Faith Lutheran Isanti MN

December Newsletter

“The angel greeted Mary

and said, ‘Hail, Mary, full

of grace.’ That is the Latin

rendering, which unhappily

has been taken over literally

into German. Tell me, is this

good German? Would any

German say you are full of

grace? I have translated it,

‘Thou gracious one,’ but if I

were to really write Ger-

man, I would say, ‘God

bless you, dear Mary—liebe

Maria,’ for any German

knows that this word liebe

comes right from the heart.”

~Martin Luther, Martin

Luther’s Christmas Book,

Annunciation

When Mary learns that

she’ll bear the Son of God,

Luther says that she ought

to be called liebe, which is a

very tender German word

that we translate as “love”

in English. As Luther says,

this is a word of deepest

affection, coming right from

the heart. In this way, it’s a

word that carries an even

richer meaning than our

word “love.”

It’s odd, though, that Mary

would be described as

“blessed” or “beloved” or

“liebe” considering the

terrible upheaval that occurs

in her life as a result of this

blessing. The blessing of

bearing the Son of God in

her womb leads to Mary’s

neighbor’s gossiping behind

her back and her fiancé

nearly breaking off their

engagement. It leads to she

and Joseph trudging across

the countryside while she is

great with child in order to

be counted in the census,

only to arrive in Bethlehem

and be relegated to sleeping

in the cow stall where she

gives birth to her Lord. It

leads to she and her little

family being driven as refu-

gees out of their country and

into Egypt to avoid slaugh-

ter at the hands of King

Herod. And it leads to “a

sword piercing [her] own

heart”—to the horror of

witnessing her own son be-

ing put to death. “God bless

you, dear Mary—liebe Ma-

ria.” Indeed.

As we enter this season of

lights and joy and smiling

kids and presents and too

much eating and all the rest,

we carry our pains and our

sorrows with us. In this

way, the season of Christ-

mas is a picture of what it

means to be the people of

God in Christ Jesus. We

face financial hardships. We

bury and mourn our dead.

We wrestle with conflicts in

our families. Trouble and

pain find many and varied

ways into our lives. And yet

we do not face these without

the light of hope.

Mary is blessed—liebe

Maria—not because her

life is promised to be

full of things we normal-

ly call blessings (though,

she surely experiences

her share of these, too).

Mary is blessed because

beneath her heart grows

the hope of all the earth.

In Jesus Christ—

begotten of the Father and

born of Mary—and specifi-

cally in his death, we find

the greatest blessing of life:

a promise that God is with

us in the deepest sorrows of

life, carrying us, saving us,

and bringing us into his

Kingdom.

Lights, songs, gifts, family,

and a good Christmas roast

may not quite compare with

the Kingdom of God, but

our celebration allows us a

real, if imperfect, foretaste

of the feast to come. Born of

Mary, Christ enters our

world of sin and pain, and is

crucified and raised, all so

he can hand you the promise

of the Kingdom. And living

in that promise, we can face

the hardships knowing that

they will give way to

peace—to a day when all

that we hear and know and

experience will cry out

liebe.

God bless you, dear Mary.

God bless you, dear Chris-

tian. Amen.

From the Pastor

Important Events and

Information inside

Fun at Faith

The Tree of Giving

Christmas program 12-9

Cantata 12-16

Xmas Eve Candle-

light service

12-24

Stewardship Update

Council Report

This fall has been full of activity and fun for the youth in our con-

gregation. On October 31 we had Trunk or Treat. Although the

turnout wasn't quite what we wished for in the way of cars par-

ticipating, we did have a large number of costumed kids show up

to gather their treats and have some fun! The Kingdom Kids

made posters we had about town. They encouraged anyone and

everyone to come and have some fun!

Tree of giving

Comfortable clothing for women and children of all ages -- in all sizes:

socks, underwear, sweatshirts, sweat pants, leggings, t-shirts, bathrobes,

slipper socks, infant wear

Paper products: toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, Kleenex

Personal hygiene – body wash, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, combs,

hair brush, deodorant, feminine products, lotion

Healthy, non-perishable snacks and cereal

Huggable items to give to kids of all ages for comfort when they arrive,

something they can keep – a fleece blanket or a small stuffed animal.

Craft items for children of all ages – Paint by number, craft supplies or Kits

to assemble

Gift Cards at local stores, gas stations, family dining (Not everyone has been

able to experience family outings!)

Pet/animal Products: Bird seed, Cat food (dry or canned)

Cash donations are welcome!

