Blue Ridge Trinity Lutheran Church. Trinity Tidings. From the Pastor s Desk. Our Mission: Seeing God s Plan, Answering God s Call, Doing God s Work

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1 Blue Ridge Trinity Lutheran Church 5757 Blue Ridge Blvd., Raytown, MO (816) Fax (816) Trinity Tidings From the Pastor s Desk Nov/Dec 2018 Dear Saints, Greetings in the name of the child born of Mary and coming Savior, Jesus Christ Now that November is here, excitement builds in anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We start out in this penultimate month of the year with the observance of All Saints Day and before the month ends, we would have celebrated Thanksgiving and Christ the King Sunday, the official end of the church year. With December comes the new church year, Advent, followed by Christmas. But before the unofficial season of Christmas begins with Thanksgiving, All Saints Day reminds us that we are sinners and saints. Martin Luther made popular the phrase saint and sinner to help us see a connection heaven and earth. between The message of Christmas is about Emmanuel God with us. In, with and through Jesus Christ heaven touches earth. Christmas is the greatest story ever told because there would be no Easter without Christmas, no cross without the manger, no Savior without the infant King. Therefore, we observe All Saints Day with hearts of gratitude not simply for loved ones called home, but more importantly because God loves sinners. The good news is that Jesus Christ embodied God s love for sinners and has made sinners into saints, and has given us hope of eternal life (John 3:16-17). Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich! The kind of wealth Bonhoeffer had in mind is not material. Grateful Christians are rich in love, compassion, forgiveness, hope and faith. Daily they share their riches. First by being actively grateful: cont d. p. 2 Inside this issue: Pastor s Article 1-2 Birthdays 2 President s Article 3 Cookies Needed & TLCW Upcoming Activities Dec Worship Schedule Our Mission: Seeing God s Plan, Answering God s Call, Doing God s Work

2 Page 2 Pastor s Article Cont d O come, let us sing to the form of a slave to Happy Thanksgiving! the LORD; make us saints, so and let us make a joyful A Blessed Christmas 1 Judith Malson 4 Mary Kee 9 Mamie Robinson 11 Vernon Schulz 15 Nancy Engle 21 Anthony Gonnello 23 Vivian Moffitt noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great might we become slaves to others in the and New Year to All! In Christ s service, Pastor C God, hope that they might and a great King become saints and to- above all gods gether share in the joy (Psalm 95:1-3) of eternal life Council Officers Kathy Nevans President Vacant Vice President Kris Riddell Treasurer Diane Babbitt Secretary Carolyn Tyler Financial Secretary Second, in this season of celebrating endings and beginnings, remembering and anticipating, let us also make this a period of gratitude for opportunities to follow our exemplary slave, Jesus Christ. As He emptied himself, taking December Birthdays 3 Larry Gonnello, Sr. 19 Joyce McFadden 8 Samantha Cummings 24 Patrick Letzig 10 Wanda Clemons 12 Susan Marple 13 Chris Gannan 18 Earlene Anderson

3 Page 3 Annual Meeting Part 2 Join us for ANNUAL CONGREGATION MEET- ING PART 2 on Sunday, November 11, 2018 immediately following worship. We will decide on budget and elect new council members. Thanksgiving Eve W e w i l l w o r s h i p THANKSGIVING EVE W e d n e s d a y, November 21 at 5:00 p.m. Worship Leaders: Assisting Minister: Chris Gannan Readers: Susan Marple & St. Matt s Lector Usher: Kris Riddell Acolyte: Samuel Cummings President s Article November the time for gratitude and thanksgiving. Time for the church year to end and the new year to begin. The time for seasons changing and preparation for the holidays to begin. Wow that s a lot for one month, where do I begin. First, I would like to say THANK YOU to each and everyone of you for your support, for your dedication, your willingness to pitch in and help over the last six years, I have served as your Council president. YOU have made that time a treasured gift that I will hold in my heart and memories for a long time. I am so grateful for this experience but must admit I am ready for a break in some of my leadership roles. So where am I going with this? November is the time of year when we elect new Council members at our Annual Meeting on the 11 th. This year we need to elect a minimum of three members to replace, no I do not like that word, let s say replenish our Council. Diane Babbitt and I have served 2 terms of 3 years each and are not eligible to run. We also need fill the position of Lu Eshelman. Now, I did not grow up believing I would be a leader in any way but I did grow up believing that God knew His plan for me and if I listened he would take care of me and what it is for me to do or be. According to Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. I never thought my future would be what my past has been, BUT I am so very grateful and blessed that God knew and led me to who I am, where I am and what I am. So are you listening to God about His plans for you? I have been reading my Bible and doing a little review of Proverbs, which is not easy for me to understand all the time. But Proverbs 11:14 says Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Now that has a lot of truth in it. Another way that I think about this is in a quote from Helen Keller, Alone we can do so little but together we can do so much. Becoming a Council member does not mean, you will be thrown into the Lion s Den, left to fight alone, it means to become a part of group that works together, talks, makes decisions and learns from one an- other. Each of the members has his or her own strengths, talents and abilities to bring to the table. God knows what those are and will use it to bring together a team here at Blue Ridge Trinity Lutheran Church as we go forward into our Mission of Doing God s Work, Seeing God s Plan, Answering God s Call. I want to end my last article with a song that I learned as a child in Sunday School that sums up Stewardship and Gratitude for me. It s about the gifts I am forever grateful for and the way that I can use them to serve, Two little eyes to look t o G o d, Two little ears to hear H i s W o r d, Two little feet to walk in His ways, Hands to serve Him all m y d a y s. One little tongue to speak His truth, One little heart for Him in youth, Take them, O, Jesus, let them be, Always willing true to Thee. Thank you and God Bless YOU All! Kathy

