MESSIAH MESSENGER - JANUARY 2016 PAGE 1 Dear Friends of the Messiah, 2016! WE ARE IN UNCHARTED TERRITORY. The world keeps changing. We face daunng new threats and excing new opportunies. Wild highs and devastang lows splash before us in the news. We see extremes of wealth and poverty, of joy and despair. But, the Lord goes in front of us. PASTOR’S PAGE by Pastor Sco Peterson [email protected]JANUARY SERVICES OF WORSHIP LBW = Lutheran Book of Worship | WOW = With One Voice ELW = Evangelical Lutheran Worship | LS = Lord’s Supper Sundays at 8:30 AM Jan 3 WOV Service of Word/Prayer Jan 10 Now the Feast w/LS Jan 17 LBW Seng 2 w/LS Jan 24 LBW Seng 2 Jan 31 Hymn Sing w/LS Sundays at 11:00 AM Jan 3 WOV Service of Word/Prayer Jan 10 LBW Seng 2 w/LS Jan 17 Contemporary Service Jan 24 WOV Bread of Life w/LS Jan 31 Hymn Sing w/LS The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. —--Exodus 13:21 WHAT ABOUT YOU? Are you in uncharted territory or does it beckon? Most uncharted territory is personal. It can take countless forms: A new home or job, a new relaonship, a new diagnosis, a new child or an empty nest, life without a loved one, or life with independence. Change, even good change, causes discomfort and anxiety. Yet always remember, wherever you and I are in life, the Lord goes in front of us. WE ARE IN UNCHARTED TERRITORY for Messiah Lutheran Church. Worship aendance dropped again in 2015. We live in a growing area, shouldn't our congregaon be growing? Is our culture's steady move away from Chris- anity and the church playing out among the people of MLC? Whatever answers we give to those quesons, the Lord goes in front of us. A NEW LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE was appointed by the Church Council this Fall. MLC's previ- ous Long Range Planning Commiees found ways to serve and accommodate a growing Congregaon. The new Long Range Planning Commiee is looking for ways to reverse declines experienced in recent years. What can I do? What can you do? More important: What can we do together? As we journey into those challenges, we depend upon the promise that the Lord goes in front of us. HOW DO WE WISELY TRAVEL INTO UNCHARTED TERRITORY? Whether the new territory is personal or corporate, we listen and watch for the Lord who goes ahead of us. Long ago, the Lord led His people day and night, pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. Imagine that: a moving pillar! Our Lord is a pillar of stability, yet always leading ahead— Desnaon: the Promised Land. PRIDE, SELF ABSORPTION, AND FIGHTING clearly are not on the Lord's Way. They take us into the wilderness ditches of disappointment and despair. In 2016, let us follow our Lord, the moving pillar. The Lord wishes for His chosen ones every blessing and desnes us to join Him and all His children in the Promised Land. Do not be afraid. The God who came among us at Christmas now rules the heavens and the earth. He will lead us in the right paths. Grace and peace, Pastor Scott Peterson
Transcript
MESSIAH MESSENGER - JANUARY 2016 PAGE 1
Dear Friends of the Messiah, 2016! WE ARE IN UNCHARTED TERRITORY. The world keeps changing. We face daunting new threats and exciting new opportunities. Wild highs and devastating lows splash before us in the news. We see extremes of wealth and poverty, of joy and despair. But, the Lord goes in front of us.
JANUARY SERVICES OF WORSHIP LBW = Lutheran Book of Worship | WOW = With One Voice ELW = Evangelical Lutheran Worship | LS = Lord’s Supper
Sundays at 8:30 AM
Jan 3 WOV Service of Word/Prayer
Jan 10 Now the Feast w/LS
Jan 17 LBW Setting 2 w/LS
Jan 24 LBW Setting 2
Jan 31 Hymn Sing w/LS
Sundays at 11:00 AM
Jan 3 WOV Service of Word/Prayer
Jan 10 LBW Setting 2 w/LS
Jan 17 Contemporary Service
Jan 24 WOV Bread of Life w/LS
Jan 31 Hymn Sing w/LS
The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way,
and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.
—--Exodus 13:21
WHAT ABOUT YOU? Are you in uncharted territory or does it beckon? Most uncharted territory is personal. It can take countless forms: A new home or job, a new relationship, a new diagnosis, a new child or an empty nest, life without a loved one, or life with independence. Change, even good change, causes discomfort and anxiety. Yet always remember, wherever you and I are in life, the Lord goes in front of us. WE ARE IN UNCHARTED TERRITORY for Messiah Lutheran Church. Worship attendance dropped again in 2015. We live in a growing area, shouldn't our congregation be growing? Is our culture's steady move away from Christi-anity and the church playing out among the people of MLC? Whatever answers we give to those questions, the Lord goes in front of us.
