Working Together So That All Experience Gracious Invitation Into Life-giving Christian Community |
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Welcome to the Gethsemane Lutheran Church Newsletter. As the end of this year unfolds, and we continue to bring you information virtually, we welcome all who are members of Gethsemane, as well as those who are discovering us for the first time, to join us in our mission journey. We hope to keep you up-to-date in these times of amazing change for our church community. Feel free to forward the newsletter to others and give us the emails of those you think my wish to connect with us and see what great things God is doing with our church each week! |
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To contact staff: Please click email links on names to the right! |
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Who's Who At Gethsemane
Minister of Music: Beverly Timpton-Hammond
Food Shelf Volunteer Coordinator: Jean Bailey
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This holiday season, we have many exciting events and news to share with all you readers. Below are just some of the amazing things Gethsemane is doing within it's walls and out in the community.
Christmas Basket Distribution
Ben Rasmussen, owner of Northeast Bank, as well as A Mothers Love and FreedomWorks Ave, North Minneapolis, are teaming up to do a Christmas turkey day on December 17 from 12 until 2 PM. This year we will be giving turkeys, as well as sets of hats, mittens, and scarves to the first 200 families who attend. We are so grateful for the partnership of Northeast Bank, FreedomWorks, and A Mothers Love, and we hope that this ministry work will be of benefit and blessing to our North Side community.
Upcoming Quilting Event
This coming December 13th from 9am to 2pm, the lovely ladies of Gethsemane will be holding their next quilting event. Stay posted for more details!
Come Hungry, Leave Happy
Here is a gentle reminder that we will continue to serve lunches Monday through Friday 12-2pm in the fellowship hall. This food is hot, free, and tasty. All are welcome into the Lord's house to eat, stay warm, and break bread.
Christmas Ham Registration
Christmas is just around the corner, and with it comes registration for Christmas ham pickup. This registration starts December 4th and will run until December 12th. These hams will be distributed December 18th. All are welcome to register, and we are happy to assist in giving more information as we get closer to December 4th.
Upcoming Christmas Service
Lastly as we talk about the Christmas season, there will be no Christmas Eve service. Instead, there will be a Christmas Day service for the first time in 7 years. Sunday 12/25 at 10:30 will be our church service. We hope to see you there in celebration of the the birth of the Christ child.
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The Camden Shop is now open! After a short prayer of blessing, we opened the doors and shoppers found clothing and housewares that they needed. We are so excited about how this place will help our friends in the Camden neighborhood! Spread the word, and come say hello!
We are open the 1st & 3rd Saturday’s at Gethsemane from 12-3pm
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The Camden Promise: Weekly Food shelf Schedule |
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Food Giveaway Schedule into 2021:
The Camden Promise Food Shelf feeds boxes of food to community families 6 days a week at noon: Monday through Saturday.
All are welcome!
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Gospel of the Week: Matthew 3:1-12 |
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1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
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Writer's Corner: Remember the Wreath |
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Years ago, when our children were young, we went to an Advent Wreath making event at church. Tables and more tables of greenery (oh, it smelled lovely), donut-shaped green foam “wreaths”, wire, scissors, glue, pine cones, ribbon, tiny dried berries, and tapered candles (one pink, three purple—and a white larger one to put in the middle). We were so focused on finishing our project in time to drive the kids home for their bedtimes that I don’t really remember how we made the wreath (how much others helped us with it) or even how well it turned out. Although I do remember we tried to keep it into the next year; and that although the candles did burn well, the boughs dried out, posing a fire hazard. I know we took a flyer home, with directions on how to make one again (if ever we were up to the task) which also held the meaning behind the candles and tradition of the wreath. I don’t have it anymore, it is long since gone. So I looked up information on a few websites to refresh my memory (and even a some DIY directions in case I decided to try to make one again). Here is a compilation of what I found out:
Things you may need to make a wreath:
- a circle made of straw or wicker (alternatively - styrofoam),
- a thin wire, preferably green,
- a hot glue gun with glue sticks,
- scissors,
- pads for candles,
- four candles,
- coniferous plant branches,
- ornaments and decorations.
How to make it: take your circle, wire in the plants, glue in the ornaments, and secure the candles. Apparently, you need to curve the wire to the center of the wreath so you don’t injure yourself; and the whole project takes less (or should take less) than an hour. But, after looking at the pictures of the project in process (and remembering my last disaster with hot glue), I decided to forgo the mess and just read up about the wreath, and its history, instead of making one this year. (Note: I encourage those who are more arts and craft oriented to give it a try. And please share your photos if you do!)
