Eye on Zion. From the Desk of Pastor Lee January 2019

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1 Eye on From the Desk of Pastor Lee January But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord -Luke 2:10-11 You may get a few strange looks if you went about your day wishing people a Merry Christmas in the middle of January. After all, Christmas decorations started going up in many places before even the Halloween decorations had come down. The Christmas Season lasted a long time and many are ready for it to be over. As most of you know, however, the Christmas season just started. In the church calendar, the season of Christmas does not begin until sundown on December 24 th and runs through Epiphany on January 6 th. The problem is that we are so inundated with secular and consumer celebrations of Christmas that we are exhausted when Christmas finally does come. Can we imagine celebrating twelve days of Christmas when one was stressful enough? As the church, however, we still have more Christmas celebrating to do. This celebrating, however, does not require that we buy more presents or plan more parties. It does not require putting up more decorations. On the contrary, this celebrating calls for us to stop our busy lives in order to see the Word of God made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us; and, having so seen, we are called to live in this Word as God s people. As Christmas trees come down and are shoved to the curb as trash, as Christmas decorations make way for Valentine s Day candy, as the world finally has had enough of Christmas for another year, we, dear church, are called to proclaim even more vigorously that Christ has come, that God is, indeed, with us in the person of Jesus. We are called as God s people to proclaim Christ, not only on December 25 th, not only for twelve days of a Christmas season, but everyday and with everything we do. In whatever the Holy Spirit has empowered us to do, whether in field or office, streets or hospital, home or away, we are called to bear witness to Christ with a Christmas passion that has no end. We are called to live a life where we daily unwrap this present of God with us so that it can be shared with others, making everyday Christmas Day. So, when the time does come to put away the decorations and to retire the tree, when the thrill of new presents has worn off, remember that there is still a whole lot of Christmas left to celebrate. In Christ, we have a gift that never stops giving, a gift where there is always more to share and more to unwrap and discover. May you have a Merry Christmas and Epiphany! Your Friend in Christ, Pastor Lee

2 The Jesse Tree by Lois Sheer from Isaiah 11:1 It began long ago with a tree. Was it apple, persimmon or pear? God s people would not obey; God said, No! but they didn t care. God had to prune and God had to chop; His law he sent down on two stones: Hear me and love me and follow my lead. From his children he only heard groans. God gave them water and God gave them bread; God gave them a promise to share. From Jesse and David and on down the line A treasure will come oh, so rare! You need a Savior, our good God declared. I think I will send you my Son. His life and his dying will pay for your sins Your freedom will finally be won. In Christ, the promise of the Jesse Tree (a Messiah from the lineage of David) is fulfilled. The Jesse Tree never stops growing... it hasn t stopped. For centuries, for years, more branches have grown. Those branches (the church) have faced heresies and wrong thinking, human cruelty and arrogance, apathy, war and bigotry. Humanity has done its level best to hide or destroy the power of the Gospel and cut the heart out of the Church. Yet, always, a remnant hangs on to the Good News. Always a shoot springs forth from what looks to be the deadest of the branches. God is still faithful. The story continues. The tree grows. God has come to us through his Son and nothing will ever be the same again.* May the grace and mercy of our faithful God continue to guide and bless us in this New Year. *Written by Debra Grant for Creative Communication for the Parish, Copyright 1992