4 Page 4 Cookies Needed TLCW Cookies needed for. Empty containers will be available on the table in the Narthex. Please bring them to church by Tuesday November 27 at 10:30 a.m. Homemade preferred but we will accept store bought as well. Thanks from the 900+ families who will received these as part of their Christmas gift. Daylight Savings November 4 TLCW will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday November 27 and we will have Inge Howard tell about her recent fabulous trip overseas. We will also plan on packing cookies for the MLM Christmas (so bring large amounts of cookies!!) There will be no meeting in December but volunteers are needed at the Christmas store December 3-8, Questions, call Pat welch Christmas will be at Immanuel Lutheran Church 1700 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO Annual Meeting Part 1 Annual Congregational Meeting will be on Sunday, January 20, Committee chairs reports are due in the Church Office by December 31. Committees are as follows: Altar Guild & Treasure Care, Cards, Call Team Finance Committee Learning/Youth Activities Memorial Committee Memorial Fund Financial MLM Parish Nurse Pastor President Property Committee Ruth Circle & Treasure Committee Stewardship Committee TLCW & Treasurer Scout Troop & Pack Worship and Music World Hunger

5 Page 5 November Worship Assistants Upcoming Activities MAMIE ROBINSON TURNS 90!! Please join us in the Fellowship Hall following worship on Sunday, November 4 to celebrate this milestone with Mamie s family and friends. Assisting Ministers Nov. 4 Kathy Nevans Nov. 11 Jackie Harvey Nov. 18 Susan Marple Nov. 25 Ken Riddell Readers Nov. 4 Bob Jones Nov. 11 Morrie Carlson Nov. 18 Eleanor Kramer Nov. 25 Chris Gannan Ushers Nov. 4 Jerry Nevans Nov. 11 Eleanor Kramer & Kathy Musson Nov. 18 Joyce McFadden Nov. 25 Kris Riddell Acolytes Nov. 4 Nathanael C. Nov. 11 Samuel C. Nov. 18 Nathanael C. Nov. 25 Nathanael C. THANKSGIVING/CHRISTMAS CHEER is one way to live A life of Generosity. We will be presenting gifts to three needy families at Thanksgiving and at Christmas. Toward this end, we need your generous contributions (check/cash). Place your gifts in offering plates with designation Raytown School District on memo line. We plan to bless these families on Monday, November 19 of Thanksgiving Week and on Monday, December 17. CAROLING On Saturday, December 22, 2018 we will be singing carols to our homebound members. The plan is to meet at BRT at 2:45 p.m. and leave by 3:00 p.m. Following an afternoon of caroling, we will return to church for soup, chili and desserts. P.S. You don t have to be a choir member to join us! We welcome ALL, young and young at heart. UNITED SERVICE (Lessons & Carols) at St Matthew s on December 30 at 11:00 a.m. Readers from BRT: Larry Gonnello Chris Gannan Ken Riddell MLM BREAKFAST MINISTRY Join us Saturday, December 22, at 6:30 a.m. at BRT to carpool over to St Luke s Lutheran Church to serve breakfast to the homeless and less fortunate in our community.

