PATHWAYS A MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR

Transcription

1 Trinity Presbyterian Church 2125 Tower Drive Woodbury, MN December, 2017 PATHWAYS A MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR My process; how I write a sermon/message If you ask a Pastor how they write a sermon or how their process has changed over the years, my guess is that they will say it hasn t really changed. Maybe there have been a few modifications or tweeks here and there, but generally there is a particular rhythm that works for each individual. In case you re wondering about my process or how is the message that is shared on Sunday morning was conceived, I thought I might tell you a bit about how it works for me. Typically I preach on the texts found in the Revised Common Lectionary; which includes an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, an Epistle (letter) reading, and a Gospel reading. When I leave church on Sunday afternoon I have a copy of the lectionary readings with me so I can read and re-read them during spare moments. When I pray after reading the texts, usually one, perhaps two, speaks to me about how it is relevant to the community of faith here at Trinity. Exegesis is the critical interpretation or explanation of the text and my exegetical process includes looking at the text in its original language (Hebrew or Greek). Often the nuances of the original text and its context can impact how the message translates to this time and place, our context. When I savor the text multiple times, a theme may present itself, as well as, some connection from an author or another contemporary anecdote. Threads of commentaries, other biblical passages, and contemporary illustrations weave together a sermon or message with a focus relevant to the here and now and that focus is a companion to the historical context found in the Bible. After writing sermons for 15 years, the shape and flavor of my sermons has a personality all its own. Generally I would say I spend roughly eight hours writing a sermon/message, and that is actual writing, not studying, not praying, and not prepping, but actually INSIDE THIS ISSUE A Message from Rev. Dr. April Davis Campbell.1 Scrip...2 Worship Schedule... 3 Deacon..3 Alternative Christmas... 4 Growing Young... 5 Worship Services....6 CE Update Growing Young Update.. 8 Christmas Joy..9 Financial Summary...9 Staff Information..10

2 Page 1 cont. writing. While I don t follow a prescribed template or format, the majority of the time my sermons run between 1,300 and 1,600 words, which I suspect is between twelve and fifteen minutes. Since a worship service is full of moving parts, I hope you can feel comforted by knowing what you can expect from me and the Holy Spirit. Of course when the Holy Spirit shows up, we can only expect the unexpected. If you have questions or want to discuss my process further, I would LOVE to talk about it because I find the Word to be so fascinating and energizing. I hope you do to! Grace to you, and peace, April Shopping Made Easier With Scrip! Scrip Orders Due Dec. 3rd Help Make Money for Trinity by using gift cards for your everyday purchases Do you shop at Target? Do you shop at Cub? Do you go to the Mall of America? I know you buy gas! Do you buy gift cards for family, friends, babysitters, pet-sitters, for birthdays, Christmas, graduation, Easter? The Scrip s program offers gift cards from hundreds of stores, gas stations, hotels, spas, movie theaters, etc. The price is the value of the card but the church gets a rebate of between 2% and 9% (or even 12% in some cases) of the price. You get the full value of your gift cards and the church earns between 2% and 9%. SO the church can make some money from each gift card bought through the program for items you would buy anyway. The process is simple. Review the vendor list to get an idea for the gift cards you would like to purchase. Turn in your completed order form with check payable to the church to the office. If our orders are entered on Monday, we can have the gift cards to distribute on Sunday. Orders will be due to the church office on the first Sunday of the month (orders will be placed on Monday). If you have questions contacts Pastor April, Dan Freeman or a member of the Stewardship and Finance Committee. Shopwithscrip.com. Order forms/vendor lists on bulletin board in the Gathering area. 2

