giving, sustains these efforts and ensures that Good Shepherd continues to be a beacon of hope and hospitality.
The time, talents, and treasures that Christ has given to each of us, is vital to the ongoing ministries here at GSLC.
Over the next several weeks leading up to Rally Day and beyond, we’ll take a few minutes during each Sunday’s announcements to highlight the work of our different boards and the current needs of our church. For example, we need volunteers to support worship services in roles such as ushers, audio/visual/streaming, readers, singers, musicians, and altar guild. We need lawn care team volunteers to help maintain our grounds. We need people to help organize and execute Outreach events like our concert series and Life Team, Human Care drives like back-to-school supplies and angel tree, Fellowship/welcoming food events like our 5th Sunday fellowship and funerals as examples.
Besides the volunteering of your time and talents, your treasure enables ongoing operations, special events, and the upkeep of our aging buildings. While we haven’t significantly expanded our operations over the years, inflation continues to increase costs. Donations received, however, have not significantly increased over the last few years and we find ourselves operating in a growing deficit. Since we haven’t regularly posted our expenses versus giving in the bulletin, you may not be aware that our 2025 average monthly expenses are running $41,000 versus $33,000 received. Our reserves have enabled us to minimize the impact but we’re now evaluating deferring any expenses we can. Please prayerfully consider your current giving level. “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) You may also consider including Good Shepherd as part of your estate planning. The church council is currently looking into inviting a Thrivent or Church Extension Fund representative to discuss estate planning.
As we move forward together, let us embrace this season as an opportunity to renew our commitment to Good Shepherd’s mission to love God and one another. Through prayerful generosity and heartfelt service, we respond to God’s call, ensuring that our church remains a vibrant place of faith, fellowship, and outreach. May we each consider how we are called to give, serve, and grow as stewards of God’s many blessings, trusting that through our shared efforts, Christ’s love will shine more brightly in our congregation and community.
In Christ’s Service,
Garry A. Haase
President
Sunday School, Legacy Deo
During the Sunday School hour, we welcome Brian Hamilton from Legacy Deo for a presentation on Christian stewardship. He will share insights on endowments, trust funds, and remembering the congregation in our wills. Legacy Deo, a Christ-centered foundation, has long helped individuals, families, churches, and ministries with planned giving and endowment management, encouraging believers to leave a lasting legacy of faith.
The Way Cafe
An in-person devotion with Pastor Klemme to strengthen your relationship with God through Scripture, song, prayer, fellowship, and biblical insights. Come, be replenished, renewed, and fueled to live a life of faith. You are welcome just as you are. God is here, ready to connect with you in a fresh way. Meets by weekly in the Cafe.
Youth Group
Festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). Then look to His holy cross. For just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus, when He is “lifted up from the earth, will draw all people” to Himself (John 12:32). “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” to save us (Philippians 2:8). “Everyone who is bitten” by the ancient serpent’s venom of sin, “when he sees” Christ “shall live” (Numbers 21:8). The true holy cross is lost to history, and we cannot return to Calvary to find our salvation. So, Christ brings the New Testament in His blood to us. “We preach Christ crucified …. the power of God and the wisdom of God,” though foolishness to the unbelieving world (1Corinthians 1:23-24). It pleases God, “through the folly” of the cross we preach, “to save those who believe” (1Corinthians 1:21). We find the fruit and benefit of this holy cross poured out in Holy Baptism, spoken in the preaching of Holy Absolution, and delivered in the body and blood given and shed there for us. Thus are we strengthened to take up our crosses, sanctified by His (John 12:25-26).
Source: LCMS Calendar of Feasts and Festivals
Commemoration of Cyprian of Carthage, Pastor and Martyr
The Church honor's saints for showing us how living out faith can be done.
Cyprian (A.D. ca. 200–258), was acclaimed bishop of the north African city in Carthage around 248. During the persecution of the roman Emperor Decius, Cyprian fled Carthage but returned two years later. He was then forced to deal with the problem of Christians who had lapsed from their faith under persecution and now wanted to return to the Church. It was decided that these lapsed Christians could be restored but that their restoration could take place only after a period of penance that demonstrated their faithfulness. During the persecution under Emperor Valerian, Cyprian at first went into hiding but later gave himself up to the authorities. He was beheaded for the faith in Carthage in the year 258.
Source: LCMS Calendar of Commemorations
Festival of Apostle and Evangelist St. Matthew
The Church honor's saints for showing us how living out faith can be done.
Our ascended Lord gives “gifts” to His Church. In particular, He gave apostles and evangelists like St. Matthew, prophets like Ezekiel, and still gives pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:8,11). All are “for the common good … empowered by one and the same Spirit” (1Corinthians 12:7,11). They speak Christ’s “truth in love” to wind- and wave-tossed children so that the saints may be equipped, served and built up as the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-15). Christ is not only the head of this body, He is her Good Physician (Matthew 9:9-13). He has come not for the well but for the sick, not for “the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13) — even notorious tax collectors like Matthew. Christ’s team of spiritual physicians must serve faithfully. Their instrument is “thus says the Lord God,” to be spoken “whether they hear or refuse to hear” (Ezekiel 3:11). To those stubborn, rebellious patients who believe they need no physician, the word “of lamentation and mourning and woe” must be fearlessly spoken: God’s Law calls to repentance (Ezekiel 2:10). To those who recognize their trouble and sickness, the salve of the Gospel is to be applied. So Christ works to save us, as Matthew’s Gospel records.
Source: LCMS Calendar of Feasts and Festivals.