Items will be collected under the tree in the church narthex

during December. Thank you in advance for your gifts in support of this

community outreach.

-Social Ministry Committee-

How will you give this December?

Li’l Farm is a non-profit foster home on a local farm that provides love and care to children in crisis, ages newborn to age 11

Black Dog Hill Shelter is a 15-bed home that offers safe housing for women and children escaping abusive relationships.

The choir has been practicing for weeks to preform for you: “Let Us Adore Him” by

Robert C. Lau.

December 16th

Annual Choir Cantata

Baptized in November

Baptized on November 18th 2018

Burklee Nelson, daughter of Mackenzie and Travis Nelson

Baptized on November 25th 2018

Emmerson Bonnie Lee Frederick, Daughter of Nicolette and Sam Frederick

Funeral for Terry Chris Pedersen

Thursday Dec 6th, visitation at 10 am, service at 11 am.

Terry Chris Pedersen, age 49, of Cambridge died unexpectedly November 20, 2018 at

home. He is survived by his parents, Harold and Pat; daughter, Alexis; brothers, Todd and

Travis; grandmother, Helen Westphal; 2 Aunts, 1 uncle; 3 Nieces, 3 Nephews, and by many

other relatives and friends.

December 24th

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 5pm & 10pm

Traditional Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.

Please come with your loved ones, sing the hymns of the

season, and hear the story of our Lord’s humble birth!

December 9th

Youth Christmas Program (see back for details)

Heavenly Sunshine Preschool Update

HSP has had a lot of fun during this holiday season! We love making special crafts and learning new things

everyday. The kids participated in Stone Soup (Thank you Sue for all your help!) and they made turkey hats

to celebrate Thanksgiving! The HSP kids also enjoyed breakfast with Santa on November 24th. HSP would

like to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who bought poinsettias to help support updating the down

stairs bathrooms! The plans are moving for-

ward and we are very excited to see the up-

dates!

Stewardship update

Our fall stewardship drive, Have Faith 2019, has given us a wonderful opportunity to talk about God's call

to us to share the Good News of Christ in our community and

beyond. We've discussed our ministries, both ongoing and in the works, with an eye and an ear toward that

call. And we've made known the financial needs of each of these ministries.

Our goal for 2019 was to secure and increase of $40,000 in offering commitments to fund these ministries.

At the time of this writing, we've received commitment cards from 49 families and individuals with a total

increase of $18,709 above their last year's giving!

Thank you all so much for your generous giving and your

generous commitments!

If you have not turned in your commitment card yet and would like to, please do so by

Council Minutes:

Attendees: Sue Larson, Joyce Johnson, Kathy Smith, Denise Roetzer, Pastor Cliff Hanson.

(Only five attendees—discussion only no quorum)

Pastor’s report was given, including the past month of worship services (140th Anniversary, Confirmation, All

Saints’, Veterans, and the Hymn Sermons that were read by members of the council.

Pastor would like to look into selling the van, as it’s not very reliable, and putting the money into a fund to-

ward the purchase of a newer van.

Pastor also gave an update on the stewardship program. (see above information).

Evie is doing well in the office. Pastor would like committee leaders to meet her and discuss with her what

they need from the office.

Conversation regarding Mission of the Month centered on the possibility of restructuring the program. Ideas

for a seasonally driven program were discussed (Lent, Summer, Fall, Christmas, etc). A decision will be made

at the annual council retreat in February.

Council Members present discussed recommendations for wage increases for church employees. These rec-

ommendations will be sent to the finance committee and will come back to the council in December for a

vote so that they can be included in the budget to be reviewed and voted upon by the congregation.

Next Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m. (to include budget review)

PO Box 87 109 2nd Ave N,

Isanti, MN 55040

Faith Lutheran

www.faithlutheranisanti.com

763-444—9201

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If you are interested in getting a copy of the 140th Anniversary celebration they will be available for a suggested donation of $10.00

December 9th at 9:30am

Youth Christmas Program We are now in the process of getting our Christmas program ready to go. All

children ages 3-high school are encouraged to come and participate. We

have had wonderful volunteers come forward, which is really needed and

appreciated.

We will have practice:

Wednesday, December 5th at 6:00 pm

Saturday, December 8th from 9:00-10:30 am

Christmas pageant Sunday, December 9th at 9:30 am. I will want the chil-

dren there no later than 9:15 am to get costumes on and say prayers.

Reminder! KKC/Confirmation/Luther League will be on break from the

program on December 9 until they resume on January 9.