BURLINGTON LUTHERAN CHURCH THE BRIDGE December 2018 Happy New Year, BLC! It is officially Advent which means we are in the beginning of a whole new church year. Advent is the season in which we watch and wait on God s unending love in Christ Jesus. I love that the church does not follow the traditional calendar so that we can have some time to focus and plan for the future of the Body of Christ. Individually, we often make New Year s resolutions. A friend of mine loves to make extreme resolutions. One year he resolved to drink a gallon of water every day (he kept the same milk jug and kept refilling it 365 times throughout the year). Another year he committed to swimming in the ocean once per month February, he said, was the worst. He also once swore to only wear one pair of shoes the entire year. By December, his socks were regularly wet. Whether we resolve to eat better or wear the same pair of shoes, our resolutions are often focused on just ourselves. Advent, as our Christian New Year, gives us an opportunity to focus on the future of our community of faith. Burlington Lutheran Church has an amazing opportunity this year to further the Kingdom of God. Our friends, our places of work, our hangouts, our families are all ready to be loved and held in joy and grace and WE are in a perfect place to make that happen. As our community of faith is strengthened, we are freed and inspired to do this important ministry. With this in mind, what are our New Year s resolutions as a church? How can we dream and imagine new ways to deepen our faith while sharing the love, hope and grace of Jesus? Cont d on next page
Many of you have shared your dreams of the future for BLC with me I love how the Holy Spirit is inspiring and guiding you to dream big for the Kingdom of God don t stop! Look for a New Year s Resolutions for BLC card on Sunday, December 2 that you can fill out and drop in the offering plate. We will publish these (you can add your name or be anonymous) in the BLC News throughout Advent. Let us imagine the future together for the Glory of God. Grace & Peace, Pastor Bethany ADVENT, THEN AND NOW The church season of Advent began as a time of repentance for Epiphany, which was the second-biggest baptism day in the early church. Fasting was once a part of Advent, as it often still is for Lent. Advent comes from the Greek word parousia, which was often used to talk about Jesus second coming. So Advent is a season of preparation not only for the celebration of Jesus earthly birth but for his promised return. Some Christians celebrate Advent by not putting the baby Jesus into their manger scenes until Christmas morning. This adds to the anticipation that is a special part of the season. At BLC we will celebrate Advent on these Sundays: 1st Sunday of Advent: December 2 2nd Sunday of Advent: December 9 3rd Sunday of Advent: December 16 4th Sunday of Advent: December 23 CONFIRMATION All 7th and 8th graders are invited to meet with Pastor Bethany directly after the service for confirmation class.
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR The Annual Christmas Craft Sale is Sunday, December 2! The sale will start at 9am and run after the service, too. All proceeds will be used to support both the Skagit Valley Herald Christmas Fund and Underground Ministries. For more information, please contact Janice Burwash at janiceburwash@gmail.com CHILDREN S CHRISTMAS PAGEANT Our pageant will be Sunday, December 23, during the service. All kids are invited to participate! Practices will be during Children s church each Sunday. Contact Sarah Gregory or Pastor Bethany for more information. BLC WOMEN S POTLUCK All women of BLC are invited to attend a Christmas Potluck on Tuesday, December 4,10:30 am. Meet in the Fellowship Hall. For more information, please contact Avis Robinson or Fran Hansen. CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES We will offer two services on Christmas Eve. 4:30 pm Family-friendly Candlelight Service 10 pm Traditional Candlelight Service (with Communion) Thank you to everyone who participated in our poll!
