Choral Evening Prayer
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MESSENGER VOLUME 13 1 JANUARY 2013 January 2013 Vol. 13 No. 1 Messenger IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH AND SCHOOL, BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT OUR MISSION The people of CHORAL EVENING PRAYER Immanuel Lutheran Church are living proof Music of the Christmas and Epiphany season will be of the grace of God presented by the Kantorei of Concordia Theological through salvation in Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana Jesus Christ. Empowered by Christ, Saturday, January 5, 2013, 4:00 p.m. at our mission is to reach Immanuel Lutheran Church out in love to those who 154 Meadow Street Bristol, Connecticut. have not yet responded to the Gospel that all The Kantorei is a 16-voice choir of students studying may be united in Christ. for the Office of the Holy Ministry at Concordia, Fort Wayne. Led by Richard C. Resch, Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions Kantor, the choir will lift their voices in praise and lead the congregation in celebration of Christmas and Epiphany. Immanuel Lutheran Church and School Admission is free. A free-will offering will be collected 154 Meadow Street after the performance to support the work of the seminary. Bristol, CT 06010 860-583-5649 [email protected] www.ilcs.org Rev. Kevin A. Karner Pastor Mr. James F. Krupski School Principal MESSENGER VOLUME 13 2 JANUARY 2013 Women of Immanuel LWML MISSION GRANT CHILDREN’S NUTRITUION AND CARE – VIETNAM $72,255 Less than 10% of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is Christian and the government is traditionally closed to outside religious The next meeting of the Women of Immanuel will be held on organizations. Most Vietnamese are Buddhist or worship their Thursday, March 14, 2013. ancestors. Eleven Fabric Kits have been sent to Lutheran World Relief. LCMS World Mission personnel have been in Vietnam since The Fabric Kits are used in vocational training programs to 1995 and work jointly with the Vietnamese National Institute of teach young men and women useful and marketable sewing Nutrition to identify nutrition problems among the poor. They skills. Thanks to everyone who donated material and thread for hope to reduce the hunger rate to less than 1%. This program this project. also offers reasonably rated loans to the poor. Recent interest rates outside this program have reached 500%. LCMS LUTHERAN WOMEN IN MISSION personnel also teach management, farming, fishing, food preparation, and food storage skills. Because of its strong and valued history in education, Scholarship Awarded LCMS World Mission personnel are also able to reach out to the people of Vietnam through several different education Each year, the LWML, New England District awards ministries: daycare centers, English classes, and English scholarships to students who will be entering the service of the workshops for Vietnamese English teachers. Day care teachers Lutheran Church Missouri Synod as a pastor, teacher, receive training in both education and health care. The children deaconess, social worker or director of Christian education, and get lunches at day care so they have at least one nutritious meal must attend a synodical college or seminary. a day. The children learn basic health and nutrition skills, and Taylor Milano received a scholarship of $875 for the 2012- they often share their knowledge with their families at home. 2013 school year. Taylor is in her freshman year at Concordia Rural English teachers often know English grammar, but lack College, New York where she is studying to be a teacher. proper pronunciation. Through conversational training, the staff can develop relationships and often has an opportunity to share Christ in word and action. 2013 LWML CONVENTION The purpose of this grant is to form relationships with the people of Vietnam and share the love of Jesus through humanitarian care and education projects. The Vietnamese government recently granted permission to allow LCMS World Mission to build and staff a new International School in Hanoi. th The 35 Biennial LWML Convention will be held June 27-30, Prayer: Dear Almighty God, You have opened the doors of the 2013, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Quenched! by the Water” Vietnamese nation to Your love by allowing LCMS World will be the theme for the convention highlighting the Scripture Mission personnel to teach good farming, fishing and better passage from John 4:14: [Jesus said:] “…but whoever drinks of nutrition the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The methods to rural Vietnamese. Now You have continued to bless water that I will give the people of Vietnam by moving the Vietnamese government him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal to allow an International School to be built and staffed life." by LCMS personnel in Hanoi. Bless all who teach and