The Messenger God’s solid foundation stands firm. 2 Tim. 2:19 THE NEWSLETTER OF FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH January 2015 Faith’s Mission – is to reach people, young and old, who need Christ in their lives, and to help them know, love and serve Christ. Beginning a New Year! Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I’ve tried. The hard part, I’ve found is keeping them, or even getting started. I once had a friend say, “There’s nothing like getting up at 5:00 in the morning, going for a run, and taking a hot shower before breakfast.” I asked, “How long have you been doing this?” My friend said, “I start tomorrow.” True change usually doesn’t come through resolutions. In fact most of us fail miserably in our attempts to change who we are and what we do. But there is hope. By the grace of God, Jesus Christ offers a new beginning, a changed heart and mind, indeed, a new life. Make Jesus Lord of your life and you shall be changed. In 2015 let God make your new year a blessed one. Not by shielding you from all pain and sorrow, but by strengthening you to bear it if it comes. Not by making your path easy, but by making you strong enough to follow wherever God may lead. Not by taking hardships from you, but by taking all fear from your heart as you meet those hardships. Not by making your life always pleasant, but by showing you where you are needed most and by making you willing to be there and willing to help. Not by keeping you from every battle, but by reminding you that in all things you are more than conquerors through Christ “Who loves you.” God can use us all in a wonderful way in this New Year. Remember that it is through acts of love, forgiveness, kindness, responsibility, character and compassion that the true spirit of Christ can lead us into the New Year. May Christ rule in our hearts in this New Year. Pastor Jim *************************************************** An EXCITING Year Ahead! Here’s a peek at some of the events in the New Year for High School Youth Group: Planning and fundraising for summer trips IKEA trip to check out options for a new couch or two Meal packing for Feed My Starving Children Continued Sunday night gatherings going deeper in our faith with Jesus Care visits “How can I support our youth?” Has this question ever crossed your mind? Have you ever wondered how you might be able to connect and come alongside our dynamic, interesting, fun, energetic, delightful, funny, cool high school students? If you’ve asked this question, my first answer is “AWESOME!” My second response is to tell you to connect with me, associate pastor Ellie McAllister ([email protected], 320.333.7459). I want to get you connected to our young people and our young people connected to you. We’ve welcomed a few of our adult members to our gatherings to share life stories and fellowship and I’d love to get more of our members connected with our youth in all kinds of ways and venues and events. One of the really cool characteristics of the New Testament church described in the Book of Acts in the Bible was that it was intergenerational, meaning the church had a wonderful mix of young people and old people working and serving alongside each other as they followed Jesus in the world. I’d like to invite you to work at being more connected with our young people. Here are a few ideas of ways you can support and get connected to our youth: Pray…and pray and pray and pray. Our young people need prayer. They need prayer from their church family to cover their lives and to help them navigate each day. They need prayer for healthy families, friends, and relationships. They need prayer to plan for their future. They need prayer to grow closer to God. Please pray for our young people. Talk to our young people when you see them. Introduce yourself. Ask them questions. Crack a joke. Share a story. Be real and authentically interested in getting to know our students. Volunteer your time. When there’s a need for adult volunteers or chaperones for an event, be the first to step up. Ask me what events you could help organize or lead. Let me know when you could be available to help with an event, and how and in what ways you’d like to serve. Share your talents with our young people. Do you have a talent or skill you could teach our young people? We love learning new things and we learn the best when our teachers are passionate about their talent! Explore issues of faith with our young people. Talk to our students about your faith. Share with them your struggles and questions about your faith as well as moments where you encountered God in rich or new ways. Tell them how Jesus is your Savior and life leader. Let them know how to integrate their lives with their faith. Thank you, Faith Lutheran Church, for caring about our young people. May we work together in the New Year to bless our young people and come alongside them in new ways! Peace in Christ, Ellie McAllister, Associate Pastor Church Council Minutes December 16, 2014 Members present: Pastor Jim Tetlie; Pastor Ellie McAllister; President, Jim Olsen; Vice President & Stewardship, Todd Roberts; Secretary, Connie Lounsbury; Treasurer, Patrick Zierden; Building, Rod Anacker; Worship & Music, Mike Olson; Youth & Family, Gary Brant. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by President Jim Olsen and opened with prayer by Pastor Ellie McAllister. Pastor Jim presented his report. Motion to approve the report was made by Mike Olson and seconded by Pat Zierden. Motion carried. Pastor Ellie presented her report. Motion to approve was made by Pat Zierden and seconded by Gary Brant. Motion carried. Treasurer Pat Zierden presented the treasurer’s report. A decision was made to donate $320 to Teen Challenge and $300 to HELPS International from the tithing fund. Motion to accept the treasurer’s report was made by Connie Lounsbury and seconded by Todd Roberts. Motion carried. Todd Roberts, chair of the Stewardship Committee reported that plans are underway to offer two new adult education classes at Faith. Alpha will be offered again soon and Mike and Brenda Olson will be teaching Financial Peace class, a class similar to Crown Ministry. The stewardship committee members will begin attending new member classes with the pastors in order to better acquaint the new members with other church members. Todd reported that they had received five addresses for military members and that the Sunday school put together 40 letters to send and the youth sent letters to all five