JOSEPHINE CARING COMMUNITY The Church s One Foundation There is a piece going around the internet sharing the favorite hymns of the different professions. I ll share few here, and let you google the rest if you re interested: The Dentist's Hymn Crown Him with many crowns. The Tailor's Hymn Holy, Holy, Holy. The Golfer's Hymn There Is A Green Hill Far Away. The Architect's Hymn The Church's One Foundation. It s this last one, above, that offered me this month s inspiration. One of the things that I love the best about being a chaplain at Josephine is the time that I get to sit down one-on-one with folks. As I mentioned in previous articles, although we would not wish the pain and suffering of getting older on others, I have found, time and time again, that folks who are going through those times often have a lot to teach us if we take the time to listen carefully. I d love to share a couple of those experiences with you now from two of our female residents. The first, I ll call Laura here, will be 100 years old soon! I never need to give her a Bible study sheet to study because she is almost totally blind and she uses a walker so that she can get around facility at her own brisk but steady pace. However, I d like to focus not on Laura s physical limitations here but something she shared as we had the chance to sit down and talk one day outside my office. We spoke for about 20 minutes, about a whole range of things, when I then had the opportunity to ask about her family. She shared that she had seven children and that three of them passed away. I took the time to try to empathize with her by trying to imagine what that would have felt like if it happened to me and I couldn t or wouldn t because it would be too painful to consider and I shared that struggle with her. I then asked Laura, How were you able to get through those devastating losses? After a brief and thoughtful pause, she replied, It was my faith. In less than an hour later, I had a second conversation with Deena. Deena was only 87, but Deena shared about her Cont d on next page
four children. In our 15-minute conversation she shared that two had passed away. Seemingly too much to be a coincidence, the similarities that I had in two separate conversations in less than an hour apart, I also asked Deena as well how she got through her devastating losses. Wouldn t you know it, her reply was exactly the same: It was my faith. Both Laura and Deena taught me loud and clear, in that short hour I had the privilege to briefly hold their pain and listen, that the foundational messages we grow up with and learn in life are incredibly important. Does God promise to walk with us when we are going through rough times? Ya, sure, ya betcha. However, it is also those foundational years also, that can also be incredibly important to draw from and for many of us, that time is now! As always, dear Josephine Partners, I give thanks for your wonderful support of our ministry here. You make it possible for me to continue to listen and learn from some wonderful saints in light. God bless! Warmly Chaplain Andy You can now listen to Pastor Bethany's sermons! Please visit our website at www.burlingtonlutheran.org and click on the Sermons tab! Print versions also available. CELEBRATION TIME! The Family of Donna Mitchell personally invite you to join us to celebrate Donna s 90th Birthday! Date: Saturday, January 12 Time: 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m. Location: Burlington Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall Questions? Contact Debbie Bloodgood (Donna s daughter) at 360-755-9894.
CHRISTMAS BASKET INFORMATION Once again we all have the opportunity to make Christmas a bit brighter for families in our community as we adopt 20 families. We ll be adopting families through the Skagit Valley Herald s Christmas Fund and also through Underground Ministries supporting kids whose dads are in prison. There are lots of ways you can participate in these great projects: Donate Food. When you shop for groceries between now and mid-december please put one or two extra items in your shopping cart to be added to the boxes of food staples we give each family. Look for the suggested shopping list on the other side. Help call our Families. We need 5 or 6 people to call our families to tell them when we will be delivering their Christmas goodies, and to find out if they have any special needs. Support the Christmas Craft Fair. There will be a Craft Fair before and after the Sunday, December 2. Consider making a few items to donate to the sale, and then do some Christmas shopping and support the cause. Shop for Books and Gifts. Between all our families we generally have about 50 children, and we provide each child with a brand new