Faith E-news    November 23, 2016  

Quick Notes and Reminders    

Please check the calendar for more information.


Faith Feast Menu:
November 16 will feature walking tacos and dessert.

Food Pantry Items The food item for November is soup.

 
happy_thanksgiving_card.jpg
 

This Week's Blog
Giving Thanks for Ruin   
 
 
A preacher's task is to find the good news in scripture and proclaim it.
 
This is not a hard thing to do-if you get to pick out your own scripture. Facebook witnesses to an entire theological world view based on uplifting, inspirational quotes cherry picked from scripture and type set over photos of sunsets.
 
However, for many Protestant preachers like me, especially in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, each week the preacher is handed a scripture they did not choose. Instead, those of us who preach the Revised Common Lectionary commit to faithfully embrace the task of preaching, regardless of what we've been given. No sidestepping, no explaining away, no "hey, look it's a bird...now let's talk about how much Jesus loves you!"
 
A faithful preacher must take it all-judgment, challenge, discomfort, division, destruction, death-and engage in the gut-wrenching struggle to find and proclaim the good news in the midst of it.
 
This is not a hard thing to do. This is an awful, exhausting, heart-breaking, and ultimately dangerous task (if the life of Jesus is any indication). Bishop Michael Burk of the South Eastern Iowa Synod put it in this way as he preached to a room full of preachers this fall, "Jesus came to ruin your life."  
 
And still, I hear something within me saying, "It is worth it."
 
In life, the vast majority of us get what is handed to us and we just have to deal with it. For all followers of Jesus, preachers or not, the task still remains to find the good news to share and a voice with which to proclaim it.
 
And so, we need a good news that does not go around, but straight through. We need a good news that peels back every painful layer until we get to the heart of the matter, where the healing can finally begin. We need the good news that ruins the way things are right now to make way for something new.
 
Because this good news is the good news that will preach to real life. For the worst moments. For the most trying times. To the ugliness around and within. To death itself.
 
I look down at the scripture in my hands and I honestly don't know what to do with what I've been handed this week. I don't want to give thanks for the mess Jesus is promising to make of my life. But still I find myself beginning the task of preaching once again. The good news must be in there somewhere, because I trust deep down that Jesus really, truly is present in this life.
 
Pastor Sarah 
 

Sunday Breakfast 
 

On Sunday, December 3, the council will be hosting breakfast from 9:00-10:30 a.m. in St. Michael's Hall. Enjoy breakfast casseroles, fruit, milk, juice, muffins and fellowship.
 

Learn, Laugh, and Lunch Change 
  
Learn, Laugh and Lunch on Wednesday, November 16, has had a programming change.  Colonel Mark Chidley of the 132nd Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard will be our speaker.  Colonel Chidley will tell us about the mission of the 132nd Wing as it controls a military drone over foreign territories.  Information about the social and economic impact of this mission on the Des Moines community will be included.  
 
We are sorry to have to make this change, but we are grateful the the Air National Guard for stepping in with this great program. 
 
Because of this program change, we are extending the deadline for reservations until noon on Monday, November 14.  Thanksgiving dinner is: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry salad, rolls, and pumpkin pie. 
 

Adult Sunday School 
 

Faith Journeys, our Adult Sunday School class, will not meet on Sunday, November 27, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. We will meet next on Sunday, December 4, from 9:30-10:15 a.m.
 
   

Thank You    

 
The Faith Stitchers received the following thank you from Mercy Children's Hospital and Clinics. Our congregation is truly blessed by their outreach.

T
hank you & your fellow stitchers/knitters of the Faith Lutheran Church for your generous gift of 60 purple baby caps. Caps are greatly useful for keeping babies warm, especially in the colder months but your caps also serve a greater purpose- potentially keeping babies saver by reminding families of the purple cry period. Thank you.
 

Faith Lutheran Church Lessons and Carols Celebration   

Please join us on Sunday, December 13, at 8:15 and 10:30 a.m. for our annual Lessons and Carols. You don't want to miss this event! Music will be provided by the Children's Choirs, Agape Ringers, Jubilate Ringers, Brass Consort, Winds of the Spirit Flute Choir, Chor Spiritus, and the Chancel Choir. Also providing music from our magnificent Dobson Organ will be Senior Organist Bev Duffy. 
    

Guys' Night Out 
 
The Guys' Night Out group is going to Global Brew Tap House, at 9500 University Avenue, #1118, in West Des Moines. They are meeting on Monday, November 28, at 7:00 p.m. This brew house is fairly new, so they don't serve food. Don't worry because there are a few restaurants nearby that deliver, and the restaurant welcomes the deliveries and has menus on hand to call for food.Please let Dave Eppert (710-8558) or Tim Tessier (707-0880) know if you will be attending by sending a text. Hope to see you there!
 
   

Mosaic Giving Tree 
 


Children and Family Ministry is sponsoring a gift "tree" for Mosaic residents. Mosaic is a local organization which provides housing and care for adults with intellectual disabilities. Look for the gift tags in the Commons. If you take a gift tag, please return wrapped gifts to Faith by Friday, December 16.
 
 
 
  
 

Crestview Holiday Baskets  

For the fourth year in a row, we are again partnering with the City of Clive and the Clive Lions to supply holiday food baskets for approximately 60 families at Crestview Elementary. For the month of November, we are collecting:
  •  any variety dried beans
  •  canned meats: tuna, chicken, salmon
  •  vegetable oil
  •  cereal
All donations can be left in the Commons at Faith. We will collect food through Friday, December 9. Thank you for your support as this project gets bigger every year!
 

Children and Family Ministry     

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Parents' Night Out

Our Wednesday night choirs will be singing in worship for Lessons & Carols on Sunday, December 11, at both worship services.
 
Rehearsal for Lessons & Carols will be held on Saturday, December 10:
Alleluia Choir rehearsal:  9:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Messiah Choir rehearsal:  9:30 to 10:00 a.m.
   
 

Youth and Family Ministry     

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Youth and Family Ministry Party

On Wednesday, December 21, 7:30-9:30 p.m., the mission trip reunion and SHYG white elephant/Christmas party for 10th-12th graders and the Leach Lake Mission Trip group will gather at the Waage's to view the video and share some Christmas spirit. Look for more information in the near future.


Youth Mission Trip Registration

Registration is now open for the 2017 mission trip to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson. Any Faith student currently in grades 9-12 is eligible to participate in the trip, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 10 - Sunday, June 18, 2017. The journey, a joint effort of the ELCA's Southeastern Iowa Synod and its partner synod the Grand Canyon Synod, will open our eyes to the opportunities that Christ sets before us as we serve and learn about the joys and challenges of the culture and the church's role in responding to issues like human trafficking, homelessness, and immigration/border issues. To register, go to http://faithlc.org/youth-mission-trip.