NEWSLETTER OF ADVENT LUTHERAN CHURCH December 2018 Daisy Girl Scouts now meeting at Advent shared cookies after worship Nov. 11 5901 San Juan Ave. Citrus Heights, CA 95610 Phone: 916 966-7242 Sunday Worship Website: www.adventcitrusheights.org 9:30 am Facebook: adventcitrusheightsca E-mail: [email protected] Women’s Christmas Tea December 1 at 2 pm In This Issue: November Events CALIFORNIA MARATHON Page 2-4 Pastor’s Message Photo Supplement Page 5-7 Council December 2 Page 8 Children’s Ministry Page 9 Adult Classes Sanctuary Clean Up Page 10-11 Fellowship CHRISTMAS EVE December 9 Page 12-18 Worship WORSHIP Scandinavian Dinner Page 19-21 Outreach 7:00 pm & 10:00 pm Page 22 Women of Advent December 12 at 5:30 pm Page 23 Prayers & Poinsettia Thanksgiving Blue Christmas Worship Page 24 Birthdays & Sign up by December 9 December 21 at 7:00 pm Anniversaries Socks Page 25 Stewardship of Service Chorale Sunday Page 26 Calendar for Loaves & Fishes December 23 Page 27 Back page by December 16 Our Mission Statement Children's Christmas Program "With joy and thanksgiving we commit Advent Lutheran Church to be Wednesday, December 19 the Welcome Place, where through God's Grace, we Gather, Forgive, 7:00 pm Grow, and Care." Pastor Gabi Advent Stillness: Listening to God's Still, Small Voice When we slow down enough to become present to the moment, we make ourselves available to God. We become attentive to God’s voice. God is speaking to us—in our Scripture reading for the day, in a sermon we hear, in a friend’s word. During times of solitude and silence, these words come back to our minds. God’s voice bubbles to the surface of our consciousness when we allow ourselves to be- come fully present. Elijah’s Example The prophet Elijah spoke out to dissuade his people from worshipping other gods. The climactic point of his ministry was a prayer battle against the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah’s prayers won the day, and God sent much-needed rain. After that, Elijah was physically and emotionally exhausted. It took him some time to rest, re-nourish and refocus before he could hear the voice of God. (See I Kings 17-19.) Then Elijah traveled to the mountain of the Lord. There, sheltered in a cave, he went through a tempest on Mountain Horeb. The powerful wind shattered the rocks, the earth quaked, and the fire fell from heaven. But God was not in the storm—Elijah did not hear the Lord’s voice during all the dramatic events. Finally, Elijah did hear God speak like a gentle wind, a gentle whisper. He went to the edge of the cave and heard the voice of the Lord in the still, small voice. Noisy Storms When our lives are filled with noise and a rush of activity and unresolved inner thoughts, we also cannot hear God’s voice. We are like Elijah in the midst of the earthquake, wind and fire— all we hear is the tempest. 2 “A gentle person hears God’s voice which a turbulent, angry person cannot hear,” said the 14th-century German mystic Johannes Tauler in one of his sermons, “for when the wind rages and the windows and doors clatter, one cannot hear well. Do you desire to receive the Father’s hidden, heavenly word in you, which will be spoken in holy whispers to the innermost place in your soul? Then all turbulence in and around you must be eradicated, and you must become a gentle lamb— calm and serene. You must abandon all the storms in your life in order to listen for this beloved voice in gentle stillness.” Advent Stillness Advent is a time of preparation as we move toward the celebration of Jesus’ birth. We make our hearts ready to accept more of Christ himself. In order to do so, we must make some space for quiet. We must cultivate stillness in our lives. When we do so—when we come into the “now” and become stilled inside—we make ourselves present to God. There, like Elijah, we have the chance hear his voice in a brand new way. