Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Transcription

1 The Newsletter of New Life Lutheran Church, Florence, Oregon January 2016 FROM PASTOR LORI... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Blessings to each and every one of you in this year of 2016! I am thankful to be serving New Life Lutheran and I am thankful for how God has used each of you in the past year in ministry here at New Life. I look forward to seeing how God, through the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus will continue to be seen through our lives and our actions. I share with you a devotion that is fitting for the beginning of the New Year from Max Lucado s book, (Grace for the Moment). The devotion is titled Short Cuts with the scripture from Matthew 6:7 They continue saying things that mean nothing, thinking that God will hear them because of their many words. I love the short sentence What follows are cuts from some of my books and a couple of others. Keep the ones you like. Forgive the ones you don t. Share them when you can. Pray all the time. If necessary, use words. God forgets the past. Imitate Him. Greed I ve often regretted. Generosity never. Don t ask God to do what you want. Ask God to do what is right. No one is useless to God. No one. You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you. Sometimes it is good to be reminded about some of these short statements that just may be helpful for us in our lives. Maybe post them on your refrigerator or use as a bookmark in your Bible. Did one specifically speak out to you? As we go into the New Year we can reflect on our own lives of faith and the life of New Life Lutheran and be thankful for signs of the Holy Spirit working in and through the church. We can also hold together as we prepare to be thankful this upcoming year as God will continue to surprise us as a body of faith. I look forward to what God has in store. Blessings to all in the upcoming year as we serve as Beacon s of Light in our lives of faith wherever that takes us in our daily walks of faith as we follow the true light of Jesus Christ. BLUE CHRISTMAS The "Blue Christmas" worship was received well here at New Life Lutheran this past December 21. It was jointly organized by New Life along with the Florence United Methodist Church. A sizable number came from the Methodist church, yet New Life also made a presence along with new faces from the community of Florence. This is one other way to provide space for worship in this busy Christmas season and to reach out to the community. Thank you for all those that participated and provided support for this quiet time of worship that includes the word of God and songs of the season.

2 The Vine The Newsletter of New Life Lutheran Church, Florence, Oregon January 2016 News From Your Church Council News From Your Church Council The final regular monthly meeting of the 2015 Church Council was held on December 17th. Devotions led by Pastor Lori, approval of minutes, and review and approval of the treasurer's report followed the call to order. The meeting was the last for President Dave Braley and Treasurer Dick Slaugh who were both completing four consecutive years of service. Joyce Kelly discussed the organization of the 2016 Council which will begin its service on January 1st. That Council elected Joyce to be President in 2016 and Laurie Gillespie to be Vice President. They re-elected Marcy Kellerman as Secretary, Steve Olienyk as Financial Secretary, and Dick Slaugh as Treasurer. According to our constitution, the Treasurer need not be a member of the Council. The other 2016 Council members are Gail McDivitt, Barb Vogel, and Bob Tauer. Plans for the 2016 New Life Lutheran Leadership Retreat were outlined. This important annual event will be held in the Siuslaw Library Bromley Room on Saturday, January 16th. While 2015 and 2016 Council members, Pastor, and Deacons are expected to participate, the event is also open to any adolescent or adult at New Life who would like to participate. Progress in our ministry during 2015 will be reviewed before we discuss ways to continue and to improve our joint ministry in The agreed-upon plan for special emphasis areas of our ministry in the new year will be shared with the congregation at large within a few weeks following the retreat. Listen and watch for more information during Sunday service announcements and feel free to contact Pastor Lori or 2016 President Joyce Kelly if you have any questions or may be interested in attending. Among other business items, the Council reviewed and slightly revised the building use fee schedule to include two of our partners in category 4 which is the most highly discounted fee for meeting space. The four partner organizations in that group are now: AA, Florence Area Bible Study group, Food Share, and Habitat for Humanity. The Life Touch photo directory project was reviewed by coordinator Marcy Kellerman. The photographers were very good and most members participated. Each participant group got a free 8"x10" color photo and had the opportunity to purchase additional photos, photo-christmas cards, etc. Marcy and a small committee will now work with Life Touch to plan and organize the remainder of the directory that Life Touch will produce at no cost to New Life. The photo-directory is anticipated to be distributed later this winter. While it won't replace the annual church directory, it will provide a valuable lasting reference for church members. Members and friends of New Life are encouraged to check their church mailboxes each Sunday. Among the important contents is the monthly church newsletter, The Vine. Please inform the office if you do not yet have a mailbox assigned. Also, we think it is important that members and regular visitors to our services be recognized by having their picture on our picture board. Contact Pastor Lori or Dave Braley if you do not yet have your picture on our picture board! The first meeting of the 2016 Church Council will be on January 21st beginning at 3:00 p.m. All regular monthly meetings are available for attendance by members. Thoughts for the Month Thoughts for the Month: "Those people who think only of themselves, are hopelessly uneducated. They are not educated, no matter how instructed they may be." Nicholas Murray Butler, American educator ( ) "No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind." Colleen Ritzer, murdered Danvers, MA high school teacher "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." Mother Teresa ( )

