Please join us for worship. Services will be both in person and live streamed. Contact Pastor Berg or Kristin Smith for the streaming information.
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Rumors of War
from Pastor Berg's Monthly Blog
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Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, 'I am!' and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs. As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. (Mark 13:5-10)
In my sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent I asked the question, "Will we choose Barabbas and chaos, or Jesus and peace?" It really is an important question. Jesus in the Gospel of Mark reminds us of our folly. That we just seem to always get ourselves in trouble by following the wrong leader, choosing war and violence to solve our problems (Will Smith slapping Christ Rock, anyone?), thinking that the world is getting worse. The sad state of affairs is that we humans have always lived in a time of chaos. We just seem to want to remain in a state of suffering.
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“Creation Care” is a new section of the monthly newsletter (and occasionally the weekly newsletter as well) that will focus on topic #5 of FLC’s Vision to Mission – 2025: “We desire to care for all of God’s creation.” |
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The first day of spring was on Sunday, March 20th. Spring is the season that represents new beginnings: animals yawn and stretch and come out of hibernation; gardens and fields are planted; flowers grow and bloom, showing off their beauty; birds are singing; animals are having babies; trees grow leaves to fill their bare branches; and all of God’s creation is renewed and refreshed. The month of April emphasizes the celebration and protection of God’s gifts.
Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, in an effort to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It is celebrated on the same day every year and falls on a Saturday this year. Although it will be 52 years since the inception of Earth Day, the need to support the environment has not diminished but has actually reached a critical stage. Check out www.EarthDay.org for a variety of events that are being coordinated on a global basis to recognize the significance of this day.
Rogation Day is on Monday, April 25th. This festival day is one of several designated for prayers and fasting in many Christian faiths. April 25th is identified as the Major Rogation (from the Latin rogare, “to ask [for God’s blessings and mercy]”), while the Minor Rogation days were traditionally the three days before the principal festival of the Ascension of our Lord, celebrated on the 40th day after Easter (Thursday, May 26th). Deriving from the traditional Rogationtide, the ELCA has designated the second Sunday after Pentecost as Stewardship of Creation Sunday. We will celebrate this day of stewardship on June 19th.
Last, due to the efforts of the Sustainability Task Force, FLC became a Greening Congregation partner in consultation with Earth Ministry in November of 2021.Earth Ministry is a Seattle-based organization that engages with the faith community in environmental stewardship and advocacy. Check out their website throughout the year for any upcoming events for which you might be interested.
Submitted by Christy Freriks and Ho Brown, FLC Church Council
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Easter Cleanup!
April 9, 9 am - noon
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The Building & Property Committee is looking for volunteers to help with sprucing up the church For Palm Sunday and Easter Services. There are several chores that need to be done, and many hands make for light work! If you are not able to come on the 9th but are able to come on your own another time. Here is a list of chores that need attention. We ask that you let us know what you’ve done, so it doesn’t get repeated. THANKS!
* Clean Library windows inside & out
* Clean Narthex windows inside & out
* Clean windows in the Landing inside & out
* Vacuum pews
* Dust/clean furniture in Narthex
* Dust stairway railings and choir loft
* Sweep down cobwebs as needed
* Vacuum inner Narthex
* Clean glass wall in inner Narthex
* Clean glass wall in fellowship hall
* Anything else you’d like to clean as needed
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- Help us reach our goal of completing 50 more quilts! It's very fun and simple to do - all instruction will be provided! The fellowship with new friends is free and priceless!
- All are welcome, men, women, teens and friends!
- Please bring a refillable water container and sharp scissors to trim edges and ties, if you have them!
- Questions to Audrey Fisher at 425-822-6143.
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First Lutheran Church Preschool Is Still Accepting Applications for 2022 - 2023.
If you know of someone looking for a preschool, please encourage them to check us out at Bothell Preschool!
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From the FLC Council's Covid-19 Task Force
Please use the Coronavirus Self-Checker from the CDC at left before entering the building.
According to the CDC, King and Snohomish Counties are currently rated low risk for COVID. Click HERE for more information.
We encourage all who enter the building to be fully vaccinated. The COVID vaccine is free and you can click on the links to find a location near you:
Masks are optional. We understand that each individual will make the decision that is best for them as to whether to wear a mask in the building.
If you are sick, please stay home.
Please use frequent hand washing and gel to cut back on the spread of illness.
Questions? christyfreriks@hotmail.com
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Women's Bible Study & Fellowship opportunities available:
Deborah Circle: April 12, 10:30 am.
Gather Magazine Bible Study
Hannah Circle: April 18, 6:30 pm.
Contact: Linda Siebert 206-369-7047
Rebecca Circle: April 20, 10:00 am.
Contact: Barbara Thieme 425-898-8982
FLC circles welcome all women of the congregation! Please contact the persons listed above for meeting locations.
