Cross of Glory & West Freeborn Lutheran Churches January 2019

Transcription

1 Cross of Glory & West Freeborn Lutheran Churches January 2019 Sunday Morning Worship times: Cross of Glory: West Freeborn: 10:30 a.m. Light of Light This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5) In this letter the disciple John tells his readers that what he learned from Jesus is that God is light. It sounds rather simple, but it is enough to serve as the theme for this entire letter. John likes to play with opposing metaphors: light/dark, day/night, spirit/flesh, life/death. For John the goal of our lives ought to be to live in the light and avoid darkness, focus on the spirit and not the flesh, to always live and never die. You might think of playing pool, eight ball actually. Your goal is to rid the table of all of the solid color pool balls, leaving nothing but stripes. These opposing metaphors work the same way for John. Clear the world of darkness, leaving nothing but light. Get rid of anything that is death so that only life remains. To say that God is light sounds simple, but it carries a lot of meaning. Light is anything that is good, honest, trustworthy, pure. Darkness is that which is evil, deceitful, immoral, hateful. Because God is light there is nothing in God that is anything less than pure, holy and good. That s God; our world, and our lives, are something else entirely. We live in darkness, but we have been shown the light, and we know that it is better for us to live in light than in darkness. That is the truth we have been shown, we know it to be true, and now it is left to us to choose which we prefer. As John points out in his Gospel, John 3:19, And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. With Christmas behind us the days are getting longer. More and more light. Let s love it. Yours in Christ, Pastor Schwartz 1

2 Joint Council meeting Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at Cross of Glory Annual WF Sunday, January 20, 2019 Please have your reports into the office no later than Wed, Jan. 16 th! Thanks! Service times will switch that day WF & CG 10:30 a.m. There will be a catered brunch following worship, followed by the meeting@ WF. Cross of Glory & West Freeborn Churches Joint Council Meeting December 4, 2018 The joint council meeting of Cross of Glory and West Freeborn Churches met on December 4, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. at West Freeborn. Jerry Morstad, Steve Ausen, Dave Ausen, Pastor Steve, Rachel Knudson, Martin Johnson, Ron Bartness, Cathy Crowe, Paul Lynne, Mike Ehrich, Pat Ehrich, Matt Hoelscher, Corky Modene, Tim Bartness, Carol Riskedahl and Becky Ausen were present. West Freeborn President, Dave Ausen, called the meeting to order. Pastor Steve led us in prayer. Pastor s Report: Nov. 24 th was Milo Madson s funeral. Baptism will be on December 23 rd at West Freeborn for Hannah Lynn, daughter of Kim Ehrich and Nate Harris. Judy and Pastor did the services at New Richland Care Centers Secretary s Report: Rachel read it. It was approved as read. Open Issues: 1. Annual Meeting for Cross of Glory: Annual Meeting for Cross of Glory will be Dec Christmas Eve: Christmas Eve services will be at Cross of Glory at 4:30 pm. Christmas Day services will be at 9:00 am at West Freeborn 3. Secretary: Pastor Steve, Martin, and Dave will set up a time and meet with Cindi and get a description made up for the duties of church secretary. This will be done in January. 4. Parsonage: Jerry s brother will demo the room in the basement of the parsonage. Cathy made a motion to adjourn. Tim seconded. Motion carried. 5. Insurance Policy: Ron brought up where the insurance policy for the parsonage is. Cathy will check on finding it and what it covers. Corky made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Steve seconded it. Motion passed. The two councils will reconvene in their prospective meetings. Respectfully submitted, Becky Ausen, Secretary West Freeborn Lutheran Church Council Meeting December 4, 2018 The West Freeborn Church Council met on December 04, 2018, following the joint council meeting at West Freeborn. Members present were Dave Ausen, Mike Ehrich, Corky Modene, Pat Ehrich, Steve Ausen, and Becky Ausen. President, Dave Ausen, called the meeting to order. Becky read the secretaries report. Approved as read. Pat read the treasurer s report. Steve made a motion to approve the report. Mike seconded it. Motion carried. Old Business: Windows: We discussed the windows. Someone is willing to pay more on getting them done. Mark, Dale and Dave are checking on some people who do this kind of work. 3