A NEW LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE was appointed by the Church Council this Fall. MLC's previ-ous Long Range Planning Committees found ways to serve and accommodate a growing Congregation. The new Long Range Planning Committee is looking for ways to reverse declines experienced in recent years. What can I do? What can you do? More important: What can we do together? As we journey into those challenges, we depend
upon the promise that the Lord goes in front of us.
HOW DO WE WISELY TRAVEL INTO UNCHARTED TERRITORY? Whether the new territory is personal or corporate, we listen and watch for the Lord who goes ahead of us. Long ago, the Lord led His people day and night, pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. Imagine that: a moving pillar! Our Lord is a pillar of stability, yet always leading ahead—Destination: the Promised Land. PRIDE, SELF ABSORPTION, AND FIGHTING clearly are not on the Lord's Way. They take us into the wilderness ditches of disappointment and despair. In 2016, let us follow our Lord, the moving pillar. The Lord wishes for His chosen ones every blessing and destines us to join Him and all His children in the Promised Land. Do not be afraid. The God who came among us at Christmas now rules the heavens and the earth. He will lead us in the right paths. Grace and peace, Pastor Scott Peterson
MESSIAH MESSENGER - JANUARY 2016 PAGE 2
Deaths
Dennis Warner, husband of Diann Warner, passed away on December 3rd.
Sam Zalatan, father of Gloria Zalatan, passed away on December 20th
New Members Welcomed - See Page 3!
Thank you to all who adopted children from the Christmas Angel Tree this year! Your care and willingness to provide Christmas toys and clothing for children who might otherwise have nothing is a reflection of your love of Christ. Thanks to Brian Walker for being a “truck angel” who came through in helping to deliver the bikes to the drop off point!
A special thank you to the Comforters, who once again made personalized blankets for each child! Huntsville is Alabama’s 4th larg-est city and there is much need here.
Because you are “God’s People, Reaching Out”, you also provided assistance to First Stop, Christmas Charities Year ‘Round, Samaritan’s Purse, Foodline, House of the Har-vest, Liberty Middle School, the HEALS clinic, ELCA Good Gifts, Lunches for Learning, CASA, Lutheran World Relief, the Madison Public Library, and Valley View Assisted Living. Special Thanks to Jacquie Fry and her “Santa van” to help deliver the items.
- Claire Strand and Jacquie Fry
Thank you to everyone who pur-chased something at the Noonday Collection Lunches for Learning Trunk Show. $600 was raised for our school, Benito Montoya, in Hon-duras. - Janell Zesinger
Contact Claire Strand if you would like to
announce significant transitions in the life of our community of faith, birth, death, Baptism, graduation, Confirma-
tion, job change, reloca-tion, engagement, Mar-riage or any other life
Trista, Maisie, Dylan and Cooper (with Claire introducing them)
The Irvins are from Rockford, IL. Their interests are motorcycles
and sports.
New Members will be received
again in February
If you are interested in joining Messiah Lutheran Church,
please contact Pastor Scott or Claire Strand soon so
arrangements can be made.
MEMBER REMINDERS | UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFO & DIRECTORY PHOTOS
Please remember to call the church office with your updated phone number or anytime your address or
contact information changes. If you have a recent photo that you would like to use of your household in
the church photo directory, simply email it to the church office at [email protected]
A reception for new
members took place after
the 11 AM service on
Sunday, Dec 6th.
Welcome these new
households to the
Messiah Lutheran Church family!
MESSIAH MESSENGER - JANUARY 2016 PAGE 4
Ring & Sing Thank You
Thank you for attending this year’s Ring and Sing. $264 was collected through donations to benefit the Madison Public Library.
Thank you to Thrivent Financial for sup-porting the event and special thanks to Rhonda Gaede who coordinates this an-nual event. Brava!
Visit www.mlutheran.org for more Ring & Sing!
(Messiah Lutheran member Jack Mast recorded the event and has posted the videos to our church blog. There also are links to view additional photos of the event by Laura Peterson. Thank you Jack and Laura!)
Musical Groups Resume Schedules
Messiah’s choirs and ensembles resume their normal rehearsal schedule beginning January 6. For anyone interested, these groups are fun, educational and best of all, prepare music to sing, ring and play to the glory of God. Come and enjoy! Here are the times:
Wreath sales were a success! Thank you so much for your prayers
and financial gifts!
JANUARY SENIOR YOUTH EVENTS Jan 3rd: Ice Skating—12:30pm
Jan 9th: Movie Night/Lock-in
Please consider helping the Youth Fundraiser for the Summer 2016 Germany Trip by registering your Kroger card and donating points to the Sr Youth. See church website homepage for details.