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Men’s Breakfast and Bible Study! (Also available on Zoom)
Saturday, April 16, 9 – 10:15 am.
Join other congregation and community members for breakfast and conversation! There will be “food for the body, food for the soul and food for thought!” A group of 21 men attended the March 2022 in-person and zoom breakfast. Please join us for discussion and enrichment. Questions to Roger Steinke.
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Roger Steinke's Notes
Director of REACH Ministries
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Reach Ministries
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL AGES
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Easter Breakfast & Food Drive
Sunday, April 17, 9:30 to 11 AM
Fellowship Hall
The youth of First Lutheran Church invite you to join the 2022 Easter Breakfast and Food Drive! Our menu features fresh baked coffee cake with streusel, fresh fruit salad, coffee, tea, juice and milk
Please bring a non-perishable food donation or make a financial donation to help support our local food bank and the Northshore Nourishing Network. A freewill offering will be received with proceeds supporting our Community Food Drive.
Youth and adult helpers are needed for the breakfast. Please sign up to help on the Youth Board.
Easter Breakfast Prep is on Saturday, April 16, 10:30 to 12 PM / Noon
Youth and adults are needed to help set-up the fellowship hall and prepare food for Easter Breakfast. Please sign up to help on the Youth Board.
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3 Week Book Study via Zoom
Lutheran Theology - A Grammar of Faith by Kirsi Stjerna
Leader: Seminary student, Jill Nichols-Hicks
May 4, May 11 and May 18 at 7 pm (Standard Lutheran Time)
From Jill: “We will focus on chapter 4, justification and freedom perspectives, chapter 5, God talks ecumenically with creeds and contemporary questions, chapter 6, the human condition, sin and hopes, and we will spend a little time in chapter 7, communities of faith and means of grace. There are study questions at the end of each chapter that I will lead for us to dive in deeper.”
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Vacation Bible School ages 3 - 6th Grade July 11 - July 14
Preschool & Kindergarten 9 am - Noon
1st - 6th Graders 9 am - 3 pm (lunch included).
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Summer Mission Trip to Camp Lutherhaven in Idaho
July 31 - August 5
Grades 7 - 12
Please sign up on the youth board!
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Movie Review
Six Minutes to Midnight
Sunday, April 24, 3 pm
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"In the summer of 1939, tensions between the UK and Germany have reached a boiling point and war seems inevitable. Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. But the authorities believe he is the problem.” Six Minutes to Midnight is an old fashioned Hitchcockian spy thriller that stars Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard and David Shofield. |
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MOVIE REVIEW: Please watch the movie prior to our ZOOM Movie Review. As of this writing, this movie is available to watch on Amazon Prime and Vudu. Our discussion will begin with a review of the main parts of the movie. We will also explore some of the spiritual themes of the movie and share corresponding Bible verses during our discussion. Please plan on joining us. |
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The First Lutheran Book Club continues to meet on Zoom for thoughtful discussions of our monthly book selections. Please join us! |
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Book Club!
Discussion Book: Braiding Sweet Grass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
April 26, 7:00 pm on Zoom
Discussion Leader: Ann Aagaard
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth and learning to give our own gifts in return.
Here are the upcoming books and meeting dates through July 2022:
May 24 News of the World by Paulette Jiles. Leader - Roger Steinke.
June 28 Pew by Catherine Lacey. Leader - TBA
July 26 Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown. Leader - TBA
Questions to Clint Bastin (Book Club Coordinator) or Roger Steinke. Copies of the book are available on table outside the library. Zoom link will be sent March 21.
Last year for FLC’s 136th Birthday we shared a moving presentation Share Our Pandemic Story, created by Linda Siebert, using members’ shared photos, experiences, stories of their pandemic activities. The Library Committee is considering creating a book from this historical presentation, and are asking you, our church family members, to add to or submit your Pandemic Story to be preserved in the records of this FLC church history book. Several members have already spoken to the committee about including their projects. Please contact Linda Siebert or leave your photo or written story in the basket just inside the church library by May 2022. Thank You!
Books for Lent are featured on the table in front of the library. We have periodicals/ magazines including The Lutheran, the bi-monthly Christian Century, and the ELCA Women’s Gather Magazine with excellent Bible Study by Mark Allan Powell The Kingdom of God. All magazines (most recent on the table) can be checked out. You will enjoy I’m A Lutheran (page 16) in the March 2022 The Lutheran, which features Micelle H Martin of Ballard First Lutheran Church, a Girl Scout leader, who holds the Beverly Cleary Endowed Professor in Children and Youth Services, and is chair of the Library and Information Science Program at University of Washington.
Check it Out!
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The above link will be updated with January's financial information after the Finance Committee is able to review the financial statements at their monthly meeting. |
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Thank you to all who have continued their faithful giving.