6 Poem of Giving Thanks We Give Thanks We give thanks to you, O Lord, For what you've blessed us with The abundance of the blessings From heaven that you give For we have all received from you The abundance from your hand In many varied and different ways, You've blessed us in this land We only need to look around At what you, Lord, have given, To see the many blessings we have And see your full provision So, Lord, to you we give our thanks With full and grateful hearts, The blessing of family, friends and love And just for who you are By M.S.Lowndes December Worship Assistants Assisting Ministers Dec. 2 Bob Jones Dec. 9 Bob Harvey Dec. 16 Susan Marple Dec. 23 Chris Gannan Dec. 24 Ken Riddell Readers Dec. 2 Kathy Musson Dec. 9 Larry Gonnello Dec. 16 Eleanor Kramer Dec. 23 Kathy Nevans Page 6 Dec. 24 Susan Marple & Prayer Chain Glenda Reische {in-law of Carolyn Tyler}, Rock Rickel {relative of Susan Marple}, Cliff Jones{Assistant Director Kansas City Metro Men s Chorus}, Vivian Moffitt, LeRoy Felzien, Nancy Engel, Megan Walsh, Charles Owens {son-in-law of Mamie Robinson}, Randy York {Friend of Theresa Tuttle}, Frank Martin {Wanda Clemons brother}, Mary Gonnello, Karl Anderson {Tawanda s husband}, Martha Mitchel {Raymond Jones sister}, Les Tebbenkamp {Mary Burge s brother}, Mike Singh {Samantha s uncle}, Lisa Coan {Kathy Musson s friend}, Deb and Larry Gonnello, Rick Miller {Larry Moffitt s friend}, Bonnie Besch {Linda Gippner s sister-in-law}, Cera Hawkins {Inge Howard s granddaughter}, Norma Phillips, Vitula Zimmerschied {Joyce McFadden s mother}, Peggy Shoemaker, Elden Grittman, Roy Javner {friend of Jerry Nevans}, Frances Smith, Hollis Mundhenke, Bev Lavitt, Louise Latta {Linda Gippner s aunt}, Angela Beaman {Gonnello s daughter} and Pat Jones. Ushers Dec. 2 Dec. 9 St. Matts Jerry Nevans Joyce McFadden & Diane Babbitt Dec. 16 Kris Riddell Dec. 23 Jerry Nevans Dec. 24 Eleanor Kramer & Kathy Musson Acolytes Dec. 2 Samuel C. Dec. 9 Nathanael C. Dec. 16 Samuel C. Dec. 23 Nathanael C. Dec. 24 Samuel C.

7 Page 7 Parish Nurse Peace to all as we go to Reformation and the beginning of the church year. At this writing, I believe our homebound are doing ok. The Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts have remained busy with their latest activities being Reap Bag drop-off /pickup, Pumpkins on Parade, held at Cave Springs, and a Pancake breakfast put on during the Raytown Run for Excellence. One runner, a freshman at Raytown High School, J.T. Taylor, came in first in his age class and fourth overall. I believe he received a free breakfast and he also brought his family and friends to celebrate! Congratulations and thank you. A BIG thank you also to those in our congregation who supported our Pack, I saw Samuel cooking, thus helping his brother, and his entire family doing their part. Once again, I Thank God for bringing them to us. Our church council has had the opportunity to accept another Eagle Scout Project; there will be other changes in the days ahead with changes at Headquarters. More as it comes. Thank you for allowing me to be the Chartered Organizational Representative. St. Matthews asked us to help in their pillow drive. It was reported by Beth Cook that we donated 55 pillows! And of course, our combined service was great. There was a celebration there after the service for Richard Millers' 90 Birthday! Congratulations! We are having a celebration at our church soon for Mamie Robinson's birthday. Our candy ladies are hard at it again. Volunteers are always welcome. One of our volunteers, Arnita Winders, husband has been ill. They are from the church in Ruskin (now closed). He was always such a big help during our Octoberfests. Also, our own Mary Burge required surgery recently. According to Kathy Nevans, her mother is doing better. So, prayers all around please. Chris Gannon has been chosen to be a captain at some of the MLM breakfasts. I have been privileged to work with her as many have. Way to go Chris! Now for the healthfinder.gov info. So many in November - a few are National Caregiver Month, American Diabetes Month, and The Great American Smokeout-Nov 16th. December holds Safe Toys and Celebration Month and two items for the week of December 2-8, namely Good Handwashing and Influenza Vaccine week. Upcoming events: Nov Scouts selling nuts Nov 3 Power of Each One Fundraiser Nov 3-4 Rice-Tremonti Soup/Craft Festival 11-4 each day Nov 4 Party for Mamie Robinson Nov 10 Candy/Craft sale Colonial Church 71st and Mission Nov 11 Annual meeting Part I Nov-Dec Metro Mens' Chorus Dec Ingathering for Volunteer at Christmas REAP Christmas Numerous volunteer opportunities not listed here but available Gracious God, thank you for your patience with me, in Jesus' name. Amen (Christ in Our Home Oct. 19) Linda Hokenson