book and one or two gifts. There will be a sign -up sheet for books and gifts available starting Sunday, Dec. 2. Donate $$$. If you can t shop for food and gifts, consider making a cash donation and someone else will shop for you. Talk to Janice Burwash or put your donation in the offering and note that it is for the Christmas Families. Pack Food and Gifts. PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE! Join us at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 13 to help pack the food and gifts for each family. Many hands make light work at this fun time of service and fellowship. Help Deliver. PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE! Put on your Santa hat, and join us at 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 15 to help deliver the boxes of food and gifts. It won t take more than an hour of your time, but you ll feel a great sense of the Christmas Spirit of Service and Giving. Questions? Call Janice Burwash at 360-853-6366
CHRISTMAS BASKETS CALENDAR INFO PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATES! Shopping lists. Find shopping lists on the table in the Narthex, the table in the Fireside Room, and on bulletin inserts! Pack Food and Gifts. Join us at 6 p.m. Thursday, December 13 to help pack the food and gifts for each family. Many hands make light work at this fun time of service and fellowship. Help Deliver. Put on your Santa hat, and join us at 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 15 to help deliver the boxes of food and gifts. It won t take more than an hour of your time, but you ll feel a great sense of the Christmas Spirit of Service and Giving! Jesus the Anointed It was the custom at the time of Jesus birth to use the word ben after a male child s first name. Ben meant the son of. Ordinarily, Jesus would have been known simply as Jesus ben Joseph Jesus, son of Joseph. But he was more than ordinary; he was Christ. The word Christ means the anointed one. In biblical times, when a new king was to assume authority over Israel, he was anointed by having oil poured on his head (see 1 Samuel 10:1, NRSV). The early Church thought of Jesus as having been anointed King by God. There are several New Testament texts in which Jesus is referred to as king (see Acts 17:7 and Revelation 17:14, NRSV). For Christians, the proof of Jesus anointment as Lord, Savior and King is the Resurrection. As Peter put it: This Jesus God raised up. Therefore let Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:32-36, NRSV). Peter did not say King, but he would have approved of calling Christ the King of kings. Therefore, we do well to sing Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.
DECEMBER LIBRARY NEWS We have Christmas books for you to check out! You can find them on display in the window and on the shelves of the back wall. New fiction arrivals to read and enjoy: When We Were Young newest book by Karen Kingsbury Season of Grace Book #3 in the Northern Skies Series by Lauraine Snelling New books in the Marble Cove Series: Ringing True Book #16 by Patti Berg Steps of Faith Book #17 by Camy Tang OFFICE CLOSED The church office will be closed on Tuesday, December 25. BLC QUILTERS The quilting group will meet on Thursday, December 13, at 9 am in the Fellowship Hall. If you are interested in helping in any way, please come. No sewing experience is necessary! BLC WELCOME STATEMENT God is love. We are all God s beloved children and are recipients of God s radical love and grace. All are welcome in this church community. You are welcome here if you have ever felt excluded or judged because of your gender, ethnicity, race, religion, status, ability, sexual orientation, doubts or questions. We believe in Jesus commandments to love God and love neighbor. Join us!
ANNUAL REPORTS DUE Our Annual meeting will be Sunday, January 27 directly after the service. And speaking of the annual meeting, the annual reports are due in the office no later than Wednesday, January 16. If you are the person responsible for writing your committee s report, please email it to the office as a Word document, if possible. No PDFs please! Thank you. ETERNAL LIGHT Christmas occurred when God invaded Earth in a strange and marvelous way. A special child was born to improbable parents in an unlikely place at an inconvenient time and in an unwelcoming world. Yet heaven s light pierced the darkness and shone through the life of that unique baby. That light was and is an eternal light. God s light in Christ is a saving light that can keep the world from total destruction, from the ultimate darkness. The message is always true: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:5, NRSV). And it never will. Charles Ferrell First day of winter is December 21!
