Gathering in Grace • Growing in Faith • Going Forth to Serve
Third Sunday of Epiphany
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Worship at 8:30 & 10:00am
Altar flowers this Sunday are given by Marion Olson, Keith & Marlys Olson, and Bruce & Stacey Solheim, in loving memory of Jay Olson.

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Accommodations throughout the church for those with disabilities.
Wireless hearing assist devices available for worship services.
Closed Captioning available with on-demand playback (not live) of worship services.
Nursery available at both services.
Parent/children's Pray-Ground available in the Sanctuary during worship.

Hospitality & Social Activities from 9-11:30am in the Narthex and Fellowship Hall


Click on the live-stream logo below or visit www.tlcgo.live at
the time of the service to watch it on your media device.
Sunday's Gospel
Matthew 4:12-23
(NRSV)

Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15 “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
    light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
18   As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19   And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20   Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21   As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22   Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Jesus Ministers to Crowds of People
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Sunday, January 26, 2020 - 11:00am - TLC Sanctuary

Please plan to attend TLC’s 2019-2020 annual meeting taking place in the sanctuary at 11:00am, Sunday, January 26. All voting members are invited to attend this important event to help celebrate ministry, discern the future and adopt a 2020 budget. The meeting will be live-streamed at tlcgo.live , but members must be present to vote. Hospitality and the nursery will be available.

~ ~ ~
[Click here] to download and view a pdf of the Annual Report.
[Click here] to download and view a pdf of Sunday's Agenda of the Annual Meeting.
Meet Your
Church Council Nominees
for 2020
My husband Quyen and I, along with our boys Nate and Nolan, have been members of TLC for about 10 years. We transferred to TLC from another community when our boys were younger because we wanted them to go to church with friends they also went to school with. We felt a warm welcome and the comfort of “home” from that first visit, and the boys have definitely been blessed by the nurturing, supportive youth and Confirmation programs. I am a 3rd grade teacher at Ridgeview Elementary in Bloomington, and I have been very involved with our sons’ sports and activities within the community. I also love nature, reading, running with our Labrador, and nurturing my faith with our small group. I feel honored to serve TLC’s inclusive community and look forward to participating in it and supporting God’s work.

Hello I'm Dan Ekholm, a candidate for church council this year - although I am better known as the “piano player's husband”☺ Phetsamone and I have raised our three children at TLC and have been involved with the congregation over 20 years! Kayla and Noah were both confirmed here and Micah will start next year. We live in Lakeville and are kept busy with running a real estate business and running kids to and from from lacrosse, football and basketball. When spare time can be found, I enjoy fishing and hunting and road trips to Florida and Texas in search of warmth and sun! I look forward helping guide TLC into the future.
My wife Karen and I joined TLC in 1997 when we moved to Bloomington. We felt welcomed from day one and the music talent was and still is amazing. Both of our kids, Emily and Colby, were baptized and confirmed here. Over the years I have been a Sunday school teacher, a Lenten mentor, a member of the personnel committee, and chaperoned two mission trips. I was to be the token male on a third mission trip but came down with pneumonia just before the trip. This church has great people and does great things and I would like to serve on the church council to help us continue to do these things and help find ways to draw more families into our church community.
 
I have been a member of TLC for over 40 years, so in my case, that would be a life-time member. My parents, Don and Margaret Mattson, became members of TLC in 1962. I was baptized, confirmed, and married at Transfiguration. My wife and her family became members about 14 years ago. Our teenage children, Taylor and Drew, went to daycare at the Early Learning Center for most of their school-age years. I have been a part of the Brass Choir, the Renovation Work Group, the Strategic Planning Team, and head chef of the Sunday morning donut crew (does anyone even remember that?). I am excited to join this leadership team and be able to add my voice for the future, while remembering the past.
 