Listed below are ways for you to share with First Lutheran even when you can't attend in person:
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Mail in your checks. We are still doing weekly deposits.
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Set up electronic giving by using the Give Online button at flc.bothell.org, or calling Vanco services at 800-675-7430. Note: there is a one time fee to FLC for the set up of bank to bank transactions. There are approximately 3% transaction fees on all credit card donations, making credit card and debit card giving more effective if combined into a monthly transaction, rather than smaller amounts, weekly.
- Set up one time or auto payments through your bank’s pay service
Thank you for your faithfulness.
The Finance Committee
Bob Berg, Chair
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Dear Pastor Berg and Friends at First Lutheran,
My family and I would like to thank you for all your support during our sad time with Nat's illness and death.
The prayers and support of friends is so powerful.
Thank you again,
Geri Crawford and family
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A Big Thank You from Pastor Kristy at Compass Housing Alliance for the recent donations of shower flip-flops, sweatpants, sweatshirts, hats, tableware (forks, knives, spoons) and assorted personal hygiene supplies. 15 bags of donated items were delivered to Compass Housing in early March. Thank you all so very much for your generous donations and support!
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Thank you!
Dear First Lutheran Church of Bothell,
Thank you so much for your recent gift to Lutheran Community Services Northwest. Your gift goes to support many programs but one program to highlight is our refugee program. This program had been running a skeleton crew for the past 4 years serving roughly 250 refugees yearly. That changed urgently with the swift withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
Now LCS Northwest is caring for the resettlement of 800+ Afghan refugees. Your donation helps us to grow, adjust and serve these refugees immediately.
LCSNW offers legal support, housing navigation, career support, and other basic needs support to help these families and allies with their urgent needs. Your donation helps us to quickly surround each refugee with basic needs like housing, food, clothing, transportation, and monetary assistance.
To see a video of the work you are helping us to do click here. And if you have time or would like to meet virtually or in person, please let me know, it would be wonderful to get to know you and your passion for helping others.
With gratitude,
Kari
Kari Young (she/her/hers)
Director of Major Gifts
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COMMUNITY FOOD DRIVE: First Lutheran is partnering with the Northshore Nourishing Network during April 2022.Donations of non-perishable food items can be brought to the church all month long. Food items will be distributed to local food pantries, school food banks and Hopelink. Give what you CAN! For more information, including a list of suggested food bank donations, please contact Roger Steinke. Learn more about the Northshore Nourishing Network. |
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We need 130 school kit bags sewn in time for the May Lutheran World Relief shipment of quilts and school kits. We have enough school supplies - we just need people to sew the bags! Directions and fabric for the bags are available for you to check out in the narthex. If you'd like a demonstration or more information, please contact Audrey Fisher or Lucy Kay Osborne. |
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Monthly Outreach
CHANGE FOR CHANGE All money received in the Change for Change jar will be used to support HOPELINK food bank.
HOPELINK helps homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities gain stability, while providing others with the tools and skills they need to exit poverty for good. Hopelink is not accepting food or other goods at this time. Click here for donation information.
January Monthly Outreach: Compass Housing Alliance
February Monthly Outreach: Hopelink
March Monthly Outreach: Lutheran Community Services
April Monthly Outreach: Poor Peoples Campaign
May Monthly Outreach:
June Monthly Outreach:
July Monthly Outreach:
August Monthly Outreach:
September Monthly Outreach:
October Monthly Outreach:
November Monthly Outreach:
December Monthly Outreach:
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Scrip is a Great Way to Increase Your Giving
with Purchases You'd Make Anyway!
Proceeds from FLC's Scrip program recently paid for the shipment of quilts and school/health kits to Lutheran World Relief. Your purchases really do make a difference!
Purchase your Scrip gift cards on Sunday morning before and after worship or this is an excellent time to set up Shop with Scrip and Presto Pay for instant Scrip purchases and redemption on your smart phone. This is a super easy way to continue to support FLC's Scrip program. (See below for more information.)
If you are unable to attend worship or purchase Scrip online, you may mail a check to FLC Scrip, attention Gordy Phelps, with a note of what scrip cards you wish to purchase, and he will mail the cards back to you.
We have several other opportunities for earning money while you shop, for FLC's many social ministry programs:
2. Sign up for Amazon Smile and name First Lutheran Church as your charity. Every time you shop with Amazon Smile FLC receive .05% of your purchase price. You can still use Amazon Prime. Get your kids to sign up, too! In the 3rd quarter of 2021, your Amazon Smile purchases earned $84 for Social Ministries!
3. Link your Fred Meyer rewards card to their Community Rewards program for First Lutheran Church. All of your purchases will result in a quarterly donation to FLC.
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A Publication of the NW Washington Synod
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First Lutheran Church | 425-486-2314 | 425-297-4898 |office@flcbothell.org
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