of the soldiers. Rod Anacker, chair of the Building Committee, reported that all the emergency and exit lights in the church are out and he will be purchasing LED lights to replace them immediately. Todd Roberts volunteered to donate his time to help install them. Rod Anacker’s plan is to eventually replace all the church lights with LED for a substantial saving. After the New Year, Mike Olson and Todd Roberts will do a cost savings analysis for that project. Mike Olson, chair of the Worship Committee, reported that Gary Brant had donated a camera but we still need a screen in order for services to be shown in the Narthex during heavy attendance. He said that response for the Christmas caroling next Sunday has been good so far. A decision was made by the council to purchase an electronic piano valued at $4,000 for $500 offered by a friend of Kerry Johnson. The cost will be paid from the Prayer Chapel Fund donated by Jim and Lorraine Forar for the purpose of a sound system in the old sanctuary. Gary Brant, chair of Family and Youth Committee, reported that 17 children took part in the Sunday school Christmas Program on Sunday and that it had received much praise and appreciation from the large audience. He credited Roxanne Van Culin with the great job she did with the non-traditional type of program that maintained the true meaning of Christmas. There was no old business. New business: The annual meeting was set for January 25th at 12:30 p.m. The next council meeting will be January 27, 2015 at 7 p.m. The change in schedule is due to the annual meeting date. Gary Brant moved to adjourn the meeting and Jim Olsen seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Connie Lounsbury, Secretary Pastor’s Report for November: 8 Sunday services 1 church council meeting 7 home visits 2 Pastoral care sessions 4 renewal group meetings 7 Crossways classes 2 See Through the Scripture classes 4 Life Worth Living classes 6 Confirmation classes 3 staff meetings 7 hospital visits 1 Thanksgiving eve service 1 baptism – Reid Anthony Hessig 2 new member sessions 1 New Member Sunday ~Thank you for your continued prayers & support Congestive Heart Failure “You know what is in everyone’s heart. So from your home in heaven answer their prayer according to the way they live and what is in their hearts.” 1 Kings 8:39 Congestive heart failure (CHF) is heart condition that is frequently misunderstood. Our heart is a pump that pushes the blood through our body. When a person has CHF, their heart is unable to do a good job of pumping the blood, and it gets backed up into the lungs and legs. This back-up can cause trouble breathing and swelling. CHF can be caused by many things. The heart can be weaken by a heart attack, or a disease of the heart muscle itself. Also, faulty heart valves, treatment for cancer, or drug abuse can weaken a person’s heart. Symptoms vary from person to person, and can include shortness of breath, swelling of the legs or stomach area, and a lack of energy. Blood and fluid can collect in the lungs, making it very hard to breath. Fluid often causes swelling in the feet and legs, and fatigue is a common problem. Because it is easier to breath while sitting up, a good night’s sleep may be very difficult. having trouble breathing. Contact your doctor right away if these symptoms occur, because catching a condition early makes it simpler to treat, with a quicker turn around. Commonly a doctor will prescribe a diuretic, or “water pill”, to pull the extra fluid out of your system. Luckily, there are many treatments for CHF, depending on how severe it is and what the main cause of the condition is. There are lifestyle changes that are easy to do, which can help control the symptoms and improve the quality of life greatly. Anyone with CHF can improve their health by limiting the amount of salt and fluid they consume. Read labels to see how much salt is in your food, and don’t add any table salt. There are so many herbs and salt-less seasonings available to add flavor to food, we simply need to do a little research and pay attention to what we eat. Get an idea from your doctor as to how much fluid you should drink a day, and stick to it! Another weapon against CHF is regular exercise. Everyone has the tolerance for some form of activity, from walking to yoga. Done properly and with a doctor’s OK, it can strengthen your body and improve your overall health. Today, there are many medications that can help the heart beat stronger, and keep the extra fluid from building up. Take them regularly, along with lifestyle changes, for the best quality of life. Diagnosing CHF starts with a good medical history, looking at things like a previous heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, and physical symptoms such as shortness of breath and swelling of the legs. Listening to the heart is important, as well as an echocardiogram to actually see the heart in action. An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart, which is a painless test that can tell the doctor how well your heart is pumping. There may be other tests the doctor wishes to have done to confirm a Take charge of your health and enjoy living! diagnosis. More info: It is very important to pay attention to the body’s http://www.onhealth.com/congestive_heart_failure clues that CHF is getting worse, such as gaining 2 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesor 3 pounds in just a couple days, leg swelling, or conditions/heart-failure ©J Witucki, BSN 2014 26- Mike & Linda Bregenzer God bless you on your special day! If you see a mistake or an omission, please contact the secretary so she can update the records: 763.878.2092 or [email protected]. Thanks! 1- Jeremy Kemmetmueller 5- Tami Foote 7- Brenda Olson 10- Tim Cotter 12- Gloria Triebwasser 13- Nate Landecker 14- Ray Knutson 14- Kathy Van Schepen 17- Logan Hiemstra 20- Rebekah Hasbrouck 21- Harlan Hamson 21- Tim Landecker 25- Lynsey Kissinger 26- Brooke Bublitz 27- Duane Van Culin 28- Owen Holm January 25th at 12:30pm Annual meeting time means writing reports for some of you lucky folks…the Treasurer, Pastor, Associate Pastor, Parish Nurse, nominating committee, Sunday School, VBS, Altar Guild, Ladies of Faith, Fall Festival, & audit committee. Please have them to the secretary by Monday, January 19th. You can either email them to [email protected] or leave them in her box outside her office door. Food Shelf Donation for January is canned vegetables
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