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Quick Notes and Reminders
Please check the calendar for more information.
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Food Pantry Items for December are diapers, pull-ups, and formula
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This Week's Ministry Blog
The Dawn From on High
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As we count the days to Christmas, measuring time by what we have yet to do, we trust that there is still room to give ample attention to matters of faith as well. The challenge of Advent is to take notice of those things that can easily get overlooked. Often it is in the unremarkable that we discover the sustaining and transforming gifts. Our Advent time best prepares us for Christmas joy when we measure the days by God's goodness and wisdom.
In this way we might ask: have we noticed anything new in this season of our lives? Has hope enlivened us and filled us with expectation for the Christmas message - the fulfillment of God's promise born in Bethlehem? Are we any more awake to God's activity among us? I think of Zechariah's song: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us... (Luke 1:78) Do our yearnings lift our sights to such promise?
Themes of the season name how faith is active in love: patience, preparation, repentance, and waiting! While our tendencies would have us hurry by with worry, the season calls us to slow the pace so we can take notice. The songs, prayers and reflections of December lead us to be awake to where God draws near.
The prophet Micah could see in a place called Bethlehem the certain promise of God at work. It was from such an unlikely place that God's surprising way forward could be found. And so we sing, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." And the lives of Elizabeth and Mary told in Luke's Gospel brought this home. They gave witness to the faithfulness of God by their reception of God at work through them. Their stories like that of Sarah and Hannah remind us of the arc of God's reassuring promise over time and through ordinary places and people.
Christmas worship is around the corner. We will celebrate the story and join in the song of the church across the pages of time. If we let it, the relationships around us that are so much a part of our ordinary days and routines just might shine brightly enough to be noticed for the gifts that they truly are. And we too might even surprise ourselves by all the kindness given and received - signs of "the dawn of redeeming grace."
Pastor Randy
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Sunday, December 20, Jacob Blum will lead our Animate Faith session on "Jesus: the Revolution of Love." Join us for a video featuring Mark Scandrette and lively discussion.
There will be no Adult Sunday School on Sunday, December 27.
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Soli Deo Muisca Concert - Gloria!
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Join us on Sunday, December 20, at 4:00 p.m. for an uplifting afternoon of Advent and Christmas music performed by the Music Ministry of Faith Lutheran Church, under the direction of Director of Music Ministry, Dr. David Johnson. Choirs, bells, along with musicians from the Des Moines metro will join together performing the music of Antonio Vivaldi, George Frederik Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Daniel Pinkham.
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Faith Hosting Family Promise Families
December 20-27
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 Our congregation will be hosting Family Promise, homeless families with children, at the Gathering House from December 20-27. There will again be opportunities to prepare and/or serve meals, to host during the evening or overnight, and help set up and take down needed supplies. Sign-up sheets and additional information will be available in the Commons between services during the next three weeks. Please help us in providing for our guest families.
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Family Promise Giving Tree
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If you took a gift tag star off of the tree for our Family Promise guests, please return your wrapped gift (with the gift tag attached) under the tree no later than Sunday, December 20.
It is truly a blessing that all of the tags were taken.
Thank you,
Children and Family Ministry and Seeds of Faith
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Help Needed to Deliver Food
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Volunteers are needed to deliver the Red Barrel donations to the DMARC  Warehouse in January, February, and March. John Leinendecker and Linda Vanderloo, who have been doing this monthly, will not be available these three months. Let Andrea Stone at stonefamily13231@gmail.com know if you can help out one of those months or if you have questions.
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Christmas Ornament and Candle Fundraiser
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 Youth and Family Ministry will be selling Faith Lutheran Christmas ornaments and Gold Canyon candles on Sunday, December 20, from 9:00-10:30 a.m. in the Commons. All funds raised will be used for the 2016 mission trip to Minnesota's Leech Lake Indian Reservation. Help support the youth and get a few Christmas presents in the process!
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On Tuesday, December 15, a group of 60+ youth and adults from Faith gathered for a packaging event at Meals from the Heartland in West Des Moines. Working together in a spirit of service, the group assembled 2,412 bags of food and packed them into 67 boxes-providing a total of 14,472 meals for the hungry! Click here for more photos from the event.
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Volunteers for First Circle of Friends Needed
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Due to rapid enrollment in our program serving those with early stage memory loss, First Circle of Friends is in great need of volunteers! They have 2 days per month, the first and third Thursdays. From 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. To assist participants in programming with persons with early stages of Alzheimer's or mild memory loss. Please contact Larry Waage at 515-326-4851 or larrywaage@gmail.com for additional information.
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 The next Kairos meeting will be a social on Tuesday, January 12, at 7:00 p.m. at Great China on 86th Street. Please contact Justine at justine.stemper@icloud.com or Megan Thorsen at thorsen.megan@gmail.com if you plan to attend. We will be starting a new Bible study on the 4th Tuesday of the month. Come find out about the study at the social event or contact Megan or Justine for more information.
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 Would you like to honor a life event such as a special birthday, anniversary, or baptism? Celebrate it with your Faith family by sponsoring a Sunday of donut holes. Cost is $50 per week. Please go to SignUp Genius on the church website or contact the church office to sponsor a week of donut holes. No sponsors, no donuts.
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Children and Family Ministry
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- Sunday, December 20: No Sunday School
- Wednesday, December 23: No Faith Night
- Sunday, December 27: Nursery Closed
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Youth and Family Ministry
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Ski Trip Registration is open for the 9-12 Grade Ski Trip to Welch Village on January 17-18! Trip details-including schedule, cost, and how to register-are available online at http://bit.ly/skitrip16info. Contact Jake Bouma at jakebouma@faithlc.org if you have any questions.
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2016 Youth Mission Trip Registration
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Registration is now open for the 2016 mission trip to Minnesota's Leech Lake Indian Reservation! Any Faith student (and their friends) currently in 9th through 12th Grades is eligible to participate in the Leech Lake mission trip, which is scheduled for July 9 to 15, 2016. To register, you must go to www.faithlc.org/youth-mission-trip to fill out the appropriate forms.
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