Dear Friends in Christ! January 2012
When the angels announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, they told them to go to Bethlehem and see the baby who birth changed the world forever. The shepherds were the recipients of the Good News of Jesus—on a dark night, they were the only ones awake. The reputation of shepherds was poor, they were considered unclean, and they were often considered thieves and robbers. And God’s word to them, was that they were included in the family. Jesus is for everyone.
It was another of God’s many invitations to come that we hear Jesus reinforcing—Are you the Messiah—Come and See; Come you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest, Come O Blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world. Jesus is God’s gift of love making us God’s beloved children.
And so we’ve come to the manger, to Bethlehem to see God’s gift of grace; just as the shepherds did two thousand years ago. Just like each one of us, Jesus has a birthplace and a birth story, which never grows old because it’s a love story of God reaching down to us and giving the gift that gives us all the benefits of new life, hope, new hearts, forgiveness, salvation and the promise of a heavenly home. God wants us to be at home in God where there are many rooms.
Peter Gomes says it this way:
“Mary held in her arms
The God of Love
That we might hold in our hearts
The love of God.”
Our God breaking into our time, space, reality, flesh and blood. The incarnation is God’s great outpouring of love in a real way. The stable/cave of Jesus’ birth foreshadows the cave/tomb of Jesus’ death and the fact that death and the tomb couldn’t hold Jesus there forever. God’s self-giving love in Jesus is the greatest interruption in the world bringing to us the greatest Christmas present—the Christmas presence; reminding us that we are never alone, always loved even when our lives are full of chaos and darkness.
The shepherds Luke tells us returned glorifying and praising God. It’s the picture I had on the Christmas bulletins and on this newsletter. They knew in a whole new way that God was for them and the story of Jesus’ birth that invites us in, tells us the same thing—God is for us. The shepherds were still living hand to mouth, living under Roman rule wishing life were better but everything had changed when Love was born. Jesus was born to show us God’s love and how to live out God’s self-giving love in the world, what it really means to be created in God’s image.
Jesus invites us to come along with him for the journey of a lifetime—a journey with a heavenly outcome. A new year is just around the corner and we’ll hear Jesus calling us to follow in his footsteps in living the life abundant in love, grace and forgiveness. The story of God’s love come down at Christmas fills our buckets full to overflowing with God’s love and primes the pump as it were for our lives of self-giving love, the true and abundant life Jesus gives. Just like the shepherd’s returned we are called to glorify and praise God at worship and especially in lives that shine the light of God’s love into the world. It’s filling the buckets of those caught in tough times, needing light and love, when the difficulties of life have overwhelmed them. We’re part of God’s bucket brigade of love. Our mission is love shown in concrete forms, giving away the love God gives us and we find that love grows and our eyes are more open to God’s loving action in the world. A new year of opportunity to grow in love, grace and forgiveness because our lives are rooted and grounded in Jesus, God’s gift of eternal love.
Have a blessed new year, knowing that Jesus love surrounds, supports and sustains you all the days of you life. May you live in and share this wild saving abundant love.
Garness Trinity WELCA News
At the November meeting we decided to combine circles/Bible Study with WELCA except for the summer months, June, July, and August when the circles would meet independently. Plan for a longer day into the afternoon. No WELCA or circle in January. We will meet in homes for February, March, and April.
Sunday, January 1 NO Church, visit the church of your choice
Tuesday, January 3 NO WELCA
Sunday, January 15 Annual meeting follows the 9:30 service.
Scheie WELCA News
Sunday, January 1 NO Church, visit the church of your choice.
Wednesday, January 11 7:00 pm Rebecca Circle at Ellen Aasum
Thursday, January 12 9:00 am Naomi Circle at Janice Welper
Sunday, January 15 Annual Meeting following 11:00 am service and potluck (Council officers in kitchen)
Thursday, January 19 9:00 am WELCA Do-Day We have cut back on the number of business meetings for 2012
Thanks to those who shared poinsettias to decorate the churches this Christmas season.
In loving memory Given by
Scheie
Family & friends Bud & Ellen
Aasum
Family & Friends Don & Linda
Gjerdrum
Myles & Vernice Hoff Leonard
& Loretta & family
Clifford & Mildred
Halverson
Walter Norby, Phyllis Norby
LaVaughn Marsden & Riley Norby Mike & Deb Marsden
Loved Ones Holly
& Bill Cox family
Lew & Neil Larson Georgia &
family
Armie & Iris Ranzenberger Sue & Oswald Landsom
Randy & Sandy Benson
With thankfulness for our
friends & Bob & Dode Stoskopf
Family and in loving memory
of our
Parents
Garness Trinity
Parents, Donna &
Kenneth Their
family
Curtis, Carmen & Steven
Anderson David & Bonnie, Don
& Audrey
Lowell Vatland His family
Wayne & our parents Thelma & Leland Vatland
Wayne Vatland Patty, Mark &
Michelle, Bode &
Chase, Ryan
& Jes & Rylan
Byron & Odis Vatland
Carol, LaDue & Terry
Lowell & Blaine
Lewis & Caroline
NO CHURCH ON SUNDAY,
JANUARY 1 VISIT
THE CHURCH OF YOUR CHOICE
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, January 14 Lions Cancer Telethon, Soup Supper and auction, Legion
ANNUAL MEETINGS
Garness Sunday January 15 at 10:30 am. Please get your reports to Pastor Mary by January12. Thanks
Scheie, Sunday, January 15 following 11:00 worship and potluck. Please get your reports to Pastor Mary by January 12, Thanks.