Transfiguration Lutheran Church has been a part of my family’s and my own faith history since 1957, when the church was organized under Pastor Franklin Swanson. I was privileged to be part of the very first Confirmation Class. While my life’s journey has taken me to various other Lutheran churches, when I moved back to Bloomington in 2017, I knew my church home would be TLC. My career has been in Secondary Education and Hospice management. Both those career paths offered opportunity for service and growth in my faith. I currently serve as a Stephen Ministry Leader, lector and communion minister. I would be honored to serve on the church council to not only acknowledge my gratitude for my past association, but also to be part of the present and future growth of the community of believers that is Transfiguration Lutheran Church. 
 
The National Lutheran Choir's annual Choral TuneUp is scheduled for Saturday, February 1, 2020. 

For those of you who have attended in the past, you know that this is a wonderful event for church choirs, directors, and lovers of church choral music to gather and learn new music together alongside the singers of the National Lutheran Choir. This year's clinician is Dr. Michael Culloton (Concordia College, Moorhead). He is a dynamic, energetic director. Time spent with him will be exciting!

TLC Singers, don’t miss this great NLC Event!

PRE-REGISTRATION IS CLOSED. CONTACT THE NLC OFFICE AT 612-722-2301, EXT. 102 IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING.
[Click here] to learn more.
Do you ever need an extra prayer for yourself, a loved one, or a dear friend? TLC has a prayer team that prays often for members, their families and friends of the congregation. Send your prayer requests to merickson@tlcmn.com or on the TLC website here , or write your request on the yellow Life@TLC insert included in the bulletin each Sunday. These prayer needs are sent on to the Prayer Team and kept confidential – just between you, the pray-ers, and God. If you would like to be a member of the prayer team, please sign up on the yellow Life@TLC bulletin insert.
Life is Precious
Take a look at your new calendar...it's soon Groundhog's Day! Yes, February 2 nd will come, and we'll all say the same old thing: “Six more weeks of winter if he sees his shadow, but in Minnesota we'd welcome only six more weeks...It usually drags out a lot longer.” You can tell we've been spending more time inside, as varieties of the common cold are making the rounds. Bird Lady has not had a cold in a few years, but managed to find someone's germs recently, and have been pulling tissues out of the box really fast and tossing them in a waste basket for the garbage.

It's interesting to have something to look forward to always, not just the “same old, same old” routine. Years ago we loved winter as we could both cross-country ski, and still have our skis up in the garage rafters. The first try at skiing was on Dwan Golf Course which was pretty new back then... lots of room to make your own trails, see the other side of the neighborhoods that are now fenced in away from the course. We later tried Nine Mile School's back yard areas and the hill that one finds going down to the creek. Now Nine Mile School is a church, and makes a nice addition to our area. All this was before they built the town houses to the south, where our good friends Karen and Rod live.

Well, so much for reminiscing about the good old days. We are gradually inching forward to Lent! Hardly seems possible, as the TLC Christmas trees were just put away, weren't they? I've talked before about giving up something for Lent, but this time it's not about “giving up” quite so much as it is about adding something worthwhile to your life, something that will be a huge help to others. When church attendance seems down, the choir numbers can go down too. I see fine younger singers who have sung in high school and college and why are they not joining the choir? As a new confirmand so long ago now, I could hardly wait to join the adult choir. We had black robes and white collars, and the pastor's wife was the director. With my mom being the organist, it was what was “meant to be.”

There is also another idea for giving of yourself... Be a mentor to a confirmand during Lent. I always felt I needed a mentor more than to be one. Those kids are so up on all the latest technology and I am not. You wonder what will the next great thing be these days... $$$$ for sure.

My good friend, Marion Cowell, whom I brought communion to for years, just left us last Saturday. I am very sad, as we had so much in common and enjoyed each other's company twice a month. Someone had given her a nice [computer] tablet, but she never learned to use it, and I couldn't help her either. She loved to play games on her computer, but this would have been easier. I hope each of you can have a friend like Marion... someone you can tell anything to, gripe with, etc.. We even worked on her daily crossword puzzle many times. Today my communion kit is back in the sacristy again, only used once this month.

