Glad Tidings Zion Lutheran Church A Joyous Oasis Sharing Life Through Christ!

Transcription

1 Advent and Christmas at Zion The Advent Season, which helps us prepare to celebrate Christmas, will begin on Wednesday, November 30. We will have a number of special opportunities at Zion for worship, fellowship and service. We invite all members and friends of the congregation to join together in these special times of celebration. November 30 December 3 December 7 December 9 December 11 December 14 December 18 December 24 December 25 Soup Supper at 5:30 p.m. Advent Service at 7:00 p.m. Victorville Christmas Parade at 10:00 a.m. Soup Supper at 5:30 p.m. Advent Service at 7:00 p.m. Congregational Christmas Potluck at 6:00 p.m. Carol Service at 9:00 a.m. Worship service Soup Supper at 5:30 p.m. School Christmas Program at 7:00 p.m. Sunday School Christmas Program at 9:00 a.m. Worship service Christmas Eve Family & Candlelight Service at 7:00 p.m. Christmas Day Communion Service at 9:00 a.m. 1

2 Decorating & Lunch Charlene Perry Do you like to decorate for Christmas? Join the ladies (men are welcome, too) on Wednesday, December 7 as they decorate the church. Decorating will begin at 10:00 a.m. After the decorating is done, we will go to a local restaurant for lunch. Help us beautify our church for the Advent and Christmas season. Come join us for fun & fellowship! Christmas Bake Sale & Boutique Carolyn Peterson The ladies of the Prayer Shawl ministry will be holding their Holiday Bake Sale & Boutique on Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11. Baked goods and boutique items are needed for the sale. Money raised will go to help support the Prayer Shawl Ministry. Contact Carolyn Peterson ( ) if you can help or have questions. 2

3 The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid. ~Martin Luther Today s Light Lani Sanders Week 48 begins December 5 with Psalm 119 Week 49 begins December 12 with Proverbs 1 Week 50 begins December 19 with Proverbs 10 Week 51 begins December 26 with Proverbs 22 Week 52 begins January 2 with Ecclesiastes 3 (For more information about Today s Light, or to purchase the Today s Light Bible, call Lani Sanders, ) Petal Pushers Don Hays Have you ever helped decorate Rose Parade floats? It s a great feeling to be watching the Rose Parade on New Year s Day and see the beautiful float you worked on. This year we are tentatively scheduled to work on Wednesday, December 28. We will depart at 6:00 AM and should be home between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. If you would like to participate please sign up on the list on the bulletin board across from the water fountain. We can take up to 14 people and need drivers to help get everyone there. If you have questions please call me at or at haydk@outlook.com. 3

4 Community Sharing Linda Bowers The Community Service Board will be collecting items for holiday dinners. The following items will be greatly needed and gratefully accepted: broth, canned cranberries, canned fruit cocktail and apple sauce, Jiffy bread mixes, instant potatoes, boxed stuffing, canned corn, beans and olives, instant and canned gravy, and canned yams. Please place your donations in one of the collection boxes placed near the Preschool office, each Day School classroom, and in the Narthex by Sunday, December 11. The Homeless Shelter has had more families than usual, and has expressed a need for diapers and baby wipes. Donations of these items will be delivered there. Thrivent Choice Dollars Bill Olson Thanks to our Thrivent Benefit Members who have been directing their periodic Thrivent Choice dollars to Zion Lutheran Church and/or Zion School. Money is tight and these extra few dollars really do make a difference. We encourage you to continue asking Thrivent to direct your Choice Dollars to Zion. Just to remind you your undirected 2016 Choice Dollars will expire after March 31, In other words, they'll revert to the company and no longer be available to you. To contact Thrivent, call or visit 4

5 Seasoned Greetings! Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19 As the Christmas season draws near it is evident that the commercialization and secularization of the celebration continues unabated. As Christians, we face a dilemma. What should we do? Should we abandon our holiday? Should we get angry and make a scene as we fight for our holiday? Or maybe we should just go with the flow. What are we to do? Whatever we decide to do I suggest that we don t become modern day Scrooges bah humbugging at every little civil expression of the season. At the same time, though, we do want to remain faithful to our convictions and faith. The words of Mary in Luke 2:19 can help us as we endeavor to strike a balance this holy season. In this passage, Mary is in the middle of a whirlwind. The past nine months have set her world upside down. Angels have visited, the Holy Spirit has worked a miracle and she has faced a family crisis. Now she has traveled to Bethlehem, given birth and has heard shepherds worship her newborn son. In response to all this activity, Scripture simply says that Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. In the midst of the whirlwind, Mary treasured and pondered. In the midst of our modern day whirlwind of Christmas, we too can pause, treasure and ponder. We have very little influence over the way society celebrates this season, but we have a lot of control over the way we celebrate. This is a season of holiness, grace and love. Our celebration is SEASONED by our knowledge of this blessing. God has acted according to his grace in time and history. This is our celebration! We hear the angels message: Glory to God and peace to man! We are awed with the shepherds as we witness the wonderful thing God has done. And we marvel at the mercy of God. Indeed, God is at work reconciling the world to himself in Jesus. And this is something to celebrate. And so we don t abandon our celebration, rather we rejoice in God s gift of Jesus. Dear friends in Christ, grasp hold of the love that God has for you this season and every season. God s love transcends all else and in this love, we find the peace and the joy and wholeness that the world so desperately seeks. As you celebrate the Christ of Christmas, may our Lord bless you with his peace, joy and love. And may our Lord also use us to bring that same peace, joy and love to those around you. Pastor Busch 5