The Advent Wreath (or Advent Crown) originated in the 16th century with German Lutherans, but didn’t really take hold (or shape) until three centuries later, finally making its way to North American churches in the 1930’s. I was surprised to read of all the variations in wreaths: number of candles, color and styles. But there were overarching themes and significances. The circular shape is a reminder of God’s eternity—endless mercy with no beginning or end; the greenery of the wreath is a symbol of hope of newness, renewal, and eternal life; and the candles represent the light of God coming into the world in Jesus Christ. The number of candles chosen being the weeks in anticipation of the Christmas (which varies from church to church), but is most often four candles representing the weeks of Advent—with a possible fifth white candle lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Of course, different churches and denominations have specific colors that go with chosen meanings, but most include the themes of: hope, love and joy and peace. Some interpretations are more specific, naming candles, such as: a Messiah (or Prophesy) candle, the Bethlehem candle, the Shepherd candle, and the Angel candle. And still others focus on the colors of the candles. Most Catholic and Protestant churches use the liturgical colors of violet (or blue) and rose. In some Orthodox churches, there are even six candles: a green candle symbolizing faith, a blue candle for hope; gold for love; a white candle for peace; purple representing repentance; and a final red candle, symbolizing communion.
Regardless of the colors used, the exact candle count, or their individual interpretations (or whether you are capable of making your own home-made version)—one thing is true. The lighting of the Advent Wreath is an important ritual for us, as Christians. We make (or buy) our wreaths and light our Advent candles in church to show our anticipation of God’s birth and walk among us; our hope and love in Jesus Christ. It reminds us of the light that pierced the darkness. This love, hope, peace and joy, we can carry with us throughout our church calendar year. Even after Christmas comes and goes—family gatherings are over, and presents unwrapped, trees put away to the curb—we can still hold the image of the Advent Wreath in our minds as we move into the new year. We can remember its circle that signifies God, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the End—the constancy of His mercy and love. We can remember the green of the tree boughs that make up the shape and scent, symbolizing the new life we have now in Christ Jesus—a blessed eternal life. And every time we light a candle at the dinner table, or for a birthday cake, or if the power goes out in a storm—we can remember the lighting of our Advent Wreath and remember how God came into the world for us as our Savior, as the Messiah, as an infant in a manger, as the light of the world to conquer darkness and death. Alleluia.
Amen
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Sermon Notes:
Don't Let the Bend in the Road be the End of the Road
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Back in 1990, and I was working as an assistant pastor at Our Saviors Church in the south side of Minneapolis. There, I was being taught and working in fellowship with others to further relationships between God and the surround community. In doing so, it fell to me to preach on the 2nd week of advent, and funny enough, the text I preached on was the same text I have read today; Matthew 3.
Matthew 3 is not an easy text to preach on, but I preached on it anyway. As I am reading this text, what John has to say is quite intense, and to a group full of God loving christians, can be difficult to hear. Funny enough, to set the mood, the organ played right after I read the text to get the point across. Little did we know what would follow this sermon I preached on that Sunday.
Three days later, the church burnt to the grown. A 120 year old sanctuary built by wonderful people we never met, destroyed. We gathered as a community together and mourned the loss of such a great place, and it put into the mind of us at the time why would the ministry of Jesus burn to the ground two weeks before Christmas? All I could ask was why? Why did this place of worship, that was working to further the kingdom of God, burn to the ground, and with it, all of the hard work we put in?
It is hard to think that a building dedicated to Jesus would be something easily burnt to the ground. It had become of no use at all. Pretty soon we were collectively sad about our community and sad that all the work we had been doing in that space had gone away. It had gotten to a place where we had meetings working to decided why we were still meeting as a church; we were trying to decide if this was the end of the road for us. However, at one of these meetings, a brave individual on the council came with a devotional preaching from the same passage we dared not reference; Mathew 3. Everyone knew it, and it was gutsy to reference this text so soon. However, from this interpretation came thoughts on preparing the the way for Jesus and what that looks like in relationship to hardship. In experiencing hardship and strife, they said, we must make that path straight, not let it end. Maybe we as a community, we hav hit a very sharp bend in the road, but how we move on from this experience will shape us even more. So how do we respond to this bend in the road?
What are the bends in the road for us as individuals or as a community? What are the bends in the road for us as a congregation; being 100 plus years in community? Hitting bends in the road like the ones experienced at Our Saviors Church would not mean the end of the road for us. That does not mean, however, that we do not have our own hardships, both individually and as a congregation, that would.
As you go through your lives, what are the things that require your attention and cause you to reflect on where you are going. Do these bends in the road mean the end for you, or is there a way for you to prepare and make the path straighter?
After that bible study, we asked ourselves what God is doing and how we want to work within that? When that happened, it no longer became about an old castle, but many rooms and community spaces for those who can come and worship and rest. From the ashes we made a beautiful new church inside and out, and now, 25 years later, Our Saviors Church is bigger and busier than ever. God took something that was a terrible moment and turned it into something beautiful.
As we face hardships as a congregation, will these bends in the road be the end of us? I would think not. However, we must decide as a community who we will be in relationship to these challenges, so that as we see these bends, they do not become the end of us. We must take the time to prepare the way now, and not allow ourselves to be deceived by the bends in our lives.
Make a change, prepare the way, and hear the call.
Amen.
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Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas. We who have so much to do and seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day, We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
Amen
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Please join us every Sunday for our Virtual Zoom Worship Service. Online "fellowship starts at 10:00 am and Worship Service Starts at 10:30 am. |
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Gethsemane Lutheran
Building Hope Together
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4656 Colfax Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55412
612-521-3575
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