Lutheran CHRIST CHURCH

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1 CHRIST Lutheran CHURCH J!"#!$% 2019 Let s Discover Your Spiritual Gi s! There are no first- and second-class Chris$ans. All Chris$ans receive the Spirit. All Chris$ans have spiritual gi s. There is an urgent need for the gi s to be exercised. One of the major problems in the church at large is that so few are using their gi s. Nicky Gumbel, The Holy Spirit Have you ever heard the descrip$on of the church that compares it to a football game in which 50,000 people in desperate need of exercise watch 22 people in desperate need of a rest? The church was never intended to be a spectator sport. A part of the secret of the phenomenal growth of the first century church was the way it engaged so many people in so many different ways. In becoming a follower of Jesus people discovered that they were needed for the con$nuing growth of this movement. They weren t booking passage on a cruise ship in which they could enjoy the ride while a paid crew made everything happen. No the Chris$an movement was a working vessel in which every person found themselves as part of the crew. One of the principle objec$ons raised to this picture of the church is the fact that so many Chris$ans do not know what gi s God s Spirit has given them. There are a host of ques$ons we have about spiritual gi s: - Are they the same as the talents or abili$es that I have? - Do I have one or many gi s? - How do I figure out what gi s I have been given? - What do I do when I know what my gi s are? Through the years I have had the opportunity to use a type of inventory to help me figure out what gi s I have been given. I have found this a very helpful and encouraging exercise, especially when done together with other Chris$an friends. This past November we had a three-week sermon series called Every Piece Ma@ers. A number of ques$ons came up about the gi s of the Spirit. I thought, as we enter a new year, this would a good $me to help us figure out what gi s we have and how they can best be used in service to Christ and his church. What I m offering is a one evening session in which we ll do two things: 1. Take a spiritual gi s inventory to figure out what gi s I might have. 2. Together in small groups try to affirm what we ve discovered in terms of our gi s. I d love for you to join us for what will be an exci$ng night of discovery. My hope is that this evening will encourage you and help our church so that more people needing exercise are out on the field! The Apostle Paul wrote to his friends in Corinth: Now about the gi s of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 1 Corinthians 12:1 Let s be uninformed no more! Join us! For the growth and health of Christ Lutheran- Pastor Ralf January 2019

2 A Night to Discover Your Gis When: Thursday, January 24th Time: 7-9pm Where: Will start in the Alpha Room Cost: $5 to help pay for inventory (but come even if you don't have the $5!) Two Great Sunday Morning Adult Classes Coming This January! Lutherans and Visual Arts: Explora$on and Conversa$on What: 9 sessions to explore, discuss, and make (!) visual arts from our perspec$ve as Chris$ans and Lutherans. We ll discuss some highlights in pain$ng, drawing, sculpture, architecture, and folk art of the last 500 years Chris$an and secular alike. We ll try to answer ques$ons like: What should our Chrisan faith bring to our engagement and parcipaon or lack thereof with the arts? Do Chrisans, or Lutherans specifically, have a unique perspecve on, or responsibility for, visual art? What is our arsc heritage as Lutherans? Does it ma'er? (Hint: Yes!) Can the visual arts serve our faith, and our commission to be bearers of the Gospel? How? (Hint: Yes, in lots of ways!) Pre-requisites: None! When: January 6 March 3 Where: The Alpha Room Bonus Content: Guest lecturers! Visual communica$on $ps at every session from course leader Jason Ramay. (Final Hint: It will be fun!) Same Kind of Different As Me Go deeper into New York Times bestseller Same Kind of Different as Me. From a burning plantaon hut in Louisiana to an upscale New York art gallery, you will see the heart of God in this unexpected tale of the transforming power of love and friendship. Gri'y with pain and betrayal, Same Kind of Different As Me is an inspiraonal true story that crosses the barriers of society. What: A great chance to visit ques$ons concerning race and inclusion, love and diversity. When: January 6 -February 10 (6 weeks) Where: The Fireside Room Leaders: Our own Mr. T (Thomas Thompson) 2 January 2019

3 GN[ CQOON][N^ Did you get your Stewardship Commitment Cards turned in? If not, we encourage you to drop them off at the church office or in to the offering plate. Our Stewardship team will be mee$ng at the end of January to pray over them and will then be returned to you. Thank you to all who have gone online and your Time and Talents for If you have not yet signed up to be a greeter, reader, usher, reader, or communion assistant, help with tasks at church, join one of our ministry teams, etc. please visit our website and click on the Ministry Tab. Then you will click on 2019 Time and Talents to sign up. LQQY SWZ[N\ Did you know that our sanctuary is equipped with a Loop Hearing System? For those of you who have hearing aids you can take advantage of our Loop system. The Loop connects through our microphones so that the words of the songs and speakers are much more dis$nct than the "one volume fits all" amplifica$on with the regular hearing aid adjustments. We have heard from several of you that the Loop system has really made a difference in being able to enjoy our worship services. For more informa$on, check in with Mike Marsh in the sound booth. P`UWaRQXO^ During the month of January, a brand new playground will be built back behind the church. This playground has been funded through our Latchkey aer school program and through three of our very own Girl Scouts, who are doing this as their Silver Award project. Watch for updates through the month of January! What a great gi this will be for our children and also for our neighborhood. TTUOV WQX! To Our Christ Lutheran Family, Thank you for the cards, visits, meals and words of encouragement during Bob s surgery and recovery. God s Blessings, Bob & Sandy Reed CLC SNOPQR M4"456$% F$48!%, J!"#!$% 25 6: 10:30-1:30 <= Lunch: CPTC Culinary School, Rainier Room T#>58!%, F>?$#!$% 12 8:45-2:30 Trip to the Veteran s Memorial in Chehalis with lunch at Judy s Country Kitchen T#>58!%, M!$B: 12 8:45-3:30 Trip to the Viking Exhibit & Nordic Museum in Sea@le, lunch at museum cafe 3 January 2019