New Odyssey Website! www.odyssey.mlutheran.org This site has been created exclusively for the Senior Youth and their
Odyssey to Germany this June. It will be completed over the first
part of January by Staff and Senior Youth who will help design and
contribute content and posts to the site to help the youth more
effectively raise awareness and funds to offset the trip costs.
MESSIAH MESSENGER - JANUARY 2016 PAGE 6
Thank you for such a nice farewell reception! I appreci-
ate all the hugs, cards and "well wishes". Also, the photo
collage is beautiful! I will miss seeing the office traffic
but look forward to seeing everybody on Sundays!
— Cheryl Byers
F I R S T C O M M U N I O N I N S T R U C T I O N First Communion instruction will be Sundays January 17, 24, and 31 beginning at 12:15pm. All parents who wish to their have children ten
years old (or close) or older to have this instruction please call the MLC Office to register
(256 721 0041). First Communion will be celebrated on Transfiguration Sunday, February
7, at the 11:00 a.m. service of worship. If you have questions, please talk to Pastor Scott.
Item of the Month:
Hand towels (dark colors)
Kit Ministry will resume on
January 7th!
New minions always welcome!
KIT MIN I ST RY Contact: Rhonda Gaede Thursdays, 7 PM | Fellowship Hall
Thank you to all who supported the Quilt Auction!
— Annette Joens
COMMUNICATIONS Meredith Kilby, Communications Director Email: [email protected]
Dear members and friends of Messiah,
I want to take a moment to thank the following folks who volunteered their time and talent in support of communications in 2015. Dana and Taylor Burton, Ali Davis, Bill Emerson, Rhonda Gaede, Beth Gloe, Lois Graff, Jack, Mary and Rebecca Mast, Jim and Ellie Nel-son, Laura Peterson, Kari Pitchko, John Shriver, Joe and Jean Stuart, David Stradley, Larry Ryan, Linda Ruhl, Tim Spence, Claire and Stephen Strand, Janell Zesinger and Paul Zutter.
I am so grateful to serve as Messiah’s new part-time Communications Director and Co-Office Manager in 2016. There is a great deal of work to be done in the year ahead. Expect new things!
I look forward to working with the staff and volunteers of Messiah Lutheran through the twists and turns of several big projects ahead in the area of technology, communications and church branding. Please call or email if you’d like to get involved with MLC Communi-cations in 2016! I’d love to hear from you!
make certain your
dedicated offering goes
to the right church account
When giving an offering for a specific, dedicated purpose, simply use the ‘Other’ line on the giving envelope and write the specific activity receiving the gift in the space provided so counters can direct the gift to the proper account. The difference is in the details.
There are several activities with dedicated accounts and similar sounding names. Here are some handy abbrevia-tions you can use in the memo area next time you give.
L4L— Lunches for Learning (Global Mission—Honduras) WFP — Weekend Food Program (Local Mission—Madison) KITS — Kit Ministries (MLC Group making kits for LWR) QUILTS— Comforters (MLC Group making quilts for LWR) LWR — Lutheran World Relief (LWR.org general fund) “?” YOUTH — Specify which one — Sr. Jr. or Tween ODYSSEY— Donations to the Sr. Youth Germany Trip.
You can also use the dedicated account numbers. Call the office if you need assistance. An updated copy of Messi-ah’s dedicated accounts are available on the member re-source page at www.mlutheran.org/resources
Whether you are a coffee connoisseur or a total coffee new-bie (tea rules!!), Fellowship needs your help Sunday morn-ings with coffee set up and clean up. Don’t be afraid… In-structions sheets can be found in the kitchen, and there are plenty of people around to walk you through it. So, if you can help, Meredith Kilby has created an amazing signup form on www.mlutheran.org *(See.. Connect/Volunteer Sign Up Page) so check it out and see what Sundays are still open. Please feel free to contact me at 256-457-1200 with questions or to get your name added to our list.
H E L P WA N T E D
Sunday School Long Term Sub Needed
We are in need of a long term sub/subs to cover Mr. Garri-
son's 1st and 2nd grade class.
This is a great group of kids that are a joy to work with. Cur-
riculum, supplies and support are provided. Contact Sarah
Walker if you are interested. 256-417-3641.
Can you be a truck angel?
Last month so many bikes were donated to the Salvation
Army’s Angel Program that Claire Strand had to seek out
someone with a truck big enough to transport them to the
dropoff point. It’s always good to have a friend with a
truck! If you have a truck and are available during the day,
please let the office know so we can have a list of truck an-
gels to call if situations arise.
Volunteer for Sunday Worship Services
Volunteering in support of our Sunday Worship services is a
great way to meet and make new friends and support Messi-
ah’s Worship ministry. Training is always provided and
scheduling always flexible! Get involved and serve!
MESSIAH MESSENGER - JANUARY 2016 PAGE 8
Ring & Sing Photos by Laura Peterson
Cheryl Byers Farewell Photo by Meredith Kilby Christmas Eve Photos (below) by Joe and Jean Stuart
MESSIAH MESSENGER - JANUARY 2016 PAGE 9
January 2016
LOOKING AHEAD visit www.mlutheran.org for updated event listings
Feb 14 Music @ Messiah—Atlanta Guitar Trio
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 New Year’s Day
Jennifer Scheurich
2
Norm & Sheilah
Scheurich
Shaun
3 8:30am Worship:
WOV Bread of Life w/LS
11am Worship:
WOV Service of Word/
Prayer
12:30pm Ice Skating
4
Lee & Dorothy Seitz
Walter, Andrew,
5
10am Comforters
6 Epiphany
5pm 1st Yr. Confirma-tion. only
5:30pm Dinner 6pm Children’s Choirs
6:30pm Bible Study 6:30pm Notabella
7:30pm Adult Choir
Rex & Fran Shaffer
7
7pm Council Meeting
Josh & Debbie Shipman
William, JJ
8
7:30 pm Bridge Club
@ Parish Hall
Ian & Candace Shriver
Shane, Amanda
9
Movie Night/Lock-in
John & Elaine Shriver
Christopher
10
8:30am Worship:
Now the Feast w/LS
9:45am Sunday Schools
11am Worship:
LBW Setting 2 w/LS
11
Aleksey Smith
12
10am Comforters
Lee & Janet Smith
13
5pm Confirmation
5:30pm Dinner
6pm Children’s Choirs
6:30pm Bible Study
6:30pm Notabella
7:30pm Adult Choir
Robert Smith
14
Steve & Jacqueline
Smith
Natasha
15
Todd Smith
16
Pamela Sparks
17
8:30am Worship:
LBW Setting 2 w/LS
9:45am Sunday Schools
11am Worship:
Contemporary Service
12:15 1st Communion
18 Martin Luther
King Day
Tim & Kay Spence
Katie, Michael
19
10am Comforters
Lon & Connie Stanger
Josh, Ben
20
5pm Confirmation
5:30pm Dinner
6pm Children’s Choirs
6:30pm Bible Study
6:30pm Notabella
7:30pm Adult Choir
Karl & Judy Starkloff
21
8:30 am Morning Bible
Study Group
Ed & Mary Ann Stasiak
22
Susanna Stellwagen
23
Bobbie Stender
24
8:30am Worship:
LBW Setting 2
9:45am Sunday Schools
11am Worship:
WOV Bread of Life w/LS
12:15 1st Communion
25
John Stender
26
10am Comforters
Tammy Stender
27
5pm Confirmation
5:30pm Dinner
6pm Children’s Choirs
6:30pm Bible Study
6:30pm Notabella
7:30pm Adult Choir
David Stradley
28
Stephen & Claire Strand
William, Katrina,
Michelle
29
Joe & Jean Stuart
30
Matt & Mistie Sutko
Maddie, Morgan
31
8:30am Worship:
Hymn Sing w/LS
9:45am Sunday Schools
11am Worship:
Hymn Sing w/LS
12:15 1st Communion
**Member names listed each day of the month denote prayer families
MESSIAH LUTHERAN
Messiah Lutheran Church 7740 Highway 72 West Madison, Alabama 35758 Return Service Requested
Non-Profit
Organization US Postage
PAID Huntsville, AL
Permit No. 454
Messiah Lutheran Church (ELCA) is located at 7740 Highway 72 West, just east of Hughes Road. Sunday Services of Worship are at 8:30 am and 11:00 am. Sunday School is at 9:45 am. A nursery attendant is provided. All are welcome. Our website is www.mlutheran.com. Church office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm, staffed by our Office Managers.
The Pastor is Rev. Scott Peterson. The Church telephone is (256) 721-0041. Email: [email protected]. Newsletter submissions may be sent to [email protected].
Contact Information Messiah Lutheran Church
7740 Highway 72 West Madison, AL 35758 Phone: (256) 721-0041
Office Hours: 8:00 am – 12:00 pm Monday – Friday
Staff Rev. Scott Peterson……………………………….………..……...Pastor Devonee Woods, Meredith Kilby……..….…Office Managers Claire Strand………………....…Director of Outreach Ministries Lois Graff……………………….….…..Director of Music Ministries Sue Doubleday ……………………………....Senior Youth Director Sarah Walker………………………..….Tweens/Jr Youth Director Randall Fields………………..…..…….………….………Choir Director Meredith Kilby………Communications & Media Coordinator Judy Sylvester………………….………….………Nursery Attendant
Find up to date information at www.mlutheran.org
The monthly newsletter and calendar for Messiah Lutheran Church (ELCA) Madison, Alabama
