Sunday School Update for February 2016
Sunday School is back in full swing! Kids are busy learning, singing, and doing exciting projects.
Please keep up to date on when your child has special events by using the Sunday School calendar. Each group will have Faith Building Blocks throughout the year. Each group will sing during worship.
OWLs Post for February 2016
The OWLs braved the cold for two very nice events in January. Many of us traveled to Winona for a fun day of lunch and a visit to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. We are blessed to have such a fabulous art collection so close by. The potluck was a rousing success with 32 of us attending Pastor Karyn’s educational and inspiring presentation on the trip to Israel.
Announcements for Sunday, January 31
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Message From Pastor Stanton for January 2016
The table is a great place to share stories. Whenever my family gathers for supper we take time to go around the table hearing each other’s highs and lows. Inevitably, a story is attached to each high and each low. When a few consecutive nights go by when we haven’t been able to hear each other’s stories, we begin to feel disconnected. We miss it. I wonder whether my five year old’s negotiations with a classmate at school resulted in her being chased less around the playground. What geography bee question did my 5th grader miss—and how did she feel when it happened? And of course, who made the best catch among the second grade boys today? Spare no detail!
Message from Pastor Karyn for January 2016
It is a year of contemplating tables and as Christmas approaches I find myself reflecting on the tables of my youth, especially the tables at my grandmother’s house. Recently, I came across a card I wrote to my grandmother when I was maybe 6, the writing big and crooked, the spelling not quite on point, the message short: “School (spelled scool) is getting better. I am glad that we are going to your (spelled you’r) house for (turn over) Thanksgiving.” Since my grandmother’s death, we have found quite of few of her letters and several of them from me. I think my Grandma Brown was the person I told things to, the person I looked to for guidance on what it meant to be a grown up and after much reflections I am pretty sure she was one of the people in my life that seemed to get me. And I remember what it was like to be a child sitting at her table.
Veteran’s Ministry Update for January 2016
On many occasions I have been asked where I got my interest in caring for the veterans. I wish I could say for certain what the reason was. I’m not sure, actually. I do have my suspicions and a true story to tell: My grandmother was a loving, faithful woman who brought up a family during the Depression. My grandfather was away a lot building highways way up north, which left my grandmother alone most of the time to care for 13 children. She often got help, as they were able from those who were older, but no matter how you looked at it, these were tough times. On Sundays she made sure that the family got to church and was proud of the fact that all 13 children were baptized. Church was were she got her strength. She carried this with her throughout her life and passed it on to her children. Community was different back then compared to now. Families lived close and there was always a gathering around the table. The table may have been a kitchen table or a dining room table but often it was in a fellowship hall around a church table. This is the place that potlucks were held, stories where told and things were made. The men often gathered and made plans to help the neighbor down the road who needed a helping hand. The women had their circles and friends who gathered to crochet or knit or make quilts.
Small Groups Update for January 2016
One of the many blessings of being a part of First Lutheran Church is our wonderful worship, including sermons that challenge us to think about how we live a Christian life in this secular world. To help you “take the sermon home” and let it stir in your mind and heart beyond just the worship service, we have begun to develop sermon notes.
Clothes Closet Update for January 2016
Recent publicity in the news media, outreach to schools and other agencies and a $10,000 grant from the Franke Foundation are helping the First Teen Clothes Closet touch the lives of more and more young people from our area.
Sunday School Update for January 2016
Generously and extraordinarily blessed!
Those are the words that come to mind when we reflect on the 2015 Sunday school program.
Within the halls of our Sunday school, on any ordinary Sunday, your heart would be warmed to witness the examples of generous lives and extraordinary blessings we experienced in 2015…
Welcome One Another
Whenever I go over to my brother’s house, I am welcomed warmly by a big bear hug from him; of course,this is only after getting through the maze of dogs wanting to be loved on. These dogs include Grizzy: a very large black Newfoundland, who loves to sit on my feet as I pet and scratch his ears. Grizzy leans into me as I pet him and seems to always stand between me and my brother. Being warmly welcomed into a home or any building creates a loving atmosphere, so you will want to return. Knowing that my brother and his dogs will be happy to greet me, makes me want to return to visit them again.
OWLs Post for January 2016
December was an exciting month for the OWLs. Many of us traveled to Sugar Creek for an excellent program, meal and music. We followed that with a Christmas potluck full of great food and fun games. Dressed in our Christmas sweaters, everyone went home full of Christmas goodies with smiles on their faces.