4 PRNZP^NO[ Z CQRONR As I write this, Christmas songs are s$ll playing on the radio (although less frequently), there is s$ll fudge in the refrigerator (although not much is le), and we have started the list for our annual grocery shopping trip to Uwajimaya. A trip for Dim Sum and Japanese groceries has been our New Year s Eve tradi$on since our boys were small partly because we love shrimp dumplings, and partly because it s just fun to be together at the end of the year. This year, I expect that many of you will have taken part in another New Year s tradi$on, tuning in to see the Huskies play in the Rose Bowl. What you may not know is that members of CLC (25 in all) drove up to Husky Stadium several $mes this past fall to work at the UW home football games. This was a fundraising effort for our youth programs, although most of the folks who volunteered are not parents of current CLC youth. This sort of service in and for community exemplifies the everyday stewardship we are called to. THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered your stewardship of $me and talent will mean so much to our youth! You have given us a wonderful example of what it means to be a part of God s family at Christ Lutheran Church. Finally, I note that the council has a full agenda for its January mee$ng. We welcome your input please be in touch with any one of us if you have ques$ons or concerns. And, of course, we would be glad to welcome you to our mee$ng this month, we ll be gathering on Thursday, January 17 th at 6:00 pm. In Christ, Lynn QXP`[NR Z CQRONR We would like to thank everyone who par$cipated in this year s Silent Auc$on. We raised about $500! This will help with shipping costs to Lutheran World Relief and the upkeep on our sewing machines! Thank you, CLC Quilters GPR` S]QX[Z Troop is one of 3 Girl Scout Troops that meet here at Christ Lutheran. One of their recent projects was dona$ng teddy bears to kids in the hospital so they would have something to snuggle with. They went to Build-A-Bear and and each girl made 2 bears. Our girls were able to present the 15 bears to Mended Li@le Hearts of Puget Sound at a monthly mee$ng at Mary Bridge. While their troop is small and has limited funds, they gave over receiving so they could bring a smile to the face of sick children. Prey amazing! 4 January 2019

5 LPhRURW CUR[ Have you no$ced we have a mobile library cart out in the Gathering Place? We plan to regularly place books on this cart for you to peruse and check out if you would like to. The rest of our library collec$on is in our Brides/Library Room. We have lots of great resources, study books, Bibles, and some Chris$an fic$on. SQXYNR BQe` SXO^UW SOUPer Bowl Sunday is coming on Sunday, February 3rd. Start collec$ng those cans of soup (and other canned goods) and watch for our collec$on bins to help us. Tackle a Touchdown for the Tillicum Food Bank. STQYYPOa TRPY [Q IKEA WQ\NO Z SYRPOa RN[RNU[ Southwestern Washington Women of the ELCA Spring Retreat Prayer Stepping Boldly to the Throne of Grace March 29-31, 2019 Black Diamond Camp, Auburn In Luke s gospel, we learn about Simeon & Anna, who were faithful servants of the Temple of Jerusalem. They were the first to recognize Jesus as Messiah. Just as Simeon & Anna were valued and respected members of the Temple, the women of CLC want to honor your faithfulness to the ministry of Christ Lutheran. Everyone in the Thursday worship group is invited to join us. Let us know if you need any transporta$on or have any dietary restric$ons. You are invited to join your sisters for a weekend away from everyday life and be reminded of the power of prayer that is available to us in this challenging world. Our retreat leader is Pastor Colle@e Gould. We hope you can be there, and bring a friend! **We are offering five $100 scholarships for this retreat. Please contact Lanie ASAP to get in by early bird registra$on on January 15 th! 5 January 2019

6 CN`NhRU[POa HPZ BPR[T Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to everyone who made the Advent and Christmas services all so special! The Sanctuary, the Gathering Place were beauhfully decorated. The readings and all the music were lovely. Three very different Christmas Eve services- but all wonderful! Thank you to all the kids and grown-ups that parhcipated. Thank you for the special coffee Hmes and special servings of hot chocolate/cider on Sunday mornings. It was a blessing to all who came. With love in Christ, Ralf & Thelma 6 January 2019