6 Official Acts + Funeral: Barbara Wilkins 11/04/2016 Gifts To The Memorial Fund In memory of Norma Jean Sanders by: Martha Lynn Dale & Cheryl Inskeep Servants Needed Charlene Perry Thank you to all those who have willingly served this past year as readers or bulletin folders or newsletter mailers. It takes many hands and voices to carry out the ministry here at Zion. Your services have been greatly appreciated. We can always use more helpers. As the New Year quickly approaches it is time to put together schedules for the coming year. If you would be interested in serving as a reader, folder, newsletter mailer, or would like more information about what it involves, please give Charlene a call in the office ( ). 6

7 Michael Glowinski Merry Christmas The season of Advent is finally here! Sure stores started it back in October, but the real season of preparation is on now! While our modern holiday is a mass of toys, noise, flashing lights, short tempers, and crowds everywhere the original holiday was even wilder! Imagine everything you see about Mardi Gras turned up to eleven. It's no wonder Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans both made it illegal to celebrate Christmas. Christmas as we know it today is a truly American holiday drawing from many different cultures and American writer Washington Irving. Christmas trees from the Germans, holly wreaths from the English, and poinsettias from Mexico. Presents under the tree was started by Queen Victoria when she placed them there in the royal palace. But when you look past the history, the lights, the sales, the presents, look closely there at the at the base of it all, is a little baby in a manger. Born to a young girl and a carpenter in an insignificant town in an insignificant part of the Roman Empire, this little baby would change the world. So as you rush around through the path of history this year, pause for a moment and take a knee with the shepherds and remember the Reason for the Season. 7

8 Early Childhood News M less Tripple The Advent season, when we look for Jesus' coming, is upon us and our wonderful preschool children and staff are gearing up for all the fun Jesus activities to begin! We have been practicing our songs daily and are looking forward to seeing everyone at our Christmas Musical on Wednesday, December 14 th during our Advent Service. We will be performing along with our elementary and middle school. We will also start decorating our classrooms and plan our Christmas parties. Children and staff are all excited to taste all the delicious treats. Our Christmas Gift Shop will be held in the fellowship hall on December 13 th & 14th for our school children to shop for their family and friends. We also have a guest appearance from Santa on December 15 th at 9:30 am (shhh; it s a surprise), who will read the special story of Jesus birth and pass out cookies to the children. We will be closed December 23rd -26 th in honor of His birth. Our Dear Lord has been very gracious to us and continues to bless us each and every day. Please continue to pray for all the children, parents and staff here at Zion and have a very Merry Christmas, in Christ Jesus! First Place 4 Health Teresa Ingebrigtsen The First Place 4 Health bible study group which begins on January 12, 2017 for 12 weeks, is based on Romans 12:29. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." We will be using the books, "Taste for Truth" and "I Deserve a Donut." These offer hands on renewing of the mind help, and the Bible verses we will study will help us fight temptation. The questions are designed to help us discover the lies that cause us to overeat, and lead us to God for help. For information and to sign up for the winter session, contact Karen Guest (760) or Teresa Ingebrigtsen ( ). 8

9 A Request from the Kindschy Children After 38 years in ministry, Pastor Kindschy will be hanging up his robes. Recently, I heard a couple sweet stories about how he has made a difference in the lives of some people. This gave me an idea. Preaching has truly been my dad's passion all these years and it would be really special to enter retirement knowing some of the impact his life's work has made. I would like to invite you to share a story, a thought, or a memory. It could be something monumental that changed or affected your faith walk or something simple and even funny. I am just the messenger, so make it personal to him. The idea is to compile all of these into a book so that they are in one place for him to enjoy, remember and reflect. Feel free to include pictures, if you have them. You can me, send something in the mail or respond through Facebook, if need be. I realize Pastor Kindschy has not been your pastor for many years and/or you may not have anything to share. That is perfectly fine. There is no pressure to respond at all please share this with anyone you feel would want to participate. My information is below. The sooner you can send something the better. We'd like to give him the book on Christmas. Pastor's last service at Shepherd of the Valley in Santa Ynez, CA will be Christmas Day. So, if you happen to have no Christmas plans, join us! I'm sure it will be an emotional one. Bring tissues! On behalf of the Kindschy children, thank you for taking the time to make our dad's send off a meaningful one. In His service, Amanda Goodwin (Kindschy) island.joy3@gmail.com 9405 N Helena Ave Kansas City, MO Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. 9 ~Martin Luther