3 Worship Schedule December 3 Isa. 64:1-9; Ps. 80:1-7, 17-19; Pastor April First Sunday in Advent 1 Cor. 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 December 10 Isa. 40:1-11; Ps. 85:1-2, 8-13; Lessons & Carols Second Sunday of Advent 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8 December 17 Isa. 61:1-4, 8-11; Ps 126 or Christmas Program Third Sunday of Advent Luke 146b-55; 1 Thess. 5:16-24 John l:6-8, December 17 7 pm Blue Christmas Pastor April December 24, Christmas Eve Isa. 9:2-7; Ps. 96; Titus 2:11-14; Pastor April Worship 7 pm Luke 2:1-14(15-20) Fourth Sunday of Advent December 31 Isa. 61:10-62:3; Ps. 148 Scott Cartwright First Sunday after Christmas Gal 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40 Comfort F. Ndingwan, Deacon Hello, I am Comfort Ndingwan. I am from Cameroon in West Africa. I moved from Vandyke Street in St. Paul, to Woodbury about 3 years ago when Arlington Hill s Presbyterian Church finally closed its doors. When I moved to Woodbury, I found Trinity Presbyterian Church. At my first visit, they were very welcoming. Two Christians visited me at home and presented me with flowers, some cookies and a letter of welcome. That made me very happy, and subsequently, I met many African Christians with whom we fellowship happily now. I am very happy to be a member of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Woodbury. 3

4 See what is happening at this year s Alternative Christmas Market! December 3 & 10 following worship Mission & Action Committee invites you to shop for Christmas, while having a positive impact on people in need locally and around the world. The following seven organizations are available for you to support financially in honor of your family members and friends. Christian Cupboard Emergency Food Shelf The food shelf serves people in Woodbury, Oakdale, Landfall and south Maplewood. A new building in Oakdale will be ready in January for CCEFS's relocation. You'll be able to make donations for either food or for the new building. Equal Exchange Fair trade chocolate bars will be available to purchase. This year we are offering a small quantity of ½ liter bottles of olive oil from Palestine, supporting families of olive growers. Pro- fits from Equal Exchange products fund additional mission projects. Ignite Trinity's 4 th & 5 th graders will be selling their hand made ornaments. Proceeds go directly to the projects they do for others, as they learn to put their faith into action. Joseph's Coat This free store in St. Paul offers clothing, household goods, and hygiene products to those in need. Your donations will be used to purchase socks and underwear. Trinity's volunteer shopper is excellent at stretching your dollars! Presbyterian Disaster Assistance PDA is the emergency and refugee organization of the PC(USA). In light of the many natural and manmade disasters of 2017, we are promoting support of its important work. Partnering with other faith based responders, PDA supplies emergency food, water and shelter as well as spiritual and psychological care. Presbyterian Mission Agency The agency facilitates the self- development of people throughout the world by providing a vast array of assistance. Products and services you may choose from include farm animals, seeds, wells, bicycles, loans and training. Browse the catalog for gift ideas. 4 Human Trafficking Task Force This is a group of interested Trinity members and friends who keep informed and share informa-tion on trafficking issues and legislation in MN. They will be selling chili mix and cornbread mix. Proceeds will go to the Tubman Center.

5 Growing Young Within Our Church and the Community Worship, mission, and ministry are a few of the ways in which Trinity can focus on the Growing Young (GY) initiative. The Growing Young task force is always looking for new voices and perspectives to share their wisdom with the group, so please watch the announcements, the Friday Blast, and the monthly newsletter for meeting dates and times. Growing Young was adopted by the Session in Looking specifically at the age group 15-29, Growing Young focuses on the ways in which churches have tailored efforts to bring individuals back to the church with meaningful mission and spiritual nurturing. A major facet of Growing Young is community, building relationships with and to people in the age group. One of the presenters in Pasadena said that churches can't grow young unless they grow together. Churches need to be inter-generational, rather than multi-generational (which Trinity currently is), meaning people in different age groups need to get to know each other. The 70-year-old Veteran needs to get to know the 16-year-old high school debate team member and the 17-year-old track and field participant needs to get to know the mid-career social worker. Some of the GY next steps mentioned at the November CE meeting reflect the efforts (and desires of Session) to be intentional about building community in an inter-generational manner, like embracing a different type of Christmas program this year seems to be aligned with the transformation the session was seeking. An informal worship in the fellowship hall would still be a worship service (music and liturgy, etc.), however, it also embodies the deliberate effort to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world through mission (making tie blankets to be donated to teenagers at homeless shelters), prayer (blessing all the blankets we make) and fellowship (different ages and generations working together). Sometimes the best conversations happen when people are working toward a common purpose and don't realize they are building community while doing so. Feel free to always ask questions of the pastor, the CE director, and session members for more information. Together we can continue to thrive. 5