3 The Vine The Newsletter of New Life Lutheran Church, Florence, Oregon January 2016 Since this letter came to us just before Christmas I thought is was worth sharing. This might help you understand what Minutes of Gold is all about. I sent this out to all of our volunteers here in Florence for a special Christmas Gift to us. Our volunteers, have 365 days of Christmas all year because we receive letters like this, all year. To promote public awareness, volunteers entered a special Research, Faith, Hope & Love tree in the annual Florence Festival of Trees. Our tree also featured 11 different cancer hope ribbons. White hope ribbon necklaces provided the garland. Research is needed for babies that die in the womb Original----- From: Jason K Sent: Friday, December 18, :47 AM To: minutesofgold@hotmail.com Cc: My Love Subject: Thank you Good morning, Our baby girl Vivian was 19 weeks old yesterday when she went home to be with Jesus. We live in Bend, OR and we received a layette from your organization. It was the kindest gesture and it meant a lot to us during our time of extreme grief and sorrow. Thank you so much for doing this for people you don't even know, you guys are a blessing from God. We plan on setting up some kind of fund and making a donation to your organization so you can continue to help others during their time of need. God bless you. Submitted by Carol Slaugh, Founder.Coordinator since 1992 Brian Lindsey, Pastor Lori, and Dave Braley giving a check for $576 to the Helping Hands Coalition. The proceeds were received from the Advent Concert put on by Brian and Steve Avery. THE Vine is the monthly newsletter of New Life Lutheran Church P.O. Box 567 Florence, OR Pastor s plori@oregonfast.net ; Church; office@lutheranchurchflorence.com Website: Prayer Chain Coordinator - Joyce Kelly Church Council Lori Blake, Pastor Joyce Kelly, President Laurie Gillespie Vice President Marcy Kellerman, Secretary Steve Olienyk, Financial Sec. Dick Slaugh, Treasurer Members at large: Gail McDivitt, Barb Vogel, Bob Tauer Board of Deacons Claudia Siebert Catherine Brauer Pat Stewart Doris Creager