3 Council Minutes December 10, 2018 The monthly council meeting of Lutheran Church was called to order by President Tamra Griffey on December 10, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. Members present: Pastor Lee, Marci Rust, Steven Rust, Sue Kipp, Dennis Keesee and Leanna Driggs. Financial records for the past month were audited by Marci. Pastor Lee gave a prayer. The agenda was approved with 2 additions to new business with a motion by Steve and a second by Sue. The minutes of the November meeting were approved with a motion by Sue and a second by Marci. Pastor gave his report and it was approved with a motion by Marci and a second by Leanna. Dennis presented the treasurer s report and it was approved with a motion by Pastor Lee and a second by Leanna. Team Reports: Congregational Life Team had no report. We will be purchasing 6 poinsettias within the next week for around the altar. Pastor reported for the Congregational Ministry Team that the kids have been practicing for the Christmas program on Wednesday evenings. Confirmation camp will be coming up on possibly the date of June Steve reported for Property Team that he has spoke with Gary from Redwing Termite and he would be able to treat the carpenter ant problem in May at a cost of $100. The approximate cost to treat the termites would be about $2100. Pastor made a motion to treat the ants and termites and Steve seconded the motion. Ben Sisson will replace the back doors in the spring. Marci made a motion to remove the dividers in the fellowship hall as they are in bad shape. Sue seconded the motion. Pastor reported for Worship & Music Team that the new Advent liturgy has been received well. The Trust Fund Committee did not meet. Dennis reported for the Parish Council that the budget was approved at the last meeting. Missions and Membership did not meet. Old Business: Pastor reported that the picture directories have been received and are in the mailboxes. They turned out very nice. New Business: Deanna s vacation days were reviewed and approved with a motion by Sue and a second by Marci. Dennis presented the budget for. The annual meeting will be held on January 20 and on January 27, we will switch worship times with Emmanuel for their annual meeting. Other Business: Check book audit next meeting Leanna Driggs. The next meeting will be January 14, at 7:00 P.M. The meeting was adjourned with the Lord s Prayer. Leanna Driggs, Secretary We will need one new member to fill a council position. We also need one member for the Parish Council. If you are interested in serving on either council, please notify Pastor Lee at s Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 20 th. A potluck lunch will follow the 10:30 a.m. worship service with the meeting to be held after lunch.

4 Living Lutheran It is time to renew the subscription for Living Lutheran. If you would like to make a donation to renew the magazine for the congregation, please let the office know or write The Lutheran on your offering envelope with the amount you would like to donate. If you have a child (or adult) who is interested in participating in a class on Holy Communion, please contact Pastor Lee. (785) This class will be open to children as first communion instruction or as refresher for anyone who wishes to participate. Worship time for Sunday, January 27 th has been changed to 9:00 a.m. so Stuttgart can have their Annual Meeting and potluck lunch. There will be a joint Service with and St. Philip & St. James Catholic to celebrate the week of Christian Unity on January 20, at at Lutheran - We will be continuing our commitment to mutual prayer and sharing that began during our joint service commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in October This will be a service to come together across denominational lines for prayer and renewal. Mat Makers Continue to Meet We've had a variety of people join us to learn how to make sleeping mats for the homeless out of PLARN. We've had people from several congregations and around the community come and learn how to cut bags, tie them together to make PLARN, and also crochet! We decided in December that we would meet monthly to reconnect with each other, check each other's progress, make more PLARN, and continue to encourage others to join our efforts in this worthy project. The fellowship we have together while working makes our time even more rewarding. After our December meeting, we decided to make extra PLARN available for others who crochet. We all took what we needed: more bags to cut at home, more strips to tie together, or PLARN to crochet, but we left extra balls of PLARN available at the church for anyone who ran out before the next meeting or who wanted to crochet but weren't there that day. Please join us January 12th for our monthly meeting, from 9-noon, in St. John's parish hall in Kensington:) Robin Billings