7 CN`NhRU[POa HPZ BPR[T 7 January 2019

8 BQQV GRQXY We have selected the following books for the first seven months of 2019; as the year progresses we will complete our list. New members are always welcome; we meet at 10 AM in the Alpha Room at CLC. One of the things I have most enjoyed, along with the lively discussions and opinions, is the challenge of reading books not in my "comfort zone." Over the years this has added richness to my literary taste. 1/17/19 The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick 2/21/19 As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner 3/21/19 Paris in the Present Tense by Mark Helprin 4/18/19 The Great Alone by Kris$n Hannah 5/16/19 Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver 6/20/19 The Rent Collector by Camron Wright 7/18/19 S$ll Alice by Lisa Genova message from OXR PURPZT NXRZNZ We have set up a CPR/AED training session here at Christ Lutheran on Tuesday, January 29 th. The cost will be $25. If you would like to a@end this class, please contact Lyndi Reed or Barb Olson ASAP as there are limited spaces available. FPOUO]PU` UY^U[N As many of you know, we have broken some historical trends this year in terms of our giving pa@erns. We did not see the huge dips in giving this summer, or at any point throughout the year for that ma@er. Giving has been consistent. We came in to December with a slight deficit ($2,000) for the year, but we did have a nega$ve balance of $11,000 that we carried over from 2017 that we have needed to pay back. As December comes to an end, we are hoping that this balance will be completely paid back and we will start 2019 with a posi$ve balance to begin the new year. We thank you for your generous gis this past year, and for those special gis that many of you give at the end of the year. Your generosity is what enables our church to carry out the ministry and mission of joining God's work of redeeming and reconciling and repairing the world! 8 January 2019

9 from the YQX[T DPRN][QR Fulcher As we start 2019, I would like to highlight two major things that happened in December. We were able to send out 48 food boxes to families in local schools, those in our own community; and soldiers for Christmas. Once again you were all a WOW with your gis of canned goods, perishables, SAAR s meals and money. Many families were BLESSED because of your generosity! Thank you all so much! REIGN, 6th Grade Rocks, Ma@hew, Ben, Thelma, and Michele If you were not here for the Christmas Eve 3:00 Family service, you missed out on seeing some very talented kids we have here at Christ Lutheran. It is simply amazing to see what our kids of all ages can do when we give them the opportunity. Our other services were great, and not to take anything away from them but, those kids always win (maybe because I had one of my own helping with it). High School will be doing a trip up to the mountains for a day of skiing. We normally would do a weekend ski trip, but this year we are trying something a li@le different. We hope by doing a day trip we can get more people to go and enjoy the mountain. The date of the trip will be January 26 th and the cost is $60 for the li $cket. If you will need to rent equipment that will cost a li@le more. introducing our new DPRN][QR Ql CTP`^RNO Z m FU\P`W MPOPZ[RW We are thrilled to introduce our new Director of Children's and Family Ministry here at Christ Lutheran, Sarah McGhinnis. Sarah will begin her work here on January 3 rd. We encourage all of you to introduce yourself to Sarah and her family and welcome them! Brandon and Sarah met 18 years ago in the mailroom at Samaritan s Purse. Brandon moved to Tacoma and they got married in 2002, had Alli in 2006 and Sophie in 2009, and added two dogs to the mix a few years later. They moved from south Tacoma to Lakewood two years ago and love living in walking distance from Fort Steilacoom Park. Alli is in the 7 th grade at Pioneer Middle School and Sophie is in the 4 th grade at Salters Point. They love to go to the beach, camp, hike, and watch movies. Brandon has been at World Vision 16 years and Sarah has taught group exercise classes since Alli was born. She is leaving her role as an Aqua$cs Director at the Lakewood YMCA to serve at Christ Lutheran. 9 January 2019

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12 C:$456 L#6:>$!" C:#$B: [T S[RNN[ SW LUVNeQQ^, WA eee.]trpz[`x[tnruo`uvneqq^.]q\ Follow us on Facebook Christ Lutheran Church, Lakewood CLC S6!NN PUZ[QR RU`l YRRU`ln]`]-`UVNeQQ^.QRa TQ\N LWO^P RNN^, PURPZT A^\POPZ[RU[QR `RNN^n]`]-`UVNeQQ^.QRa MU[[TNe FX`]TNR, YQX[T DPRN][QR \lx`]tnrn]`]-`uvneqq^.qra VP][QRPU PQN`POa, PURPZT SN]RN[URW ZN]RN[URWn]`]-`UVNeQQ^.QRa LURV MQQRN, FPOUO]PU` CQQR^POU[QR `\QQRNn]`]-`UVNeQQ^.QRa DQRQ[TW LNW^NO, MPOPZ[NR Ql MXZP] ^QRQ[TWZ\QoUR[na\UP`.]Q\ MP]TN`N GRNNO, PRNZ]TQQ` DPRN][QR \RZ\P]TN`NaRNNOna\UP`.]Q\ MP]TN``N HNeP[[, LU[]TVNW DPRN][QR \TNeP[[n]`]-`UVNeQQ^.QRa TU]Q\U GNR\UO LUOaXUaN S]TQQ` ELCA SWOQ^ ZeeZWOQ^nY`X.N^X 12 January 2019