3 Secretary Job Description: Martin, Pastor Steve, Cindi and Dave will meet in January Bazaar Funds: They have been divided and put in the appropriate accounts Pictures of Pastors: Tabled till January. New Business: Annual Meeting: Will be held on January 20 th. We will have church at 9 AM. We will have brunch and then the meeting. We discussed the brunch. Corky made a motion to have Hy-Vee make egg bake and muffins. Pat seconded it. Motion carried. Come and just enjoy church, a brunch meal and stay for the meeting! Christmas Bags: Council will get together on Sat. Dec. 15 th and put the Christmas goodie bags together. Steve made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Corky seconded it. Motion carried. Closed with the Lord s Prayer. Respectfully Submitted Becky Ausen, Secretary ****************************************************************************************** Ushers for January: CG not available at print time Ushers for January: WF not available at print time Rachel Circle Schedule No schedule available at print time Eunice Circle - Eunice Circle will NOT meet in January or February, 2019 ******************************************************************************************************* Statistics for Cross of Glory Lutheran Church SUNDAY ATTENDANCE GENERAL FUND IMPROVEMENTS MISSIONS CEMETERY services cancelled due to weather $ 1, $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 (Children s Christmas Program) $ 1, $ 3, (Christmas Eve) TOTALS $ 6, $ $ $

4 Cross of Glory address: Cross of Glory Website: West Freeborn Website: Jerry Morstad, Cross of Glory President Dave Ausen, West Freeborn President Church Office Fax # Stacie Madson, West Freeborn Custodian Pastor s cell phone: Parsonage Phone Alvin & Cindy Morstad, C.G. Custodians

5 Do-It-Yourself Bible Study For our Bible study this month let s look at the Old Testament prophet Isaiah and consider what he had to say concerning the Messiah. If you find this intriguing I hope will find an opportunity to gather with others. When Jesus went to his home synagogue in Nazareth, after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness, he read from the scroll containing the book of Isaiah. This is what we are considering in this study. Read Isaiah 61:1-4. This is the portion of Isaiah that is included in Luke s Gospel that Jesus read to the synagogue, and having read this he said that this has been fulfilled in their hearing. If this passage serves as a model for Jesus ministry, what does he intend to accomplish? If we read this passage from Isaiah as a description of Jesus ministry it seems clear that while Jesus intends to bring good news to the oppressed and bind up the brokenhearted, he also intends to equip others to do great things. Read Isaiah 61:5-7. Isaiah is creating an image of a restored nation of Israel, a time when the nation is powerful and respected once again. While strangers and foreigners are doing the work they are included among those who receive everlasting joy. What is the task of the faithful in this image? The image Isaiah is creating is of a nation living as God intends. It should be a place where all people are welcome and treated with respect, where God serves as the leader. Read Isaiah 61:8-11. This is Isaiah s picture of an ideal nation. As he puts it, just as plants grow all by themselves, this earth should be a place where God s righteousness lives and prospers. Do you see signs of this happening?

6 January 2019 Cross of Glory & West Freeborn Lutheran Churches, Hartland, MN Worship times: Cross of Glory West Freeborn 10:30 a.m. Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Cross of Glory: not available at print time Communion Server: not available at print time West Freeborn Ushers: not available at print time Communion helper: not available at print time 1 Church Office Closed Worship at CG 10:30 a.m. Worship at WF 7 8 Joint Council meeting 7:00 CG Worship at CG 10:30 a.m. Worship at WF 20 * note time switch Worship at WF Brunch & Annual meeting following worship 10:30 a.m. Worship at CG WF annual reports due in the office Worship at CG 10:30 a.m. Worship at WF Watch weekly bulletins for updated announcements for January