MARIE SANDVIK CENTER
The next trip will be Monday, January 16th and I can take clothing and household goods again. Please leave your items in the parsonage garage.
FOOD SHELF UPDATE`
Thanks for your generous contributions especially in responding to the Thrivent Chapter challenge where we raised $885 and gained an additional $350.
Mark your calendars now. We will have a workday on Thursday, January 15 at 5:00 pm. Please come and help. We need volunteers!
We now have a freezer because we’ve received a donation of ground beef from Larry Miller and the Cattlemen’s association.
Starting in January we will be closed to customers on the third Thursday and it will be a work day. Next meeting is Jan. 24 at 7:00 pm. We are working on getting heat. No other suitable locations have developed.
JOINT COUNCIL MEETING
Members of both church councils met on Wednesday Dec. 7 at Garness Trinity. The giving units showed the same ratio 71/29 that we’ve been using.
Discussion of the copier contract and costs since it’s about $2000 per year and for far more copies than we use. Dag Roppe will check to see if things can be changed and try to at least scale back the latest monthly increase.
Councils decided to shift from having each church contribute separately to the Board of Pensions for Pastor Mary’s pension and medical. Garness will be the payer for the entire bill and Scheie will pay their share to Garness before the bill that month is due.
UPDATE ON THE COPIER: CHANGES COMING
At first it didn’t look like we’d be able to get out of the contract without paying the contract off plus additional fees. Dag did discuss our financial concerns with the company and they gave us the option of paying the copier off with no additional fees ($4000) or to add one year to the contract which would be $120 per month for three years and the amount of copies would be 24,000 per year. We decided to take the second option which will save us $700 per year.
Note that this is a decrease of 6000 copies from our actual use. So we will copy only necessary items, bulletins, annual reports (and change the format as much as possible to save pages) and the newsletter. The newsletter will not be mailed out using the bulk mailing permit. Instead it will be sent electronically. Copies of the newsletter and copies of the calendar only will be available in the back of the churches. Please note if you still want to receive a copy and can’t get to church, contact Pastor Mary for arrangements. Also if you are interested in picking up the newsletter, please let me know for the sake of a count. Please give Pastor Mary your e-mail address, if you would like to receive it that way. It’s also available on the website mabelmn.com.
Scheie Sunday School News
2012! Kids…..a brand New Year
Parents ..be sure to read this to our kids!
Please keep the dates in mind!
What would you like to do this year? Ask Mom and Dad to help you think of some things that you want to do! You could make a calendar and do something nice for someone every week! Things like smiles, washing dishes, calling Grandma, baking cookies…whatever! That is how we can fill our buckets with really good things like love and kindness!
The program was so fun, and you told the story of the birth of Jesus so well! Thanks you so much for doing your part. Remember that every day is a day you can talk to Jesus who loves you. This next month we will be trying to get the first five commandments memorized..and what they mean, too! We were given those to help us live good healthy lives!
On January 8 we
will do our next train car. It will be
our “God Created Me SPECIAL car” ….so Moms and Dads…can you send a picture of
your child or of the whole family. We
will be putting them on the next car. We
will also sing that Sunday. We will be
filling out “
Looking ahead…we
will be making pinwheels for our Spring Outing as well as we will be making a
quilt for the Ronald MC Donald house. Some of Gma quilters
will help us put it together. There will
also be a project of teddy bears…all so that we can bring a smile to the faces
of the children who have cancer YOU KNOW HOW
THANKS, THANKS, THANKS, TO
Kristopher & Morgan Roppe, Chimers and the musicians and the choir for all of the special music during the Advent/Christmas season.
Sunday School Students and all who were part of the Sunday School programs at both churches and to those who provided the refreshments.
Everyone who helped with the Advent Decorating Party and Potluck at Garness Trinity.
Sunday School kids for their art for bulletin covers.
DECEMBER PRAYERS
Sick: Randy Benson, Norma Dahl, Tye Eiken, Signe Housker, Carla Johnson, Pastor Leah McDowell, Mike Marsden, Shirley Rasmussen, August (Donna Redwing’s Father)
Sympathy: Jim Blagsvedt & family at the death of his mother Deloris as well as all of her family and friends.
Everyone for your generous response to year end requests for additional financial support.
GARNESS TRINITY COUNCIL
Garness Council met Wednesday, December 14th. The primary discussion was about setting the budget for the annual meeting. We had received a bid for $46,000 for repairs to the steeple & bell tower. We will work on finding local contractors.
Thanks to Mark Gjere for the new yard light. Thanks to Mark for removing the excess dirt from the cemetery. The Annual meeting is Sunday, January 15