6 Please join us as we enter into the season of Advent with ~ Lessons and Carols December 10, 10:00 am First Lesson from Isaiah 9.2, 6 7 The prophet foretells the coming of the Saviour. Second Lesson from Micah The Glory of Bethlehem Third Lesson from the Gospel of Luke , 38 The angel Gabriel salutes the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fourth Lesson from the Gospel of Matthew The birth of Jesus. Fifth Lesson from the Gospel of Luke The Angels' Song. Sixth Lesson from the Gospel of Luke The shepherds go to the manger. Seventh Lesson from the Gospel of Matthew The wise men are led by the star to Jesus. Eighth Lesson from the Gospel of John St John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation, the Word became flesh. Blue Christmas Sunday, Dec. 17th at 7 PM For many people, Christmas is a time of loneliness, sorrow, alienation and sadness. Celebrated near the longest night of the year, this service offers a way to claim those feelings and still feel surrounded by the compassionate love of God. We are in the middle of a season of great joy and light. But for many, it feels more like a season of great darkness and shadows. The festivities going on around us bring a great contrast to our own situations: loneliness, grief, loss, separation, pain, sickness. At this service, we will gather to acknowledge the contrast we feel inside. This will be a gathering acknowledging our loss, separation and confusion. It will be a time of quiet reflection that will hopefully lead to some peace and comfort.

7 A MESSAGE FROM JOA SEVLIE, CE Every Armageddon movie needs a good crises the bigger the crises, the better the movie. I love a good Armageddon movie it is fun to watch how the different characters respond to the crises some rise to the occasion to bring hope and focus and leadership, while others are shell-shocked and fearful. The thing about a good Armageddon movie is that the viewer knows exactly what the crises is. There are clear leading-up events, the music is themed well, and the atmosphere portends the beginning of the crises. There is no need to worry about possibly impending doom it is clearly crashing down all around the main characters. Real life is not so clear-cut. Rarely do we experience Armageddon in our own lives, but the sense of how quickly life can change dramatically is a constant for most. We do what we can to anticipate and prepare for the unknown, but without the well-defined anticipatory events (as in a movie) leading up to a crises, we are often left with a lot of vague apprehensions. And so we work harder, to surround ourselves with ever more protection. Being a Christian does not mean that crises will not happen in life. A good friend of mine who is a chaplain at Mayo has just received lifealtering news. She has been anticipating several defined changes in her life, many of them dependent on each other. Now, she is not sure how this part of her life journey will progress. And, to be honest, I am not sure how to counsel her in this moment of crises in her life. She has worked hard to prepare for this next part of her life, but now it appears that many of her preparations will not have prevented this mischance in her life. The reality is, we cannot prepare for every eventuality that life will toss at us. It is good to prepare, and plan ahead, but there remains the need to embrace the fact that we cannot stave off all disaster but we can work to become the type of people that God can work through, even as life happens all around us. That is our goal in CE here at Trinity. We are working to produce children and teens that are God s people in every sense they know who God is, they know what God created them to do, and they go confidently into a world to bring God s hope and God s focus and God s leadership.