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) “Making space for quiet” – that’s easier said than done. When I try and sit still, it is precisely then that thoughts of unfinished projects and notions of regret come sneaking into my mind. What helps me, I have found over the years, are certain prayer meditations. By now, Christian mindfulness meditations are freely available on the internet. Below are links to some of my favorites: “The Mindful Christian” Youtube channel offers 5 meditation videos (each in a 7-, 15-, and 20- minute version): Starting the Day in God's Presence, Stilling the Mind, Dealing with Anxiety, Experiencing Joy, Being Still in the Presence of God. All of them are wonderful. Find them at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCYHNCCOgpneMbFBVaNdBYNA Specifically for Advent, I found Tom Kendzia’s “Light from Light” album helpful. Kenzia is a Catholic musician and composer. His “instrumental traditional Christ- mas music for prayer and meditation” is very calming and provides us with space for stillness. If you don’t mind the ads on his channel, the recordings are available free of charge in Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=wLGrbbqY2c8&list=OLAK5uy_kLoLaoJHdRiWFKiicx2gg4ZMlGhpMxfqk “A Prayer for Advent” combines calming music with beautiful images and these words: Father in this season of Advent we prepare our hearts for your coming. You are the vine, we are the branches. Come and tend us, prune us, clean us. Discard in us everything that does not bear fruit, Nourish in us everything that bears much fruit. As we celebrate your coming as a vulnerable baby Our hearts await your glorious return as the eternal King. Nurture in us expectant hearts, O Lord. Cultivate in us a deep longing for more of you. Until that Day when you burst through the heavens, And flood our horizons with your glorious splendor. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, throughout all ages and generations. Amen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwyUlToD0GQ I wish you a mindful and peaceful season of Advent and hope you will join your brothers and sisters at Advent Lutheran Church for worship this month. Pastor Gabi The church year just ended with Christ the King Sunday and we begin our new year on December 2nd with the first Sunday in Advent. We are going to use a new liturgy which will SOUND very familiar, just the words will be different. Come and check it out! On Wednesday evenings we will be doing the beautiful Holden Evening Prayer. Come for dinner, stay for class, and enjoy the service. For those of you in choir, we will practice Lanny Johanek, after the service in the sanctuary. There are other things Church Council President occurring on Wednesday evenings as well. The Scandinavian dinner and Santa Lucia celebration is the 12th and the children’s program will be the 19th. The Chorale service is on The SpiriT’S Alive AT Sunday, December 23rd. Come and hear the choir sing and join Advent in on the congregation’s parts. On December 9th wear your grubbies to church so we can get down and dirty cleaning the Women’s Christmas Tea sanctuary, narthex, and choir room. We do this twice a year, December 1 at 2 pm now and just before Easter. I’ve heard we are also adopting a Citrus Heights family to provide for at Christmas. Look in the December 9 narthex for the tree with suggestions for the family. The Sanc- Sanctuary Clean Up tuary Christmas tree is up, the lights will go up on the 2nd, and the Chrismons will be put on the next week. The poinset- Scandinavian Dinner tias will go out to decorate the church on the 14th or 15th. Lots December 12 at 5:30 pm of good things to look forward to. The HART Winter Sanctuary will begin on January 6th at our church. If you recall from the last two Januarys we have hosted Children's Christmas Program overnights in our friendship hall for up to 20 homeless Wednesday, December 19 people. We feed them dinner, spend some time visiting with 7:00 pm them, then give them a safe, warm place to sleep. Our time is the evening of January 6th to the morning of the 13th. We Blue Christmas need lots of help and sign ups are available in the narthex. This Friday, December 21 is an important outreach for homeless people who “live” in the Citrus Heights area. Chorale Sunday This time of year can be a bit overwhelming for those people December 23 who have lost a spouse, parent, sibling, or friend. Please reach out to them to help them through the holidays. We are such a kind, caring church and I know we will all keep them in our prayers and invite them to brunch, or dinner, or games, or coffee, or just to be together. That is the way we are. Help them to get through this first holiday season. Merry Christmas to all of my Advent family, Lanny Johanek 5 Our congregation has again accepted the challenge to be the site for Winter Sanctuary from January 6-13, 2019. We will host up to 20 homeless people in our Fellowship Hall. Our guests are extremely grateful for a guaranteed healthy meal and most of all for a safe place to sleep.