Every worship event is extraordinary.  God is present in the good news of scripture, the sacraments, the joy of hymns and songs, and the mutual care and concern of God's people.  Because of His presence, we are lifted up in worship.

This Sunday we have several special events in worship.  At the 9:00 AM service, we'll see the Procession of the Magi and the planting of palm trees at the nativity set.  The children of Jesus and Friends will bring the three wise men into the sanctaury as they embark on their journey from the East to Bethlehem.  The children will also explain why our Advent-Christmas-Epiphany celebrations are significant.

Also at the first service, we'll celebrate the baptisms of Daniel and Claire Hacker, twins of Diane Greiwe and David Hacker.  We will welcome the newly baptized as brother and sister in the whole family of God.

In both services, young people from the confirmation class will give us a concrete example of ways we can fulfill the call of John the Baptizer in the desert, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Come join our celebration!

Project Linus Needs Your Help 

Saturday, January 29,

from 9 AM to 7 PM

Project Linus is a non-profit organization that distributes handmade blankets and afghans to children who are ill, have been traumatized, or who are otherwise in need (http://www.projectlinus.org/).  In about eight weeks, CTK will start making Project Linus blankets for children in our area.  To make this happen, a lot of planning needs to get done and a lot of help will be needed. 

How you can help -  to get the project going, we are recruiting youth and adults who know how to quilt, knit, or crochet.  We are also looking for people who are willing to learn the basics of one of these skills.  Please contact Angie Roux at aroux@ctkvestal.org or 624-0305 if you are interested in offering your skills, or if you can lend supplies - crochet hooks, knitting needles, sewing machines, rotary cutting tools, scissors, pins or hand sewing needles.  

After Christmas, we'll start collecting donations of yarns, thread, batting, and 100 percent cotton fabrics, as well as gift cards or monetary donations to purchase these items.  If you have an overflowing stash at home, please take time to look through to see what you can share.

Ask The Pastor

Pastor Paul answers your questions

Pastor Paul, what is the Gospel of Thomas and why was it not included in the New Testament?

The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus.  In 1945 or 46, a Coptic translation was found at Nag Hammadi in southern Egypt, the site of a Gnostic library.  The Coptic version has been dated somewhere between 300 and 400 AD. In 1897 and again in 1903 at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, small fragments of text were found in Greek.  These fragments have been dated around 140 AD.  Most scholars agree the Coptic version from the 300s was a translation from an earlier Greek version.

Many early Christian writers deemed the Gospel of Thomas as false. Some of those writers were Hioppolytus, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Irenaeus.  Their primary reason for rejecting the Gospel of Thomas was that it taught a different faith than shown in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Twentieth century scholars have identified the Gospel of Thomas as a mixture of religions - Jewish, Christian, Encratitic, and Gnostic.  Examples of each:

Jewish Saying # 27 supports Sabbath (not Sunday) worship.  "If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the father."

Christian Saying # 54, "Fortunate are the poor, for yours is heaven's kingdom" is very similar to Luke 6:20.  "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."  However, "fortunate" in Thomas could be understood as "lucky" whereas "blessed" in Luke is clearly a blessing from God.

Encratitic (an extinct religion based on Greek mythology)
Saying # 114, "Simon Peter said to them, 'Mary should leave us, for females are not worthy of life.' Jesus said, 'Look, I shall guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males.  For every female who makes herself male will enter heaven's kingdom.'"

Gnostic (a religion which identified salvation with knowledge of oneself) Saying #3, "When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living father."

These sayings are from a translation by Marvin Meyer in The Gospel of Thomas, The Hidden Sayings of Jesus.

The Gospel of Thomas was ultimately rejected by the early church because it failed two important tests for inclusion into the New Testament.

1) It disagreed with the "rule of faith," the teachings in the
four gospels, and the letters of Paul. 

From the Desk of

    Julie

Oversize ornaments represent our huge hearts this holiday -
The STIC Tree comes down on December 12 and already
there are only four tags left to take off the tree. We couldn't just leave the tree bare, so we decorated it in a big way, the way we do so many things here at CTK! If you haven't taken a gift tag, help yourself! Please have wrapped gifts under the tree in the entrance hall by December 12t so STIC can deliver the presents to the families. Thank you to
Jesus and Friends for taking home extra presents that
needed to be wrapped. Please contact me (Julie) with questions.
 
Meghan O'Hearn shares the spirit of giving by helping to
decorate the bulletin board in the entrance hall.
Thanks, Mego!