8 Page 8 Help make Christmas more joyful for 900 families in need this year. Your gifts of new coats, clothing, toys, hats, gloves, and household items are needed to help stock MLM s 45th Annual Christmas. Have fun shopping! Your creativity is what makes the store look so magical. Please deliver your gifts to BRT by Sunday, December 2nd Questions? Call Chris Gannan Thank you! CLOTHING Infants and Toddlers (all sizes) Top and Bottoms (2 piece sets preferred)* Coats/Snowsuits* Sleepers* Undershirts Socks/Underwear Girls and Boys (all sizes) Coats* Hats/Gloves/Scarves* Jeans/Leggings* Sweats/Hoodies* Long-Sleeve Tops Sweaters Pajamas Socks/Underwear Men and Women (all sizes, including 2X-5X) Coats* Hats/Gloves/Scarves* Sweats/Hoodies* Pants/Leggings* Jeans* Long-Sleeve Shirts and Tops Pajamas/Robes Sweaters Dresses Socks/Underwear INFANT/YOUTH GIFTS ($25 Value) Baby and Toddler Toys LEGOS Action Figures Baby Dolls Barbies Basketballs/Footballs/Soccer Balls Arts and Crafts Kits/Supplies Books Games Educational Toys Puzzles ADULT/TEEN GIFTS ($25 Value) Billfolds/Purses Cologne/Perfume Watches Jewelry Makeup Sets Nail Polish/Manicure Sets Hair Dryers Hats/Gloves/Scarves Books Electronic Games Tools Sports Gear (Royals/Chiefs) HOUSEHOLD ITEMS Electric Skillets and Grills* Toaster Ovens* Crock Pots* Blankets (queen & king)* Dish Sets/Silverware Sets Space Heaters Pots and Pans Towel Sets Hand-held vacuum cleaners

9 Trinity Tidings This is a bi-monthly publication of Blue Ridge Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. Articles or information pertinent to the life and mission of the congregation may be submitted to the Church Office by the 20 th of preceding month. Space limitations may require editing of material. Church Schedule Sundays: Worship - URGENT NEED OF PASTORAL CARE CALL: Office: Pastor: Church Staff Orin W. Cummings Pastor Jackie Harvey Choir Director Mary Burge Organist Bob Harvey Contemporary Worship Blue Ridge Trinity Lutheran Church 5757 Blue Ridge Blvd. Raytown, MO 64133

10 Blue Ridge Trinity Lutheran Church 5757 Blue Ridge Blvd. Raytown, MO Phone: (816) SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT Sunday Morning Schedule 8:45 a.m. Sunday School Worship 10:30 a.m. Fellowship ALL SAINTS SUNDAY Contemporary Candy Making 10:00 a.m. Care Team 8:00 a.m. St Matthew s Men s Breakfast th Sun after PENTECOST Traditional Annual Meeting Pt th Sun after PENTECOST Blended :00 a.m. Ruth Circle Luncheon 21 5:00 p.m. Thanksgiving Eve Worship Flying Solo St Matthew s 24 CHRIST THE KING Brief Liturgical :30 a.m. TLCW

11 Blue Ridge Trinity Lutheran Church 5757 Blue Ridge Blvd. Raytown, MO Phone: (816) SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT Sunday Morning Schedule 8:45 p.m. Sunday School Worship 10:30 a.m. Fellowship st Sun of ADVENT Contemporary Opens 6:00 p.m. Church Council Meeting 8:00 a.m. St Matthew s Men s Breakfast nd Sun of ADVENT Traditional Care Team rd Sun of ADVENT Blended 6:30 a.m. MLM Breakfast Ministry 3:00 p.m. Caroling and Soup Dinner th Sun of ADVENT Brief Liturgical 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve United Worship at BRT 30 11:00 a.m. United of Lessons and Carols at St. Matthew s 31 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace Isaiah 9:6