5 January Lessor Festivals and Commemorations Tuesday, Name of Jesus January 1, Johann Konrad Wednesday, Wilhelm Loehe, January 2, renewer of the church, died 1872 Adrian of Canterbury, Wednesday, teacher, died around January 9, 710 Tuesday, January 15, Thursday, January 17, Thursday, January 17, Friday, January 18, Saturday, January 19, Monday, January 21, Friday, January 25, Saturday, January 26, Sunday, January 27, Monday, January 28, Martin Luther King Jr., renewer of society, martyr, died 1968 Antony of Egypt, renewer of the church, died around 356 Pachomius, renewer of the church, died 346 Confession of Peter Henry, Bishop of Uppsala, martyr, died 1156 Agnes, martyr, died around 304 Conversion of Paul Timothy, Titus, and Silas, missionaries Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe, witnesses to the faith Thomas Aquinas, teacher, died 1274 From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright 2018 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. By Jewish law, every baby boy was circumcised and named on the eighth day of life, so on the eighth day of Christmas the church celebrates this event in Jesus' life. The keeping of the covenant as well as Jesus' name are signs of God's salvation given to us through him. A nineteenth-century German Lutheran pastor, Loehe worked to enliven the church with the eucharist at its center, from which would flow evangelism and social ministry. He sent pastors to North America, Australia, New Guinea, Brazil, and the Ukraine. African by birth, Adrian (or Hadrian) worked with Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, in developing the church in England. He was director of a school at which church leaders were trained. An American prophet of justice among races and nations, King was an eloquent preacher, a leader of the nonviolent resistance to race-segregated society, and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in Born on this date, he was assassinated on April 4, One of the earliest of the Egyptian desert fathers, Antony gave away his sizeable inheritance and became a hermit. Later he became leader of a group of monks who devoted themselves to prayer, worship, and labor. Born in Egypt, Pachomius became a Christian while a soldier. He became a hermit (a solitary monk) and organized others into a religious community. His rule for monasteries influenced later ones in both the Eastern and Western churches. Today the church remembers the apostle Peter's great acknowledgement of Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God." This festival serves as a fitting beginning to the week in which we particularly pray that all Christians might be united in faith and witness. When Erik, King of Sweden, determined to invade Finland for the purpose of converting the people there to Christianity, Henry went with him. Henry is recognized as the patron saint of Finland. Agnes was a girl of about thirteen living in Rome. The details of her martyrdom are not clear, but she gave witness to her faith and was put to death as a result, most likely by the sword. The church has honored her as one of the chief martyrs of her time. The week of prayer begun by the remembrance of Peter's confession now comes to an end as we recall the pivotal moment in the life of the other pillar of the early church, the apostle Paul. His encounter with the risen Christ turned him from persecutor of the followers of Christ to one of their leaders. These three early Christian men were missionary companions of the apostle Paul. Timothy became bishop of Ephesus, Titus bishop of Crete, and Silas was imprisoned with Paul at Philippi until they were delivered by an earthquake. Women as well as men were important Christian leaders from the beginning, as demonstrated by these coworkers of the apostle Paul. Lydia, a seller of purple goods, lent her home for a church; Dorcas was known for charitable works; and Phoebe was a deacon in the church at Cenchrae. One of the most brilliant and creative theologians in the church's history, Aquinas worked to bring together scripture and the philosophy of Aristotle. A member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), Aquinas was also a hymnwriter.

6 Lutheran Church th Street Phillipsburg, Kansas (785) Church s zionlu@ruraltel.net Pastor s leebennight@gmail.com Parsonage Phone Pastors Cell Phone (785) (785) Pastor: Lee Bennight Editor: Deanna Ewing, Parish Secretary 2018 Church Council President: Tamra Griffey Vice-President: Steven Rust Treasurer: Dennis Keesee Secretary: Leanna Driggs Congregational Life Team: Sue Kipp Property: Steven Rust Finance Team: Dennis Keesee Trust Fund Committee: Dennis Keesee Congregational Ministry Team: Marci Rust Worship Schedule 10:30 Newsletter Deadline for the next issue is January 15, Birthdays 1-03 Erna Zink 1-05 Caci Liebentritt 1-07 Raylene Bugbee 1-08 Terry Kipp 1-10 DaLene Schuster 1-11 Grace Grau 1-12 Rhonda Keesee 1-13 Amber Keesee 1-14 Karen Rankin 1-15 Howard King 1-15 Barb Tien 1-20 Akira Grammon 1-30 Shirley Knowles 1-31 Kirk Isernhagen ACOLYTES 6 Devin Johnson 13 Bella Keesee 20 Lauren Gibbs 27 Patrick Driggs LECTORS 6 Doug Zillinger 13 Theo Keesee 20 Christina Dettmer 27 Chris Patton GREETERS 6 Kim Overmiller & Girls 13 Dennis & Andrea Keesee 20 Ed & Barb Tien 27 Melvin & Grace Grau USHER CAPTAIN 6 Bob Lamp 13 Dennis Keesee 20 Howard King 27 Janet McCall ALTAR GUILD Marci & Pat Rust

7 Lutheran Church January Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 2:00 pm PCRC Worship PCMA Meeting 9 6:30 pm Meal 10 Bible Study at Council Meeting :00 pm PCRC Worship 17 7:30 pm Parish Council Annual Meeting 11:30 am Annual Meeting Joint Service with St. Philip & St. James Catholic at Bible Study at :00 am