4 The Vine The Newsletter of New Life Lutheran Church, Florence, Oregon January 2016 Giving I give for the joy of giving When I consider gift-giving this Christmas, I first think of love. The amount of money I spend, if any, is not important. I feel no sense of pressure or obligation. Instead, I give from the abundance of God s love within me. From this wealth of Spirit, I give with no thought of return or expectation of appreciation. The true value of my gift is in the kind and loving spirit in which it is given. I also receive gratefully, knowing others experience joy through my receptivity. As I share my time, talent, or treasure this holiday season, I give from my heart with joyous abandon. Giving with a spirit of divine extravagance, I am richly blessed. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11 From Daily Word devotional Good News--We Did It!!! The financial good news at New Life in late December is that we, as a congregation, have achieved the level of tithes and offerings the congregation approved in the 2015 budget to support our ministry. Thanks to all members and friends who "stepped up" and to a former member now living in another city who made a generous contribution. This financial achievement in 2015 is particularly important for sustaining our growing ministry as we begin The 2016 budget approved by the congregation at our annual meeting in November calls for a small increase in tithes and offerings above the 2015 level to support our no-frills budget. Each member and friend of New Life is encouraged to prayerfully consider how they can support our mission and ministry financially as well as with their time and talents. Tithes and offerings are our thanks to God for the many blessings each of us enjoy--and we all have much to be thankful for. Movie Night is scheduled for Wednesday, January 6 at 6:00 pm. This month's movie is the Dolly Parton story, "The Coat of Many Colors" It is Also Epiphany so may we come together this night and reflect on a life Filled with faith and meaning. A reminder that "Movie Night" is the first Wednesday of each month. GIVING TO GOD STEWARDSHIP CONTINUED So, we learned worship is essential to faith. But I have also been told that sacrifice is essential to worship. Why is that, you may ask. Worship, almost by definition, is the opposite of self-centeredness. When we worship God, we make God (rather than ourselves) the center of our devotion. Doing this always involves some element of self-denial or sacrifice, giving up something that we value, giving up attention to our wants and our needs in order to focus on God. People give money for all sorts of reasons, but the good news of biblical stewardship is that we are encouraged to give out of glad and generous hearts, motivated by sincere love for God. If we give out of a sense of compulsion (motivated by guilt or shame) or out of self-interest (to win praise or gain influence), there is a good chance we will end up feeling used. We may think that our generosity has not been fully appreciated or we way wonder whether the money we gave has been put to the best possible use. But giving that is grounded in the good news of biblical stewardship never leaves us with those hollow emotions. When we give cheerfully, as an act of worship, the very act of giving moves us to lose interest in ourselves and devote ourselves to God. We may care about how the money we give is used but that isn t the reason we give it. We may appreciate having our gifts acknowledged, but that is not why we give. For some mysterious way, such giving motivated only by our love for God ends up meeting our own deepest spiritual needs and is intensely satisfyingly. For me, I have never known anyone to give their money in such a way and later regret it, myself included. Think about when we collect our offering during church service. Do you experience this moment in the service as an act of worship, or does it just seem like an occasion for taking of care of business? Just wondering. Submitted by Joyce Kelly Information supplied by the book Giving to God by Mark Allen Powell The Thursday afternoon Bible Study will resume meeting on Thursday, January 7 at 1:00 pm. We are close to finishing the book "Making Sense of the Cross" by Dr. David Lose. Note to the evening group; touch base with Pastor Lori and we can talk about the evening group. Confirmation resumes on Monday, January 4. I look forward to hearing how The school break and Christmas was for each of you and a big welcome back! See you soon, Pastor Blake.

5 The Vine The Newsletter of New Life Lutheran Church, Florence, Oregon January 2016 ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS AT NEW LIFE IT WAS A WONDERFUL YEAR!

6 The Vine The Newsletter of New Life Lutheran Church, Florence, Oregon January 2016 C O M I N G EVENTS January 6, Movie Night The Coat of Many Colors January 16, 30, Saturday 9:00 Men s Group January 16,10-2:30- Council-Deacon Retreat at Library January 21, 3:00 Council Meeting 2nd and 4th Sunday BREAD Sunday Mondays 9:00-10:30 Text Study 3:00 Preschool Chapel 3:30 Confirmation Lydia Quilters meets every Tuesday at 10:00 am. Wednesdays 6:00 Worship Thursdays, 1:00 pm Group Study NEW LIFE LUTHERAN CHURCH P.O. BOX 567 FLORENCE, OREGON 97439