10 With the People Bill Olson Richard Sack was hospitalized for a few days last month with an inner ear infection. He was referred to an ENT practitioner. DeeDee Thrasher is in the midst of a move to Arizona where she has family. The Rickens family is facing some challenges. Pray for Ineke Napier's continued good health. What's Happening Bill Olson With the Christmas season rapidly approaching and also the new church year, we will begin holding midweek Advent services on Nov. 30. Worship will begin at 7 p.m. on three Wednesday evenings, Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 and 14. Each of these services will be preceded by a soup supper beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The December 14 midweek service will feature the elementary school Christmas program. On Sunday, December 4, we will hold our semiannual congregational meeting during the Sunday School hour (10:30a.m.). 10

11 Again this year Zion hosted the Operation Christmas Child High Desert Relay Center, gathering shoebox gifts from throughout the Victor Valley during National Collection Week. The gift packages are sent to children throughout the world, arriving in time for Christmas. This worldwide effort is sponsored by Samaritan's Purse. Thanks to all who donated gifts and to those who helped in the relay center during collection week. Children who are in second grade and older are invited to sing in our newly-formed youth choir. See Kris Cookson. The Sunday School is working on a Christmas program which will be presented later this month. Stay tuned. Last month Pastor Busch completed a Sunday morning study of Martin Luther, A Man Named Martin. Others will follow through this year leading to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation next October. Potlucks A Reformation potluck was held Oct. 30, with a Talent Show potluck Nov. 6. Great Cooking! Zion's Oct. 28 Trick-Car Treat was a big success this year. You can help support our school by using scrip as well as through donations to our scholarship fund. Thanks for remembering Pastor Joel and Iantha Scheiwe who serve the Lord in China along with their three children. 11

12 Lani Sanders Parents are the primary shapers of faith and life in their children ~ Ben Freudenburg Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day family meals are probably a family tradition for most of us. You may have a set menu of favorites every year, and everyone looks forward to these special meals. The occasion and the food are big reasons for this anticipation, of course, but I don't think those explain it completely. The gathering together of the family for the sharing of the meal is a big part of what makes it special and comforting. GOD uses family as a whole in the individual lives that are part of that family. The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families, written by May Pipher, Ph.D., a family therapist, quotes Leonard Cohen from his book, Dance Me to the End of Love: "Raise the tent of shelter although every thread is torn." I'm assuming this is where she got the title for her own book. She talks about how complicated families are; faithful and devoted parents have children who end causing much heartache in the world, while uncaring and deviant parents can have strong, caring children who make a positive difference in the world--and every conceivable combination between and around. Our families are torn tents, because we are sinners. The shelter of each other. The consistent thing is that family MATTERS. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are, or what kind of family you come from. Family MATTERS. Jesus came as a baby to live in a family. He came to live as a person on this earth, relating to his creation. In him we see GOD; GOD the perfect Father, who cares for his family fully and completely; GOD the perfect Creator who loves his creation in spite of ourselves; GOD's perfection, healing, caring, honest and just self is seen in Jesus. We struggle to emulate this family, and GOD is in this struggle with us. May your Christmas be blessed beyond measure as you celebrate Jesus--Emmanuel, GOD with us--with your family this year, reveling in the shelter of GOD's great love and gift to us, and the shelter of your "each others." 12

13 Z-LYF ZION LUTHERAN YOUTH FELLOWSHIP Sharing Life in Christ is Z-LYF! DECEMBER ACTIVITIES: December 3/4 - SERRV Fair Trade Fair December (TBA) Christmas Party December 28 - Petal Pusher; leaving Zion at 6 AM UPCOMING EVENTS: February 11 - Sweetheart Dinner March PSD Junior High Youth Gathering April 1-4th - 6th Grade Gathering Contributors: Pastor Lewis Busch Linda Bowers Mike Glowinski Don Hays Bill Olson Charlene Perry Lani Sanders M'Less Tripple Glad Tidings is a monthly publication. Suitable articles are welcome, and will be printed as space permits. Articles are subject to editing for clarity and length. The deadline is the 15 th of each month. 13