Take care, everyone. Life is precious.

-Bird Lady

Marion Cowell
October 23, 1926 ~ January 18, 2020
Sympathy for family and friends of
longtime TLC member, Marion Cowell, upon her death.
~ ~ ~
A Celebration of Marion's Life will be held at
Transfiguration Lutheran Church
Tuesday, January 28 at 11:00am
with a luncheon to follow. Visitation at 10:00am.
"Tree Heart"
ELC Photographer: Nora, 8 years old

Nora tells us that she wanted to take a picture of something that she had taken a picture of this summer, which was this tree. Only then it was in a state of abundant greenery. She recently had the opportunity to visit the tree again, saying that it didn’t look like a heart in the summer because of the leaves that were on it, but now it does. She named it for what her imagination saw: Tree Heart.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
FOR US?
-a continuing series-
By Pastor Al Dungan
The "Gesima" Sundays
Shrove Tuesday
Ash Wednesday

In the Lutheran Church, about 3 or 4 hymnals back, before we began to use the 3-year cycle of lessons, we used to acknowledge the Sundays before Lent: Septuagesima (70 days before Easter), Sexagesima (60 days before Easter), Quinquagesima (50 days before Easter.

The “Gesima” Sundays began to be recognized in the 14 th century as a way for Christians to prepare themselves for the very serious season of Lent. It was kind of an “easing into” the 40 days of Lent in which the suffering and death of Jesus was highlighted.

Shrove Tuesday (sometimes known as “Fat Tuesday”) was the day before Lent began when all fats were used up, often by making pancakes. Shrove Tuesday became widely known as Pancake Day and is still celebrated in Ireland and England with pancake races.

The last day before Lent, Shrove Tuesday, was originally a day in which Christians took time to confess their sins and be “shriven” or released from them as they faced the Lenten time of fasting in which no meat was allowed and meals were very basic. It also, interestingly, morphed into a time of wild celebration—a last opportunity to party before the serious season of Lent during which all “worldly” practices were eschewed—re: the well-known Mardi Gras of New Orleans.

And then we come to the day which signifies the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday began a 40 day period of introspection, repentance and denial for most Christians. The day itself is one of fasting and the imposition of ashes on the forehead which symbolizes “you are dust and to dust you shall return”—a stark reminder of our mortality.

So…”What does this mean for us?”
First, these days in the church year help us to take seriously that to be a Christian is not all “roses and light.”

Second, there are times when we need to take a long look at what Jesus has done for us and then take some serious time to emulate his willingness to give up his majesty as being one with the Father and taking on human form to be like us.

Third, this can be done through prayer and fasting as we look forward to the joyous time of Easter and the resurrection of our Lord.

These days of the “Gesima” Sundays, Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday can, if we are willing, help us with the serious reflection of what it means to be a Christian in this world that blithely ignores all forms of penitence.
 
January 29, 2020 - 7:00pm - TLC Conference Room
Coffee and Conversation invites you to a steaming cup of coffee with good friends and conversation. All are welcome. Please come and join us in a discussion on "Friendships, a treasure."
Please note: Oasis services are not live-streamed.
Oasis Wednesday at TLC
January 29

  • Community Meal 5:30-6:00pm. Chicken Barley Soup. $5.00 suggested donation.

  • 6:30-7:00pm Worship Service with Communion.

  • Confirmation at 7:00pm
January 2020 Mission of the Month:
Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) was founded in 1987, and is a Christian non-profit that provides nutritionally complete meals, specifically formulated for malnourished children in over 70 countries throughout the world. TLC has supported FMSC efforts over the last several years through benevolence giving and volunteering. Visit their website here.
 
