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Resurrection Lutheran Church 

Website News - www.ResurrectionPeople.org

        December 4th A.D. 2011 
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In This Issue
WELCA Brunch
Breakfast with Santa
On Saint Nicholas
Around the World
The Thread of Love
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Dear Friends in Christ!

Our December Newsletter has been posted to:


It was posted on Friday, and announced by Twitter and on Facebook the same day.  To get the latest scoop, check our News page frequently.  Twitter and Facebook feeds are posted there, so even if you don't have an account with one of those social networking services, you can still pull the information you need.

Dec News

 
WELCA Brunch -- For Women Only
WELCA Brunch

Breakfast with Santa

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA: DECEMBER 17 9AM-11AM

 

Please join us at what we hope will be an annual event: Breakfast with Santa on Saturday December 17 from 9AM-11AM in the Fellowship Hall!!  Bring friends and family and your camera to take pictures with Santa!  Enjoy some delicious breakfast goodies, make some Christmas crafts and spend some time together before the holidays!  We will be collecting new books for Faith in Action's Angel Tree so please bring an item to share. 

 

 

On Saint Nicholas
Saint Nikoloas
Did you know that  Santa Claus is really Saint Nicholas, the 4th century Bishop of Myra in Lycia?  He was born in A.D. 270 near Myra.  In those days Christians were persecuted for their faith.  It wasn't easy to be a Christian.  Many Christians were tortured and executed because they believed in Christ.  Nicholas was taught by his parents to love the Lord with his whole mind, heart, soul, and strength. When his parents died, Nicholas used his inheritance to help the poor, the hungry, and the sick.  Whenever he helped anyone he did it secretly, in humility, so that only God would know.  He became a monk, a parish priest, and was later elected Bishop of Myra, all the while giving gifts secretly to those in need.  He was present at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, and passed on to higher service in A.D. 343.  Now you know the rest of the story!  In communion with all the Saints, we follow the example of St. Nick and give generously at Christmas, especially to children and those in need.  

 

Christendom Around the World
During Advent and Christmas this year, each issue of our Website News will call our attention to a different part of Christendom around the world.  You may be surprised to learn how richly diverse, wide, and deep is the Body of Christ!
 
First, we take you to Los Angeles, California, to the Saint Nicholas Antiochan Orthodox Christian Cathedral -- See of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West.  Take a look at their Sunday worship bulletin for December 4th.  I'll bet most of us had no idea that there was an Antiochan Orthodox Christian Church in LA that held services in English, Arabic, and Spanish.  Our sisters and brothers from the East are ministering to our sisters and brothers in the West!  Note that they too had a Capital Appeal about 5 years ago (same as us) but the contributions have fallen off over the years (same as us).  They too have a Christmas Program on December 17th as a community outreach.  Here's an image of their sanctuary during worship...
 
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The Thread of Love
Thanks to Elen Saleh of St. Nicholas in LA for sharing the following thoughts with us on Giving, Forgiving, and Thanksgiving...

GIVING, FORGIVING AND THANKSGIVING

THESE ARE THREE KEY WORDS IN OUR CHRISTIAN DAILY VOCABULARY,

THE THREAD OF LOVE GOES THROUGH THEM ALL.

 

1.     GIVING:

We can give without love but such loveless giving has no value in the sight of God. The Bible says, "If I give away all that I have, but have not love I gain nothing" (1 Cor.13.3). It is only when we give because we love that our gift is pleasing and acceptable to God. Our weekly offering to God is first and foremost an offering of love.

 

If you do love God, let your giving be some indication of the measure of love. Christian giving asks us to put God first and to let our giving be an expression of God's importance in our lives.                  

 

We give to the poor also because we love them and pity them. If we loved them, then we will practice our love. Not in words, but in action. St. John says, "Let us not love in words or in tongue, but in deed and in truth". (1 Jn.318)

 

2.     FORGIVING:

God loved us and therefore, He forgave our sins. St Paul says, "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." (Col. 3:12, 13).

 

The only comment the Lord Jesus made on the Lord's Prayer was this, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, Your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6:14).    

 

            In Matthew 18, when St. Peter asked our Lord, "How often shall my brother 

            sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? "Jesus said to him, "I

            do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."

 

3.     THANKSGIVING:

The word, thanksgiving, contains giving as a part of its ingredients. It means giving thanks to God or to people. The fathers of the church said, "There is no gift without increase, except the gift that without thanksgiving. "Thanksgiving shows our gratitude and gratefulness to God. But again we can't give God thanks by words alone, but rather by our actual service, love, and doing His will with pleasure and enthusiasm.

                                            

                                               Elen Saleh

 

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"Here is the truly Christian life, here is faith really working by love, when a man applies himself with joy and love to the works of that freest servitude in which he serves others voluntarily and for nought, himself abundantly satisfied in the fullness and riches of his own faith."

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Concerning Christian Liberty -- A.D. 1520

 

 

Resurrection Lutheran Church...
Reflecting the Love of Christ by
Reaching, Loving, Caring.

 

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