A Note from Pastor Lisa… Rev
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July 2017 Messenger Newsletter We are here to serve, not to condemn— to welcome, not to exclude—to love, not to judge. December 2017 Messenger A Note from Pastor Lisa… Rev. Dr. Lisa Martin Senior Pastor - A Brussels Sprouts Advent A couple of weeks ago, it was pizza night in the Martin-Hilker household. Jim noticed that Dewey’s had a seasonal special pizza with Brussels sprouts. It also had bacon on it, and since I don’t eat bacon, we made a special order for this pizza, but without the bacon. When I arrived to pick it up, they’d messed up and put bacon on. They gave us the messed up one, but then gave us another bacon-less pizza free. (Good customer service from Dewey’s, right?) We were thrilled. Both Jim and I love Brussels sprouts, and it meant a happy weekend of leftovers (and no cooking) for all of us. It was not always so. If I could build a time machine and go back to tell 8-year-old Lisa that she would someday love Brussels sprouts SO MUCH that she’d even want them on pizza, that child would gape in amazement. She would be more incredulous about the idea of someday liking Brussels sprouts than she would at the presence of a time machine. I hated Brussels sprouts. I thought they were bitter. I thought they were slimy. Certainly, something is to be attributed to mom’s preference for boiling vegetables until they were nice and gray, but I’m not sure you could have convinced me to try them in any form. Now, they are one of my favorite vegetables. They will be roasted and served with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners – that’s how much we like them. Funny, how the thing we hated, becomes the thing we crave. When I was little, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was agony. We had Advent calendars to open each day – sometimes with a Bible verse, but I’ll admit the more popular ones had a candy treasure. It did no good. Advent took forever. My mom’s cheerleading that we were getting close, “only 7 days left!” did absolutely no good because that last week slowed down… even… more. (There was more time in the days between December 18 and 25 than there was in the whole three months of summer vacation. I would swear to it.) I hated all the waiting. Like with Brussels sprouts, my tastes have reversed. The very thing I once despised, I now crave. I treasure the waiting. I want more of the stillness. I want to just look at the lights on the tree in the early evening, contemplating in this darkest season of the year that the light is coming into the world. It’s my Brussels sprouts Advent. I hope that you also might find moments to appreciate the still and hush of this season of waiting. Peace, Pastor Lisa Please join us… Prayers to end Racism Christmas Eve Services We meet in the sanctuary at St John between 9:00 & 10:30 a.m. 9:00-10:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month for a 4:00 (family worship), 7:00, & 11:00 p.m. gathered time of prayer. Our focus is on ending racism, but Christmas Day Service it is a quiet hour where prayer is welcome. Our next two 10:30 a.m. - communion dates are: Saturday, December 2, 9-10 am Saturday, January 6 (Epiphany) 9-10 am Adopt an Angel and Holiday Food Drive Also mark your calendars for the Community Martin Luther Continues thru December 10 King Jr. service, Sunday, January 14 at 7:00 p.m. More Please note specific due dates on angels details will come in the January Messenger. This is an Angels are available for adoption in the narthex opportunity for us to build relationships across racial lines along with holiday grocery sacks. in St. Charles religious communities. 1 December 2017 Messenger Newsletter From the Rock… Rev. Rocky Sheneman Associate Pastor Happy holidays! Can you believe we’re at the beginning of December already? December 3rd is the First Sunday of Advent. Since so much of our culture has been engaged in a consumer-driven notion of “the Christmas season” since sometime in October, I want to call followers of Jesus to an observance of Holy Advent, which precedes Christmastide and Epiphany. The origin of Advent is difficult to say with certainty. There is evidence that it was in place by the year 480 A.D., but there are claims that the tradition goes all the way back to the apostles. Advent was a time of preparation. Originally, it was a time of fasting in order to be prepared to celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus at Christ’s Mass (Christmas). With the wider culture being preoccupied with other winter solstice festivals, Christians were focused on how God came into the world. At some point, Advent became a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus in a way that is more complex. In the 6th Century, Pope Gregory the Great was preaching a sermon in response to a devastating hurricane in the Mediterranean region. The text was Mark 13, often called the “Little Apocalypse,” which many have taken to be Jesus talking about his return and the end of the world. It happened to be the First Sunday of Advent, so Advent came to be a time of considering the Second Coming of Christ in addition to celebrating Jesus’ birth. Historic preachers seem to have figured that since the Pope decided to preach on the Second Coming during Advent, so should they. Today, I invite you to consider that we prepare for Jesus to come into our own lives in new ways. Let us anticipate that Jesus may tug at our hearts at any moment. A new resolve to be devoted to Jesus is like a second coming Christ or a second Christmas. There is something of God in each of us when we do God’s will. So let this Holy Advent be an exercise in looking for the coming of Christ into your life in a powerful way. Blessings, Rev. Rocky Winter Coat Drive Homeless Warming Center St. John will once again sponsor a winter coat rack St. John will be hosting the Homeless Warming Center for outside near 5th Street for those in the community St. Charles city on the following dates: who could use a winter coat. We are seeking December 23 - 30, 2017 donations of winter coats for all ages in good January 20 - 27, 2018 condition. Please launder gently used coats before February 24 - March 3, 2018 donating. We also need durable plastic hangers, The Warming Center opens at 9:00 p.m. on evenings hats, scarves, and gloves. Items can be dropped off anticipated to be 20 degrees or colder. Guests stay until on the table in NFH. 7:00 a.m. the following morning. An exception will be made Risk-Taking Mission and Service if we are active Christmas Eve. Then, we will not open until after the late service has ended and the shelter will end by 10:00 a.m. with an invitation to join us for Christmas Day worship. In addition to overnight staff, we need volunteers to provide a light evening meal when guests enter (hot soup is recommended) and breakfast items the next morning. We also need someone to wash linens and return them. Coffee with Pastor Lisa If you missed the November training dates, you have an Pastor Lisa will be out in the community on these opportunity to watch a video of the training. Please contact dates. You are invited to join her to chat, ask Pastor Lisa for details, [email protected], theological questions, or bring a friend or family 636-395-8651. member to meet her. It’s an informal time, without an agenda. You can show up any time in that hour and she’ll stay longer. Monday, December 11, 7:30-9am Paul’s Donuts, 1320 Triad Center Dr, St Peters Wednesday, January 10, 11am Crooked Tree, 559 First Capitol Dr., St Charles 2 December 2017 Messenger Newsletter Kim Hedgpeth Director of Children’s Ministries This month I am taking the easy route on my Messenger article. The following words are directly from the MOPS Website about preparing our children for Christmas. Other than a few small edits to shorten the message, it is all from the wise moms at MOPS. Christmas and kids were made for each other. The main attraction in the story is a baby surrounded by animals after all. It’s like God wrote this chapter with a younger audience in mind. No different than us, the children in our care, need to hear and experience the story over and over. We are meant to steward this tale, to hold it for our generation and pass it down to the next so they can in turn pass it down someday. We know this miracle happened because there have been people of every generation since that have guarded and retold it. Now is our time, to tell and retell so our children will absorb it into their hearts. Here are a few ways to present these characters to our kids: It is a story! Use books. Illustrated picture books. Board books. Lift the flap books. It doesn’t matter, just read them; a book a night. Go to thrift stores and build your stock that you pack away and bring back out every year with your Christmas decorations.