Pastor's Letter
Pastor's Letter
The Lord be with you!
Happy New Year! You might look at that and think I need to look at my calendar again, but my greeting is accurate. The Church Year begins on the First Sunday in Advent, which this year is the first Sunday in December.
Advent is a time of preparation. Our preparation is twofold: for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world and a remembrance of the first coming of Christ Jesus at Christmas.
Our culture has had the "Holiday Season" going since the day after Haloween, but for us the seasons are much more specific. We know that Jesus is God who became human; He lived a life that is exactly like ours but without sin; He died on the Cross for our sins thereby taking our penalty on Himself. Jesus rose from the dead and lives as the fully God-human for eternity.
This fact makes the Church Year a living reminder of Christ's life in us. Jesus is with us in the Church; He guides us through His Word; He nourishes us with His precious Body and Blood; He sustains us as a community called the Church. This is precisely why YOU need to be in the Church! Apart from the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church there is no salvation! Contra our cultural myth, it cannot be "just me and Jesus", as American as that sounds.
If you are reading this and are confused by it, I invite you to visit our congregation's Divine Service any Sunday morning at 1018 and hear and see....He is Good!
In the love of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Dave Poedel, STS
MCLC EX COM Minutes Nov. 19,2008
Present: Pastor Poedel, Diana Blimke, Roger Gardin, Mike Westerkamp, Marilyn Westerkamp, Carol Riddle
Absent: Larry Steffes, Richard Culwell
Opening Prayer was given by Pastor Poedel.
A motion to accept the minutes of the previous meeting was made and passed.
There was no financial report.
Our pipe organ needs to be repaired. The Board approved the expenditure of $1700. It will be scheduled for after Christmas using money from the contingency fund.
Our Thanksgiving service will be at 9:30 AM on Nov. 27th. The Thanksgiving dinner will be on Sat., Nov. 22 at noon.
Christmas decorating of the church will be on Sat., Dec. 6th.
The annual voter's meeting for budget approval and election of a President and Vice President of the Executive Committee will be on Dec. 7 after the service. This will include a pot luck meal. Roger Gardin has agreed to be the President and Dan Cotterman has consented to serve as Vice President.
The Christmas Eve celebration will begin at 5:07 PM with a social time and a Christmas hymn sing. The service will begin at 6:03 PM.
There are still a couple of roof tiles that need to attached on the north end of the lounge building.
Terminix will be here on Dec. 1 to take care of termite issues in the area of the sound system.
It was agreed to change the order of communion distribution by starting with George and filling that table. George will be dismissed to return to the organ and the communion team will then proceed counter clockwise going from the east to the west side and rotating in a circle. This makes for a smooth flow of traffic for all.
Diana has requested a vacation day the first Monday of each week in Dec. so the office will be closed on those days.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 with the Lord's Prayer.
Submitted by Carol Riddle
Next meeting will be Dec. 17 at the Riddle home. Board members and spouses are invited.