January 26 Message

“His fame spread throughout the
region.” Mark 1:28.
During the season of Epiphany, we
have been walking with Jesus
through the first chapter of Mark.
Jesus is inviting all kinds of people
to be part of his ministry.
He invites the disciples to join him
in “fishing for people”. As John tells
us, Jesus is the Light of the world.
In this season we are invited to
“See the Light and Be the Light.”
As you can see from the picture to
the left, we are working on the
front area of the church, so our
Light of Faith can shine in our area.
Improvements will continue and
may take a while, but we do not
want to hide our Light of Peace, Joy and Love that is Faith Lutheran, behind a wall
of weeds. We started with the riverbed feature. This is a symbol of the river of
Life that flows from the “throne of God and the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1), our
elevated cross. The hill feature to the left will have a tree or trees. “On either side
of the river is the tree of life.” (Rev. 22:2). From the cross of Christ and from the
Tree of Life flows a river of renewal and hope. A touch of paradise will be
symbolized at the point where the rivers merge. Many people today feel the sting
of paradise lost. They need the healing and refreshment of a river of life. We have
that here at Faith. In the spirit of the season of Epiphany, we want to See the
Light and Be the Light – “let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”
There are a lot of ways to invite people to church at this moment in time. We are
meeting outdoors and on the web. Last Sunday was officially the coldest outdoor
service yet. A dozen hearty souls dressed in their winter best, braved the chill and
sat beneath the gazebos on benches warmed by Eleanor’s blankets.
Others joined us via zoom. Yes,
halleluiah, zoom worked this week.
Still others joined via the website — 15
to 30 each week. There are a lot of
ways to connect to Faith including this
message, if you want to share it with
friends. It is also on our website.
Of course, sitting outside in the cold or watching a service on a monitor is not the
same as “being in the sanctuary”. So even as we offer a variety of avenues to join
us in worship, we are also working to enhance our property. The first floor of the
fellowship building and now the outside areas including gazebos are looking
GOOD. When we can safely reenter the sanctuary, we will have an enhanced
property that says WELCOME.
This Sunday we meet for our semi-annual congregational meeting to look to the
year ahead. We know it will have twists and turns, just as 2020 did. But we make
the journey knowing that there is a river of life flowing through creation.
Refreshed by the waters of the River of Life, we travel following, as the Magi did,
a heavenly Light. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
God Bless you!
Pastor John Bunge
WORSHIP – Outdoors – Sundays at 10 am; zoom worked. 🙂 Thanks Judy
Mishoe for your help. The Zoom link each week will be
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89118792862?pwd=WUF6aHB3dmFHOXp5SWZ4ZnR
DVUtJdz09
You can also go into Zoom each week and enter Meeting ID: 891 1879 2862 with
the Passcode: Faith.
This week after the service you can stick around for our annual meeting.
I will also be sending you out a wonderful message from Seminary President and
former Bishop Guy Ewin on this Sundays’ text.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gqpfqllibz2ons9/Erwin-Sermon-4B-2021.mp4?dl=0
MEMBER UPDATES AND CONTINUAL PRAYERS
• Pray for the families those who died of COVID.
Jose Hernandez, father of Jesus Hernandez who is our gardener.
Daniel Armenta’s family, friend of George and Pat.
Cesar Guevara’s family. He lost his sister, Ciria, and nephew, Esteban.
Vince Vitterio’s family. Friends of Bunge’s.
Claudia Gambino, who died of COVID January 10, friend of Carol and Ed.
• Continue prayers for Lynda for healing.
• Michael Shea’s daughter, Rebecca, requesting prayer as she ponders her
future.
• Becky Malinowski continues her treatments for a reoccurrence of cancer
and continues to do well with them.
• Carol Fultz’ sister, Barbara Colangelo, is back in rehab.
• Friends of the Halls who have COVID Denise, Braxton and Mandy.
THANKS
Landscaping improvements will continue out front. Check out the riverbed
feature this week. Next is the area in the northwest section of the front. A
concept drawing of the rest of the front area is on the office window.
Thanks to our gardener, Jesus Hernandez, who cut down the trees around
the caged storage area and cleaned the area. He lost his father Friday. He
will not be able to travel to the funeral in Guadalajara MX.
Reminder to people who have Thrivent, remember to designate your 2020
Choice dollars before the end of March. Designating them to Faith means
thousands of dollars for Faith. You can also contact the office to coordinate
requesting Action Teams. The Action Team of $250 each goes along ways
to help our Ministry.
Our next pantry day is this Saturday, February 13.
Eleanor Diaz continues to help organize our quilting area. She is working on
the large quilts for Lutheran World Relief. Please call the church office if
you wish to help her with the quilting ministry. Also, if you have any extra
bookshelves around that you wish to donate to the church,
thank you. We have more fabric than space.
Upcoming Dates
Sunday January 31st Congregational Meeting – if you need an Annual Report let
us know. The Annual Report was emailed to you as well.
February 14th – the last Sunday in Epiphany and Valentine’s Day.
February 17th – Ash Wednesday – we will be studying the Gospel of John together
via zoom on Wednesday nights.
We have devotionals and envelopes for offerings in the church office.
You are special people! We are a special congregation of FAITH!