PLEASE HELP THIS COMING WEDNESDAY MORNING
JANUARY 29
Want to get involved? Come pack with us!  Watch for sign-up dates in the TLC bulletin insert, Life@TLC and listed below. FMSC offers volunteers a one-of-a-kind experience. You’ll hand-pack rice, soy, dried vegetables and a nutritionally complete blend of vitamins and minerals into bags which are then sealed, boxed, placed on pallets and shipped to our incredible partners, working hard to reach the neediest children around the world.  We pack at the Eagan site (990 Lone Oak Rd #136, Eagan, MN 55121) this coming Wednesday, January 29, 9:30 to 11:30am. Meet in TLC’s West Parking lot a half-hour prior to start time if you want to carpool.  Contact Bob Riley for more info patriley50@aol.com. Sign up on the Life@TLC yellow insert.

January
New Month
New Year
New Decade
~ ~ ~
Back to the Basics
What’s more basic than starting the morning with a good breakfast?
For some families in our community there are other priorities that don’t allow for good and healthy food to start their day. We can help, and it’s so easy. We all grocery shop, and we all can pick up some extra’s and simply bring them to the TLC collection boxes to be taken to our Mission Partner, VEAP. 

Shopping list suggestions:
Hot cereal, cold sugar-free cereal,
pancake or muffin mix, Bisquick,
cocoa, cans or jars of fruit.

Let’s fill the bins in January with food for breakfast!

Back Issues of the TLC Weekly
including this issue (Today!)
[CLICK HERE] to visit the TLC web page where you can choose to read from the past 16 months of weekly E-newsletters from Transfiguration Lutheran Church. This is also a great way to share TLC Weekly with those that don't receive it in email. Tell them to visit tlcmn.com/tlcweekly
Also, there are a limited number of TLC Weekly's in hard copy at the TLC Welcome desk next to the Chapel.

Cheesy Southwest Chicken and Rice Casserole
What you'll need:
  • 1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 pkg (20 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 can (19 oz) Old El Paso red enchilada sauce
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz)

Directions:
  • Heat oven to 375°F. 
  • Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish with cooking spray. 
  • Layer rice, black beans, chili powder, broth and chicken breasts in baking dish. 
  • Pour enchilada sauce over all. Cover with foil. 
  • Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until rice is tender and juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (at least 165°F).
  • Remove chicken; stir rice and beans.
  • Replace chicken; sprinkle with cheese. 
  • Replace foil cover; let stand about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. 
Blessings!


Jan-Mar 2020 Transcripts
Now available online. [Click Here]

Is this a vision test compliments of TLC?




Hint: Look carefully and try to read it top to bottom in one continuous sentence.
ELECTRONIC GIVING HELPS SUPPORT TLC
It’s important to know that we can depend on financial support from TLC members. Electronic giving is fast, secure, and reduces administrative costs, allowing more of every dollar to support the important work we are called to do. You can give anytime, anywhere to specific funds with our GivePlus Mobile app (free from the app store). You can also schedule and manage recurring donations by visiting our website and clicking on TLC ONLINE GIVING icon at the bottom of any page, or [Click Here] to start the process, or contact the church office.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
Picture for illustration purpose only.
ALTAR FLOWERS
ORDER ONLINE
FOR 2020
See the chart online or stop in
at the church office to order.

The TLC website has an online form to order Chancel/Altar Flowers for any Sunday in 2020. Click Here to access the form now , or visit www.tlcmn.com later and look for the "Purchase Altar Flowers" button at the bottom of any page.
Free Subscriptions, sign up to be a volunteer, request care ministry and more!
Subscribe a friend to this newsletter, TLC Weekly, or subscribe yourself and others to the TLC publication, Transcripts. Interested in TLC membership? Sunday school? Our renowned TLC music program, volunteering and more are choices on this easy online TLC Request Form. Just [Click Here] or the "Sign Me Up" button on the left.

A Reconciling in Christ Congregation
A Culture of Diversity and Inclusion
~~LINKS~~
Visit TLC's website at www.TLCMN.com
Comments and questions: TLCMedia@tlcmn.com