Welcome to Christ Lutheran e-news, a weekly electronic newsletter which highlights programs and activities of our congregation. Feel free to .

We delight in welcoming two new families into membership at Christ Lutheran Church. Scott and Georgette Isbrandt worshipped here several years ago before moving to Africa, where Scott led a number of development projects on the continent. They now live in Natick with their children, Vanessa, Owen, and Ethan.   Dan and Lori Anderson moved to Natick last summer, and welcomed baby Lily in late September. We look forward to her baptism in June.
 
Thanks to everyone who worked to make Sunday's semi-annual meeting go so smoothly, especially John Whitlock and Edie Lohr, who produced the major reports, Mary Avalos, who copied and assembled the bulletin, and made sure sufficient copies were distributed at Calumet, and George Hall, who oversaw it all. Thanks, especially, to you, the generous people of Christ Lutheran Church: a significant year-end surplus means that the Major Maintenance Fund will be restored to a healthy level, and two partners, The New England Synod Jubilee Fund assisting pastors with heavy seminary debt load, and Resurrection Lutheran Church in Roxbury, will receive life-giving gifts.

We rejoice with Meghan and Sean O'Hara at the birth of Macellan on February 2! His sister Hadley joins their parents in celebration of his birth.
 
Music Notes
Tom Berryman, Music Director

Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) helps to summarize the Christmas and Epiphany season with the final section of his "La Nativité" (1935), "Dieu parmi nous" (God among Us), the Organ Postlude for this Sunday, February 16.  This brilliant reflection on the text  "And the Word became flesh and lived among us.  My soul magnifies the Lord"   opens with God descending to earth and concludes with a toccata style celebration of the Incarnation. 

 Here is a pre-fire performance by Notre Dame Paris organist, Olivier Latry:


Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur - 9. Dieu parmi nous
Messiaen: La Nativité du Seigneur - 9. Dieu parmi nous

Youth & Family
Gail Weston-Roberts, Youth & Family Ministries Coordinator


Good day, Youth and Families!

I'll keep this brief: please email me as to your availability during Winter Break-it's next week!  Things We Could Do: 

--Encounter the HOT TUB at the parsonage!
--Spiff up and decorate (within reason) the MINIBUS for     El Paso!
--Make some final QUILTS-maybe go SHOP for fabric!
--And I need YOUR IDEAS as to what you'd like to do!

Okay, enough exclamation points! Thank you, and please send YOUR CALENDAR openings for Sat., Feb. 15, through Sat., Feb. 22.

And please do plan on being part of Pastora Rose Mary's immigration immersion program on Sat., Feb. 22, 2:00 to 6:00pm. I would love for you to meet her and hear her speak about what is really happening at the border, and how these Lutherans are "being God's hands-doing God's work" with those who are suffering.
 
Adult Formation
ADULT FORUM

In the forum this Sunday we'll explore the place of liturgical art in our life of faith. Joinus in the Memorial Room at 9:00.
                                
                                                                                                                                   

 CLC BOOK GROUP
Monday, February 17th, 7:30 PM

Journalist Chanan Tigay traces the mystery of a Bible scroll discovered around 1883 that  might be linked to the Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered 70 years later. The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt for the World's Oldest Bible recounts the story of Moses Wilhelm Shapira, a dealer of antiquities in Jerusalem, who arrived in London with a scroll he said he had found in an area east of the Dead Sea. When the scroll was discredited as a fake, Shapira committed suicide and the scroll went missing. Tigay takes up the search for the missing scroll in this fascinating non-fiction account of biblical scholarship, archeology, and human desire.


                                     
BIBLE STUDY

  Bible Study with Pastor Rich Hurst resumes this  week at its regularly scheduled time:  9:45 a.m. gathering in the Memorial Room for coffee and snacks, with discussion beginning promptly at 10:00. 

Call to Action

Don't let your family and friends miss out on the exciting happenings on the weekend of February 22-23:

A mini-immersion on Saturday, February 22, from 2:00-6:00 p.m. (announced incorrectly elsewhere as from 1:00-5:00). Hear from a recent Central American arrival, an immigration attorney, and Pastora Rose Mary, and enjoy a chili supper. This is a free event.



Silent Movie Night with the incomparable Rob Humphreville returns that evening at 7:00. He'll provide live accompaniment to Ella Cinders with Colleen Moore and Lloyd Hughes, the 1926 film based on a syndicated comic strip, based on the folk tale Cinderella. A freewill offering will be received to help offset costs.

On Sunday Pastora Rose Mary will speak at the adult forum and preach at worship, after which we'll bless the minibus and its contents...100+ quilts, sleeping bags, sweaters and sweatshirts, shoes, and more, then celebrate with a simple brunch.


Finally, our Family Promise host week begins that Sunday (Feb. 23 - March 1).  Trained volunteers are needed to prep and/or serve meals, stay overnight, and set up/break down rooms. Please register on CERVIS at  www.familypromisemetrowest.org, or see Robin Hurst or Mary Avalos to assist you. 
                                         
Looking Ahead

Ash Wednesday begins the holy and contemplative season of Lent, and Christ Lutheran Church will offer two services to mark this beginning of our journey toward the cross and empty tomb: a simple service of Holy Communion at 11:00 a.m. and a fuller liturgy at 7:30 p.m. Choose the one that better suits your schedule.
 




                                                    
On Sunday, February 16,  we celebrate the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany.  Pastor Angel Marrero  preaching and presiding. 
READINGS FOR THIS WEEK - Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
February 16, 2020  

In today's reading from Deuteronomy we are called to choose life by loving and obeying God. Much of today's gospel reading echoes portions of the Ten Commandments. Jesus' instructions to the crowd reveal a pattern of behavior that honors both God and the neighbor, resulting in life and health for the whole community. We too are invited to embrace these commandments, not out of fear of retribution, but because God has promised that to do so means life for us.

            First Reading                          Psalm                      Second Reading                     Gospel
            Deut 30:15-20                        Ps 119:1-  8                    1 Cor 3 :1- 9                    Matt 5:21-37
Sing For Joy
Enhance your understanding of the weekly scripture readings by listening to Sing For Joy http://www.stolaf.edu/singforjoy/ from St. Olaf College.  The Sing For Joy radio program, produced by St. Olaf College , has a simple mission: to explore the weekly themes of Christian worship by providing the best in sacred choral music and thoughtful commentary. The musical performances eloquently "do the talking," while the concise remarks from host Pastor Bruce Benson illuminate the meaning of the texts.
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