8 GROWING YOUNG UPDATE As we continue to work on the Growing Young (ages 15-29) initiative which was adopted by the Session in 2016, we work toward becoming an inter-generational community of faith in the various aspects of our lives together. According to Dr. Steve Argue, "We can't grow young, if we don't grow together." **Beginning January 7, 2018 and for six weeks there will be a six week Sunday Morning Adult Education opportunity to discuss The Six Core Commitments of Churches Growing Young. Unlock keychain leadership: Instead of centralizing authority, empower others especially young people. Be the best neighbors: Instead of condemning the world outside your walls, enable young people to neighbor well locally and globally. Prioritize young people (and families) everywhere: Instead of giving lip service to how much young people matter, look for creative ways to tangibly support, resource, and involve them in all facets of your congregation. Fuel a warm community: Instead of focusing on cool worship or programs, aim for warm peer and inte-rgenerational friendships. Take Jesus message seriously: Instead of asserting formulaic gospel claims, welcome young people into a Jesus-centered way of life. Empathize with today s young people: Instead of judging or criticizing, step into the shoes of this generation. **Opportunities to become a prayer partner to young people in this community of faith (grades 6-12). **Create opportunities for inter-generational mission, fellowship, and worship **Brief video tweets to discover the unknown

9 Celebrating God s Indescribable Gift Every year during this time, we turn our eyes toward Bethlehem and anticipate the birth of Jesus Christ. Through him we receive the indescribable gift of God s grace. This year, we take time during the Advent and Christmas season to consider the gratitude we feel. It s out of this gratitude that we turn to support church leaders who dedicate their lives in service to Christ and the church. It s out of youthful wonder that students at Presbyterian-related racial ethnic schools and colleges look forward to a life of faith, worship, and Christian leadership. With Christ at the center this holiday season, we can follow in his example of servant leadership by serving our brothers and sisters in faith. Through the Christmas Joy Offering, we are able to support those in our community and give them the gift of hope. Funds from the Christmas Joy Offering help the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions provide critical financial assistance to eligible workers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and their families, and to qualifying retired church workers and their families. The Christmas Joy Offering also supports the education and development of our future leaders at Presbyterianrelated racial ethnic schools and colleges. These schools are dedicated to creating opportunities and environments for racial ethnic students built on a foundation of Christian values. The Offering benefits Menaul School and Presbyterian Pan American School, two secondary schools that ready students for a path of higher learning, as well as Stillman College, where graduates are prepared for lives of leadership and service. By giving to the Christmas Joy Offering, we can share in the hope of Christ and celebrate his leadership by providing support to our church workers, racial ethnic young people, and their families. Please give generously: Through your congregation Text JOY to to give $10 presbyterianmission.org/give/christmasjoy To learn more about the Christmas Joy Offering, please visit: Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions: click on Plans & Programs Trinity Presbyterian Program Financial Summary Oct-17 Month Actual YTD Actual Yr. Budget Total Program Donations $28, $198, $235, Total Program Expenditures $20, $211, $247, Donations Less Expenses $8, ($13,700.06) ($12,147.47) Checking Roll Forward Add $1, $10, $12, Income Less Expenses $9, ($3,700.06) ($147.47) Mortgage Fund Donations $8, $62, Mortgage Expense $6, $62, Mortgage Balance $440,968.73

10 Children s Choir Singing in the November 12th Worship Service Sunday School Hanging Stars For Each Blessing!

11 Thank you to all who helped prepare the church for the coming Advent Season.

12 TRINITY STAFF TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 2125 TOWER DRIVE WOODBURY, MN TRINITY S MISSION STATEMENT: Growing in Christ, Sharing God s Love. TRINITY S VISION STATEMENT: To be a vibrant and nurturing community inviting all generations Pastor Rev. Dr. April Davis Campbell trinitywoodburypastor@gmail.com, C: Joa Sevlie Children and Youth Ministries, joathegreat2@gmail.com, C: Kim Vangsgard Office Administrator admin@trinitywoodbury.org, Director of Music Jane Wasiluk hansonjane736@gmail.com, C: Choir Director Neal Strand nealstrand@icloud.com, into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Come join us on: