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Good afternoon dear people of God.  This coming week we gather on Transfiguration Sunday and then Wednesday, Mar. 2, we begin Lent with Ash Wednesday.  I am amazed that February is coming to an end already and we'll be entering a different church season.  But we are not there yet! 

In our current season, we have been hearing from our scriptures how we are to live as people in relationship to God and people.  We are to LOVE God and neighbor as God loves, full of mercy and lovingkindness.  These last four Sundays we have also focused on how we are a welcoming, inclusive, loving community of faith and I suggested a few ways and received a few ideas about how we can do it even better than we do.   

I have created a new group called the Welcoming Committee who are specifically looking at this work.  Do you want to help?  If you'd be available to join in this work, please let me know.  I hope to gather us again next week — in person and via Zoom, so please email or let me, Pastor Andrea, know if you'd like to participate in this way.  

Well, as we begin this week, I commend these words of scripture to you:

"Look to the Lord and his strength, seek his face always."  

—1 Chronicles 16:11 NRSV

What a wonderful reminder that no matter what we, our friends, our family, our neighbors are dealing with, we can and we need to look to the Lord.  

And "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  

—Philippians 4:7 ESV

Give our cares to the Lord and rest in God's lovingkindness and mercy.  Our storms won't be magically erased, but being in the presence of the Lord and God's people does make a difference.  So know, dear people, that I am praying for you as you lift all those on the prayer list, those on your heart, and as you pray for me too.  

Have a blessed week.  You are loved.  Go and love well.

In Christ, 

Pr Andrea

This week (other meetings/gatherings will be taking place as well but here are some things to note):  

  • Tuesday, Feb. 22-Thursday, Feb 24:  We anticipate the upstairs of our Fellowship Hall will be used as an emergency warming shelter for the homeless.  It's going to get very cold again!  Please keep them and The Way ministry in your prayers.  All church meetings will be downstairs as we share our space.
  • Friday, Feb 25:
    • Five Loaves set up
    • Worship and Music committee gathers via Zoom from 1-3 p.m.
  • Saturday, Feb 26: Five Loaves monthly feeding ministry.  Gather to bag up the meals or deliver them to those in our community.  Please let Jo Moss, Norine Hazen or Peggy Gustafson know if you can help.
  • Sunday, February 27:
    • 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning Bible study on miracles, led by Jeff Smith.  This is our last session using Lee Strobel's book "The Miracle Answer Book."  Come in person or join via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/907628370?pwd=eFVCTEVhb0xqMXcxY2xaUG5JMUZEdz09
      Or Dial 1 312 626 6799  Meeting ID: 907 628 370  Passcode: 332397. Contact Jeff Smith if you would like the handouts from last week.  
    • 10 a.m. Worship with Holy Communion Join us, either in person OR via Zoom ('hybrid' worship).  If you will be worshiping via zoom, log on or call in using these links: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/91739214242?pwd=b1QrZzk0QzBtM1RXZnZuaVFVMDNmZz09  OR Dial +1 301 715 8592     Meeting ID: 917 3921 4242.   Password: 731771.   For those of you who will be worshiping in person, masks will be required indoors.  Please bring your own, thanks!
    • Worship leaders:  Pastor Andrea Doeden;  Assistant:  Julie Wersal;  Organist:  Connie Pallone;  Ushering:  Hailey Bearden and Amy Navarette;  Reading:  Amy Navarette;  Communion prep/cleanup: JoAnn Karspeck and Peggy Gustafson
    • Flowers are in celebration of Mary McKenna’s birthday in February and Mary & Bill McKenna’s upcoming 42nd Wedding Anniversary in March.
  • Fellowship after worship (approx. 11:10 a.m.) in the Fellowship Hall.  Gather after worship for wonderful conversation! 
  • Bread & Belonging is our high school/college ministry that gathers each Sunday night from 6-8 p.m. in the lower level of the Fellowship Hall.  

Prayer List:  

Galatians 6:2: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

In prayer, we ask in His name: Comfort for those in mourning, including family and friends of:  Dr. Mark Jacobson; Brent Kapling (Carol Schulkump's nephew); Mary Lee Lewis whose son died in auto accident; Brenda (niece of Liz McKethen) whose two children died in auto accident.

We pray for and surround with God's protection the military and civilians around the world in harm's way — especially those in the Emirates, Afghanistan, and Ukraine; and the police and other first responders in our country. We lift up leaders in our community, our country and in the world that peace may prevail and wise decisions made.

We also pray for Lynn Chase (foot surgery Feb 25); Dave Shier and family (Dave is missing); Tricia (John Rygiel’s sister, back injury); Julie Wersal (back surgery); Erin's son, Woody; Carter Sanchez McDonald (1-month old, open heart surgery); Pete Gimmer; Allison Dearman; Ann Rasmussen; Floyd & Margaret Gumke; Vicki Rienks; AC (Doris' uncle); Jill Wilson; Michelle Ramirez; Gregory Weida; Cindy Rodriguez; Dale Krueger; Mike Blackmore; Cora Warrick & son Tyler; Carol Schulzkump, her son Kris and daughter-in-law Ana; JoAnn's sister Beth; Steve Karspeck's sister-in-law Deena; Wilmae & Sherry Gartside; Lisa Rygiel's parents; Loren Eigenburg; the Sandstead family and all those in crisis.

We surround with prayers those battling cancer, including Kevin Olsen; Joe; Ray; AnnaMarie; Polly (Ruthie's friend); Jeanine Tapia; Rick Barian (Lynn's friend); Rick Spaulding (Paula's brother-in-law); Gary Miller; Marci Guard; Lynn's brother Kenny; Nancy Wilhelm (Ernie & Sharon's family member); Linda Bounds; Jo Moss' cousin Virginia; and Francis Baldwin (friend of Mark & Jo Moss). We also pray for those affected by COVID.

Our prayers continue for Wal-reat (missionary in Sudan whom we support financially through Global Missions); The Way ministry; ACTS ministry; and the prison congregation New Beginnings and Pastor Schjang.

Other announcements/dates to put on your calendar:

Yesterday's worship service was held in the Fellowship Hall due to a broken heater!  Thanks to everyone who pitched in at the last minute to make it work for our worship space.  The service can be viewed by following this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/6D245nLUeyj9Gd8c2GMcEP9CCfoIwbcKh3Ug-FRnFmt08J0O2szVrlBvPaXM7R_e.eI1A-59NN7vxI4Sc (Passcode: Cz3DC@FC) Sermon at minute 22:30

  1. Our SOUPER BOWL donations:  Carol Smith delivered 36 cans of SOUP to Fisher's Peak Soup Kitchen on Friday and we also collected $286 to support our community's feeding ministry.  We love our neighbors in tangible ways that make a difference!  Thanks disciples of Jesus
  2. At 9:30 a.m. on Friday Mar. 4, we continue our Women's Bible Study on "The Sermon on the Mount" using Amy-Jill Levine's book.  Join us in person downstairs of the Fellowship Hall or by Zoom.  Questions- contact Carol Smith.  We shall be discussing chapter 3 of the book - (Matthew 5: 13-48). Join by  Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83136424723?pwd=TkxsQVllMmo2bVlSekN0dGZqbzF1Zz09 or phone in by dialing 1-312-626-6799 Meeting ID: 831 3642 4723 Passcode: 865505
  3. The flower ministry continues to bless our worship as well as those who receive the flowers after church.  Lynn Chase has put the new 2022 calendar in the back of the sanctuary.  Please sign up to sponsor the flowers in our new year.  
  4. Prayer Shawl Ministry:  Are you interested in knitting one/some to share?  Let's pick a date and gather for a 'knitting' party.  We have both knitting and crocheting patterns.  Please email back or let Pastor know if you want to join for a few hours of knitting/crocheting.  

E-formation

Over the past Sundays, we have seen Jesus show himself to be Christ, the one anointed by God to be our Savior. This Sunday, the Transfiguration, when Jesus appears on a mountain in divine glory, concludes the time after Epiphany. In three days, on Ash Wednesday, we begin the climb to the mountain of Jesus’ crucifixion. The church holds side-by-side the brilliance of God and the cross of Jesus.

The Readings on This Day

The Transfiguration of Our Lord—the Last Sunday after the Epiphany

On the Lutheran calendar, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday is a celebration of the mystery of Christ, as Jesus’ divinity is shown forth on the Mount of Transfiguration. In other traditions the Transfiguration is celebrated on Aug. 6, which date is now marked by the memory of the bombing of Hiroshima. The three-year lectionary sets the Transfiguration as the climax of the time after the Epiphany, a final glorious manifestation of the mystery of Jesus Christ before the season of Lent. Martin Luther had first proposed this calendar change.

Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a]

We too have encountered the presence of God, not on a Palestinian mountain, but in Jesus Christ. We too are called children of God, thanks to our baptism into Christ. Here on Sunday we listen to him, and for us now and at the end of time Jesus is the transforming manifestation of God. The optional verses are the one place in the three-year lectionary with the story of the healing of the epileptic boy. To proclaim both stories is to tie the inexpressible glory of God with the power of Jesus to exorcize evil.

Exodus 34:29-35

The story of Moses’ veil is one of the three Old Testament passages that the lectionary places next to the Transfiguration. Moses can look directly at Jesus; the disciples are able to see the shining divinity of Christ; and in the resurrection by faith, so can we all.

2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2

Contemporary devout Jews do not think of the Torah’s representation of God as shining so radiantly that they cannot approach it. However, Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:8) had led him to regard Judaism as a veil that could be removed in Christ. The Spirit of God means to transform us, just as Jesus was himself transformed by God. Paul’s interpretation of passages from the Hebrew Scriptures begins the Christian practice of seeing in biblical Judaism the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ and the vocabulary we use in speaking of salvation.