learn in this school. May many more precious souls come to know and We will be spending time together in Bible study, worship, trust You as their Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name we pray. singing and fellowship with many new and cherished friends. Amen. Many exciting activities are being planned for this convention. Invite everyone you know to come to Pittsburgh. You are in for an exciting experience. One you will remember for a lifetime! The Winter Issue of the Lutheran Woman's Quarterly will have an insert with information about the LWML Convention. “Transitory gods are not able to save or bring happiness to the human heart. Only God is able. It is faith we must rediscover.” —Martin Luther King Jr. MESSENGER VOLUME 13 3 JANUARY 2013 From the Pastor’s Desk WHAT IS THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD? 24:17. This explains why the astral phenomenon Messenger is published The Epiphany of our Lord is the wonderful described in Matthew 2:1-12 so fascinated the monthly by Immanuel liturgical festival observed on January 6. It is wise men of the gospel narrative. Lutheran Church and School the oldest of the Christmas festivals and Many pious legends about the wise men have for its members and friends. originally the most important. Since January 6 is arisen over the centuries. In the western most often a weekday, Lutherans and liturgical Christian churches, these include the traditions Immanuel is a member of the Protestants sometimes shift the celebration of that there were three Magi who visited Jesus, Lutheran Church Missouri Epiphany to the Sunday immediately following that their names were Gaspar, Melchior, and Synod. the 6th. Epiphany is also a season that lasts until Balthasar, and that they were kings. the beginning of Lent and encompasses four to Michael Krampitz Newsletter Editor nine Sundays, depending on the date of Easter. WHAT IS THE LITURGICAL COLOR FOR EPIPHANY? Karen Smith WHAT DOES THE WORD "EPIPHANY" MEAN? White, the color of purity, holiness, and joy is Church Secretary The word epiphany comes from the Greek noun the traditional liturgical color for Epiphany, the epiphaneia, which means "shining forth," first Sunday after the Epiphany (the Baptism of SUNDAY "manifestation," or "revelation." In the ancient our Lord), and the last Sunday after the Greco-Roman world, an epiphany referred to the Epiphany (the Transfiguration of our Lord). For DIVINE SERVICE appearance of one of the gods to mortals. Since the other Sundays of the season, green is 8:00 A.M. Hellenistic kings and Roman emperors were normally used. Green represents the new life 10:45 A.M. considered by many to be gods, the word that Christ gives us in baptism, as well as the epiphany was also used as a term for divine spiritual growth we experience during the season BIBLE STUDY majesty. The Epiphany of our Lord is the as we study the Lord's ministry of teaching, 9:30 A.M. Christian festival that celebrates the many ways healing, and miracles. Some churches prefer through signs, miracles, and preaching that Jesus using white on every Sunday of the Epiphany SUNDAY SCHOOL revealed Himself to the world as Christ, God season and reserve green for the season after 9:30 A.M. Incarnate, and King of kings. Pentecost. WHAT DOES THE CHURCH COMMEMORATE WHY IS EPIPHANY SUCH A SPECIAL DAY AND DURING EPIPHANY? SEASON? The Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord Epiphany is one of the most important festivals originally commemorated three incidents that of the liturgical year because it shows the church WHEELCHAIR manifested the mission and divinity of Christ: how God comes to His people. We are so full of ACCESSIBLE the visit of the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12), the sin and deserving of divine punishment that we baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:9-11), and the miracle cannot hope to approach God. Knowing that we at Cana (John 2:1-11). Nowadays, most cannot come to Him, God took the initiative and Worship Services are liturgical churches emphasize the visit of the came to us by becoming one of us. The most broadcast each Sunday on Magi on January 6th and celebrate Christ's holy and almighty God condescended to take on baptism on the first Sunday after the 6th. human flesh in order to reveal His salvation to WXCT RADIO the world. This is the mystery of the Epiphany 990 AM WHO WERE THE MAGI? of our Lord. 1:00 P.M. The Magi were members of the religious During this season, Christians meditate on hierarchy of ancient Persia and Media (the many of our Lord's epiphanies. Epiphany Day region corresponding to modern Iran). They itself commemorates the arrival of the Magi in were scholars and practitioners of astrology, Bethlehem to worship the Messiah and bring divination, and the interpretation of dreams. Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh Their expertise in these arcane subjects is the (Matthew 2:1-12).