God Knows How to Disarm the World Rev. Kirby Unti, Synod Bishop, Northwest Washington Synod Article from The Spirit, December 2018 Friends, we are living in some disturbing times where violence, bullying, threats and hostility abound. The world can be downright mean. No one is spared - not even mothers and children. How is one to respond in times like these? Do you just duck and seek cover? Do you remain silent? Do confront those who are the source? What many have chosen to do is to up their security systems. It is one of America s fastest growing industries. Others choose to literally arm themselves. While still others practice what is called situational awareness. It is about being alert to your surroundings and trying to take the necessary precautions. On a recent trip to Chicago I heard a wonderful story from one of our Lutheran Bishops about Munib Younan, Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. (He served as bishop from January 1998 to January 2018.) My colleague was traveling with Munib when they crossed through a Check Point between Palestine and Israel. They were met by a security guard armed with an assault rifle who was anything but kind to Munib requiring him to get out of the car before he could proceed. What Munib did is unimaginable to me. During the interrogation Munib said to the guard, I don t think you like your job. Obviously, this comment took the guard by surprise. It didn t stop Munib. He asked the guard about his family and discovered he had a girlfriend. Munib increased the level of empathy for the guard s difficult position. Before long the guard put down his assault rifle and wanted to know who this man was. Munib Younan is one of the most disarming people you will ever meet. He feels so deeply that he has been freed in Christ that he experiences very little fear in what for many is a very frightening place in the world. Everywhere he travels, Munib engages people with this same disarming charm - confronting hostility by revealing the fear that lies behind it. When I grow up I want to be like him. We are entering the Advent Season and Christmas. It is a time when we prepare ourselves to worship the Prince of Peace who was born in the same land as Munib. How brilliant of God to enter the world as a baby. I know of no power greater than that of newborn. A newborn can Cont d on next page
quickly take over an entire household. They have the power to make macho men break into tears. They attract admiring looks wherever they go, unleashing a power of endearment that is hard to resist. Yes, our God knows how to disarm the world. This God baby grew up teaching others to turn the other cheek. This baby who became an adult stood up to the likes of Herod and Pilate without batting an eye. Yes, this Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has come into the world to disarm it. To disarm the hostility and meanness. To create a world where the stranger is welcomed, and all are accepted. This Jesus has come to face the fear of the world and replace it with peace. Might this Season indeed be a season where each day we pray more fervently: Come Lord Jesus! + Christian Symbols + Holly Holly is a popular decoration at Christmastime, not just for its beauty but also for its religious significance. Holly s thorny leaves and red berries symbolize Jesus Passion and blood, reminding us of the fate awaiting the Christ child. According to old Christian legends, holly first sprang up under Christ s footsteps, and his cross was made from the wood of holly. TREASURER S REPORT for October 2018 Average Attendance for the month of October: 83 October Total Income: $16,854 General offering, building use October Expenses: $15,231 $ 1,623 YTD, we are short $6,393. October attendance was about the same as 2017. We received a donation of $2,500 which is a great help toward balancing the budget. October expenses included property tax payments. We are running approx. 4% below our target income and will need $36,774 over the next two months to meet our revenue goal. Finance Committee: Linda Rudy, Treasurer Cindy Cohen, Finance Committee Chair Rhonda Brown, Shirley Osborn
Dec. 1: Dec. 2: Dec. 2: Dec. 4: Dec. 13: Dec. 13: Dec. 15: Dec. 23: Dec. 24: Dec. 24: Dec. 25: Dec. 26: Dec. 26: Every Sunday: Praise Team practice, 9 am Worship Service, 10 am El Camino worship, 12 pm DECEMBER SCHEDULE El Camino memorial service, 3 pm Craft Fair, before and after worship, Fellowship Hall Confirmation, after worship service BLC Women s Potluck, 10:30 am, Fellowship Hall Quilters, 9 am, Fellowship Hall Packing Christmas baskets, 6 pm, Fellowship Hall Delivering Christmas baskets, 9 am, Fellowship Hall Children s Christmas Pageant, 10 am, Sanctuary Family-friendly Christmas Eve service, 4:30 pm Traditional Christmas Eve service, 10 pm OFFICE CLOSED for Christmas December Bridge deadline No Praise Team practice Every Wednesday: Praise Team practice, 6:30-8 pm, Sanctuary Private meeting, 6:30-7:30 pm, Conference Room Burlington Lutheran Church 134 E. Victoria Avenue, Burlington, WA 98233 360-755-0729 + burlingtonlutheran@gmail.com www.burlingtonlutheran.org Office hours: 9 am-3:30 pm, Tues-Wed-Thurs Pastor Bethany Hull Somers 360-202-7333 + burlingtonlutheranpastor@gmail.com Check in and Like us on Facebook. Follow the church on twitter: @blc_pastor BLC Staff Rev. Bethany Hull Somers, Pastor Sean Bendickson, Worship & Music Leader Sheri Logan, Office Administrator Lynne Berg, Organist Matthew Ranten, Sound Technician Elly Pederson, Nursery Attendant Randy Dalaba, Custodian